[Engine_Work] Dobboy's Clean-Up / Gti6

[GLPoomobile 958]

You could wrap the hoses in some heat reflective jackets. Not sure what the cost is though. Stuff like that is usually silly expensive, so may be a non-starter.

[Mac Crash 78 1 Cars]

The car's never had a decent run on the road but i can't see there being any major issues/problems, but will join the AA just in case!

 

First year is cheap, about £70 for relay & breakdown (new client).... then you'll qualify for silver membership after the first year, but premium goes up to about £160.... haven't needed to use it yet, but for sure it's security and a damn sight cheaper than a breakdown truck.

[Mac Crash 78 1 Cars]

Can't wait to see this when finished, a lot of work (and money) went into it, always loved a white GTI, thinking I might start another project, just need to find a good base model shell.

 

There's a boy near to me selling a good white shell, non-sunroof, with an S16 engine, unfinished project, with 309 running gear, SD cage, if your interested... let me know and I'll PM you his contact details.

[Malc 45]

There's a boy near to me selling a good white shell, non-sunroof, with an S16 engine, unfinished project, with 309 running gear, SD cage, if your interested... let me know and I'll PM you his contact details.

Honestly mate if I take another 205 project home at the moment, well let's not go there. What the hell, forward me the details, a look can't hurt..........can it!!!!!

[Mac Crash 78 1 Cars]

Yip, know what you mean... PM sent!

[Malc 45]

 

Maybe see if Malc will let me fit my "Malaga" thermometer on his next time he's on the circuit to see what sort of temperatures are involved in that area of the bay.

 

 

Not a problem, just watch where you insert that thermometer probe though!!! my 205 is sensitive.

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Great Malc. Just need to cable tie it on to a pipe or something.

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Got a couple of hours at it last night. Thought i'd better do a trial run on the fitting of the front lights as i haven't tried them since the front panels were fitted a lifetime ago. The wings were loosened a bit to fit these panels/remove the old ones, which is a nightmare of a job, and the wings were pulled and pushed about etc. I would try avoid changing these in future, in hindsight i should just have got a couple of plates welded on them.

 

The NS doesn't look toooooo bad, and should sit ok when i tighten/square everything up.

 

 

Not happy with the OSat the minute, as there seems to be a bigger gap between indicator and headlamp, compared to NS. I think the headlight panel needs pushed back a smidgen to allow the indicator bracket to go back a little into the middle of the car, which should allow the gap to close a wee bit. Gonna ask the painter to sort it out before he does any works. The bonnet needs adjusted too, but that will be coming off to get painted.

 

Also need to ask painter what we can do to make sure the lights aren't pointing to the sky (for MOT purposes).

 

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Also gave the floor a little treat/hoover. Great how these cars avoid rust compared to their peers of the same age. A couple of small 6mm (ish) blankling plugs missing but will replace them when car comes back.

 

Also measured up, and need to get a little bracket made up to mend a seat fixing on the drivers side nearest the door which i'll rivet in.

 

 

 

Car's getting collected tonight.....wooooohoooooo!

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

So while the seats are out i'm gonna do what i can to get them looking half decent. My passengers one is spot on but the drivers looked as though the bolsters had collapsed and the leather/sticking had come apart off the lower side bolsters, also a bit of wear on the leather.

 

So stripped the seat down, which takes a good 10 mins.

 

And my bolsters were not bad at all.

 

So i went and seen an old retired upholsterer my GF's mum knew to see if he would stich my leather for me. He wasn't interested in the work but told me what to do, and gave me "carpet thread". This is much stronger (and thicker) than normal thread.

 

So went and bought a pack of needles from Tesco (£1.50), and thought i'd put my home eeccies skills to the test!

 

Tools required: (note the curved needle above the plyers)

 

You thread the needle, but don't tie any knot, and have one leg about 4" long on the thread through the needle, and one about 2ft.

Edited May 20, 2014 by dobboy

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

I started "near" one end, but left a tail of thread so i could come back to it.

 

I threaded through the old holes using the curved needle, and pulling it through with the plyers. The thread is great and you can give it a good yank and it pulls it all together every now and then like a shoe, or wait until your nearly finished.

 

So i got to the first end, worked the needle into the underside, tied a few knots etc to lock that side off.

 

Then threaded the needle again with the tail i had left at the very beginning, and started to work the other way. Pulled it all tight, and worked the needle to the underside and knotted/etc through the leather.

Edited May 20, 2014 by dobboy

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

quite happy with the final result, and will start to clean and treat the leather to see how good i can get it.

 

The sewing was surprisingly easy and i saved myself a few bob!

 

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Bit of a set back. The painter and crew came to collect the car with a dolly. It couldn't be fitted due to the position of the drop links. Need to try sort something out as they could start mine early next week..... not happy, but i've now dropped all the kit/valances/bumpers etc off, and their place looks tip top.

 

Later in the week i decided to phone about and see how much it would be to get my drivers seat restored. Despite my handywork with the stiching, the seat/leather had suffered wear and doesn't look as nice as the rest of my seats. Got a quote, and spoke to the guy who has done quite a few including a full refurb set of my pals which look great.

Long story short, i'm probably gonna have to send the lot so the end result is that they look like a set.

 

Still contimplating the cost of it.

 

Last night i went and collected a seat from a local guy i met at Knockhill who told me he had a load of spares and a seat was there if i needed it.

 

Looked a bit grubby but a sound seat, just a pity it aint Ph1/1.5 like mine, and there's more if required.

 

Gave it a hoover and a rub with a damp cloth, and put some cleaner on a couple of marks, (so i can temporarily keep it in the house!)

 

 

 

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Finished work early today and thought i'd see what i could do with my carpet as it wasn't raining.

 

If anyone wants their carpet cleaned, I would highly recommend doing what i have done as the carpet has got a new lease of life.... it's went from a flat bit of material to more like what a carpet should be like.

 

This is how it was when it came out the car.

 

 

I firstly mixed up a concocsion of household carpet cleaner (1001?) with some Cillit Bang? (not entirely sure of their names as they came from a kitchen cupboard i don't frequent), and attended to the worse bits/stains with a soft scrubbing brush.

 

The weather was half decent so I connected up the power washer which has a soap bottle attachment, on lowish pressure, and loaded it the bottle up with Astonish? carpet cleaner and set about it.

 

Before long, the carpet was entirely covered/soaked in foam.

 

Grabbed the carpet and sat it accross my wheel barrow so i could eventually rinse from the high to the low. working the dirt to and off the edges of the carpet.

 

I left if for a few mins, had a fag, a scratch, and pondered life, then got the big guns out on high pressure, still with some cleaner/foam left in the gun.

 

I kid you not, there were muddy puddles/soap gathering everywhere. Despite the carpet not looking thaaaaat bad to begin with, the carpet (and foam) was fookin manky. I kept going over it and over it until the soap ran out and the water in the puddles eventually ran clear. Slung the carpet face down over a clothes horse outside and let it drip dry for a few hours..... it's still a wee bit damp round the edges so i've hung it in my garage.

 

 

Voila

 

 

Very surprised how well it's came up, and thinking I might need to wear my Thomas the Tank Engine slippers when driving this.

 

And a funny unrelated thing, my GF gave "recommendations" today, and is beginning to want to be involved in my project now....

 

And after a full family outing at the RS owners day at KH, she's been sending me links to potential cars that "we" could do.

 

 

 

 

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

If anybody needs the seat above minnus the lower bolsters/cushion, give me shout.

[Rock Lobster 28]

Looking good mate! How much did they want for the full retrim out of curiosity? I have toyed with the idea of doing them myself but they will probably turn out s*ite!

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Rock, i have a few options of quotes so it's difficult to give you a price lol

 

If you got one front seat done, the rest would look shabby and odd.... (despite me thinking mines were very good)....

 

one seat (in my condition) was £130

 

4 seats (in the condition of mines), pass and rear very very good + dodgy drivers, full bhunna = £450

 

Full Bhunna includes moisturising the seats from the back of leather and recolouring them/filling cracks (from front of leather)

 

I sent a whad of photos so he could see what he was in for.

 

It depends how far you want/need to go.

 

I've recently dismantled a seat as per posts earlier above..... i can tell you there isn't a great deal to them, but! you need to know the script prior to getting in about them or you'll wreck them/they won't go back as good as they potentially could.

 

It's also difficult to get the material part all nice and tight when putting back together.... but not impossible by any means. If you fancy dismantling a seat give me a shout and i'll talk you through it before you start, but do it soon whilst this is all still fresh in my mind.

 

Also, according to them, you need to make the decision, do you want them to look good or look good and last for several yrs..... basically coloured or coloured and moisturised).

 

Also (again), i found and posted a site that sells a colour match leather product that makes them look good, earlier today..... click my content and you might find it.

 

To treat the leather properly/moisturise it, they need to get into the back of it, you can guess the work involved.

 

The good thing is i've seen a set this guy has done and i thought they were very good.

 

i'd rather be thinking of seat treatments than changing a diff for sure!

 

Couple of pairs of plyers and a pair of scissors and bobs your auntie! lol

[Rock Lobster 28]

Thanks for that mate, I quite like the idea of stripping them all down and treating it all myself, I was even thinking as far as buying a hide and replacing all of the leather for new but I suspect that would be much tougher than you would expect. But it would give better results and I have a seat to practice with first. A hide is not cheap though! So there could be some expensive mistakes being made! ????

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Well it's official that i'm off my rocker.

 

Woke up on sunday morning and had a squint at Ebay and found a CJ for sale with 2hrs to go literally 5 mins from my house. Showed the GF pictures of it and asked if she wanted it, (got the all clear), and organised with the seller to go up and have a quick look at it.

 

It was sitting at £400.

H-Plate 205 CJ 1.4

Been in the same family since new (1 owner on the book i think)

49.5k on the clock

11months MOT

 

The car was covered in birds*it, paint as dry as a bone, and in need of some TLC around the edges.

It also had a tow bar, having pulled a tent/caravan thing right accross europe many years ago.

Interior is like brand new, and hood is good with no major concerns.

Bonnet could do with a paint

I know a scrappies with 2 in it at the moment locally if i need any bits

Cills, beam etc etc all look sound.

 

So, put in my maximum bid with 7 seconds to go, and won it for £410.01

Went, collected it, got it home.

 

Got it insured and been out and about in it, and it runs great. Will renew plugs/cap etc tonight but won't be spending much money on it, and my own car is top priority. But will see what i can do to get it presentable.

 

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Started on the engine bay first

 

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

After a few hours

 

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

the side before

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

after a good scrub, t-cut, polish, and some gloss guard, it's beinging to look better.

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

I'm thinking a GTI valance, new headlight, new plates, and my spare set of SL's done in black and that will do the CJ for the summer.

 

[Mac Crash 78 1 Cars]

chic, utterly French, it actually looks better than a CTi imho, just somehow understated and non pretentious, maybe the simplicity and the two tone colour co-ordination, basic, simple, enjoyable motoring