Owen's Rev3 styling project, inc. custom extended buttresses

[craig]

Car looks great mate

[mattymr2]

looks sweet! and very original.


desperate for some bigger rims thought!

[OwenK]

Thanks guys, the wheels situation will be rectified when it gets home & I can get some higher suspension on, then the wheels can go on

[OwenK]

Some more shots from the workshop today, the guys opened the main workshop door up so we could see it with some more normal light on it.





And with the lips trimmed back, this is now the final panel fit on the new seam line:



Which I personally think is very impressive when you accept that this part isn't a butt joint, it's actually overlapping the standard panel and the two surfaces are parallel. Hopefully collecting the car tomorrow/Weds.

[OwenK]

Me again. Not sure if I'm speaking to the tumbleweed now but this is a handy log for me if nothing else.

Went to pick up the car today but came home empty handed. They hadn't trimmed down the seam line on one side as much as I wanted - one side is beautiful and nearly flush but the other side protrudes a few mm, sounds petty but it's enough to make one side look near-factory and one side looks a bit billy bolt-on. Ah well, what's a few more days!


Reverse lights on in this picture - not much light cast but enough for other people to know where I'm going at least.



And the all-important side profile!

Before:

After:

[Steve Horrocks]

Some impressive work done there, but I must say, it looks to have taken a long time, your house looks to have gone to rack & ruin between the before & after pics. You've certainly lapsed on the house maintenance!

[OwenK]

Some impressive work done there, but I must say, it looks to have taken a long time, your house looks to have gone to rack & ruin between the before & after pics. You've certainly lapsed on the house maintenance!

[OwenK]

So with the car bodywork finally finished, here's some shots taken outside the shop before I left:







The gaps are really nice now, and the transition is as smooth as it ever could be, I think. The guys also put a bead of sealant the full way around the edge which makes the fit look really nice.
I know you guys are concerned about the "kink" you can see from the front views, and I don't deny that it looks severe in these pictures, but it's difficult to see in the flesh and works well overall with the lines of the car. All of which is besides the fact that due to the shapes and curves of the standard bodywork, it'd be very hard if not impossible to build it without a kink visible from one angle or another (without tearing down and re-making quite large areas of standard metal, which I didn't want to do).

Overall I'm really happy, the car looks awesome & the paint finish is excellent. It's off to my mechanic tomorrow to swap the springs for me back to standard 93+ springs for some more ground clearance, then fingers crossed, the OZ wheels will hopefully go on tomorrow evening - but this relies on my super-slim wheel nuts turning up...

[mattymr2]

VERY nice mate!


looking forward to seeing it with the new wheels.

[OwenK]

Wheels & stock springs fitted today!

[craig]

Gotta be happy with that

[OwenK]

Very much so mate!

Off to get the arches trimmed today in the hopes of less tyre scrape, and then failing that I will trim the spacers down

[wickermonkey]

Very nice!

Might be looking at doing something similar to mine now i have it, either that or just get a big GT wing. One way or the other with me.

[SonicSW20]

Very nice - cant help but think a toned down version of a Bomex Drift style spoiler would look really nice on that - think Noble M12 without the aluminium wing?

[stevenb]

Not at all a fan of body kits unless it's for a rally car/motorsport but that is actually pretty decent.
Subtle enough to look OEM and I love the rear light span across the back of the car.
The wheels really suit it too.
Nice work that man.

[HighwayStar]

Hey Owen. Missed you at Duxford though I saw the cars. We were in Miches mk3 as mine ...err. Well, err. Anyway where did you lot get to all day?
Really liked it. Looks excellent from many angles and the job itself looks to be very competently done and finished. Nice wheels and it sits v nicely.
I take it you're a v happy bunny?

R

PS Did you consider blending the spats?

[stevenb]

I think the ride height looks good as it is.
Doesn't need dropping any more.

Rob, I can't believe you've still got your White rev 1 mate.
I think I have had around 25 cars since '99 and now I'm on my 6th MR2.

[OwenK]

Thanks guys
A lip spoiler thing is in the works in a year or two's time. Next project

Rob, was keeping an eye out for you, must have got there after we went for a wander. We just went for a little walk around the tanks, then the American planes... then the other 4 hangars that I hadn't known about when we started walking, and the play area for the kids, and making Spitfires from clothes pegs and card... by the time we got back to the cars the place was a ghost town!

Don't suppose you happened to take any snaps?

I did think about blending the spats, they are tehnically blended in in fact because the fit was so poor - but I like the "seam" line, the angles of it produce some pleasing (to my eyes) links with other lines on the car; and when smoothed in they look very slabsided to me, so they stayed



Took the car away with some fellow Pistonhead-ers to Wales a couple of weekends ago. 500 miles of driving heaven including the Black Mountain, Evo triangle and Snowdonia - I think the car has found its spiritual home! Shockingly, didn't miss a beat the entire trip (which was near as damnit 1000 miles in 60 hours), barring struggling to start in the morning of Day 1, had my heart in my mouth for a bit






Stephen caught a picture of me demonstrating the car's terrifying handling over the poorly surfaced, wet, perilous-dropoffs-and-sheep Black Mountain road on brand new tyres before they'd broken in





And then cleaned the dirt off (JUST from this trip)...

[matt-mr2]

that looks the muts nuts that m8 u should be proud

[philmr2]

That looks spot on from every angle. nice work