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saloons are a bugger to repair if the replacement panel/section goes near the C pillar, whether steel or aluminium. Difficult to disguise a repair in that area in the long term. It CAN be done, but most repairers won't do it to that standard and eventually it'll start to show. Maybe 5 years down the line, but eventually.
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Thank you Dean and all other friends!
Awesome info! >> What does it look like where the blue arrow is with the boot open? MJ, internal black plastic panels have all shifted a little when boot is open. I'll try to make a picture later. |
The thought occurs that it might be worth making an inventory of all the good / new / unusual stuff you've fitted to it, then we can consider what effort might be needed to swap that over to a replacement D2. Re-shelling is a misnomer for 'swapping all the good stuff' really, since a replacement would be complete to start with.
Also consider that if you can find a low-mileage (<100K) replacement, you save £1200 on cam tensioners alone, potentially much of the rest of the engine work we were considering too. We could spend that time swapping stuff over instead. |
Sergey if you are going to re-shell everything but the engine why not upgrade to a 4.2 or S8?
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That was my thinking too - no reason to stick specifically to a 3.7.
I find 3.7s happen by accident simply because the car is in the right place at the right time. My first one was like that, ditto General Vod. I think Neil probably got his for the same reason. So, when searching for a replacement, as long as it has a V8 its all good :D The uber-rare Sergey-only steel front hubs won't swap on to an S8, but an FE would have steel hubs anyway. |
I think Sergey found the power delivery a little too 'immediate' in my old S8 (or maybe it was my fairly heavy right foot?!) but suspect a 4.2 would be an easier find, in a very small pool of candidates.
Need to start random searching of eBay, Gumtree, Pistonheads etc etc. I've started seeing a really tidy P plate 4.2 near me (although it could be a private plate, as it looks like a facelift to me) |
I like the idea of Sergey with an S8. Another one saved, returned to perfect order and preserved for the future +++
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Thank you guys. Great idea.
What I really like about 3.7 is high 5th gear delivering low rpm on motorways. Not sure 4.2 has the same high 5th gear as 3.7, and definitely not S8 with revving 5th gear. It is all about condition of donor car. I bought this 3.7 with 52000 on it in 2010 from first owner and since then always changed oil as soon as it started just to become a bit darker. Every 3 to 4 thousand miles. Changed gearbox oil 3 times too. Looks like impossible to find a good example. Let’s see how insurance saga will finish. |
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4.2 A8 is thus notably more economical, whilst not really feeling that much slower. The lower gearing of the S8 gets off the line quicker for sure, but once moving it doesn't feel so clear cut. |
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