The "Today I did something to my car" thread

Owen

It's never really a success TBH. The only way to really ensure a good final secure finish is to key to death with scotchbrite, degrease, etchprime the chrome bits, plastic prime the plastic bits, then cover all that in a tough 2 pack primer, sand smooth, then satin black, and if possible a 2 pack matt lacquer on top.

Ardennes1944

when i painted the chrome strip on the astra conzy i used very rough sandpaper to get most of the surface chrome off, then gave a few coats of etch primer. i know its at the back of the car but it still looks perfect almost a year later

conzy

Painting is a pain in the balls... Ill try again after the exams, ill get some etch primer or just plastidip them

Ardennes1944

its the one thing where patience actually makes such a difference. the only feck up i made was due to impatience. its good fun when its coming along right though

superstoner90

conzymaher wrote: »

Painting is a pain in the balls... Ill try again after the exams, ill get some etch primer or just plastidip them

Do you want me to paint it?

JerCotter7

My nilfisk C120 arrived today. Just waiting on my snow foam lance and then I can wash my car at home. So much easier. I still have to put it back together but I have so little time with college at the moment.:mad:

dar83

conzymaher wrote: »

Painting is a pain in the balls... Ill try again after the exams, ill get some etch primer or just plastidip them

+1 on the PlastiDip.

Leaves a good even looking finish and won't chip, plus if you get sick of it you can just peel it off!

String

Got a meta alarm fitted today. Couldn't believe it when I went to view the now mine golf gti that it didnt have an anti theft system :eek:

Ardennes1944

Spent 3 hours on the interior today. Hoovered every inch of it as it was in sh!t after the audio install. Solder and copper wire everywhere! Wiped all the interior plastics down and coated them in mickey arse ultimate dash & trim protectant. Took out the rear seats and gave them a good handwashing. Cleaned and hoovered the bench underneath also. Ran a female 3.5mm jack from the hu underneath the gear stick, drilled a hole in the trim piece under the handbrake and glued the jack underneath it so now it looks tidy enough. Waiting on the full fascia kit and speaker adaptors for the front component speakers so the front door will be getting taken apart next week hopefully.

colm_mcm

Fixed my rear bumper this evening, was hanging off. Bolted it on and used a bracket from my bike to hold it on inside. Love the way the car is bolted together using big heavy brackets instead of clips!

CianRyan

Wheels wrapped in 195/50/15 and on the car.
I'm loving it but it needs to come down, the front looks so high.

eringobragh

CianRyan wrote: »

Wheels wrapped in 195/50/15 and on the car.
I'm loving it but it needs to come down, the front looks so high.

Yep would look a million times better if you lowered it a few inches. :cool:

staker

Is that an original side strip Cian? Nice wheels btw,wouldn't go too mad on the lowering, those wheels will fill the arches nicely without making it look like a hovercraft!:D

MetzgerMeister

My god I'm wrecked! I took the day off work to get a good chunk of the car corrected. Started at 10 this morning, only sitting down now.

I got the whole driver's side, the boot face and bonnet done. A good chunk of that time was taken up trying to get the tape that held my license plate on, off. I broke the bloody plate holder, fooken weak plastic clips!!!

Just the front bumper and passenger side left to do now. When that's done I'll go over the whole car again with the finishing polish and pad then 2 coats of blacklight and we'll be grand :pac:

Conzy - I think plastidip is your best bet. AFAIK it's available in aerosol form.

conzy

Your starting to sound like an alcoholic now dave.. Missing work over detailing? Its all down hill from here



:pac:

eringobragh

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

My god I'm wrecked! I took the day off work to get a good chunk of the car corrected. Started at 10 this morning, only sitting down now.

I got the whole driver's side, the boot face and bonnet done. A good chunk of that time was taken up trying to get the tape that held my license plate on, off. I broke the bloody plate holder, fooken weak plastic clips!!!

Just the front bumper and passenger side left to do now. When that's done I'll go over the whole car again with the finishing polish and pad then 2 coats of blacklight and we'll be grand :pac:

CianRyan

CianRyan wrote: »

Wheels wrapped in 195/50/15 and on the car.
I'm loving it but it needs to come down, the front looks so high...........

The fronts seem to be protruding a bit, is that just the pic or what?

MetzgerMeister

conzymaher wrote: »

Your starting to sound like an alcoholic now dave.. Missing work over detailing? Its all down hill from here



:pac:

I'm an alcoholic with a detailing problem Nah, I'm entitled to my annual leave lad!

erin - fuc*ed if I'm gonna try and get a photo now! I'll take some tomorrow, the beading should be biblical!

challengemaster

F*ck noahs ark, MPS repels water :pac:

MetzgerMeister

challengemaster wrote: »

F*ck noahs ark, MPS repels water :pac:

It will literally be waterproof :pac:

challengemaster

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

It will literally be waterproof :pac:

you may have bigger problems if it wasn't already waterproof from factory

MetzgerMeister

challengemaster wrote: »

you may have bigger problems if it wasn't already waterproof from factory

The paint, smart ass :mad:

conzy

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

I'm an alcoholic with a detailing problem Nah, I'm entitled to my annual leave lad!

erin - fuc*ed if I'm gonna try and get a photo now! I'll take some tomorrow, the beading should be biblical!

carbon nanotube

not the 'today' but last few months i done to my accord

original cost 2,400gbp

new clutch 500
half shaft 270gbp
abs wheel sensor from screwed up mechanics fault 80gbp
ecu reset for traction control and abs lights 25gbp
drive shaft passenger side 160gbp, labour 80gbp
rear bumper, painted, fitted 210gbp
4 x alloys refurbed 300gbp
full oil and fluids, filters, iridium plugs & labour 220gbp

not looking like a bargain now , actually i lost count on how much now but about 4,300gbp is probably what it would retail at for a one in very good condition.

not complaining as its a serious car to drive. just itching to take that K24 onto a quite motorway some night lol

dgt

More cleaning of the barge...

Remember the interior from the other day???


Much better Just need a scrubbing brush for the rest of the hairs


Need to plant spuds? Not a problem :pac:


Checking do the Lensos fit...


They don't. Multifit my ass!!! :mad:

Then the engine.
Before


After


I never knew the rocker cover was silver :eek:

CianRyan

Cheers lads.
Haha. I won't be going Euro low, not into that whole DUB scene.
I've been looking for some VZR suspension parts but my bank account is looking a bit empty at the minute, I've put 9 ads on Adverts today to try and scratch up some money.

Edit:
RJ, there's a fair amount of positive camber on the front drivers side so that may give the impression of it protruding. Need to get that sorted.

Another thing, back drivers side, one of the screws has sheered off, will I need to replace the hub or I can get a new screw put in?

Ardennes1944

Literally just in the door after packing away all the crap. My audio install has been a shaggin nightmare and the story is too long to tell it in full here. :pac:

Ive had the subs in the car with everything ready to go for a week with every trim piece back to normal and after Owen kindly checked everything he said my amp was fecked. Said feck it ill leave it a while to get a new one or wait for a fix for my broken one, hence the hours of cleaning today. Said id throw a look amd adverts anyway at 8 o clock and within 2 hours i was home with a new amp. Connected it up with lots of praying away she fired up all worked perfectly.its quarter to 11 after listening to some music so what do i do? The parents are in spain so ive a free gaf so do i head inside and do it tomorrow after work or do it then? Im sure ye all know the answer!
Out came the mazda and my brothers astra to help, parked them at either side with lights on. Removed old amp and wiring from the box and connected up the new one properly. Took out back seats, all trim pieces at the passenger left side to route some new wires, out the glovebox and head unit. Routed the bass remote down through the console to the footwell and placed it by my left knee at drivers side. Cut a small bit out of the glovebox light holder so the ipod cable can run flush through it. Connected everything up and put everything back and worked fine but the interior had bits of crap all over it again, so out with the hoover 12:45 and there you have it folks, just another example of my sad life :rolleyes::D

E39MSport

Front engine mounts on the Esty. Total pita. One was completely sheared.

Owen

Told you t'was the amp

A good trick for running cables where you don't want to go lifting out seats and carpet is to get a long bicycle brake cable, or an old car choke/accelerator. The steel braid can be pushed through places normal wire/coat hangar won't go, and the ball end can be used to secure the new cable you tape onto it.

Mar4ix

today discowered that my avensis has four different make tyres, uniroyal,firestone, federal and hankook, .... Sick of that at least same size. No wonder why it jumping from one to other road side when over 70 ml/h.