Laurie's First Track Day Car

[BlackBox]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

Looks fantastic ... really clean

[easytrans]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

looking very nice laurie

Very fresh indeed

Looks fantastic ... really clean

Thanks guys ......Well last weekend I put another couple of coats of white on (had a delivery of another 2.5 ltr can so I now have plenty to do the engine bay too if/when I get around to it).

So with just over a week to harden now it looks okay. My new job means that there is no spare time in the week to do anything and typically with this Bank holiday being a good opportunity to crack on a bit and what happens? .. I bring the ponies in at 05:30 like every morning and pick out their hove's and just stood up and my back nips up "Doh!" ... so Sat through to yesterday (Sunday) Iv'e been popping pills and moving around with care ... thank goodness that today everything has loosened up so as they say "the drugs do work" lol

So I decided to look at the head lining and to see what I can do with it, as Darren suggested I was thinking of leaving it out as once I removed it I could see that the cloth had been pinned and glued before and while I could probably attempt sticking it back on it may not stay as it would be a bugger getting the surface clean enough to hold the adhesive.



I thought about leaving it out but it looks a mess with all the sunroof gear exposed ... so another option would have been painting the board with some domestic grey emulsion but then I had another idea ... I was hoping that I'd not regret it and only time will tell.

I had a can of "Grey" UPOL stone chip so tried a splash of that on the board .......



I was quite pleased with it but it dried a bit dark and ate the stuff like it was going out of fashion due to the textured surface of the board I soon ran out of grey,



so I switched to white as I have a few spare cans of that .....

It actually looks more grey than white and will keep the inside much lighter I think ......





Its got'a be better than no head-lining and better than brown board and should add a little contrast against my grey roll-cage so lets see when its dry and back in.


Well that's about it for another week apart from the cover is off the 16v as I'm running it to work instead of the usual train (Norwich) on Friday as its the works (virginwines.co.uk) summer party somewhere north of the office so a late finish I fear, but a good excuse to run the car out for a day and with the road tax due next month I need to decide if I tax it of park up early for winter as I use the Daewoo matiz as a daily to and from the station.

Laurie.

[Vinci]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

Nice work, funny to see as I've just replaced my headlining and sunvisors yesterday. A friend saw a Kadett just like mine, same colour, same amount of doors with excellent condition headlining and he was taking brake calipers for his Honda, a few trim parts for a Swift and paid €20. There was a que at the counter and the woman behind it sighed and asked:"What the beep am I to charge for all those bobs and bits for three different cars??!" while immediately someone in the que yelled:"Twenty euro!" LOL So I gave him a beer and said thanks!

It's like brandnew compared to the old one, whashed it with a little bit of bleach, then sprayed with 3M Scotchguard, cut out my extra interior light space and bent the tin frame in, very happy with it. No frayed edges or crumbs of that eggshell like stuff any more!

Funny the way yours looks like pressed wood fibre?? Mine is mostly plastic foam with plastic layer topped up with vinyl??

[easytrans]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

Nice work,

Thanks, a bit of a punt but I think it works if nothing else I have a base to glue back on the cloth if necessary

Funny the way yours looks like pressed wood fibre?? Mine is mostly plastic foam with plastic layer topped up with vinyl??

Yes mine is made of pressed board not quite hardboard but stiffer than cardboard, and it had soft cloth covering, I may put that in a cold wash one day and see how it cleans up. Maybe its something to do with being an early one (1985) This is the first one I've ever removed so not sure what they are in common.

You can see that my roll-cage presses into the headboard a little and has left small indents

Sounds like you got a great deal there for your's

Laurie.

[easytrans]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

Not one to stand around thinking about it I decided as the board had dried why not crack on and fit it back and pop the trim back in while I have an hour of so to kill?

I hate removing and or refitting that plastic trim, its like a Chinese puzzle

Anyway, I'm quite pleased with the result and I'll let the pictures do the talking though it does look light from one direction and darker from another .......

I think once the cage is in it will break it up a bit too but not today as I need lots of time and Denise's help to put that back without scratching my nice new pant











So that really is it for this weekend.

Laurie.

[Roger]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

nice progress!

[DarrenH]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

missed your last update so more to read instead floor pan and interior looks great! i think i mentioned they dont seem to plaint the inside properly (i guess why would they if its all covered) deffo looks the business in one universal solid colour.

[RallyMarshal]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

Excellent progress Laurie!

Paul..

[RallyMarshal]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

Excellent progress Laurie!

Paul..

[Vinci]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

Getting together lovely!

[gte 16v]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

Just caught up with your thread m8, great work, inside looks really crisp and clean in the white, and the headlining works a treat, great work considering you don't seem to stop for a breath, keep it up, very inspiring .

Paul.

[easytrans]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

Just caught up with your thread m8, great work, inside looks really crisp and clean in the white, and the headlining works a treat, great work considering you don't seem to stop for a breath, keep it up, very inspiring .

Paul.

Thanks Paul yes I'm missing the free time I had when my working days were a little shorter,

Anyway a little progress today as I refitted the cage ....







I just need to find a decent "pair" of bucket seats now as it would be a shame to have the mismatch of one bucket and one original as before

Well lets see what turns up .......

Laurie.

[DarrenH]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

usually plenty of bargains on ebay, because of the certification dates that lapse. nowt structurally wrong the the seats usually

[easytrans]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

OK so still not resolved the seat issue yet (though if I can find time for a road trip down to Kent then Blackmagic may have an interim solution with his FK sport seats) ....

But time is getting tight now and still quite a bit to do for Blyton,

I popped the Cobra back in yesterday temporary (though it may be semi permanent for now ) and fired her up (first twist of the key) ran it outside and washed all the dust and over-spray off so it looks cleanish ......

Today I used my puller and removed the standard steering wheel and fitted my smaller cheapo wheel with the Momo boss (that I bought along with a wheel from astravanmk2 a month or so back).




Well to add to the rush I checked the MOT on the tow vehicle (the Ducato Pony Van) and discovered it runs out at the end of this month ..... And as the Jeep project had stalled also needing a MOT test and is probably heading for Ebay as a spares of repair anyway (back where it came from ... "been there done that", life is too short ) so that left me thinking what to do ????

Denise said why not drive the 8V to Blyton with the tools and spares in the back? Now that would be fun but by the time I arrived I'd be too deaf and battered to do anything so .......

Decided that rather than pay my local garage some extortionate fee to sort the hooter, stop light, fit the new disks and weld a couple of plates on the Ducato to get a MOT in a last minute rush, I'd go looking for a cheap tow car that can replace the Jeep and Ducato and be a daily too .........

Thought about going back to Ford (either a Explorer or a big engine Mondeo) ... then started thinking maybe a big VX and started scanning ebay for a Omega 2.3 or bigger

Then caught sight of a few Omega estates ...... then my practicality hat went on and I started looking at cheap Estate cars ..... Volvo < £500 ?? nah too old and dated looking, Merc ....well a few cheap 2L saloon's in petrol running but costs would be the issue, ....

then I happened on an Omega 2.2 TDi up in Gt Yarmoth, looked tidy but no toiwbar ... so anyway popped up there last night drove it liked it knocked the guy down the price of a towbar and brought it home.....

So say hello to my Omega CD 2.2 TDi tow car ......

(its like driving a Bowing 747 from the perspective of buttons and gadgets but quite responsive and probably +- 40 mpg for normal use and looks tidy) ... Oh! and its a Vauxhall !!! lol





With enough room for two small ponies, 2 dogs, my tools and spares and then a good size garden party ... it might even be my sleeping quarters on Friday too save putting up a tent !!




Taxed, tested, new tyres, new exhaust, 1/2 tank of fuel, and Insurance @ £177 fully comp ....."and in an "Electric Blue" colour (my favourite)" what more could I want. (oh and the towbar is on its way so another job for next weekend.

[BlackBox]

Re: Laurie's First Track Day Car

That looks really tidy