A 202 black rev2 in Kent some 270 miles away from me. No Mot, No Tax, damaged bonnet, rust to the rear section of the sills tired bodywork all the basics of a good project. Donna my girlfriend (D.K) and I left home at 7.30pm on a Monday evening to collect the car arriving in Kent at midnight. We collected the car and D.K drove it the 270 miles home finally getting back at 5.00am. The car had been booked in for an mot that day to enable us to drive it home obviously the car had been insured also. So what did we get.
Bit of a mess you will agree the previous owner could have at least washed the car thank god D.K drove it back at night as it grew lighter on the way home the car looked worse and worse
:no: and I was expecting it to get pulled over luckily this did not happen. So the list of problems:1.
Offside and Nearside sill ends corroded and in need of welding2.
Offside wheel arch liner mssing3.
Idle speed to high when warm and cutting out when cold4.
White wheels!!5.
Bonnet, hinges, and plastic scuttle all damaged6.
Paintwork dull, scratched damaged generally tired7, Dirty interior
Generally the car wanted some tlc to save it and make it road worthy again.
Good points: 1.
Powerflow Stainless exhaust and de-cat pipe 2.
Full service history with receipts seller did not know this3.
Induction kit make unknown but the pipe is polished alloy so looks good4.
Toad total closeure alarm systemSo its worth saving and could be a nice car.
First job was to give it a clean, for those of you that know me I am an auto detailer and can not work on anything that is dirty so at 5.30am as the car arrived home it was washed as I couldnt have a minging car in the valeting area. It was jet washed on low pressure, snow foamed, rinsed, trims and gaps etc cleaned with detailing brushes, washed using 2 bucket method, rinsed again, and dried with the drying towel. Then I could see what I had bought. I was a bit tired by this time so that was the extent of the first days work, D.K had spent the morning asleep after the long drive the night before and I was feeling a bit jaded myself.
Day 2 I took a trip to the local scrapyard and purchased some of the items I required.
I got a bonnet, bonnet hinges, wheel arch liner, and various bits and bobs as you do at the scrapyard. That afternoon/evening I removed the old bonnet, hinges, and scuttle which involves partial removal of the front wings to enable you to get to the bonnet hinge bolts. Once D.K had finished work she gave me a helping hand to hold the new bonnet whilst I bolted it up Thanks Babe. So now it had a new bonnet, hinges and scuttle so was looking more like a car again.Over the following days the car was checked over for the mot making sure there was no obvious problems that it would fail on.
JJ and Wibble came round to se the new addition and Wibble noticed a kinked pipe on the induction kit which was causing the idle speed problem. This ended up being an easy fix as I cut the hose down which was too long and re-attached it, idle problem solved. Cabby Dave agreed to weld the sills for a reasonable fee and a ford Ka sill to manufacture the replacement panels from. Wibble drove his car with me to Dave's so I could get home Cheers Mate :th: . I asked Dave to just do the welding as I would do the paintwork and feathering in of the sills. Dave did a cracking job and even gave me front and rear toyota badges as mine were missing Cheers Dave :th: :th: The car was booked in for an mot to enable it to be driven to cabbydave's with Mike Whitworth so Dave got the car on the Friday with Mike having the car midday Monday for the mot.
After a rigorous Whitworth Mot she came away with a pass. So now it was onto sorting the car and making this into a good example.
The sills were rubbed down and a slight application of filler applied where the welding had been done. They were then primered and sprayed gloss black with a coat of shutz over the top as per factory finish. You can not tell that any welding has been done they look great. All the wheel arches have been cleaned and sprayed with shutz, the front nearside liner was removed and cleaned out it is amazing how much crap collects behind these liners. Liners were then fitted to both front wheel arches and dressed with Autoglym plastic dressing. The wheels were replaced with my standard wheels which I had sprayed in anthracite grey last year for my tubby they look great on the car.
The front and rear badges were sprayed in anthracite to match the wheels and provide a stealthier look to the car. Following this theme I tinted the front indicator/sidelights and side repeaters in black. The rear light units had been tinted by a previous owner they are not to my standard and will be re-done before JAE. The car was then clay barred and fully machine polished, first using 3m FCP and the Ultrafine on a blue 3m pad.
All machine work was done with a rotary polisher as this gives better results than a DA. Autoglym SRP and UDP were then applied 2 coats of each followed with Collinite 476s wax again 2 coats 24 hrs apart 1 panel at a time. A few subtle transformer style decals have been added to the car supplied by JJ and Wibble Cheers guys :th: . They are on the wheels, rear screen, and one very personal one on the front grill. They are subtle and enhance the cars appearance. I have more jobs to do on this car for JAE but it is now on the road taxed, mot'd, and saved here are the pics I hope you like the car and the brief write up Regards Bikerogg.
