The "Today I did something to my car" thread

dgt

Damn I lied totally, it was 75 quid! Doing myself out of 15 pounds :pac:

CianRyan

I would love to find out I've spent less money for once. Haha

conzy

Looking good CM, whatever angle the picture is taken at it looks like theres about 20 yards from the diff to the rear bumper

I cleaned and sanded the front grills and started spraying them with satin black. They are coming along nicely, trying to build up lots of thin coats to give them a tough finish. Should have a pic shortly.

Finally decided to go for an M Sport bumper after seeing an orient blue saloon with one:



The pre facelift look is annoying me anyway :pac:

I had a look at the 4 MV2s I picked up recently, I need to pick the best two and im going to refurb them and put them on the front, they are reps but I have OEM staggered (8.5J) for the rear. I measured the offset of an 8J rep vs an 8J OEM alloy and the offset of the rep is 10mm smaller so it will be like using 10mm spacers up front, might look nicer as a result.



Was thinking of going slightly darker than the OEM colour when I do the refurb, something like these:

challengemaster

That's a gunmetal grey afaik conzy, looks like the usual kind of colour you'd see on e39 m5 wheels

L-M

To re itterate, conzy i think you're mad!

MetzgerMeister

Limerick man wrote: »

To re itterate, conzy i think you're mad!

Says the man who resprayed a golf and sold it :pac:

L-M

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Says the man who resprayed a golf and sold it :pac:

Still made monay :P

MetzgerMeister

Limerick man wrote: »

Still made monay :P

Touché

conzy

Im not that mad





Cant believe you can get such a good finish from a can of 6 euro spray paint, it feels like anodized aluminium or powdercoated metal.



Thats after about 6 very light coats. Going to give them one or two more coats and post pics of them fitted. Then its back to the books unfortunately. Cant wait to refurb the alloys now, theres a local lad that will sandblast the full set for €50 then ill prime paint and lacquer them myself id say

MetzgerMeister

Looking good conzy, nice neat job!

I'm having a nightmare of a day. I want to correct the roof today but can't get the car into a suitable shaded area. The only place possible is under a tree and bits of the fooken tree keep blowing off it and onto the roof :mad:

What I wouldn't give for a garage!!!

conzy

M Sport bumper and MV2s back on now and ill be satisfied.. for now :pac:


Wonders if Dave will spot the filth of the car

Tragedy

I always hated how the indicator lens drooped downwards, ruined what was otherwise an aggressive and purposeful front end imho

conzy

Tragedy wrote: »

I always hated how the indicator lens drooped downwards, ruined what was otherwise an aggressive and purposeful front end imho

Yeah im a bit annoyed I didnt hold out for a facelift one tbh. But ill be happy once i get the bumper

sean1141

conzymaher wrote: »

Cant believe you can get such a good finish from a can of 6 euro spray paint, it feels like anodized aluminium or powdercoated metal.

Its all in the prep work. If you have a nice clean smooth surface to start with your 75% of the way there. Once you manage to put on lots of light coats and not 2 or 3 heavy ones you will get a great finish.. Its also a lot easier to get a nice finish in a matt black than in a gloss black. Gloss showes up every mark.

MetzgerMeister

Roof done Still a few deep scratches left but it's 90% better than it was. I need a day where there's no wind and no chance of rain before going over these panels a 2nd time.

I'm going to just go over the car once as best I can and leave the 2nd go for a while.

challengemaster

conzymaher wrote: »

Im not that mad



Cant believe you can get such a good finish from a can of 6 euro spray paint, it feels like anodized aluminium or powdercoated metal.



Thats after about 6 very light coats. Going to give them one or two more coats and post pics of them fitted. Then its back to the books unfortunately. Cant wait to refurb the alloys now, theres a local lad that will sandblast the full set for €50 then ill prime paint and lacquer them myself id say

Savage job lad, looks great. I might do my alloys the same time you're at yours.

MetzgerMeister

Conzy, one thing - would you not have been better off doing that with stone-chip than normal paint?

conzy

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Conzy, one thing - would you not have been better off doing that with stone-chip than normal paint?

I had that can of spray in the workshop and I needed a break from the study so I just used that tbh ill be happy if it last 3 months not a big job to do it again

challengemaster

Considering my CF grille has picked up stonechips, MM might be right... but I've done 10k miles already, if you do that in 2 years you'd be lucky :pac:

conzy

challengemaster wrote: »

Considering my CF grille has picked up stonechips, MM might be right... but I've done 10k miles already, if you do that in 2 years you'd be lucky :pac:

Ive done 5k since january lad

MetzgerMeister

Good man!

After I let the Blacklight cure today I gave the car a well overdue wash. First off I cleaned the wheels then used Iron Cleanse on them, it took off so much rubbish from the inside and the face I couldn't believe it. Looks brand new apart from the corrosion!

The areas I had corrected were nothing but an absolute joy to wash, HUGE beading, extremely smooth and nice to work on. There's a noticeable difference between these parts and parts I haven't done. Can't wait to get the whole car done because it will make it a lot easier and will nearly half the time it takes normally.

After that I applied a coat of Wax It Wet followed by a coat of Lucas slick mist.

I let that all cure for half an hour and then the rain started belting down Talk about beading! Jeeeaaaayysus!!!

challengemaster

Try not spray the car with MM special snow foam, that probably won't bead as well

Took the car out for spin to the american car show in kilbeggan, met MCMLXXV, saw some fine cars and I'll be doing a Marciek-esque post in HWYST thread later :pac:

More importantly, the new shocks have made such a difference, I'd forgotten what it was like for the arse to not step out going over any slight bump lol

Big Nasty

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

After I let the Blacklight cure today I gave the car a well overdue wash.

Read this as meaning haven't detailed the car in at least three days!

challengemaster

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Read this as meaning haven't detailed the car in at least three days!

I reckon the only reason his car will ever rust is because he washes it so much

MetzgerMeister

Oh and my Kärcher went kaput while doing the wheels

Thankfully I had the Powercraft one

Anyone know where I could get the Kärcher fixed? I think it's about 2 years old and I'm not sure if I have a receipt for it or not.

alexlyons

These guys are very good and very helpful. will supply parts for you to do yourself or they will do it for you

challengemaster

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Oh and my Kärcher went kaput while doing the wheels

Thankfully I had the Powercraft one

Anyone know where I could get the Kärcher fixed? I think it's about 2 years old and I'm not sure if I have a receipt for it or not.

If you have it should still be under warranty, certainly EU warranty, but I'm not sure if there's an excessive usage clause :pac:

MetzgerMeister

alexlyons wrote: »

These guys are very good and very helpful. will supply parts for you to do yourself or they will do it for you

Nice one, thanks alex! I'll give them a buzz tomorrow.

challengemaster wrote: »

If you have it should still be under warranty, certainly EU warranty, but I'm not sure if there's an excessive usage clause :pac:

I have the box it came in in the attic, I'll have a look in it for the receipt. They're not gonna know if it's excessive or not - they don't know me

ianobrien

I'd an interesting and full day.

I started with changing the exhaust manifold gaskets on the Escort. The previous OE spec one started to break down, so they had to be replaced with Cometic competition spec ones. Queue loads of cursing, WD-40 & thinking of removing the water hoses to get access to one bloody nut. Afterwards, a "brief test" was needed.......

After that, I did a spanner check on the Almera. I changed the shocks last weekend and decided that a spanner check was needed as a precaution. BTW, the Hayes manual is totally wrong about the top mounting arrangements on some Almeras. Mine bore no relationship to the book!

Kat1170

ianobrien wrote: »

After that, I did a spanner check on the Almera. I changed the shocks last weekend and decided that a spanner check was needed as a precaution. BTW, the Hayes manual is totally wrong about the top mounting arrangements on some Almeras. Mine bore no relationship to the book!

:D:D:D:D;):p:D:D:D


Understanding the Haynes book of lies (aka Manual)

---

Haynes Manual's Explained

Haynes: Rotate anticlockwise.
Translation: Clamp with visegrips then beat repeatedly with hammer anticlockwise.

Haynes: This is a snug fit.
Translation: Clamp with visegrips then beat repeatedly with hammer.

Haynes: This is a tight fit.
Translation: Clamp with visegrips then beat repeatedly with a hammer.

Haynes: As described in Chapter 7...
Translation: That'll teach you not to read through before you start. Now you are looking at scary photos of the inside of a gearbox.

Haynes: Pry...
Translation: Hammer a screwdriver into...

Haynes: Undo...
Translation: Go buy a tin of WD40 (giant economy size).

Haynes: Retain tiny spring...
Translation: PINGGGG - "Jesus, where the hell did that go?"

Haynes: Press and rotate to remove bulb...
Translation: OK - that's the glass bit off, now fetch some good pliers to dig out the bayonet part (and maybe a band-aid or two).

Haynes: Lightly...
Translation: Start off lightly and build up till the veins on your forehead are throbbing then clamp with visegrips then beat repeatedly with hammer.

Haynes: Weekly checks...
Translation: If it isn't broken don't fix it.

Haynes: Routine maintenance...
Translation: If it isn't broken, it's about to be. We warned.

Haynes: One spanner rating.
Translation: An infant could do this... so how did you manage to **** it up?

Haynes: Two spanner rating.
Translation: Now you may think that you can do this because two is a low, teensy weensy number... but you also thought the wiring diagram was a map of the Tokyo underground (in fact that would have been more use to you).

Haynes: Three spanner rating.
Translation: Make sure you won't need your motor bike for a couple of days.

Haynes: Four spanner rating.
Translation: You're not seriously considering this are you?

Haynes: Five spanner rating.
Translation: OK - but don't ever carry your loved ones in it again.

Haynes: If not, you can fabricate your own special tool like this...
Translation: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Haynes: Compress...
Translation: Squeeze with all your might, jump up and down on it, throw it at the garage wall, then find some visegrips and a hammer...

Haynes: Inspect...
Translation: Squint at really hard and pretend you know what you are looking at, then declare in a loud knowing voice to your wife "Yep, as I thought, it's going to need a new one"

Haynes: Carefully...
Translation: You are about to suffer deep abrasions.

Haynes: Retaining nut...
Translation: Yes, that's it, that big spherical blob of rust.

Haynes: Get an assistant...
Translation: Prepare to humiliate yourself in front of someone you know.

Haynes: Turning the engine will be easier with the spark plugs removed.
Translation: However, starting the engine afterwards will be much harder. Once that sinking pit of your stomach feeling has subsided, you can start to feel deeply ashamed as you gingerly refit the spark plugs.

Haynes: Refitting is the reverse sequence to removal.
Translation: Yeah, right. But you swear in different places.

Haynes: Prise away plastic locating pegs...
Translation: Snap off...

Haynes: Using a suitable drift...
Translation: Clamp with visegrips then beat repeatedly with hammer.

Haynes: Everyday toolkit
Translation: RAC Card & Mobile Phone

Haynes: Apply moderate heat...
Translation: Unless you have a blast furnace, don't bother. Alternatively, clamp with visegrips then beat repeatedly with hammer.

Haynes: Index
Translation: List of all the things in the book, bar what you need to do.