[car_overhaul] Mi Respray And Some History

[Rom 0]

Thought it was about time i put some pics of my car up.

 

Ive had it just over 3 years, and in that time ive replaced virtually everything on the car.

 

Heres it is not long after i got it, gave it a mop, and a polish etc, rest it how it was pretty much.

 

First jobs were new brakes, lowered the front on OE Bilsteins and springs. General tidying of the car, trying to sort some problems etc.

 

After about 6 months, i decided i wanted to go Mi power. So sourced an engine, and set about rebuilding it, had it lightend and balanced, everything els ewas new, but standard.

 

Old engine ready to come out...

 

New engine ready to go in...

 

Mi in place...

 

I soon upgraded to 266mm 307 brakes, a set of Gaz coilovers, and rebuilt the ream beam...

 

This is pretty much how it stayed for a while, i moved to Bristol, and the car got bumped 3 times by idiots who cant drive / park. It slowly got tatty again as i let it go, losing interest everytime someone hit it or broke into it. Front and rear bumpers were broke, the boot trim was cracked. Some bubbles of rust had started above the 3/4 windows, and the windscreen bottom corners.

 

Then in december just gone, i poked one of the rust bubbles on the drivers side, and it went right through. Was time to decide, keep it, and get it resprayed, or get rid of it.

Well i wasnt bored with driving it, so i decided to keep it So i set about removing the engine, i decided i was going to take the dash and interior out too, so i could sort some rattles, wiring, etc.

Edited April 16, 2009 by Rom

[Rom 0]

Ive not had the cd of pics from the bodyshop yet, so these are just the tidbits i have from vistis and emails.

 

This was the drivers side, which was by far the worst.

 

In the oven..

 

Jason at JB Autos done a awesome job. He cut out the rusted sections by the 3/4, and put in replacement sections. The part needed doesnt seem to come with anything but the shell, so it was a case or cutting up a donor shell !

Heres the driver side again, once finished...

 

There was bonnet pins here once ! I did think about getting another bonnet, but the vents have kind of grown on me. The panel in the middle is a water feature lol Stops rain filling up the plug holes and mis firing. A lot nicer than the makes*it one i had made. I did try sealign the plug cover, but it never took.

Edited April 16, 2009 by Rom

[Rom 0]

This is what happens when you leave a freshly painted next to the smart repair guy at work. Even though he swears he will tell you if hes going to paint (we were quiet at work)

Luckily, it clayed of fine.

 

I was really pleased with the amount of work he put in. All the panels were sprayed off the car, and the finish on parts youll never see is as good as everywhere else.

 

The mess i had to sort out

 

I removed all the dodgy wiring from over the years, soldered anything with connectors on, any breaks etc. Packed a lot of the dash out with felt / foam to reduce vibrations etc.

While it was out, i sorted all the wiring for the new heated front screen. Just generally tidied it all up.

 

Then i decided that it was a shame to have tatty wheel arches with such lovely paint, so off i went, white stone chip, but it turned pinkish. So i eneded up spraying over it with the body colour, which is Nissan QM1. Then laquered to give it some protection

 

While the car was away, id been rebolstering the front seats, and swapping covers to some better condition ones. Along with a thorough wet wash of the seats and carpet.

Edited April 16, 2009 by Rom

[Redtop 14 2 Cars]

Looks very good:). Alot of time and money involved. Do you have the heated screen for it yet? Just so that you know, they are split 1/2 and 1/2 for heating so you need 2 wires at either side of the screen.

[Rom 0]

After i done that, i figured i cant leave the underneath in the state it was in..

 

Pre engine swap pic, but certainly hadnt gotten any cleaner !

 

So, off came the brake lines, which were being replaced anyway, the fuel lines, fuel tank, rear beam, exhaust, gear rods etc.

A lunch time with a pressure washer, got me some very dodgy looks by the other techs at work ! Some wire brushing, and we were ready for some stone chip.

I learnt my lesson this time, and got some in a shultz type can, it came out fine, so didnt need to overpaint it.

 

Is also bought some SL 434s, and a 309 beam. The beam was stripped, but the tube was fubar, so after finding a donor, it all went off for powder coating.

The wheels went off to be liquid and shot (of some sort) blasted, ive not seen the wheels since, and there yet to be painted.

Edited April 16, 2009 by Rom

[Rom 0]

Im unsure on what will happen with the wheels. As with the 309 beam, there going to stick out. But will wait till i have them back before i make any decisions.

If only id found that out before

 

Its due to go back to the bodyshop on the 21st. To have the bodykit fit, along with the rest of the trims etc.

I ended up buying brand new sunroof trims from Peugot, as i couldnt find any decent second hand ones. I didnt know this, but they do them in the normal grey / black, but also in Alpine White, for some tennis type ltd edition ! The white ones were a fair bit cheaper, so i got those....

Because, after speaking with the bodyshop, i decided i wasnt going to keep the grey original trim. Its all being de textured, and painted a gloss black. It will still have the red strips, which are all new also.

 

I was reluctant to try it, as im still not sure how it will look. But after seeing one of the trims ready to go on, it looks good, and should look even better once fitted.

 

Heres a pic of the engine bay, its a bit tidier since this pic, but is still in progress.

 

Ive got until the 21st, then it has to go back, so im finishing off the little odd and ends that need doing.

This week ive got the brakes bled through, which was surprisingly easy, considerign a MC swap, aswell as all lines.

So it now runs, and stops ! Yet to run it up and check for leaks, but i filled all the fluids up a few weeks ago, and nothing obvious has popped up.

I spent todays lunch time sorting the locking, new motor on passenger side, and removing old rods from locks, as ive had it delocked.

 

Still got to put the passenger seat base cover on, but all the major stuff is done now. But plenty of little jobs still left to finish.

[Rom 0]

Thank you. Ive kind of got carried away tbh. Spent way more than i meant to. And a pretty much every lunch time and weekend on it this year. But i dont regreat it....yet lol

 

Fixed some incorrect links. So all pics show be the right ones now.

 

I have the screen fitted

 

 

Ive got it wired to a seperate relay per side. But not got the switch in yet, i got a 5 hole switch panel, and another rear screen switch. So hopefully once its wired up it will work

Edited April 16, 2009 by Rom

[welshpug 1,622]

nice to see the underneath the right colour for a change

 

bet it makes a nice change from the toyota's day in day out! who's is the suzuki box?

[willmounsey 1]

Nice job mate looking forward to seeing the finished result

[skeggyrik 3]

Very nice work. I wish I had the time and money to restore a car to that standard.

You should be very proud of it, it looks excellent.

 

It'll be better than it ever was new when you're done.

 

[Rom 0]

Cheers guys.

 

The Mac Suzuki box is mine. Still looks pretty good...considering it fell over last year ! Was pulling it out, and something must have got stuck on a wheel, and i obviously pulled too hard on it. By the time i realised it was going, it was too late.. Cruched my hand between it and a Corolla on my ramp, apparently i thought i could take the weight

 

Its nice working on Toyotas, but gets dull. Its mostly newer stuff we work on, so its nice and easy. We do get the odd shed in, but they wear pretty well, so not liek working on old Fords, Vauxhalls, Peugeots etc

There pretty laid back at work, my bay has been a s*ite pit since xmas ! Full of 205 bits

 

I get a lot of stick off the other techs though. Theres 1 guy into VWs, goes to a lot of shows etc, but the rest think im crazy.

 

Im not sure was was under the car, i thought it was just years of oil and crap, as some of it you could wipe with your finger, and it just left the original paint beneath. Were they undersealed from new ? Or just seam sealer and paint ? Like Toyotas.

[marksorrento205 80]

Stunning looking car!! Nice to see all the detail put in. The engine bay looks sweet.

[taylorspug 7]

Wow, extremely impressive! interesting about the sunroof trim too, didnt know you could get them in white! Not that its relevant to me mind...

 

Will watch for updates with interest.

 

Also you have a really good work letting you work on/keep your own stuff there!

Edited April 17, 2009 by taylorspug

[Rom 0]

Todays lunch time i soldered the wiring for the central locking, and the feeds from the alarm to the motors. Routed the NS door pin switch, which i somehow managed to bunch up above the glove box Took me a while to find it lol.

The alarm is workign as intended once again, the boot motor is working after some faffing around. But has no lock in yet anyway.

Ive added a dual zone microwave sensor to the Toad, one i had years ago on another car. Yet to set it up, but should allow me to setup a bubble if you will, around the car, which when broken the siren will chirp once. Set it off 3 times in a minute and the main alarm goes off. At least thats how i remember it anyway.

The other bubble / zone is inside the car, which means you can leave the sunroof open, and wind wont set the alarm off, but movement will. Same thing as they use for cabriolet alarms basically.

 

Also got most of the amp wired back up, so the parcel shelf can go in, and the seats can be folded up etc tommorrow.

Passenger seat is 95% done, just got 8 hog rings left, that hold the leather to the base, the bits for the bolsters. They wrap under the seat, before the subframe goes on. So that should go in tommorrow aswell.

 

Few pics of the engine bay / front from today.

 

 

Im trying to think how i can route the throttle cable better, looks kind of thrown in how it is ?

Ive also got a new grill and backing to be painted. Didnt realise how many cracks were in the backing of this one, plus the front doesnt really sit perfectly, think its been apart one too many times !

Ill get round to replacing the wing bolts too, as they look shabby.

 

Chris

[Rom 0]

Wow, extremely impressive! interesting about the sunroof trim too, didnt know you could get them in white! Not that its relevant to me mind...

 

Will watch for updates with interest.

 

Also you have a really good work letting you work on/keep your own stuff there!

 

 

Yeah, i had no idea, until i looked them up on Service box. Spoke with my parts guy, whos very helpful And he seemed to think the description meant they would be Alpine White, not 'for' Alpine White cars. I thought it was odd, ive never seen a 205 with white sunroof trims ! Be he emailed technical, who confirmed.

 

My work are pretty good about it Its been on site about 5 weeks i guess now. Its moving on tuesday, coincides well, as there is a limit to thier patience Also we have a inspection, and id be shot if it was still there.

So all the stuff around my bay will find a new home for the day, most likely in one of the various trade ins. We did have a 'shed', a customers Avensis that was dead, and they didnt want to pay the bill, was with us over a year, until it finally got scrapped.

We can work on our own cars whenever we like, its the keeping them on site, as long as we ask the main boss were ok. We even work on private jobs on weekends etc. They really are pretty good Ive worked at back street garages that dont let you do half the stuff, let alone a main dealer !

Edited April 17, 2009 by Rom

[j_turnell 134 3 Cars]

Car looks great! engine bay looks very tidy indeed! Would love to have the time and money to do this!

[Cloverleaf 1]

wow, awesome work mate. Proper mint

[grandos 16]

Looks absolutely amazing!!

 

Was trying to spot what was different about the engine bay (not the engine I know all thats different) but its the body coloured slam panel.

 

Looks really different with it, I like!

[Rom 0]

Thanks !

 

I forgot all about the slam panel tbh. It was in a box, wrapped in bubble wrap with the grill, battery tray etc. By then it was too late, and i wasnt overly fussed.

[daveyboyblack 1]

Looks like an amazing job so far! Have you gone for braided brakelines all the way through? Can I ask how much this set you back? (Will pm you if you wanna keep costs off forum).

Cheers

[Stu 18]

Awesome mate, attention to detail is spot on!

 

Ive got to ask, where did the bonnet come from? mine came with the exact same vented auto bonnet and people always ask me who/where it came from!

[Rom 0]

Looks like an amazing job so far! Have you gone for braided brakelines all the way through? Can I ask how much this set you back? (Will pm you if you wanna keep costs off forum).

Cheers

 

Yeah, i already had braided flexis. But now every line on the car is braided. Think they were around £100 ish, but i try not to remember prices too much, or i might cry lol.

 

Awesome mate, attention to detail is spot on!

 

Ive got to ask, where did the bonnet come from? mine came with the exact same vented auto bonnet and people always ask me who/where it came from!

 

It was on there when i bought the car. With the vent already in. Id guess it was done by a company called Cool Louvres , who i remember makign a name for them selfs when i was still reading Max Power. Though id guess a lot more companies offer the same thing since them.

 

I know a guy with a Corrado G60 who has one over his air filter, done by them, but it faces the opposite way, catching air rather than releasing it.

 

Sometimes i think they look a bit boy racerish, i go through phases of liking them. The bonnet was in great condition, apart from the pin holes, didnt fancy my chances of finding such a tidy auto bonnet. So decided they could stay.

[Stu 18]

 

The funny thing is, you have had the exact same problem as i have with the central vent letting water into the spark plug holes! Bloody thing..

[Rom 0]

Haha ! Was ok with the 8v in there, as the plugs were further forward. At least i never noticed a problem.

 

I never managed to get a plug cover to seal well enough. So i made a trap, to catch th ewater, and let it run back towards the manifold, just cleared the plugs. I got the bodyshop to make somehting a bit better looking. My attempt was some red plastic box i cut up and bonded on , but it did the job.

[Stu 18]

Yeah my efforts were suitably heath robinson too, found a bit of stainless at work and just double sided taped it to the underside....

 

Anyhoo.. Enough of my spamming.. Top effort mate, car looks awesome.