For those interested in "Modern Classic" Cars

[boxbrownie]

9 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

A bloke living next door back in the 80's when blacked out headlight were a thing did it the cheap way by actually painting the glass of his headlights black, then scraping it all off the next morning after he'd obviously gone for a test drive. 

Man he was a halfwit, the stupid things he did to that car ( a !974 Datsun 1200 coupe) would fill a book.

Same mindset of people who “tint” the rear lamps and then wonder why they get pulled by plod, better than getting rammed on the motorway by a 38 tonner though......dumb arses.

[big jim]

Restored the headlights today with a 3M headlight restorer kit, they have come out really well

 

Before, lots of scratches and yellowing 

 

 

you basically use a drill and sand the lenses down with 3 very fine abrasive discs getting finer then apply a polishing compound which gets rid of the fine scratches and dirt on the lens 

 

 

ive also changed the grille to black and added OEM spotlights as well as blacking out the chrome on the lower grille 

 

[boxbrownie]

I used to use just the ordinary T-Cut on “misty” plastic lenses, work great.

 

They always look so much better when clean, gives the car a whole “new” look.

[big jim]

T-cut barely touched it as it was so bad, the kit has different grades of abrasive pads in the drill that you start with the roughest and work you way down to the finest to remove the previous grades scratches and finally you put polishing paste on (which is the same colour and consistency as T-cut!) and wipe it off 

 

it’s the circular abrasive action with the pads which makes all the difference 

 

the only thing I have read is you really need to put some sort of UV protection on them afterwards to stop them misting again in the long term but the way I go through cars I’m not too bothered about that

[boxbrownie]

You have to be determined with the T-Cut but it will work (I used it in conjunction with an orbital rubber pad for the first “cut”), I have used the kits before and found no difference at the end, but your correct in that they need some UV protection as the original protection has long gone from the plastic.

[Rugd1022]

Just a heads up for the Midlands Italian Car Day at Gaydon on 21st August.... 

 

https://www.aroc-uk.com/eastmids/mitcar.html

[Quarryscapes]

On 10/05/2021 at 09:58, big jim said:

T-cut barely touched it as it was so bad, the kit has different grades of abrasive pads in the drill that you start with the roughest and work you way down to the finest to remove the previous grades scratches and finally you put polishing paste on (which is the same colour and consistency as T-cut!) and wipe it off 

 

it’s the circular abrasive action with the pads which makes all the difference 

 

the only thing I have read is you really need to put some sort of UV protection on them afterwards to stop them misting again in the long term but the way I go through cars I’m not too bothered about that

 

Lacquer them or they'll be yellow in 3 months time. Waxing tem helps too. 

[peanuts]

This is the pride of one of the garages I deliver to and the only one of these I have ever seen 

[big jim]

What is it? 

[peanuts]

6 minutes ago, big jim said:

What is it? 

Some sort of sporty Nissan 

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, peanuts said:

Some sort of sporty Nissan 

Looks like a Nissan Fairlady......or the 280/300ZX......we had one on loan once for competitor elevation (as we did hundreds of cars over the years), nice car but wasn’t really our segment it was loaned in on the flimsy excuse of a Capri comparator 

[Quarryscapes]

Nissan 300ZX Z32. There used to be a faded to pink/grey one in town when I was learning to drive. Butt ugly things but go like stink. (Like a lot of Japanese stuff)

[monkeysarefun]

Australian motor racing legend Peter Brock's personal HDT Commodore has sold at auction for $1,057,509, breaking the record as the most expensive road-going Holden ever sold.

 

This 1985 HDT VK Group A build # 005 was Brocky's personal car that he drove during the build and release of the now highly collectible VK Group A Commodores. It has never been repainted or restored and has been driven only on special occasions over the years.

There were just 500 of these vehicles ever created for the Holden Dealer Team, and thanks to its blue paintwork it was referred to as the "blue meanie".

 

Brock sold the car to a family, who have held on to it until today. There are just 77539 kilometres on the clock and the car comes with a letter of authenticity and all HDT paperwork.

 

The sale price just topped the  sale price of this  Maloo ute, sold in February, by around $7000.

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[big jim]

Put a new spoiler on the diesel today, a fibreglass version of the G Wing I have on the Cooper S 

 

 

 

Got some black Mini badges to go on it too, then I need to get the DPF/cat fitted 

[boxbrownie]

12 hours ago, big jim said:

Put a new spoiler on the diesel today, a fibreglass version of the G Wing I have on the Cooper S 

 

 

 

Got some black Mini badges to go on it too, then I need to get the DPF/cat fitted 

And now you’ll have somewhere to put you flask and sandwiches while watching the trains go by, hey if it’s good enough for Cosworth? 

 

Just fun Jim, you don’t stop do you......I love your updates, takes me back to a time when that’s what I’d be doing* 

 

 

*and allowed to spend the money

 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by boxbrownie

[big jim]

On 27/05/2021 at 10:31, boxbrownie said:

And now you’ll have somewhere to put you flask and sandwiches while watching the trains go by

 

 

 

To be honest I did think the same thing when I fitted it!

 

last nights cyber squandering bagged me a set of 18” JCW alloys with tyres for £150 which I collected on my way into work 

 

Couple were a bit scabby and all needed a clean 

 

but they came out ok, I masked off the edge of the rough rims and patch sprayed the smaller bits of kerb rash on the others and now they look more than acceptable 

 

 

 

and on the car

 

 

 

[boxbrownie]

I’ve never been a fan of black wheels (I’m a bit old school I guess) but that....what is it, like Old English White and all the black trim and wheels works really well, very smart.

 

edit, of course it could just white and it’s the bloody awful colour balance on your phone/camera 

Edited May 28, 2021 by boxbrownie

[big jim]

I’ve heard someone refer to a white/black mini combo as a StormCooper 

[big jim]

3 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

I’ve never been a fan of black wheels (I’m a bit old school I guess) but that....what is it, like Old English White and all the black trim and wheels works really well, very smart.

 

edit, of course it could just white and it’s the bloody awful colour balance on your phone/camera 

It’s called ‘pepper white’ 

 

I think I might black out the chrome on the grille surround too, wasn’t going to but that’s the final bit apart from the rear fog light surround which is already planned to do anyway 

[boxbrownie]

15 hours ago, big jim said:

I’ve heard someone refer to a white/black mini combo as a StormCooper 

No, no, no.....I cannot let you racially (as they are aliens I guess? ) appropriate the name of the black and white BMW i3.....they have been known as Stormtroopers since launch, whatever next? 

Edited May 29, 2021 by boxbrownie

[boxbrownie]

12 hours ago, big jim said:

It’s called ‘pepper white’ 

 

I think I might black out the chrome on the grille surround too, wasn’t going to but that’s the final bit apart from the rear fog light surround which is already planned to do anyway 

Aha....so Old English under another name.....bloody crayon and glue brigade!

 

I am not so sure about the grill, I think it gives a real link to the original Mini, the grill was a very distinctive chrome embellishment on a cheap vehicle for the masses, which turned out to be for anyone from a bus driver to a millionaire......it’s the unique charm of the original Mini.

 

Try it, but be prepared..............actually cover it with black tape for a look first, after all that’s what they do in “colour and trim” department.

[big jim]

I’ve got some plasticote paint which is what the light rings are painted with, it’s basically rubberised paint, if you don’t like it you simply peel it back off, similarly if it gets damaged by Stone chips, peel it off and respray it 

[boxbrownie]

38 minutes ago, big jim said:

I’ve got some plasticote paint which is what the light rings are painted with, it’s basically rubberised paint, if you don’t like it you simply peel it back off, similarly if it gets damaged by Stone chips, peel it off and respray it 

I’ve always used that on certain tools over the years, just dip the handle in and it forms a nice grippier surface, when we moved here and had French doors in replacing the old patio sliders I wanted some “square hooks” to use as handle stays when the doors are open the only one I could find were in black so a quick dip (double dip actually) in white plastikote and they are still good six years later.

[Quarryscapes]

Terrible phone pic again, but C30 No.2 looking quite good following a busy weekend of work. Eibach springs on Bilstein B4 shocks with new top mounts and bump stops all round, EBC Redstuff pads up front replacing awful Brembos, and finally new 18" Wheels with some nice new Michelin Primacy 4s. Feels like a totally different car,the MPG is already improved by some 5% and I haven't even got the tyre pressures up to their correct values yet. 

 

Still more work to do - I have a Whiteline Anti Lift kit from my old Mazda 3 sat on new wishbones waiting to go on, although I'm waiting for a few bits to make some modifications in light of experience on the Mazda (Replacing the air escape blank plugs with grease nipples and replacing the regular thrust washers, which are just M22 washers, with some larger diameter discs which will cover the join between inner and outer bush halves and hopefully keep the dirt out) as well as some Superpro bushes to replace the front bush (I had Powerflex camber adjustables on the Mazda, but they were crap, I had to put them on my lathe to make them fit) . I also discovered the LH Outer CV Gaiter has got a split and on my way home the Passenger side Central locking motor gave up. Bloody Cars! 

 

[Trainshed Terry]

Could this become a moden classic. It is a nice little runner ecomnmical, it was at the right priceand only 23,000 miles on the clock. It ois a little under powered from what I was use to.