gradeAfailure

The rims aren't here yet, and they're coming from Deutschland... gonna order me some 205/40 Proxes T1-R next week... should have them by the RR day :)

Ok, no worries on the orange peel then, the Poorboys seems to be doing a good job of glassing it... What about the blending of the lacquer though?

Well, the irritating weather has decided to rain which means I can't clear the crap out of the garage into the back garded to make way for the car, so it'll just be more practice this weekend... grr... :) On the subject of lacquer, obviously if you're using 2K with a gun, you can mix some thinners in with it for getting the blend area right, but how would you go about getting an acceptable blend with aerosol lacquer? Or is it just not possible? On the plus side, test sprays have been coming out nicely (after I discovered that the lacquer sprays much heavier than the basecoat!), and cuts up to a lovely deep shine with Poorboys SSR2 and Meguiars polish... :thumbleft: just gotta work on technique as I'm getting a very slight orange-peel effect with the lacquer, but I suspect the coats just need to be thinner...

Yup, I use the Savage stuff and it's good... just done Laura's lights (2nd set) smoked tops...

alternator and alarm should be enough... :)

You can add that 312mm brakes on the VR are ok under the RS301s - I don't have them, but Asim (moonlightVR) did... oh, and mine's on a 35mm (approx) drop

Nope, naked as the day they were born... ;)

A lot of what will fit depends on how low you are, whether you have a late or early body, what tyres you want to run, whether you're willing to stretch or not, whether you're running coilovers or not, etc, etc... Best thing is if you find a set of wheels you like, calculate how much more the inner and outer edges will stick in/out compared to your current wheels, then go have a look at your car and see if they look like they'll fit! For example, I currently have 7.5x17 ET33 RS301s with 205/40 tyres on my VR. I'll soon be fitting a set of 8.5x17 ET35 OZ splits, also with 205/40 tyres. There's an extra inch (25.4mm) in width, and the offset is increased by 2mm. So, the new wheels' inner lip will be 14.7mm further inboard (25.4/2 + 2 = 14.7), and the outer lip will be 10.7mm further out of the arch (25.4/2 - 2 = 10.7). I will have more of a stretch on the tyres though, which will reduce the sidewall height whilst also angling it over a bit, allowing a touch more clearance. make sense? :) Oh, and VW centre bore is 57.1mm...

Yup, the only aftermarket ones are all crystal-effect. Reckon if we all got together and petitioned Hella, we could get some factory original smoke/red ones made? I'm sure they did actually make some for the convertible prototype...

Ok, well I've been doing some test sprays on metal sheet with the VW aerosol I have, and it's coming out a pretty damn good match to the original paint on the car, so I'm going to have a crack at blowing over the scrape on the rear arch this weekend - no filler for the dent or anything, I just want rid of the gouges in the paint... So, how far back should I sand? Just enough to get a good keyed surface? And seeing as I won't be going back to bare metal, should I put down a layer of primer first?

yum yum!

If I had the money for coilovers Daz, you know I would... ;)

if they're 5-stud, that is... ;)

Hmmm, I'm no pro but I'm happy to have a quick look over it with the multimeter on Sat morning if you like? Gotta pop to Guildford with t'other half in the afternoon but should be ok 10am-12pm...! Drop me a PM or email... :)

Well, i've got the official touch-up can kit from VW, and on test sprays the colour match seems to be fairly good... guess i'll give that a go to start with and work up from there!

yeah, been looking on eBay... :) what do i need to look for in a gun? and what primer/paint/laquer would VW have used for the original paint? yeah, mine's aqua blue pearl, but the girlf's is flash red (flat colour) so hopefully i'll get experience of both!

timmmy, cheers mate! though that sucks about not being able to blend in 2K lacquer on metallics - I have some nasty scrapes on one of my rear arches that I wanted to blow over, but is there no way of blending the lacquer in at all?

:lol: actually, i'll be getting rid of mine as the car's too practical (ie. not low enough) and am interested to know what coilovers will give me the same ride quality - whether the FK Konigsports will be as good, or if i'm going to have to save for H&R or KW coilies... though I think this will be a good thread of people list all the different suspensions they've experienced in a C, irrespective of whether it was their car or not, as it gives people a frame of reference - eg. i think that Konis/H&R are comfortable enough for daily driving and are less wallowy than standard, but some people might not think that the standard setup is that soft or wallowy, and so wouldn't like the uprated setup.

Quite surprised to find that there isn't a definitive thread on suspension discussion like there is with tyres -opinions on suspension seem to crop up on a daily basis and would it not be worth having a single thread of opinions? Mods, feel free to delete/lock this if there's already a definitive thread that isn't stickied... :) Anyhoo, here's my experiences/opinions: On my VR - Koni TA/H&R springs, 17" wheels, 40-profile tyres Opinion - not a lot of body roll, very comfortable on ordinary everyday driving, responsive without being harsh, bit of "wince factor" on big potholes On Laura's valver - Koni coilovers, Eibach ARBs, 16" wheels, stretched 40-profile tyres Opinion - no body roll, bit harsh for daily driving, very responsive, lots of wince factor on big potholes On NickRStorm's VR - Standard suspension, 16" wheels, 45-profile tyres (at a guess) Opinion - comfortable, very wallowy, lots of body roll

Hmmm, could be an idea... anyone know where I could gen up on the types of paint used (cellulose, 2-pack, water-based, etc), where to buy it from (local bodyshop?), books on how-to...? jenks, I see your point, but I'm not talking about being able to do a pro-quality respray in my garage, just being able to blow-in scratches and paint chips to an acceptable standard til I can afford to pay the pros!

Was pootling about online today, and started looking into the prices of compressors and spray guns and stuff - and it got me thinking about splashing out and trying to learn how to spray. http://www.diy-compressors.com/shop/sta ... v-spraying It's only £94, so the quality isn't going to be pro or anything, but for blowing over scrapes and stonechips until I can afford a full-on respray, it's gotta be worth a thought... I know spraying seems like a bit of a black art, but surely if you practise enough then it's no harder than anything else? Anyone been there, done it, bought the t-shirt?

I'd have the 2.0, stick the 1.8 inlet cam in to take the power up (can you believe there are 2.0 owners who haven't done this yet...?!), and enjoy having the late-spec interior and body...

he's also the man that will be selling em to me! heheh, oops! :oops:

Darren's your man for KW coilover advice, and Weitec stuff too... :)

click for my experience of Spit & Polish to be fair, the fronts of the wheels look good, but I wouldn't use them again... Kev had his done by Pristine, I believe, and was very happy... Jay Renshaw's vette rims were done by http://www.wheelrefurbishing.co.uk