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Polar White and Rust - a restoration epic, can it even be done?


IanMc
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When l found out that it was the wrong colour on sticky l thought about just get it gone 

I am going to have to sell sticky but l am going to get it right (hopefully) 

Going to a bit of interior work and forget about the paint cockup for now

Got keep going lan 

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Thank you everyone, this really is a fabulous owners club  :thumbup

Not too much done tonight as my Wife needed to collect her new car this evening. So I literally had 45 minutes to gulp my Dinner down, get changed, then get out of the door. Anyway, its seems to have all been worth it as she now has this little beauty:

 

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But even with the limited time I had I still managed to get something done on the Cav  :lol:

 

Wiper arms refitted and the front and rear badges popped back in place...

 

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Thanks again everyone for all your support!

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11 hours ago, Iain said:

 

You mention that you cannot wet sand and polish coach enamel, are you sure ?, I,ve seen a car painted with a roller and brush ( there are also a few online ) the guy sanded, cut and polished and it looked as good as any body shop, if not better due to the depth of the paint and shine, I'm sure he said it was coach enamel, def wasn't cellulose !

 

 

Thanks Iain, that's a really good point - i was just going on what I was told by two people at the Practical Classics show at the NEC in March.

I have now sent this question directly to the manufacturer of my paint. Fingers crossed for a positive answer - that really would be a game changer if I could!!

Sometimes you just cant see the wood for the trees can you?

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I woke up too early again, so decided to spend an hour on the Cav before getting ready for work.

Good progress, I managed to get a few bits and pieces back on the front of the car:

- both headlights

- both indicators

- front spoiler

- number plate bracket and the plate itself

- the chrome trim under the lights

 

So tonight I just need to get the chrome 'hockey sticks' trims back on and refit the bumper and the front will be complete again.

 

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After (deep) cleaning the Wifes new car ('T' Cut, wax, wheel clean etc etc) I made a bit more progress on the Cav:

- headlights wired up and tested.

- front indicators, ditto

- front chrome 'hockey sticks' fitted

- front bumper refitted

- rear number plate lamp refitted

- rear number plate body inserts fitted

- both rear tail lights fitted and tested

 

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Hopefully tomorrow evening I can get the rear bumper fitted again too.

Obviously everything needs a really good clean down, but so what, thats only a couple of hours work later...

Have a nice evening everyone.

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Hi Ian, looking good bud, if you don't mind me mentioning, as the number plate is fitted to the brackets at the top this makes the brackets visible, as they are not the nicest bits of engineering to save re-drilling the plate wondering if it would look cleaner if you revolved the bracket 180deg so the brackets are not showing, would look more like the pic below......just a thought !!

 

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Edited by Iain
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So after one of our cats woke me up at 03:00 running around like something possessed, I decided to go out to the garage to do some work until I felt tired again - which is pretty much as I type this  :lol:

- NS trim strip clips attached

- NS trim strips themselves refitted

- NS chrome sill cover refitted

 

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Again, everything needs a good scrub down, but nothing to worry about there.

Its a real shame that a previous owner had decided it was a good idea to attach the sill trim with self tappers into what was then a rusty sill and quarter panel... Oh well, perhaps one will become available at some stage and I will swap it out.

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Hi All,

I bring you some game changing news!!!!

Just got this back from the manufacturer of my coach enamel paint:

 

"Good morning Ian,

You can flat back and polish with our single pack coach enamel, however, it is important to ensure the paint has fully cured to prevent the film from tearing.

Regards,

 Adam Hill

Managing Director"

 

Rock and roll !!!!!

 

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1 hour ago, H-400 said:

Hey thats great Ian, just take the time to be sure the paint is complete dry. So thats a reason to take that lady on the road an let the sun do it's work.

My thoughts entirely Herman - happy days!

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Got a bit more reassembly work done this evening.

- all OS side trim clips reinstated.

- all OS trim strips refitted

- the OS chrome sill back on

 

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So in terms of body fittings to go back on, all I have is the rear bumper, rear number plate bracket and the plate itself and  and the four chrome arch trims.

 

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I'm started to get excited again...  :rolleyes:

 

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Some more done before breakfast and then off to 'real' work this morning.

- The rear number plate mounting bracket and the plate itself is on.

- Boot lock is back on/in - although I still need to sort out the chrome front cover for this. I do have a plan for this area. Plus the boot lid itself needs adjusting on the hinges and the catch to get it all line back up again.

- Radio aerial refitted

 

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My pile of empty plastic bags grows ever larger, which has to be a good sign of progress I guess?

 

 

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Have a good day peeps.

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Not too much done this evening as we went out to Dinner to celebrate our 27th Wedding Anniversary  :thumbup

My Wife is an absolute Saint putting up with me for all these years  :lol:

Anyway.... I did find time to get the rear bumper refitted after we got back:

 

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Just the 4 x chrome arch trims to fit now and we are there for the outside of the car.

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27 minutes ago, 1200bandit said:

Are you going to use the car as it’s MOT and tax free 

Are going to put it though a MOT 

Looking spot on

 

It became MOT exempt on the 1st of April (ironic or what), but doesn’t become Tax exempt until next April.

I have been mentally struggling with the MOT, part of me says you know cars, so use it. However, the person on my other shoulder says get it done for peace of mind - but what about if it fails?!

On that basis, I think I will skip the MOT

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ooohh controversial Ian, if I had any doubt my car would fail its MOT I would not drive it on the public highway, I also think an MOT certificate adds value as it proves the cars integrity and keeps the mileage history,  IMO your listening to the wrong shoulder lol  I would pre MOT check then acting on the findings full MOT.

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Another late night / early morning...

I decided I should get stuck in and fitted up all four of the chrome wheel arch trim pieces:

 

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Tomorrow night, err actually that is tonight  :lol:  is Archery night, so no further updates are likely until Saturday.

Cheers all.

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Today I took my Astra J in for its MOT. When I collected it, I took the opportunity to talk to them about about my worries and concerns with the Cav.

In particular, an MOT exempt car that could potentially fail the test and have that recorded against it.

They suggested (as has been mentioned above) a safety inspection/pre-MOT check.

They said they could do this in 30 minutes and charge me just £35. If all is well, they could proceed to the actual MOT test, which they only charge an unbelievably low price of £17.50 for btw.

This seems like a really good way to proceed, so I will do exactly that.

ps the Astra passed, only needing some new wiper blades.

 

49 minutes ago, plumster said:

Looking good the revisit has certainly paid off.

Just a quick question: should there be chrome trim along bottom of boot & around the rear lights?

Hi Sam,

Yes absolutely. However, the strips around the lights were missing on my car, so I decided to cut off the mounting pins.

In addition, I also decided to follow the Manta look and dispose of the boot edge trim as well as I feel it makes the rear look ‘cleaner’. I do have that strip though, so I could fit that if I have a change of heart.

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Worth getting the pre MOT check, that's the plan for my A series when i finally get it back on the road!

The last time i had mine on the road (a long time ago now!) i had it all sorted put it in for the MOT, when i went to collect it the guy said, "it passed" but you had forgot to tighten up the front caliper bolts!!! so well worth the check for piece of mind 🙂

And the paint job is looking damn good. Some body shops dont turn it out that good. Had mine painted at a vauxhall dealer once after someone hit the front, (insurance claim) and when i got it home and checked it, it had all runs on the lower front valance!!

Painted mine before in the garage and its hard work, and glad you are not put off by a couple of little runs, its starting to look very good with everything back on it. Wish mine looked 50% as good as that 🙂

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Little update this evening.

With everything but the washer nozzles/jets back on the car (I have ordered some new ones), I turned my attention to the 'tuning' of the Cav.

First up I wanted to set the accelerator cable and 'kick down' cable from the throttle pedal.

After that I set the auto box selector lever to the book - even though it seemed to be absolutely spot on already   :lol:

My last job this evening was to look at the handbrake adjuster bracket - I noticed, well heard actually, it was hitting on the front silencer on start up i.e. when the engine kicked into life. Upon closer investigation I was able to adjust the handbrake cable a little to take out some of the slack (which pulled the assembly up a bit away from the exhaust). Then I realised that if I fitted larger diameter hangers to the center exhaust silencer it would let everything move down about half an inch - exactly the sort of clearance I was wanting to add.

So I'm off to do some Ebay shopping now for a pair of larger diameter silencer rubbers...

Have a great weekend everyone.

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