Whilst I was working on Confused's Long Term Anglia Project, my Legnum has been rather rejected over the last 2-3 years.

As such, it's starting to get a little tired.

I have been debating for a years or so now what I am going to do - whether to replace it with something else, or repair it.

On the 'replace it' front, I had considered a more modern replacement - estate, fast, full-time 4wd, and that lead me towards the likes of the Audi RS6 - but even for a 2005 model, they are currently (at time of writing in early 2017) still around £10k, for an 11-12 year old car.

To put that into perspective, I paid £2400 for my Legnum 8 years ago - when it was 11-12 years old itself... Is an RS6 4x better than a VR-4? Performance - yeah, it's got a bigger engine and more horsepower, but the 4WD system isn't as sophisticated. But, not only will the purchase price be 4x bigger, it's likely that any parts and repairs will be 4x too! Bigger wheels, tyres and brakes. A more "premium" brand, and therefore more expensive parts.

I then thought - well, I have the Anglia for fun, so I don't need a replacement to be as fun. But it still needs to be practical, it needs to be good at towing (caravan and car trailer with Anglia), and I like 4WD, so I started thinking about stuff like the Volvo V70 (2007 onwards). But these are still fairly expensive - £7.5k-£10k for one with the D5 engine and AWD.


Then, I hosted a garage weekend where a load of people turned up, and we had an absolutely fantastic time, not only was the company excellent, an experience I've not had with any other club, but the knowledge base we have between us, and the willingness to help, and the fact that any job can be done at home - made me realise that, actually, I want to keep the Legnum and restore it to its former glory.


There's a lot to do - it won't be a 5 minute task, as I need to balance time and money, and I need the car to stay usable throughout the process - any individual task probably has to be completed within a weekend - and the odd week here and there for anything too big for a weekend.


I'll be making a list of the tasks that need doing (I love lists, by the way, they're really useful to both keep you on track, as well as motivated - crossing something off the list can give you a great sense of achievement), and then tackling them bit by bit.


So, the first few things on the list...

LPG

I've been thinking about it for years, and any replacement car was going to have needed to be more fuel efficient than the Legnum. Well, by fitting LPG, I can get those cost-saving advantages I've been missing out on, and it will probably end up paying for the rest of the work! I'm thinking that every time I fill up with LPG, I'll also transfer the same amount into a separate account - I'll still be "spending" roughly the same per month, but I'll also be saving it up for any parts or tools I need!


Rust repair

This has been the main sticking point with my thoughts regarding the car - it's not a simple job to fix the rust (and certainly not to a good standard where it won't come back within a year).

Rear arches - where the wider wheels and arch extensions were fitted by a previous owner, the actual arches themselves have been cut away under the extensions - this has (I believe) helped to accelerate the ingress of water, and therefore the formation of rust. So - I'll need to cut out the rotten stuff and replace with new.

But, whilst I'm at it, I'm thinking about doing a widebody conversion on the car to cater for the wider wheels! They're not extremely wide - so any wide body kit will likely not be excessive (and I don't really want to go down the route of adding spacers, as that will affect the geometry) - but it should give it an extra bit of aggression!

Front arches are also rusted, so they'll need replacing - same applies - why not wide-body it at the same time!?

Strut tops - as with many, the front strut tops are rusting through. These have been patched a couple of times, but it would be nice to do this properly and remove the patchwork quilt effect currently going on!

The underneath is also not in great shape - I think the plan here will be to attack this in small sections.


Rattles & squeaks

There's more than a room full of snakes and mice! I'm going to go round the car, bit-by-bit, and replace any broken trim & clips, as well as add sound deadening to make it more refined than it currently is.


Engine

It's due a full service in 12 months or 18k miles - whilst a full isn't anything that wouldn't be done, it will also be a good opportunity to fix the smoking on idle (valve stem seals) and noisy lash adjusters.


Drivetrain

The front suspension arms were replaced 3 years ago, but the rears haven't been touched, so they're still on their original rubber bushes. Shocks & springs are still original - and this is how I plan on keeping them. I don't want to compromise the ability to go anywhere, or drive over anything, by fitting suspension which is not right for the car. It's a comfortable cruiser which can go quickly, rather than an out-and-out car set up for handling. I've got the Anglia if I want to drive something more uncomfortable! (However, if someone can show me an aftermarket suspension setup which hasn't changed the ride quality away from what I get with stock, then I might consider it...)

I'm more than happy with the performance of my brakes (Carbotech XP-8 pads with standard discs/calipers), but the dust level is difficult to manage and keep on top of. So, either a change of braking system, which will keep the excellence of the Carbotech pads), or some better protection for the wheels and more regular cleaning schedule once they've been refurbished!


Audio

When I fit LPG, I'll lose my 2x 8" subs which are currently mounted in a custom-made box, replacing the boot floor (but leaving it looking completely standard!). This will leave just the Focal Polyglass component speakers in the front doors - which won't provide a suitable level of bass, as they're fairly bright speakers! I'll need to figure out a way to get some bass back.

I'm also currently just using a bluetooth audio receiver which has no interface - paired to my phone. I might consider an Android-based headunit, which can pull my library from Google Play Music, or use a service such as Spotify.


Other exterior

Dents, scrapes, knocks and bumps - the car's had many over the years whilst it's been a workhorse. Both bumpers need attention (and might need modding as part of the widebody idea), as do most of the doors, and the bonnet, and the rear spoiler, and the sideskirts, and the roof... I think the only panels which don't need anything are the front grille, and the tailgate. Oh, no, I want to replace the tailgate for one with tinted glass, as mine isn't tinted (but the side windows are). So, just the front grille, then, that's going to be left untouched...


Lighting

A few years ago, I made DRL (Daytime Running Lights) from some Philips Superflux LEDs, and a couple of lengths of wire. These have done the job well, but they're not super bright during the day, and they don't match the colour of the HIDs I have in projectors - so I would like to change these for a more modern approach, the dots of LEDs looks a little outdated now...


Finishing touches

The rust repair and other fixes to the exterior (arches, dents etc) will leave the outside looking in quite a sorry state (apart from the front grill!), so once all is done, I plan on giving the whole thing a fresh coat of paint - undecided yet whether this will be Trigger Mauve, or another colour!


So, that's the objectives as it stands right now!


It's been a good car to me over the last (nearly) 8 years, I've had a lot of fun with it, and met some wonderful people - I'm happy to have made a decision, and that that decision is to keep it!

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