The Floppy Saga (Formerly The Transplant)
07-14-2014, 10:17 AM
#185
Registered User
Thread Starter
Its been a while since I last posted in this thread, mainly because the car has been off the road over the winter staying nice and dry.
I have had a few bits and pieces done since the last update though. After moving into my unit in November time the car was parked and stored on a trickle charge. From the beginning of March onwards the car has then been back on the road and after a slight moment of madness when I nearly sold it, I've decided thats not happening any time soon. Instead I've decided to sell my daily, which is an Audi A3 TDi S Line.
One of the first things I did this year was to buy a DAS6 Pro and after 13 hours of machine polishing it was ready for the first Ace Cafe meet of the year. I also decided I wanted a wheel refurb the weekend of the meet so I prepped and painted them myself in an aluminium style silver finish. Masking up took the longest as I had quite a bit of tyre polish on so I couldn't get the masking tape to stick
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
I was pretty pleased with the finished result and I ended up winning the 'Most Clean and Shiny' award at Ace Cafe, which although completely unexpected, I was very pleased about!
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Unfortunately, less than a week after the refurb I was driving home from the unit and a van came flying around a bend bridging the middle of the road, so I had the choice of letting the van side swipe me or ditching the car into the kerb
As a result I had about 50% of both passenger side wheels ending up like this
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
I decided that as it was through the powder coat I was going to get them refurbed...so off to The Wheel Clinic I went in Northampton where they reassured me that they could replicate the colour I had managed to get hold of when painting them myself...but clearly when I got them back they didn't!
They finished them in Chrome Powder and after pairing them up to the car the colour was really flat and lifeless with a milky look the the lacquer compared to the finish I had given them. After a phone call and a bit of a chat they reluctantly agreed to re-do them for free.
Here's the chrome powder, which looks bloody great in pictures, its just a shame they didn't look as good out of direct sunlight or on the car.
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
After some umm-ing and arr-ing I finally decided on a hyper silver powder coat, which they finished with a shadow back.
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Needless to say, they look great now and I'm really pleased with the finish.
With all the jacking up and work I'd been doing I got very tired, very quickly of driving the car onto bricks etc so ended up buying this Arcan trolley jack from Costco. Its great as it will fit all the way under to the diff on the rear and also the sills at the front without any issue!
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Apart from the machine polish and the wheel colour change my boomslang harness finally got ordered so I plan on heading to EuroSpec for it to be tuned and I also bought a set of Tarmac Sportz side diffusers. They look great but as I didn't want to screw them into the sills, chocking them in place while the Tiger Seal dried was a bit of a mission
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Before and after to compare. Subtle is how I would describe them, which is just the way I like it
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
I have had a few bits and pieces done since the last update though. After moving into my unit in November time the car was parked and stored on a trickle charge. From the beginning of March onwards the car has then been back on the road and after a slight moment of madness when I nearly sold it, I've decided thats not happening any time soon. Instead I've decided to sell my daily, which is an Audi A3 TDi S Line.
One of the first things I did this year was to buy a DAS6 Pro and after 13 hours of machine polishing it was ready for the first Ace Cafe meet of the year. I also decided I wanted a wheel refurb the weekend of the meet so I prepped and painted them myself in an aluminium style silver finish. Masking up took the longest as I had quite a bit of tyre polish on so I couldn't get the masking tape to stick
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUntitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrI was pretty pleased with the finished result and I ended up winning the 'Most Clean and Shiny' award at Ace Cafe, which although completely unexpected, I was very pleased about!
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUntitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUntitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUntitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUnfortunately, less than a week after the refurb I was driving home from the unit and a van came flying around a bend bridging the middle of the road, so I had the choice of letting the van side swipe me or ditching the car into the kerb
As a result I had about 50% of both passenger side wheels ending up like this
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUntitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrI decided that as it was through the powder coat I was going to get them refurbed...so off to The Wheel Clinic I went in Northampton where they reassured me that they could replicate the colour I had managed to get hold of when painting them myself...but clearly when I got them back they didn't!
They finished them in Chrome Powder and after pairing them up to the car the colour was really flat and lifeless with a milky look the the lacquer compared to the finish I had given them. After a phone call and a bit of a chat they reluctantly agreed to re-do them for free.
Here's the chrome powder, which looks bloody great in pictures, its just a shame they didn't look as good out of direct sunlight or on the car.
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrAfter some umm-ing and arr-ing I finally decided on a hyper silver powder coat, which they finished with a shadow back.
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUntitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrNeedless to say, they look great now and I'm really pleased with the finish.
With all the jacking up and work I'd been doing I got very tired, very quickly of driving the car onto bricks etc so ended up buying this Arcan trolley jack from Costco. Its great as it will fit all the way under to the diff on the rear and also the sills at the front without any issue!
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUntitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUntitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrApart from the machine polish and the wheel colour change my boomslang harness finally got ordered so I plan on heading to EuroSpec for it to be tuned and I also bought a set of Tarmac Sportz side diffusers. They look great but as I didn't want to screw them into the sills, chocking them in place while the Tiger Seal dried was a bit of a mission
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUntitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrBefore and after to compare. Subtle is how I would describe them, which is just the way I like it
Untitled by AZ_Collins, on FlickrUntitled by AZ_Collins, on Flickr
07-14-2014, 01:17 PM
#187
Hope that's not where you're jacking the car up, the jacking point is to the left!
07-14-2014, 01:18 PM
#188
PS looks good!
