Neil's Roadster
- Thread starter NeilP
- Start date
jamie_z4 said:
Given the lack of TLC this car has seen, it felt fitting to document it all.
:lol:
Simple jobs take twice as long though.
JINGLE said:
Nothing too difficult so far! Definitely worth saving a few pennies and doing some work yourself!
Mike6 said:
Thank you!
I believe it houses a load of electrics.
More updates. Spent some time giving the paint some much needed tlc. Time to give the tired looking paint a new lease of life.
Started with a hose down. Was pleased to see that it had some form of wax on it applied, and relatively recently at that.
IMG_3409 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
IMG_3410 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Sprayed the car with a mixture of degreaser, APC, and some Fairy liquid.
IMG_3411 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
APC was then sprayed around and agitated with a brush.
IMG_3413 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
The front grills were removed and hit with some APC as well.
IMG_3432 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Next up was the actual wash. Wanting to remove as much of the existing wax as possible, I opted for Fairy liquid. Lots of suds!
IMG_3418 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Rinsed the car and it was then time to clay the paint. As per the instructions I only used water as lube with great results.
IMG_3434 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Judging by how much clay I got through, the paint was in pretty bad shape with regards to surface contaminants. This was after one pass over a portion of the bonnet.
IMG_3436 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
I wanted to make sure that the surface was as clean as possible so the car was hit with a spritz of Iron-X. Pretty hard to capture the bleeding from the black paint, but the wheels had a fair bit.
IMG_3441 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
IMG_3444 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Rinsed the car again before hitting it with the DA to reveal some pretty bad swirls and some deep scratches.
IMG_3447 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
IMG_3450 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
I started off with two passes with Meguiar's DA Microfibre cutting compound followed with two passes of Auto Glym's Ultra Deep shine. Unfortunately I only managed to finish compounding the car before calling it a day.
IMG_3453 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
IMG_3462 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Started the next day with passes of Ultra Deep Shine.
IMG_3464 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Now for the protection stage. To complement the compound, a coat of the DA finishing wax was used. Following that a I moved onto two coats of Meg's #16. One coat applied by hand, another with the DA.
IMG_3468 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Lastly, the car was finished with a coat of Liquid Wax on top.
IMG_3476 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Which resulted in the car looking much more presentable in my opinion. Complements the coupe nicely now!
IMG_3482 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Oh and the exhaust tips were removed, cleaned, dab of of Autosol and refitted.
IMG_3489 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Concluding thoughts; the paint is far from perfect, but she's scrubbed up nicely considering the age! Next for the car is a new rocker cover gasket and CCV hoses. If you made it through to the end, treat yourself to a nice cold brew!
Started with a hose down. Was pleased to see that it had some form of wax on it applied, and relatively recently at that.
IMG_3409 by Neil Patel, on FlickrIMG_3410 by Neil Patel, on FlickrSprayed the car with a mixture of degreaser, APC, and some Fairy liquid.
IMG_3411 by Neil Patel, on FlickrAPC was then sprayed around and agitated with a brush.
IMG_3413 by Neil Patel, on FlickrThe front grills were removed and hit with some APC as well.
IMG_3432 by Neil Patel, on FlickrNext up was the actual wash. Wanting to remove as much of the existing wax as possible, I opted for Fairy liquid. Lots of suds!
IMG_3418 by Neil Patel, on FlickrRinsed the car and it was then time to clay the paint. As per the instructions I only used water as lube with great results.
IMG_3434 by Neil Patel, on FlickrJudging by how much clay I got through, the paint was in pretty bad shape with regards to surface contaminants. This was after one pass over a portion of the bonnet.
IMG_3436 by Neil Patel, on FlickrI wanted to make sure that the surface was as clean as possible so the car was hit with a spritz of Iron-X. Pretty hard to capture the bleeding from the black paint, but the wheels had a fair bit.
IMG_3441 by Neil Patel, on FlickrIMG_3444 by Neil Patel, on FlickrRinsed the car again before hitting it with the DA to reveal some pretty bad swirls and some deep scratches.
IMG_3447 by Neil Patel, on FlickrIMG_3450 by Neil Patel, on FlickrI started off with two passes with Meguiar's DA Microfibre cutting compound followed with two passes of Auto Glym's Ultra Deep shine. Unfortunately I only managed to finish compounding the car before calling it a day.
IMG_3453 by Neil Patel, on FlickrIMG_3462 by Neil Patel, on FlickrStarted the next day with passes of Ultra Deep Shine.
IMG_3464 by Neil Patel, on FlickrNow for the protection stage. To complement the compound, a coat of the DA finishing wax was used. Following that a I moved onto two coats of Meg's #16. One coat applied by hand, another with the DA.
IMG_3468 by Neil Patel, on FlickrLastly, the car was finished with a coat of Liquid Wax on top.
IMG_3476 by Neil Patel, on FlickrWhich resulted in the car looking much more presentable in my opinion. Complements the coupe nicely now!
IMG_3482 by Neil Patel, on FlickrOh and the exhaust tips were removed, cleaned, dab of of Autosol and refitted.
IMG_3489 by Neil Patel, on FlickrConcluding thoughts; the paint is far from perfect, but she's scrubbed up nicely considering the age! Next for the car is a new rocker cover gasket and CCV hoses. If you made it through to the end, treat yourself to a nice cold brew!
Looks lush mate, good work !
Angie4m said:Wow! Looks like a labour of love there and a cracking finish. Looks like it's just rolled off the line
Thanks Angie!
Swiftly said:Impressive result Neil, well worth the effort
Well after today's work it's all been undone on the front arches!
stevo///m3 said:
ben g said:
I completely agree there Ben!
The ccv hoses basically route all the oil vapour from the crank case back to the car. Over time the valve becomes sticky and results in even higher oil consumption from the engine. This car so far wasn't too bad with oil consumption but I wanted to do it as preventative maintenance.
After taking the old valve apart, it was pretty gunky so that's a good shout that it's been changed.
andy.c said:Top job there mate it looks spot on now
When do you want to do mine?
Haha, drop it off.
JINGLE said:
Not hard! Just time consuming. :lol:
Getting work done with this car. It's slowly turning out to be a bit of a gem! (Yes, my coupe is still miles better)
Rocker cover gasket and ccv pipes and valve replaced.
No need for a how-to as there are already plenty of incredibly well written and documented ones out there.
Needless to say, many thanks to the original poster from this thread.
The rubber gaskets were incredibly hard and brittle (you can see below where they've snapped in places), so I urge any owners who haven't had theirs changed to do so. It'll make future changes much easier if they're still flexible.
Refitting the actual valve was a right pig for anyone worth attempting this. Do set yourself a lot of time as though it's a simple job, it can be time consuming.
The old valve was cracked open and I took a look inside. Wasn't too bad, but the hoses were also brittle and snapped while I was trying to remove them. Plenty of reason there to change them out I think!
The only thing left is to refresh the cooling system, sort the braking bits out, and do another oil change and everything should be okay!
Anyways, enough of my ramblings; I shall let the pictures do the talking.
IMG_3500 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
IMG_3503 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
IMG_3505 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
IMG_3506 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
IMG_3516 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Refitted everything and gave the bay another clean...for the foreseeable future I hope!
IMG_3529 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Rocker cover gasket and ccv pipes and valve replaced.
No need for a how-to as there are already plenty of incredibly well written and documented ones out there.
Needless to say, many thanks to the original poster from this thread.
The rubber gaskets were incredibly hard and brittle (you can see below where they've snapped in places), so I urge any owners who haven't had theirs changed to do so. It'll make future changes much easier if they're still flexible.
Refitting the actual valve was a right pig for anyone worth attempting this. Do set yourself a lot of time as though it's a simple job, it can be time consuming.
The old valve was cracked open and I took a look inside. Wasn't too bad, but the hoses were also brittle and snapped while I was trying to remove them. Plenty of reason there to change them out I think!
The only thing left is to refresh the cooling system, sort the braking bits out, and do another oil change and everything should be okay!
Anyways, enough of my ramblings; I shall let the pictures do the talking.
IMG_3500 by Neil Patel, on FlickrIMG_3503 by Neil Patel, on FlickrIMG_3505 by Neil Patel, on FlickrIMG_3506 by Neil Patel, on FlickrIMG_3516 by Neil Patel, on FlickrRefitted everything and gave the bay another clean...for the foreseeable future I hope!
IMG_3529 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
JINGLE said:
I'm not sure if your engine has the ccv, may be worth checking on real oem there.
Certainly not a difficult job, just don't forget the RTV sealant!
Marlon said:
Thank you!
ben g said:
Ebay special, no idea what one it was.
For what it's worth, the replacement kit looked identical to the oem parts.
tomscott said:Great stuff Neil! Car looks like new!
They seem to be getting more and more attractive as Used car prices have gone through the roof for anything even slightly interesting. Watching with interest
Thank you Tom! Indeed they have! All these less desirable ones are plummeting! (Which is good for people after cheap thrills!)
Update time I think...
Since starting a new job the car has been driven hard, filled up with fuel and acquired a similar plate to the my Coupe. Nothing else aside from that.
Had a 3 day weekend so I thought I'd get some maintenance in for the car. Another oil change and a wash.
3 months of use lead to one filthy car!
IMG_3706 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
IMG_3700 by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Untitled by Neil Patel, on Flickr
Since starting a new job the car has been driven hard, filled up with fuel and acquired a similar plate to the my Coupe. Nothing else aside from that.
Had a 3 day weekend so I thought I'd get some maintenance in for the car. Another oil change and a wash.
3 months of use lead to one filthy car!
IMG_3706 by Neil Patel, on FlickrIMG_3700 by Neil Patel, on FlickrUntitled by Neil Patel, on Flickr