AL's (not so) mini build... August 2015 - Paint!

Martin M said

Looking good!

Nice to see how you tackled the rear arches as I'll be doing mine soon.

Very scary, taking a grinder to your bodywork!

Really pleased with my results though and glad I took the plunge and did it myself. Lots of new skills and experience gained!
  

AL_Mk1 said

Very scary, taking a grinder to your bodywork!

Really pleased with my results though and glad I took the plunge and did it myself. Lots of new skills and experience gained!
  

It looks like you've done an awesome job. I'll be tackling mine myself, that was the idea of getting something that needed work in the first place. Just hope I do it justice!

Couple of small updates…

new Grill badge - Cheapy from EBay, but just what I wanted:

IMG_20150912_155127193_HDR by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr



I have been looking out for a pair of front door cards for quite a while. Everything that I could find in classifieds or on ebay seemed to be very pricey. Even the poor ones with extra speaker holes etc were going for more than I wanted to spend. This week, I did a quick search on Tuesday morning and found a buy it now from a business seller called "saverabbits". Not Gti versions, but from a cabby. Black vinyl with black carpet lower sections and a grey cloth inlay.
The colours match my interior well, so I pounced.
For £29.99 delivered, I think they were a bargain! Even came with a pair of Sony tweeters attached:

2015-09-19_05-37-20 by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr

2015-09-19_05-40-09 by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr

They are a little bit ripply on the bottom, and have some holes towards the front where the tweeters were screwed on, but, those holes are covered by my dash when the doors are closed, plus I can re-use the tweeters in position of the window winders to cover up the holes!

For what I paid, they are a damn sight better than no panels at all!
What you think?

AL.

They look good, AL! I've seen "saverabbits" slated a few times on various sites/forums but I've used them before and have no complaints! 

Car looks lovely mate. 

Spen said

I've  een "saverabbits" slated a few times on various sites/forums. 

I have no complaints either. Completely as described and delivered in 24h…

Cheers,
AL.

Bled the brakes this weekend using a Gunson ezibleed kit.

Very easy and spot on first time…
Let the pressure blow all of the old fluid out of each of the four lines, then topped up the reservoir and the bottle from the kit and bled through to each corner.

Loving those door cards AL, very nice!!

Only a small update…

Parking brake warning light now installed and working:
2015-10-04_04-44-31 by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr

I was trying to get the one inside the cluster working, but it expects a positive feed (earths through the clock's common earth) though in the standard Mk1 wiring, the handbrake switch actually earths out the connection, turning the light on.
After a bit of head scratching on how best to get it to work I decided the simplest option was to just stick a proper Mk1 light unit back in…  Oh - I think I need to get in there and start scrubbing with a toothbrush or something - Those switches look filthy in that pic!

Nice to get the little things sorted!

It always surprises me when you take close-up photos of your dash, even when you've just cleaned it, and it looks filthy!

I was determined not to let it happen but there it goes…




…no not the car - ANOTHER YEAR!

I can't believe my last post on this thread was a year ago today.       I can't let it happen again. I want it on the road next year.  

Oh blimey Al!!!! I remember the last posts, can't believe it's a year either!!

Happy anniversary!    

well if it counts for anything this build thread is a massive help to me not only for information but enthusiasm too. its amazing what can be done at home with a little bit of elbow grease and dedication!

Cheers buddy.

It's the users on this forum that have kept me going over the years. I do disappear for a year or so every now and again but I always come back after reading through other threads like yours!