Ron's Blackberry VR6 - A11 VRX - Getting her back on the road

[clumpy1 11]

I may of course be eating my own word's in a week or so's time after I pick up my runaround 2moro :eek: we'll see I'll post up some pic's :cheers:

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

 

That 728i I bought for £500 has been sound so far, 560 miles of cheap as chips driving :)

 

Even if you factor in only petrol, a 728 never goes into the same sentence as cheap, unless there is a negative verb involved!

[Hofmiester 10]

Yeah, 17mpg ave so far :)

[clumpy1 11]

That is a boot in the ball's the R32 is alot better than that.

[clumpy1 11]

Well I say alot better if there is anybody messing about I could better that easily (Sorry to the earth but I is enjoying myself while I is ere)

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

I think mpg talk should be reserved for the diesel section of the forum!

[Hofmiester 10]

Still not got the dash out yet, just making sure I label everything properly first! There is a fair bit of loom attached to the top of the dash via clips. Does all that need to be us clipped or can it be unplugged somewhere?

 

Also realised just how badly bodged the wiring loom is from the alarm fitting, once I peeled the tape back there are horrible things like 30A red cables, spliced and extended using 2 bits of speaker wire....I **** you not

Will take some pics, I am actually pretty angry as some of this wiring could have caused a fire when I had my kids locked up in car seats in the back.

Going to see how bad it is once the dash is out but I might just replace the looms that are effected, if I can't repair them easily enough.

 

On the plus side, my drivers seat bolster arrived from the Clumpster yesterday, it's a peach!

 

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[Sean_Jaymo 0]

Wiring on old cars is scary, sometimes it's better to just not look!

[KIPVW 0]

Lol thought that was a Mahoosive Banana :)

[seanl82 23]

Lol thought that was a Mahoosive Banana :)

 

:rofl:

 

Seriously though, I know what you mean! I had remnants of three old alarm systems in mine and that coupled with the stupid sound system wiring that was in it really was dangerous. I repaired, soldered and heat shrunk everything I could behind the dash, but had to leave a lot of the speaker wiring in as so much of the original loom had been cut out. I may actually do a bit tomorrow if I get time and weather holds off!

[Hofmiester 10]

It's insane, bits of thin wire soldered into much thicker wires. Already removed the tracker today with about 10ft of random wiring that wasn't connected to anything in the end. Once the dash is out, I should be able to take my time and pick through it all.

 

Wondering if I should do OBD2 while I'm at it?

[seanl82 23]

Yeah I just had twisted wires with brittle and loose insulation tape all over the place! I'm thinking of OBD 2 as well. I was bidding on a mk 3 Golf VR which was due to end tomorrow but the seller pulled it. I intended to brake it and do OBD 2 and teves 20 conversions as well as having a few spares but that's gone for the time being. I'm still looking out for one not too far away, but VR prices seem to have been rising over the last year.

[Hofmiester 10]

Today I got back down to taking the heater matrix out. First I tried doing it without removing the dash, that was a total waste of time as the alarm unit had been riveted to the body work at the passenger side above the ABS ECU.

Due to this, the fan unit was wedged in and no room to drill the rivets out.

 

So having wasted an hour messing about with that, I decided to take the dash out and it was a piece of p1ss.

 

Everything comes out so easily with the dash out and would recommend that method.

 

Heater matrix was a 9yr old Velo so glad I went ahead with the swap as 10 yrs is supposed to be the approx lifespan. It was last changed when the car was 11 yrs old.

 

Scary wiring mess!

 

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

It's definitely much easier and the dash is a lot simpler to remove than you would think! Good effort!

[Hofmiester 10]

Had a spare half an hour this evening, striped the drivers seat bolster and it was as expected, foam bits all over the place.

 

 

 

New one went in pretty painlessly but the hooks are bitch, long nose pliers were the key!

 

 

Just right for resting my backside on :)

[clumpy1 11]

Good my breaker is helping other's good work Ron :thumbleft: Just the dash to sort now...

[Hofmiester 10]

Thanks for the bolster mate, it was spot on. Bit worried about the getting the dash sorted, just need to take my time!

[clumpy1 11]

You will be fine mate patience is key I learnt that rather quickly with these little cars.

[seanl82 23]

Looks a familiar sight that Ron! My base one had separated like that, and the back bolster had a hole so the foam was crumbling all over the place. Feels very satisfying getting it all back together doesn't it! It's a bitch getting the tension back on the leather before securing the hooks back though isn't it! Good work mate, keep it up. :thumbleft:

[Hofmiester 10]

While all the interior is out, I wanted to try some leather reconditioning techniques and products. Heard great things about "liquid leather" and also "furniture clinic" products.

 

Firstly used the liquid leather 2 part cleaner and conditioner on my seats.

 

Applied the cleaner into the seats using a brush, being sure to work it into any cracks and gaps etc

 

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Then, once dry apply the conditioner, then allow to dry for a day or so....very easy but took about 2 hours to do the 2 heats. I moved my seats into the kitchen to get the leather warmed up first by the Aga.

 

Great results, seats are very soft and the shine has gone, left with a nice satin finish.

 

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Also used FCs leather kit on my wheel. Stripping the coating and re-painting it black with a spray gun. Came out really nice!

 

Edited January 26, 2014 by Hofmiester

[Hofmiester 10]

Also got cracking in filling all the cavity sections with rust prevention. Picked a product that is both a preventer and also a cure for any existing rust, was about £3 more expensive per litre than just wax.

 

 

Used a compressor and a Shultz gun to force it into all the gaps. 6bar really throws this stuff :)

 

 

I used the little trim holes in the sills to get into them with the gun fitted with an extension pipe.

 

 

Also did the rear quarters, inner arch etc pleased to see it is totally rust free in all the nooks....should do another 20yrs after this treatment

 

Edited January 26, 2014 by Hofmiester

[sexybourbon 0]

That steering wheel looks amazing what paint did you use mate

[Hofmiester 10]

That steering wheel looks amazing what paint did you use mate

 

It's a furniture clinic kit, just asked for VW black. Basically comes with chemicals to strip the old coating off the leather. Then you spray on the new coating and then finalise with a coat of sealant (not done that yet)

 

Kit is about £35

[seanl82 23]

Which of the FC products did you use, and what affect (Matt/satin) was it for the wheel Ron? I'm ordering an XL colour kit in beige for the whole of my interior on Tuesday, so I may as well do the wheel and grab handles in black at the same time.

[Hofmiester 10]

Which of the FC products did you use, and what affect (Matt/satin) was it for the wheel Ron? I'm ordering an XL colour kit in beige for the whole of my interior on Tuesday, so I may as well do the wheel and grab handles in black at the same time.

 

It was just the basic leather colorant kit, I just did the wheel and the side bolsters of the driver seat. Final finish will be satin but I've not put the top coat sealant on yet as you should give the dye a few days to properly set.

 

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/Leather_Colourant_Kit.php

 

I didn't use their crappy spray gun, used a mini spray repair gun connected to a compressor :)