166 Restoration

[K9d 108]

OK, will get both of those.

[Gibot123 16]

Glad you've got a sprayer. It makes tackling the roof a lot easier.

I've never had the privalidge of having anywhere to spray so have learnt to do it all with tins but its never ideal .

Would love to have a garage would make everything so much easier.

Having to stop and pack up so no one nicks anything each time you need the loo or it starts to rain or even to fetch bits means some jobs turn into weeks not days.

Paint work is a nightmare , temprature,wind ,damp, dirt, dust, leaves ,flies and that's just the start. However have managed several times to achive a good result so have a bit of faith and take your time .

Make sure you get the trigger on the spray gun set so you control it comfatably sound silly but gives you more control and confidence.

It will be fine. It can always be rubbed down and done again.

As your daughter has experience you should have all the knowledge you need

Good luck. Looking forward to see the results.

And the massive grin on your face when it's done.

Like you I prefer to learn and do what I can myself. The satisfaction is the best buzz of all

[K9d 108]

I've only recently got a driveway and garage, its so much better having somewhere to work and its so quiet where I live I can leave stuff about without any worries.

I don't even bother to lock my cars half the time, unfortunately nobody's nicked the bloody Megane yet

[K9d 108]

Here's the area below the number plate where the mesh is missing, this leaves all those radiators exposed to flying debris.

 

 

Having had a look I've decided it will be much easier to take the bumper off, so I decided to change the grills on these bits.

 

 

part way through

 

 

 

A before and after

 

 

The original grills kept falling out.

 

I took the opportunity to give it all a good clean, found some TCut Colour Fast, its for a light red from a 146 I had, it did a remarkable job of improving the look of them and hiding the stone chips.

 

Tomorrow I will take a trip to Halfrauds and get some for dark red and see how that goes.

[smiffy 99]

201

Is that the recommended retail price?

[K9d 108]

At the moment I reckon that's about right

[smiffy 99]

[K9d 108]

Here's the new grills back on the car, I think the effect is subtle but works better than the black mesh.

 

Ignore the dirty car, got covered in shite by a quarry wagon on my way to work today.

 

[LJ_GQV 115]

Looking good

 

Random question, Is yours a mettalic red?

[smiffy 99]

Looks good

More than good really

[K9d 108]

Went to Halfrauds and got some Turtle Wax Colour magic, a coloured wax and a tub of wax, it was 3 for 2, did the rear quarter with all 3 it definitely gives more depth to the colour and hides some of the lesser marks.

 

[K9d 108]

Looking good Random question, Is yours a mettalic red?

Looks good More than good really

 

Cheers

 

Yes it is a metallic my camera was setting to boost colours, the picture of the rear quarter is much more accurate.

 

Got a call back from the body shop today, the price to fix the roof, scratch down the drivers side and some damage on the passenger sill £700, seems reasonable to me. I will pop over there next week and discuss what will be done.

[LJ_GQV 115]

Not a bad price on that then

 

Thought it was a mettalic red, looks really nice in the rear quarter where you cleaned it up with the new stuff .

[WTI 59]

That turtle wax colour magic is really good I use it when I get time(not often)

That Mcguires stuff I think is overated for the money.

[WTI 59]

The body shop price seems fair for metallic and laquer

[K9d 108]

I haven't used the colour magic for ages, but my little experiment with it yesterday inspired me to give it another go, it covers swirls and gives the colour more depth.

 

I think the paint/lacquer is so thin on the car now that machine polishing it is asking for trouble.

 

I'm pretty sure I will go for the paint repairs and then get a proper Alfa touch up pen for all the small stone chips, these are mostly very low down and will look better as a possibly slightly off colour red than a white spot.

[LJ_GQV 115]

Have you seen that chipex stuff? Not sure how good/bad it is though

[K9d 108]

Have just googled it, looks pretty good I will do a bit of research on it.

 

I've got an Alfa touch up kit somewhere but cant find it.

[Gibot123 16]

Looking better now. Ask the garage to get you a extra small tin of paint when they do the paint work you can use it for touching up .

Sure if you ask nicely they will have a bit left over?

[K9d 108]

Cheers

 

That's a good idea

[Gibot123 16]

At least that way it should be properly matched to your car as the paint is now.

[LJ_GQV 115]

If not i had a small paint pot made up for mine (alfa don't actually do a touch up kit for tornado blue ) cost about £8 & i found putting it on with a tooth pick/cocktail stick & it doesnt go on to big & look shit

[K9d 108]

Looking at that front pic reminds me I need to sort out the number plate. :lol;

 

I've read that about using a tooth pick or a very fine artist brush, its like most thing being patient is the key, that's why I tend to do what ever I feel like on that day.

 

I've still got to finish cleaning the interior, but its a case of the more I clean or fix the more I find to do.

[LJ_GQV 115]

It does take patience to do the stone chips (i ususlly get bored & paint some ants ) only reason i use cocktail sticks is if you drop it or it dry's you can use the other end or bin it. Have to wash a brush out too when you are done

 

Does your car change colour in the sun aswell? On cloudy days a bit brown/burgundy sort of colour but bright sort of cherry red in the sun?

[Gibot123 16]

Yep it's like painting the Humber bridge by the time you get to the end its time to start all over