Can i Re-condition my paintwork ?

I have a Maroon Nova 1.2 LUXE (is it an 12.i or just 1.2 ?) J Reg.. so it's either 91 or 92.. aint checked yet, just got it as a first car

It's in really good mechanical condition, except the paintwork has quite alot of scratches and chips. Just looks tatty, Coupled with the Grey trim and bumpers, it looks bad.

Is there anyway i can recondition the paintwork myself ? something a bit more than just T-cutt or polishing it.. Can a bodyshop do anything to get rid of the chips and scratches ?

Seeing as it's marroon.. am i best of leaving it marroon, and painting my bumpers and skirts black when i get them (just GSi/SRi skirts.e.t.c) ? as i think marroon ones would look a bit dodgy ?

Anyone got any alloys for sale. 5 spokes or similar, Anthracite ? or able to respray in anthracite. ?

If i put 15's on it, and lower it by 50mm.. will they rub if i carry 3 people int he back ?

body shop is yer best bet - they will run a polishing mop over it and can touch up scratches etc in no time. Expect to pay about ?150 depending on probs.

I had my car mopped by a friend at a local vauxhall garage - took him 8 hours coz it was sprayed with 2pak and was all oversprayed (did it myself) - had been sprayed 3 weeks earlier so it was set rock solid - came up ok but I should have done it within 3 days max to make it easier!

For alloys, take a look on ad trader or ebay - loads. Go for offset 45 to 49 - so you dont suffer from scrubbage on arches.

50mm drop will be ok providing you follow above rule otherwise its grind or fold arches time. Also if lowering go for shocks and srings not just springs - dont always lower the car and handling is awful - plus eventually within a few months yer shocks will be shagged anyway so you'll need new ones!

Ade

lift the bonnet and if it has a big round black thing called an airfilter in the middle sitting on a carb then its a 1.2, not a 1.2i.

wont help, as the 1.2i has a big black filter which looks the same

look for a choke, if it has one then its def carb if not, its more likely to be injection, i dunno if 1.2s were made with auto-choke? Anyone care to shed any light on this?

ar'nt all mk2's injections, i think they are

my 1.4sr is mk2 and not injection. Had automatic choke but had a manual choke fitted before i bought it.