Project MRX350

[boondougal]

It looks nice and crisp Paul, i really like the arch to Wing line... really sharp if you ask me and very fitting with the overall Mk1 / 80's look.

[PW@Woodsport]

Thanks Sam, i didn't want to lose that, the stock arch has much more of a blend out and isn't as crisp, but i think it looks better sharper.

[boondougal]

i have to agree... out of interest what grit to you flat the high build off with?

i will be base coating mine (mica blue) and clear coating in case it makes a difference.

[PW@Woodsport]

On the high build i use 500 wet/dry and then a final once over with a 1500, you got to get all of those scratches out or the basecoat will highlight them like you wouldn't believe.

The high build itself will bury even an 80 grit scratch so i 240 my repair after the 80 just to make sure.

Another thing to bear in mind is, if you're using light coloured primer, the mica base will take some covering it, honestly you will think it's covered until it sees daylight and your repair will shine through.

What i do is tinge my last primer coat with a darker version of what my basecoat/2k is going to be, so if you mixed some black or very dark blue with your grey/cream/white primer then basecoat coverage will be a lot better.

The last full Mr2 i painted was red and it was tinged pink on its primer coat, the red covered brilliantly, try the same thing on a yellow or black and it just won't cover.

[boondougal]

Yet more nuggets of gold from the McDaddy...

i might nominate you for an award.. unfortunately the wards where you could get the treatment you need areall full

Thats health care cuts for you!

[PW@Woodsport]

Thanks.... i think!

[PW@Woodsport]

Ok, it's been p1$$ing down outside, so no chance of any bodywork, so i decided to tackle a little dash project i've been cooking up. I've always liked digital gauges (it's a Knight rider thing), giving exact figures instead of a needle pointing "somewhere", now the stock analogue gauges work fine, but i've fancied dragging the dash bang up to date for ages.

So here it is, i still have work to do to the bezel, so please forgive the makeshift gauge surround, a few hours work will see it 100%, but you get the idea.

This copies the Mk1 readouts, so oil pressure, volts, coolant temp and fuel gauge all work, i especially like the fuel gauge reading as a percentage. I've also colour coded them red to match the car, but any colour could have been possible.

So another little cool mod this car is getting, i have a few more things in the pipeline, but hopefully none of them going too OTT.

[boondougal]

This is... F.A.B

[PW@Woodsport]

Thanks Sam, i've gone a lot wilder than this before so for me it's quite subtle, i've grafted Astra digi clocks into both the Mk1 and Mk3 before which are very cool but also very tempermental, here's a video of the Mk3 ones i did, they look great and very 80's, just getting them to stay working reliably is the issue, so this time around i wanted to do something less fussy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URLHi3IsT4U

[mulaz]

love it paul !
Any chance you might do a kit?

[PW@Woodsport]

Hi mate, thanks, i suppose i could do another one but i'll warn you that it cost me a small fortune to do, the gauges and senders alone with shipping and import duty/Vat cost me about £280.

Then the custom dash work took me ages, for me to build one for a customer i don't think you'll get much change out of £500, i think it would be much better to build one for yourself really.

The gauge LED colours come in blue, green, red and white.

[mulaz]

Cheers Paul any info on the parts used etc would be great for all even just for future reference .
i have a friend who is a electronics genius who may be able to clobber up a cheaper version for us mortals

[PW@Woodsport]

This is the Ebay seller in the US i used for everything, the clincher for me was them being able to supply a matching fuel gauge, previously that one was a problem when trying to go digital.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/digitalgauges ... 4340.l2562

The gauges could be mounted on top of the bezel instead of under it, dare i say it they might look better like that, but i wanted a more OEM look to the bezel. The displays also flash when upper or lower limits are reached.

Here is my dash without the bezel, you can see all i've done is make space for the units and bond them in, they would look great fully visible on top of the bezel, but it will look like 4 gauges stuck into the dash.



I've finished the bezel now, just waiting for the matt black paint to dry.

[mulaz]

Cheer Paul great stuff

One to put on my list to do , with the many others

[PW@Woodsport]

Not much to update due to the absolutely crap weather making it impossible to work on the car outside, but i am in the middle of retrimming my interior in black suede, up to now it looks really good, a much cosier place to be with no glare. I'll post pics when it's back together.

Also continuing my JDM theme for this car i managed to get my hands on a set of Koito retract foglights, they are brand new, cost me a fortune too, but i figure it will be a nice touch.



Hopefully i can crack on with the bodywork again once summer decides to arrive.

[elbon50]

once summer decides to arrive.

That'll be around September or October this year by t'looks of things

[pk_090]

They will look the dogs danglies Paul!

[coanda]

Those fog lights look good. Interested to see how they integrate with your splitter.

As an aside, have you ever seen this splitter and spoiler before?



The outside of this car is stunning, but the interior is chaos.

[PW@Woodsport]

My personal opinion of that particular car is that it has a horrible rear wing and the front splitter is too round to go with the squared off Mk1, but it's gorgeous wheels make it look much nicer than it really is, take those away and it's pretty crap to me.

[Tsia]

I have to say I really, really like that rear wing. I agree on the front, though. Too rounded! I think it'd look spot on without that.