Rams

Did you get to the car in the end buddy?

Well, the rado is now painted! There are still body parts to paint which will be done next week. There is a problem, the roof has 2 slights dents, I didnt notice it at first as I was having a good look at the arches and lower sections but he told me he saw these marks after it was painted. So the roof will need to be re done. So a bit more expense which is a shame. The arches look spot on, really happy with them. Otherwise, I saw it straight out of the gun and not detailed. I felt there was a fair bit of orange peal, but there was a fine layer of dust over the car which miraged the paint so it might have been less than I thought. He said once its all finished it will be a mirror finish. What do people normall think when they see their car after paint but before being flatted and polished etc? How good should it look out f the gun? The bonnet, tailgate, mirrors and plastic surrounds, rear no plate surround, sunroof and splitter still to paint. Just smoothing the splitter scuffs and painting in black, to tidy it up. I decided not to colour code the spliter as it might get scuffed again? The grill will be re done aswell. I am also having the chassis turrets repainted as some rust is evident on the welds. The pictures are crap, for some reason the camera does not focus, maybe user error? There was a bit of sunlight catching the car and you could really see the deep blue colour coming through, so I'm sure when its all done its going to look amazing. He has taken some pics which I will get once its completed. I then need an MOT and tax as that runs out at the end of this month so I will have to recover the car back to the previous workshop so I can fit everything back before driving down to the MOT garage. Then I will be driving to my friends garage, now in a nice big workshop with a 2 poster ramp so he will fit the exhaust. The GF has organised a photo shoot for the car with a professional photographer thats shes friends with so you guys can get some nice decent pictures.

I picked up some more parts from the trimmer and I really am astonished at the quality. Managed to remove the strom badge on the console and will be stuck back on. Its turned out well as the badge was always quite recessed and now the badge is more in line with the surround. The gear selector boot/gator is being trimmed in alcantara, the leather just wears / marks in the end and will tie in nicely the alcantara healiner and visors. Another week and a bit and all the parts will be trimmed. I am now trying to source a dash board so I can have this trimmed and do a swap. I want all the plastics leather trimmed now, inc door pull surrounds, the seatbelt plastic clips, I want to do the lot! I even had the ashtray in the rear centre console trimmed! Today I've continued to leather treat the seats, they are looking really good now. The furniture clinic reviver is great stuff. Apply by hand, rubbed in for ages and buffed off. The D90'S have gone off for blasting, got narky when rubbing down the lips and caught the spokes and chipped some paint so have now decided to strip the wheels completely and then polish the lips, mask them up and have the rest of the wheels powder coated in mystic blue if we can get the color right? Otherwise, I might just do a gun metal powder coat and not go body coloured leaving the polished lip??? Need to get my skates on now next week the car should be painted. I'm going to see the car tomorrow and see the progress. Rams

I said I would leave my Storm standard! :D Be nice to see your progress

Looks superb and totally standard, result. What are you having done service wise, any more pics? Welcome to the forum, you cant go wrong here

Front bumper is quite straight forward to remove and refit. The thing to remember is not to drive the car with the front bumper missing, it acts as additional support. There are 2 bolts you need to remove from each side, so 4 bolts in total, leave the ones in the middle, they are effectively holding the engine up at that stage. The large bolts, 17 or 19 mm I think but cant quite remember are either side of the bolts that you need to leave in holding the crossmember in place. They are going to be tight to undo so have a breaker bar and extension at the ready and once removed, the bumper will slide forward forward, there are clips at each end of the bumper. Just remove it slightly to undo the front indicators and spotlight wiring, or you can remove the indicators and fogs before removal. To re fit, you can adjust the arms on the bumper iron if the bumper was not sitting correctly before and you just need to slide each side of the bumper brackets into their clips and put the bolts back and tighten. Some people even brace the engine whilst the front bumper is removed, your call but just make sure the 2 smaller bolts each side of the crossmember are tight first. Think that covers it? Rams

Maybe the previous owner was sick of them being pinched!

The car was primed ontop of work carried out and flatted back in areas where the paint was fine but the painter wanted it all primed and flatted back again so we get an even coverage and to avoid sinkage. The standox paint came highly recommended on every account, for colour matching, I believe them to be one of the best. Which means, if later down the line you need to get something else painted or you have a scrape or something, the colour will accurate. Although the painter mainly uses PPG paint, he said its similar quality but much cheaper but did agree the Standox was excellent if you can afford it. If you are rubbing things back and attending to rust, use etch primer after, this is great for preventing rust. Your question has a wide answer, It depends how far you want to go with the quality finish, my prep guy could have just used filler and made a nice job of it but he lead soldered them so they were smooth flat metal ready to recieve filler. I used the best quality filler, sanding pads, primer and paint but the end result does all boil down to the prep work. And how wide your wallet stretches. Mine become so worn out the gfriend had to buy me a new one. I would ask some other people too as my bodywork knowledge is still young but these are tips I learned along the way, lets see some pics of the arches if you've got them handy?

The one I bought was from Awesome, im just not sure if I should re fit the badges or not? What I will do is leave them off and run with it and see what I think.

Compression glands on which part Kev? I will be fusing the power cable nearest the battery with a good quality fuse holder, are you saying to cover that up again to stop water getting in?

It won't at all, they are all special in their own way!

Hi all As a few will know that my car has been shaved and smoothed and I am wondering if I should refit the storm badge when its back from paint? It cost me a lot for a badge and it was something I always wanted on my Storm as it was missing on purchase. Now, it might look odd being the only badge? Should it be refitted in original position without the rest of the badging? My valve seats are hardened now :lol: it has sunk in that I have what I always wanted and soon to be proud of what I have achieved. I know these are quite simple questions and just for those of you who are a bit boarded

I do describe that in my post but wanted to see an image of it just to shut me up! :D I would like to see a chrome circle with colour coded VW in mystic blue and vice versa, just to shut me up. Can somene do this on the computer? Take on your comments though bud

Windy gun would have shocked it off perhaps? Try a video, worth a shot Sounds like it was one of those jobs! Oil levels are good I assume, have you checked the levels recently? Not too much or too little? I know how you feel about tappeting noises, they are v annoying but try the vibration test I suggested and work your way round nearer the right hand side. Does the engine sound healthy and holding power well?

Sweet and congrats! Back in the game

If the rattle is less obvious since changing 11 tappets and the rattle sounds more towards the sprocket end, it's aimimg towards the last tappet. They are sensitive even when refitting them back to an engine and are recommended to go back in their old position. In heinsight, for what labour was involved getting to the tappets and replacing 11 of them against having the sprocket removed or locked to TDC would have ruled out a tappet issue. Put a large screwdriver to the engine with the handle to your ear and listen to the noise, might help you further? I haven't read the thread yet but are timing chains and tensioners/guides all healthy?

Have you checked the 13mm? nuts on the wiper arms incase they are loose? Just pop the caps off and see if there are loose.. Otherwise, if all the linkages are good, the wipers are good and the screen is clean, I would say its the motor

The red might work actually, especially Storm models? Nice idea. I't seems like im not the only crack head thinking about what colour to paint a badge :lol: I need to decide soon as the car is now at the body shop. Eitherway, I will not paint it pink so hopefully what ever I do it will be ok and a bit different? Wood be good to see what people have tried if at all?

Hope you get it sorted soon my friend, can you take the job on yourself? It Shouldn't be too difficult? There is a really useful tool for the hose clips, honestly, makes life so much easier.

Has anyone painted the vw badge in 2 colours? I.E Colour coded circle with chrome vw or vice versa? My d90's will be coloured coded in the centres with a polished lip and thinking if the outer circle of the badge was left chrome and painting the vw centre? Or am I just being difficult now about a simple badge?

Its nice reading positive comments. good work. Re the badge, If you use a heat gun and evenly warm/heat it up and start pulling an edge, the tricky bit is pulling gently as you warm it getting as close to the edge thats lifting and be patient. Your fingers get hot though! You will also be able to sell the badge for good money if you clean it up properly. Otherwise, If you damage the paint removing it, just protect the paint again and stick it back on?

God and bad news then... Which hose was it that let go?

Jetex 2 box system arrived late today but I can confirm this was ordered via Euro Car Parts using the discount code provided, happy days.

It is uplifting to read these comments, all I can say is thankyou! I had a result today though, I took the car to the bodyshop on the back of my friends truck and discussed things with the sprayer, Andy. I said I wanted Standox paint and I would source that and asked how many litres he needed. He said to buy 3. So I called the paint shop called Rainbow paints in Ferndown and a Scottish lady picked up. I started flirting but in a non sexual way as I am Scottish and said how nice it was to hear the accent again and so on...... I told her I was Ramsay from RPM, which is my company but its to do with property and she must have thought I was in the car trade, she told me the paint was £113 per litre and told me to hang on whilst she spoke to someone. She came back to me saying, look, I have managed to give you 50 % off making it £204 all in inc the dredded! So what a result! I will update what the lacqer is, forgot..... Andy will primer the entire car and block flat again so we dont get any sinkage, he will be taking all the doors, tailgate etc off, spraying sholts in all the internal sides of work I've had done. I've taken the headlight surrounds in for painting and just deciding to colour code mirror plastic but I might leave thesurrounds black to break up the doors a bit, especially as smooth. I am also having the cills high built in primer and flatted off leaving a nice flat finish than the stone chip. So it should look really good when its finished and show like. Had a silly thought but might just leave it as a thought, but what would the vw badge look like colour coded bit leaving the outer circle chrome? Basically, my D90 rims will be painted in the centre and have a polished rim and this almost replicates that? Might look crap?! Andy thinks 2 weeks and the car will be ready and don't worry, he will be taking pictures. Longest 2 weeks yet of the process yet!

Will do, Havent installed amp wiring since I was 17! lol