488 replies to this topic

[mandarinvx]

The side vents had seen better days

I had intended to paint them in-situ, but looking closer it was evident the reason they had corroded and bubbled was a lack of undercoat

So I drilled out the rivets - they were held on with the one top plastic rivet and double sided foam down the sides





How they were when they came off the car, some of the paint had already started to come away:



And the aluminium underneath had oxidised beyond belief!



So a quick whizz over with a drill mounted wire brush:



A coat of special metals primer:



And re-paint and fit (this time using a screw driven fastener)

[mandarinvx]

And finally a very good clean, using some of the Meguiars gear I bought the week before

This included:

Wash with gold class suds
Dry with water magnet towel
Clay all over
1-2 coats of Ultimate Compound (great stuff!)
A coat of Autoglym SRP (they'd kill me if they knew )
A good coat of Collinite 915 wax

[AliM]

I wish I had the patience to do a cleaning regime like that on mine! The car is looking great Adam, you must be really pleased with it.

[mandarinvx]

Cheers yep it's amazing what a bit of tlc can do; wouldn't be so easy if it were my only car tho, as there has been a lot of 'drying time' etc involved If the wax takes to the paint as it did to my last car it should only need doing every six months or so

[The Batman]

one can only wish to have paintwork that good

[mandarinvx]

The closer you get the worse it becomes A few people of asked what I bought for the oil breather, so I'll put the details here *I haven't fitted it yet* so the gearbox breather point dimension could be wrong, but after a bit of searching I came up with a inconclusive answer of 10mm external diameter I bought- A K&N 62-1320 crankcase type filter unit A lengh of Goodyear 9.3mm ID 3mm wall fuel hose And a length of 10mm OD aluminium tube, as the K&N come with a female fitting And a few stainless Jubilee clips Not a particulary cheap fix, but you can get budget versions of the filter for ~£5 on ebay... HTH

[The Batman]

i think its 12mm pipe from the top of my head........ but i maybe wrong

[mandarinvx]

i think its 12mm pipe from the top of my head........ but i maybe wrong

Ah well, the fuel pipe is pretty flexible, so should go on

[The Batman]

im not 100% sure but like you said im sure you can make it fit!

[mandarinvx]

I couldn't find a definative answer when I searched - helpfully the 'how to' guide, now in the blogs sections just says "take a peice of fuel hose"

[rsg]

Didnt realise the side vents were only held on with a rivet. Might have to fetch mine off and touch them up. Have you got your Piper yet?? Cars lookin good

[Baron Von Scubadaddy]

Cars lookin reall cool fella well done to you

[Stampy 21]

Decided to get on with one of the jobs I don't enjoy:





Fitted a pair of side pockets:



Nice n clean



And the carbon centre console (turned out to be more of a PITA than expected ) together with a new gearknob and handbrake handle

looking good dude i reconise them side pockets

[mandarinvx]

Didnt realise the side vents were only held on with a rivet. Might have to fetch mine off and touch them up.

Have you got your Piper yet??

Cars lookin good

Yeap, takes a bit of force tho - the double sided foam stuff they used is actually quite strong - best to use a pair of long nose pliers, one leg in the hole where the rivets been drilled from and one on the bottom of the upper horizontal metal part (erm didn't explain that too well did I )

Nope haven't got the Piper yet, I'll have to give him another nudge to see if he knows what's happening with the black tail pipes

Cars lookin reall cool fella well done to you

Cheers mate - a bit more tarting up to do yet, then a photoshoot

looking good dude i reconise them side pockets

Yea cheers bud they look great

[Strugs]

Going well there chap, keep up the good work! Look forward to seeing it in the flesh sometime soon..

[alparks]

looks really good mate, the whole project is interesting and as you can see from my project, you have given me some great ideas! there are a few other things you have done which i think i would have a go at. can i ask, how much was your roof seal? as i would like to change mine. also price or link maybe? also really looking forward too see the oil breather job, as this is something i am going to do soon, and with your descriptions it should make life a bit easier! ill let you do the work. keep up the great work

[techieboy]

can i ask, how much was your roof seal? as i would like to change mine. also price or link maybe?

Linky

[alparks]

can i ask, how much was your roof seal? as i would like to change mine. also price or link maybe?

Linky

[mandarinvx]

The A pillar drains are optional extra's - the seal itself (ie same as the tubby) is ~£61; a tad better than the £150 Vauxhall want for exactly the same part (in fact the guy at Bell & Colvill said it was one of the few parts Lotus actually source from Vauxhall)

[mandarinvx]

A couple of little bits

The grille was looking quite bad, with areas where the paint had chipped and rust was showing, so got out the wire brushes:



Then painted by hand with a small brush




Also started on the calipers as they had lost the finish too:



Did the discs at the same time - not sure whether the paint will last tho




And my ickle Rover 100 / Metro mirror