The "Today I did something to my car" thread

colm_mcm

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

...and who has sold 100's of whatever car they're doing, has always wanted to own whatever car they're doing, lands you with a chassis swap job and whinges when he has to "put on cruise control, get the car heated up" to go get the chassis and other assorted parts for you???

Not forgetting the gratutious shots of whatever car he was paid to drive around.


Anyone know the significance of the reg on Ed's van

28p


Registration 28P
Make MERCEDES
Model 200TE (isn't a 200TE a W124 estate though?)

Voodoomelon

Waxed with AutoGlym HD wax after full machine polish. An absolute joy to apply.





Crappy night time shot all buffed off:

eringobragh

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Waxed with AutoGlym HD wax after full machine polish. An absolute joy to apply.

Fair play man...I've only gotten 1 panel done...if i'd a garage that would be a different story...looks very well.

Mr Benevolent

Nissan doctor wrote: »

I also took delivery of my next project:cool:

I don't like to say it but it's missing one or two bits.

Quick tip: If it doesn't start on the button it's because the engine is missing.

Mar4ix

Confab wrote: »

I don't like to say it but it's missing one or two bits.

Quick tip: If it doesn't start on the button it's because the engine is missing.

id say, there is no battery either :pac:

delly

"Will fly through NCT" :pac:

Mar4ix

delly wrote: »

"Will fly through NCT" :pac:

one lady owner from new,clean inside out, fully serviced, first come, first buy, nct ready, price € 100000 ONO. :pac:

Hal1

1.4 on the logbook

Nissan doctor

It has a bad oil leak too, I keep topping it up but it just comes straight out onto the ground:P

colm_mcm

Needs lowering

Ardennes1944

Ah lads come on...a bit of t cut would sort it

eringobragh

Todays Effort:

Another few hours lost on the car...This is a mammoth task hopefully I will have this all done by end of month..and then I will move onto a wheel refurb.

Claybar Kit...what a godsend..Following recommendation from last week I picked one up...I rubbed my hand on the panel from last week and its not near as smooth as the clayed wing...Its like glass!.





Again I only did 1 wing as it can get frustrating!

BEFORE: This scratching was visible without the halogen light: It annoyed me looking at it.



AFTER: Still a small scrape and little scratching up a 90% improvement...if all goes to all these can be filled with SRP..
I am going to move on and come back to the dificult ones at the end.



BEFORE: Somemore scratching





After: 95% Improvment over all.







Some stone chips need sorting and paint 'bubbling' (a common issue on MR2 paint)



Difference between panels:



MILLER TIME!!!!!!!!!!

MetzgerMeister

Jesus man, someone must have gone at the car with a brillo pad and I'm not saying that to use a cliché, I'm being serious!

Excellent job done though!

eringobragh

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Jesus man, someone must have gone at the car with a brillo pad and I'm not saying that to use a cliché, I'm being serious!

Excellent job done though!

The 2 wings are the worst of it...I need to clay the other wing now and do some more cutting.

Johntegr

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Jesus man, someone must have gone at the car with a brillo pad and I'm not saying that to use a cliché, I'm being serious!

Excellent job done though!

Took your advice on the wheel cleaner.

Before.


During.


After.



All wheels came out lovely but with two gripes. The old curbing marks look brand new now lol. The second was when I forgot one of the wheels was badly damaged and had filler and a DIY paint job on it. That wheel is now half silver lol. :pac:

dgt

Testing my van all this on its mpg... Brimming the tank each time with the same fuel brand (esso!)

Heavy city driving but long journeys 48mpg.

Driving the lard out of it to see my ladyfriend, 42mpg.

Sawing up and down country roads today looking for a particular place, 45mpg.

I'm hoping to crack the 50 mpg with some careful driving

Also, glued the gearknob on, it flew off today :rolleyes:

MetzgerMeister

Today I gave the carpet on the driver's side a good, well-deserved wash.

Seat out:



It's a heavy b@startd:



After 2 passes of AG carpet shampoo, wet microfiber, wet&dry vac, a dry microfiber to mop up anything the vac didn't get and a normal hoover to bring back the pile:





The scene today:



It was tough and tiring work but well worth it. I'm going to do the passenger side tomorrow

Mr Benevolent

eringobragh wrote: »

The 2 wings are the worst of it...I need to clay the other wing now and do some more cutting.

I have some unused clay if you want it. PM me.

langdang

S15 are nice alright, but I'm a big fan of the subtlety of the s14a. They were nice and cheap too at one stage, presume they are all bought up for drifting now.



Was it the clay got rid of the swirls? I thought you'd have to polish to do that. Have the same kit hanging around for ages, must do the Mini.

eringobragh

langdang wrote: »

S15 are nice alright, but I'm a big fan of the subtlety of the s14a. They were nice and cheap too at one stage, presume they are all bought up for drifting now.



Was it the clay got rid of the swirls? I thought you'd have to polish to do that. Have the same kit hanging around for ages, must do the Mini.

nah just to clear any contaminations before polishing.

Voodoomelon

Top class eringobragh!
Seeing the results anyone can get with a machine polisher and a wheel refurb, I can see how you can genuinely add value to a car. Imagine showing up to a car sale with what looks like a genuinely new car, despite its age. You'd jump on it, even if it was €1000 more.

JerCotter7

Collected this today.


Comparison to the old pair that I was taking out. Old ones were racelands.


Installing the front drivers side coilover.


View of the bottom of the mount.


View of the top which is camber castor adjustable.


View of the rear shock and spring.


Front left finished. I had to cable tie the wires to the drop link connection. My drop links are onto the wishbone. Anyone know what happens in NCT? I failed the last one because the brake line wasn't secure. These don't have anywhere to secure it to?


Here is the x-brace that I installed as well today.


I am really happy with both as it really made the car a lot more responsive when turning. I need to get it tracked now because the back of car feels off now.

Nissan doctor

The HSD coilovers are excellent. I had DW's HSD made control system coilovers on my old car and loved them.

JerCotter7

Nissan doctor wrote: »

The HSD coilovers are excellent. I had DW's HSD made control system coilovers on my old car and loved them.

Yeah I am pleased so far with them. I'm thinking about removing the helper spring altogether from them since they are compressed fully anyway and I would be able to adjust the damping easier at the bottom.

Nissan doctor

JerCotter7 wrote: »

Yeah I am pleased so far with them. I'm thinking about removing the helper spring altogether from them since they are compressed fully anyway and I would be able to adjust the damping easier at the bottom.

You adjust the bound/rebound from the coil seat. The dampening is done by an adjuster screw at the very top of the unit and the ride height by the shock base.

These together with the full DW adjustable arm kits allow fantastic suspension control.

Gary ITR

Those HSDs are a very good unit, couple of the ITCC drivers are running them the last couple of years. Very versatile, whats the car?

JerCotter7

Nissan doctor wrote: »

You adjust the bound/rebound from the coil seat. The dampening is done by an adjuster screw at the very top of the unit and the ride height by the shock base.

These together with the full DW adjustable arm kits allow fantastic suspension control.

For some reason on the E36 the dampening is done with an allen key under the shock. The way I have it set now it's very hard to reach up to it.



It's at the top in the rear shocks though. They also don't offer the adjustable arm kits for E36. Well I can't find it anyway.

Ardennes1944

pretty fancy looking coilovers! jer thats gonna be some well kitted out and expensive e36 when youre done!

JerCotter7

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

pretty fancy looking coilovers! jer thats gonna be some well kitted out and expensive e36 when youre done!

It's already expensive. Maybe I am just going overboard for a road car Oh well, I enjoy working on the car.

Ardennes1944

s'all that matters meinen freund

eringobragh

I am convinced the previous owner washed this car with rocks :P ...I'm not trying to achieve 100% correction but if I get it to 90% I will be happy.
Can't wait to get the blacklight on her

Today I did the top half of the passenger door, time cosuming stuff, but have to say the DA is the best thing I've gotten for the car when you see the
change in paint it makes the effort seem worthwhile.

Car was clayed and polished with Menzerna Medium cut polish and pad.

General condition of the paint:









SIDE BY SIDE after Polishing:



BEFORE AND AFTERS:

Before:



After:

---

Before:



After:

---

Before:



After:

---

Before:



After:

---

eringobragh

CONTD:


Before:



After:

---

Before:



After:

---

FINISHED PRODUCT:

alexlyons

That looks incredible...

omb0wyn5ehpij9

eringobragh that is great work. When can I drop my car over to you?!

eringobragh

BDJW wrote: »

eringobragh that is great work. When can I drop my car over to you?!

Cheers man :P The rate things are going it could be another few weeks before I'm finished and will be glad at that!

It's definately a worthwhile investment the DA if you are doing this type of work I would still can myself a novice at this stage. :pac:

colm_mcm

Today I said goodbye to my car.


The avensis that is. It was a trusty steed for 2 years, it's gone to a new home now. Best of luck to the new owner.

String

eringobragh wrote: »

I am convinced the previous owner washed this car with rocks :P ...I'm not trying to achieve 100% correction but if I get it to 90% I will be happy.
Can't wait to get the blacklight on her

Today I did the top half of the passenger door, time cosuming stuff, but have to say the DA is the best thing I've gotten for the car when you see the
change in paint it makes the effort seem worthwhile.

Car was clayed and polished with Menzerna Medium cut polish and pad.

Looks great! How did you hide the deep scratches? Do you just fill in the scratch with touch up paint and polish over it?

eringobragh

DrMorphine wrote: »

Looks great! How did you hide the deep scratches? Do you just fill in the scratch with touch up paint and polish over it?

Ran the polisher with the medium cut pad and polisher and they disappeared 90% you have to look closely now to see them.

Big Nasty

What's the idea of taping a section off when you're doing paint correction?

eringobragh

MCMLXXV wrote: »

What's the idea of taping a section off when you're doing paint correction?

To stop foreign bits getting on the pad and scratching the paint work

I also stick a strip to devide the panel when I'm doind it in sections

vectra

eringobragh wrote: »

Cheers man :P The rate things are going it could be another few weeks before I'm finished and will be glad at that!

It's definately a worthwhile investment the DA if you are doing this type of work I would still can myself a novice at this stage. :pac:

I spent approx 50 hours doing the Toledo :P

Fiona

MCMLXXV wrote: »

What's the idea of taping a section off when you're doing paint correction?

Its also to protect the plastic mouldings from being damaged if you go over them with a pad.

rebel.ranter

Fiited a pair of Bilstein B4 to the front of the e36, new foam dampers too. Also swapped out the expansion tank & did a coolant flush & renew.




Invested in a set of Spring Compressors.



Was a bit disappointed with little flashes of surface rust on the anti-roll bar & inner wing. Jobs for the future...



It drives much better now, one of the shocks that came out was really weak. Don't know how it passed NCT last year in that condition.
Anyway, another job done, coolant change tomorrow, onwards & upwards!

Still love my e36 cabriolet!



Almost ready for the summer!

JerCotter7

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Stuff

Think I seen you near Bishopstown in cork yesterday. Lovely looking car.

Hal1

Car looks stunning, have you been at it with a D/A polisiher too?

rebel.ranter

JerCotter7 wrote: »

Think I seen you near Bishopstown in cork yesterday. Lovely looking car.

That wasn't me, it was probably AKUMA over on BMW-Driver.net. This one is currently off the road (taxing it tomorrow). Driving the 6 Series petty much full time, so unless you spotted me in that?

Hal1 wrote: »

Car looks stunning, have you been at it with a D/A polisiher too?

Yep, had the Kestal DA polisher at this two weeks ago, still not happy with it so another go is required!

JerCotter7

rebel.ranter wrote: »

That wasn't me, it was probably AKUMA over on BMW-Driver.net. This one is currently off the road (taxing it tomorrow). Driving the 6 Series petty much full time, so unless you spotted me in that?



Yep, had the Kestal DA polisher at this two weeks ago, still not happy with it so another go is required!

Nah it was a 96 hellrot E36. Probably AKUMA so.

rebel.ranter

JerCotter7 wrote: »

Nah it was a 96 hellrot E36. Probably AKUMA so.

Mine is a Hellrot e36 1996! So is AKUMA's except he has Contours on his, I think he is running with his hardtop still. Are you going to head to the BMW-Driver.net meeting on 15th April in Youghal?

JerCotter7

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Mine is a Hellrot e36 1996! So is AKUMA's except he has Contours on his, I think he is running with his hardtop still. Are you going to head to the BMW-Driver.net meeting on 15th April in Youghal?

Whoever I seen had the hardtop anyway. Yeah I was planning to go everything permitting.

MetzgerMeister

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Hellrot

Rots like a b@stard yeah? :pac:









I know it's German for bright red