Thanks Marc, it was the right decision, and yes, looking forward to meeting yourself and everyone else, lets hope a few more members get thier tickets in time

I love the carbon just poking through in the sun

it does look rather good doesn't it

I can see the GT getting carbon wrapped at this rate

I hope you mean carbon skinned and not wrapped because I have not seen a carbon wrap yet that looks good.....

Time for an update methinks, its been a while......
managed to get myself a bit of a bargain, a set of 17inch wheels for a bit of a steal .
They are however not in the best condition, filthy and kerbed like you wouldnt believe.
First thing was to give them a wash to see what i have to start off with


they have come up nicely, but you can see the kerbing
this is the best wheel

the rest literally had chunks out of them, so i started with the worst
a good sanding with 80grit took off the worst of the edges and gave me a decent surface to start with filler, i use just regular body filler, i have in the past and always had decent results.

then comes the tedious sanding down, but its worth it, after about half an hour i had this

a nice smooth surface all round the outer edge(im not saying rim on purpose... )


not looking too shabby, still have some kerbing and scraping to sort out on the spokes, but this wheel at least should be ready for filler primer by tomorrow night i think

Oooh, new shoes!!! Nice work so far and they look pretty decent. You going to paint them white or keep them 'alloy'??

Thanks Jon, i might add a second layer of filler just in case of any flat spots, but they have come up better than i had hoped. colour wise, yes, more than likely white again as i think white wheels suit the body colour, bit i might get a bit of blue on them somewhere

Nice

Paint the inside of the rims blue...white spokes and faces, blue inners

Nice work - they'll look super when done Good to know ordinary body filler is OK to use, as I have a couple of small dings on Sundance's wheels to sort out, and I was wondering what to use.

S

Thanks marc, good thought something i had considered too, and also white with blue spokes, but seeing as its not just me thinking white spokes and the rest blue.... i also considered all white, but with a blue pinstripe along the centre of eack spoke, but i think that might be a bit too fussy

Thanks Serena, ill see how it pans out overall then possibly add it to the guides section, there is one there for painting wheels, but not a refurb. And yes regular body filler is fine, unless there are any cracks or really bug chunks, then its a specialist alloy welder needed. but for straight forward kerbing its just the job.

+1 for blue inside white outside
Body color inside winner!!

Your wheels are what gave me the initial idea, was'nt overly sure about them at first but actually seeing them in the flesh they are awesome. its going to be hours of fun masking them off haha.

Time for a little bit of an update i think, still no real advance on the wheels, busy time at work means less time to get stuck in on big jobs.
but there has been a couple of little changes.
Firstly i have replaced the clocks for a rather nice set of plasma dials courtesy of Ayrton

sadly the inverter seems to be goosed so there is no glow as yet, but i have a new replacement on order.
and speeking of glow......
something i have mentioned on here before, now added, i admit it may seem to be a bit of a marmite thing(as are most things i tend to do), but so far they have been quite well recieved.

as for future plans, im collecting parts as and when i can due to a huge vets bill, but im aiming for seats, side skirts and engine.

Looking good bud

Niiiiicccceeee, but I thought you were getting a zxi?

Cheers guys, and yes a zxi was on the cards, but there werre a few problems sourcing parts which kinda put a halt to that, but also, when it came to it i couldnt part with this one, gone through a lot with this one and never really felt that i had got it to be where i want it to be ultimately

Yeah, I know what you mean, they not just a car they are like family.

Update time........Felling Season is now over so im starting to get a little extra time back in my schedule, so now i have time again for things such as, LIFE etc.

But i have a very long list of things to do with Womble....

My checklist is.

Finish and fit new wheels
replace front brake disks and pads
source and replace front brake calipers
replace rear brake lines
replace exhaust downpipe and cat
all 4 shocks could do with replacing
sort out rust on rear arches
replace drivers seat

Plenty to keep me busy, and probably easier to just get a new car, been thinking and looking at the lexus ct 200h, but then again, i love this damn car....

Lots of stuff to be getting on with dude!!

After quite a while now ive finally got my laptop working once again...yaaay, ive been confined to using my phone for most things, but photobucket wont work on it for some reason....anyway.
Im back after my winter hibernation, its my busy time of year.
also been upto a few things with the car too

had a test fit of the new wheels....


love them, but a home resto is not working out as planned, so they are off to get professionally done £100 for all 4, ill go for that.

ive also been absconding too, a good friend of mine rats out his cars quite a bit, and i went along to a meet with him and got quite inspired, i have spare parts kicking about in the garage so i thought i would have a bash too....
have to say, its quite cathartic taking a flap disc and angle grinder to a car bonnet...


but i wasnt over keen when the rust finally set in, so i went for an aged paint look...and then took the grinder to it again to give it whats known as patina to the rat lads



now dont fret guys n gals, these parts can come and go as i see fit, but i will always return to the shine......

this was taken at the Infinity Bridge, close to where i live, and within the University Campus grounds i went to.

She's looking fabulous, Paul!

What's the recipe for this amazing shine everyone has? A polisher and then Meguiars? I won't get Sundance looking like that by the weekend!

S

Hi Serena, and thank you. I would imagine there is a fair bit of photo related trickery and editing to get that look lol. But my recipe for shine is that I alternate washes, one week I use megs gold class, then the following week I use megs ultimate wash and wax. I get the wax and polish out once a month during the summer, and once a fortnight during the winter.
And don't worry Sundance is looking just fine.

Finally feel like I'm getting somewhere with womble now, fingers crossed the leaks are sorted, new rocker cover gasket changed over, oil change and plugs, drives like a different car now, brakes next, new hoses for the rear, and have a newish front caliper kindly supplied by tickler, whilst doing that ill get the new disks and pads on too. Also have a new bit of shiney under the bonnet too, that will be revealed at a later date.

Top work Smurf!!! Looking forward to seeing womble again at JAE this year

Nice productive day in the sun, new polished rocker cover on, heat shield half stripped-down after(foolishly) spraying it blue. New cv boots fitted, not the E-Z Boots this time though, I would not recommend them to anyone. Went to replace rear brake hoses, but the offside pipe will need to be replaced for mot first. Now just waiting for it to cool off a little so I can give the old girl a wash. I've also gone back to standard rear spoiler too, on the lookout for something a bit different

Well yesterday was mot day........and she passed......and with only a couple of advisories too so well happy, parts which needed attention have been ordered so come the weekend she will be all sorted.
Now this years plans/makeover can begin in Ernest.

Take up my tips on rust proofing Smurfie & the old gurl will live on for many years !
Here in Queensland (Australia) we only need a MOT when we sell the car whilst it's registered.
The New Zealand guys have it pretty much like you every 12mths

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Speed is subjective to only how far you keep your right foot down..

Excellent work Smurf!!! Look forward to seeing you and Womble at JAE mate

Cheers guys, and Lee, yes definitely at JAE again this year.
And a big yes on the rust front too, I have lots to be getting on with, the old girl will look a lot different from last year.