My Projects thread

sweet matey . work starting on the nova once im back at work :)
shell just needs a paint job and drop the xe in then the inside doing . its only taken me 3 years so far lol

thanks kev

Hey Guys,

After my pics yest I thought I my as well as post how I came to the decisions for the car this year and the work Ive put in over the past few months.....

A few things I'd changed last year I decided maybe werent for the best so the red euro red lights were replaced by standard and euro items...


http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...newspec024.jpg

Also the change to 15" RL7's was based on the fact I wanted to be a little different and that sometimes even though my front arches are rolled they did occasionally catch under enthusiastic driving when using the 16" speedlines on 45 profiles. But after billing last year I thought the car had lost a lot of its looks appeal so I purchased another set and painted them up only to find they didnt clear the front brakes!! This was rather weird as they were the same size and offset as my previous ones... However as Id sold my old speedlines to my missus younger brother for his corsa and he offered to swap so I just had the tyres swapped over. Unfortunatly he hadnt taken perfect care of them so I had to repaint them!

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip046-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip047-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip049-1.jpg

Another thing that has bugged me ever since owning the car was the front end alignment. It wasnt herrendous by any means but both ends of the grill had been shaved and one wing was non genuine!!! Shock horror a non genuine panel on my car!!! Plus I think mesh grilles had had their day so I quite fancied a change to a standard item. Two mint genuine wings and a grill were purchased. The grill was used and had been melted in at the rear so I had to spend ages masking up as I didnt want any overspray on the slats.......

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip077-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip076-1.jpg

And the finished article.......

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip080-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip034-1.jpg

Also Id noticed a fair few red novas have started to have their bumpers done black. This wasnt the case around 4 years ago when my car was first built and was done to be a little different at the time. So I started thinking different again!!! After a few calls and a long wait Id bought a custom carbon bonnet.... I wanted it to go on full standard fittings and be fully carbon on the inside too! Unfortunatly the first bonnet I got sent had no bracket for the safety so was sent back and another was made. Once recieved I was a bit dissapointed with the finish. It was rather dull and were the two skins bond together along all four edged was full of big holes!! All edges were to too skins were joined the gel coat folded over wasnt pretty. Dont get me wrong it was still a good product but I wanted it to be perfect! So I made a £550 decision to treat it!


To get rid of all the rough holey edges I decided I needed to build up the edges so I had something to rub at and fill. So I rubbed down the inside and edges of the bonnet...

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip004-2.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip006-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip003-5.jpg

And then sealed and lacqeured them....

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip013-2.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip012-3.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip011-1.jpg

This gave the edges the build I needed to be able to rub at etc as well as improving the inside of the bonnet a hell of a lot. I left it to dry for a few days before carefully rubbing and filling all four edges.....

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip031-2.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip032-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip032-1.jpg

With the edges fettled I decided thinking about colours for the edges as they were just black bonding glue before It didnt go as well as it could have so I opted for the same colour as when I did all my carbon interior trims which is a dark grey and goes a lot better than black in my opinion. The front and rear of the bonnet were masked up and the edges painted...


http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip038-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip037-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip036-2.jpg

This was the result after demasking. Four straight good looking edges with no holes in a more suiting colour!!! I know it looks a little light here but it will darken after lacqeuring later. At this point it was again left for a few days.


http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip042-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip041-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip040-1.jpg

:eek:

Cant wait to see it on the car :thumb:

Id also quite liked the look of these headlight protectors so I aquired one then another. They were used and rather gravel rashed so I got thinking and thought Id treat them. Rubbed down to 3000 grade on the outer then masked up on the inside ready for treatment.....

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip020-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip019-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip021-1.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip022-1.jpg

These were then plastic primed and lacqeured. The result is'nt very clear in a photo but they look like brand new!

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip018-1.jpg

Hi Nick

great lookng car, think its in my top 2 along with Keiths Turbo

hats off to your workmnship, to say im jealous is being politelol

who did the carbon on the top of the dash id like this done on mine to brake the flock up! please dont think im copying all your ideas i do have my ownlol check my WIP out

Cheers

After looking a Big chaps motor last year I really liked his cambelt cover so after getting some measurements from him I abused a spare cambelt cover......


http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip002-2.jpg


More on that later! At this point the car was stripped to this in prep for the new front end........


http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...vawip113-1.jpg

Your attention to detail is absolutely stunning Nick! such a real shame you've not decided to use the bonnet, after all that hard work!