...with my finances seriously damaged :(
It's had:
New head gasket - twice. Valve stem seals. Big end bearings. Oil pump and strainer. Thermostat. Radiator. Rings and decoke. New radiator. All assorted gaskets and things needed for that work.
And it 'only' cost about £1800 in total :( All done by a main dealer, and their labour rate wasn't that bad as it happens. If I'd had all the work done at once it would have been cheaper, but I just had the head gasket done the first time with the top end rebuild (£863 including some side repeaters I ordered and recovery on a flatbed so I didn't risk overheating it), only to discover that the improved sealing of the top end resulted in the slightly worn rings letting oil through when cold - with suitably smoky results :( And since the sump had to come off, may as well replace the shells and the oil pump (£45 and £100ish) whilst in there...
That's excluding the new headlights (£360ish), and the fact that I still have to replace the front suspension (second hand, my old good headlight) and it could still do with some cosmetic tidying on the front wing.
It does drive nicely now, apart from the awful front end, but I get so much more enjoyment out of a £300 Senator.
Depressing.
If anyone wants to buy a Sera, I need £3,000 for it. Which is on the money for a reasonable Sera with no history, and a few of them are suffering engine failures right now due to oil pump failure and clogged oilways. Mine might have a couple of scratches, but you know the engine is good - and guaranteed for a year (3 for the radiator, I think) :) I'll take a p/x up to £1000 worth, but I need to replace the money spent on repairs :/. Oh, and it has a Kenwood 10-disc CD changer too.
(If anyone offers me an H-reg Golf GTI 5dr in p/x I will scream. It's what I started with. Would prefer something straight or V6, or V8 like an SD1).
Richard, who at least has his assorted Macs to keep him busy at the moment... 2.0GHz dual G5 and a PowerBook G4 12" as insurance replacement for my old 1400c. Planning a migration away from PC and over to Mac soon, with the old dual PIII getting Linux installed.
And for CarPC types - considered looking at PS2 linux?