Barely managing I dropped off the new windscreen yesterday and the paint looks amazing. I have been pushing to get the car done so we can go to Retrorides on Sunday but it's touch and go at the moment He said he would spray the panels today but we will see.
Did you go for one of those heated screens in the end? If so I've got a pug relay for timed period @PhilRyder
Its back! And of course it’s chucking it down The BMW has been evicted onto the drive and covered up. Got to go and pick up our Mazda from service and then the fun will begin……
Well we made it to Retrorides. All day Friday and Saturday putting it back together and cleaning out dust. Not the best pictures but the paint is great. We tried to get the arches on but simply didn't have enough time.
Seats in! Oh yes, they look fantastic. Welded up the runner on the second seat today. A right faff, in out, in out, bend one way then the other Got there in the end though. Ended up with this. Did I say they look fantastic (need a good clean though)
They are noticeably firmer than the mk2 gti seats, I found. It actually took me a fair while to get comfortable tbh, but once I did, mk2 seats felt very floppy.
The other day I put the rear arch trims on. Quite straightforward as there was enough arch left (PO butchered them for wide wheels) and they look great - from a few feet away. The quality of aftermarket arches is shocking, so bad in fact we bought another set from another supplier of a different brand and they were just as bad. Anyhoo, today we fitted the fronts. A different story. The arches that are designed for the 90s trim would not line up at all so the second set we bought were for early GTi which don’t have the sticky out bit to line up with the waist trim. I got some small side trim bits from Dave (thanks Mate ) and these were to be used to adapt and fit the new arches. To start with there was only enough arch left to screw into at the bottoms near the sills. I managed to get an extra screw in on one side which helped but the other, no chance. So the side with the extra screw is just glued at the top and is fairly robust. Now, this Tigerseal DOES NOT stick to the arches. So some experimentation revealed that we had to sand the area to be glued and then coat that in superglue. Once dry the Tigerseal stuck well. The other problem is that the Tigerseal takes quite a while to go off so we still don’t know if it’s worked or not. On the other side without the extra screw it is still clamped. We will leave it to the morning and see. On to the short bit of trim. Having mulled it over I decided that trimming the part that butts up against the arch was the best place as most of it is hidden. I took off the plastic seal at the front edge and then carefully, little by little, sanded it back until the clips engaged and it looked neat. Arch without stubby trim bit. Trim bit being trimmed. I used a bench disc sander for this as it ensured a nice straight edge. Fitted. Quite pleased and it avoids trying to line up the stubby bit with the rest of the side trim. Rear arch pic. I’ll get some more of the whole car later. Hopefully, if the arches stick, it’s another job off the list.