Project Doris... Lupo SDI

[James827]

steel rule and a Stanley knife would work but would take time!

[Arosaproject]

Just been though your thread, lovely work, what you have done is what I'm going to be slowly doing to my my new loop

Keep up the good work

[Trx 33]

Dremels are quite good for that kind of stuff but you have to be careful when you are cutting as the plastic heats up rather fast and starts to melt - not great if you want a tidy hole. Also you get sprayed with a shower of red hot plastic shrapnel which gets EVERYWHERE. I'd be tempted to try the knife, a sharp one will get through a surprising amount of stuff

[NornIron]

Well continuing on from the last instalment, I took a broken wheel arch liner:



Some basic tools:



And prepared to repair the broken bumper:



The strip was cut to bridge the break in the moulding, which helpfully has a hidden lip on the bottom edge just for this purpose! Both plastics were sanded to key them, the epoxy resin applied and mole grips used to clamp overnight:





The following day, a new blade was fitted to the trusty Stanley knife and together with a steel rule I achieved this:



The offcut then donated a piece of plastic which was bonded to the inside of the bumper cut:





Finally I rummaged around and found two push rivets, drilled two 8mm holes through the ends of the bridge and used the rivets to (hopefully) prevent the bridge from pulling off:









Not pretty, but as you can see, it works!

[NornIron]

The guys at Opie Oils came good with the correct rear axle brake kit:



So the last time you saw the drums they looked like this:



So off with the drums, the old shoes and cylinders stripped out and everything cleaned with brake cleaner:



New kit installed (and I did remember to pull the tape off the linings...):



Drums wire brushed and a couple of coats of Hammerite, then popped back on:



Out with the Dynax UC for a couple of coats in the rear arches:





Then the liner was refitted with new Torx screws:



Brake fluid changed and the system bled, all that remains is to adjust the handbrake

[James827]

all you need now is some new bumpstops!

i do like this, it may be standard etc, but the way its all been given some proper TLC makes me feel warm inside.

[NornIron]

all you need now is some new bumpstops!

Plan is to overhaul the suspension next year, so they'll do in the meantime

[NornIron]

Well things have been very busy at home and at work, but a little progress has been made with Doris! Finally the handbrake was adjusted, so the brake overhaul was officially finished

Last weekend I knew I would have some free time, so Friday evening saw this:




and this:



Then everything which had been removed, and the whole interior was sprayed with a 1:1 mix of Autosmart Bio Brisk:







Saturday morning I broke out the hoover first, as this was typical of the interior:


Then out with the steam cleaner on every interior surface, followed by George for the headlining, carpets and all seats and fabrics leaving this:




Then into the garage, armed with these:


Everything cleaned with APC 10:1 (inside and out) then wiped down with Autoglym Super Sheen 1:1




Including all the fixings (and the 54p and 2c I found!):


Everything was left like this for a couple of days to thoroughly dry off, as I had a few other bits and bobs to sort out

[NornIron]

One of Doris' little faults was a typical Lupo problem - worn door check straps. Whilst all the trim was off, I picked up a couple of these:



Unusually, the vapour barriers on the doors were completely unmolested:


So I made a small incision:


Gained access:


Then sealed it all up again:



Freshly cleaned trim on:


And job done:


Doris had obviously been well used for her enormous load carrying ability, as the rear seat back panels are dented and scratched.




I knew I was fitting a dog guard to the rear, so they would be on view to one and all, so out with the masking tape:


And the wet-and-dry:


Then into the spray booth


A few coats of rattle can satin black, then fitted up with the dog-guard:


Whilst the rattle cans were out again, a couple of other items got a bit of TLC:



Then refitted with nice new marine grade S/S fasteners:


More to come...

[GTIChris]

Good progress again

What did you need to gain access behind the vapour barrier for ?

[NornIron]

Following a load of hassle, the t****r from the forum whom I'd bought a number of parts failed to supply them... thankfully PayPal refunded the cash , but it was still a hassle. A local breakers yard came up trumps with a taillight, although I ended up sourcing the steering column surround and arch liner new from VW...

So from this:


to this:


And from this:


to this:


The beautifully clean interior was refitted, with all internal paint and plastics treated again with Autoglym Super Sheen 1:1 and internal glass cleaned with 3M Glass Cleaner:







And the final step in sanitising the interior:


While the air-con bomb was working its' magic, the rubber mats where scrubbed with APC 4:1 and steam cleaned:


Then dressed with Super Sheen 1:1:


If anyone has a drivers side rear Lupo fitted floor mat lying in a garage, feel free to PM me!

Edited August 23, 2013 by NornIron

[NornIron]

What did you need to gain access behind the vapour barrier for ?

Just to fit the replacement check straps

[GTIChris]

[nfbr]

This is some really nice work!

[Arosaproject]

Top work with the loop

Very very clean now

If you don't mind telling me, how much did vw charge you for the new arch liner?

Cheers

[NornIron]

If you don't mind telling me, how much did vw charge you for the new arch liner?

£19.22 inc VAT

[Arosaproject]

Cheers, ill be popping to vw Monday then

[NornIron]

I had been unhappy with the fit of the front bumper and indicator panel on Doris, so that was the next area for a little fettling. So off with the panels:



Then the traditional clean down of parts:



That's better!


I'd been intrigued by this "convex dent" in the bumper:


How was the bumper pushed out like that? The answer... a T20 screw lodged between the bumper cover and the bumper bar


The lower grille panel was also cracked:


However the badly fitting indicator panel was due to this the differing fittings at each end. The passenger side had the VW push fit lugs:


Whereas the drivers side had a big lump of goo holding lots of broken bits together!



With the lower grille, bumper cover and indicator panel all being damaged, I've decided that rather than mess about trying to bodge repairs, I'll keep an eye open for a Lupo being broken for parts and try to get a decent front end.

Whilst everything was stripped I thought it best to check the air filter, which is mounted behind the bumper on the SDI diesel...out of sight, out of mind:


The condition wasn't helped by the airbox having two large cracks in it... so out with the scrap wheel arch liner again! After it was cleaned, tape was applied to the inside to hold the cracks closed:



Then the scrap arch liner donated a couple of repair patches for the airbox:



These were degreased, keyed and epoxied in place. After 24 hours the crude-but-effective repair was complete!



Everything was refitted as best as possible, to leave this:



Doris has since covered a couple of hundred miles and is driving and braking beautifully!

Edited August 25, 2013 by NornIron

[James827]

.... Bukakke!

[NornIron]

So on to the decontamination of my little Doris. I had expected the paintwork to be in a terrible state, and in anticipation of this I had previously foamed the Lupo a couple of times with APC, and given her a real good wash, with all the nooks and crannies worked using a Valet Pro 1" Brush.

Then dried off and out with the Autosmart Tardis; now my complete lack of photography skills fails really show the Tardis working and black trails developing on the paintwork but you have my word that this did happen:



After a wipe down with an old MF and a wash and rinse:



Looking better all ready!

With a couple of new Iron Removers on the market, I decided to try both on a back-to-back (or should I say, side-to-side?) challenge. Doris was prepared accordingly:



And the more observant of you will have already spotted the products involved:


Let's get one thing out of the way... if the folks at Valet Pro think that Dragon's Breath smells bad, then there must be something wrong with my sense of smell. A little distinctive... actually reminiscent of toasted oats... but not bad!

So Iron Max is applied and gets to work:





Whilst on the other side it's Dragon's (Fresh!) Breath:




Using both products as instructed, I was surprised at how little bleeding had resulted. So another wash and rinse, dried off and then as an experiment the products were switched over for interest. After dwelling for 5 or 6 minutes:



No bleeding at all! Result!

Another wash, rinse and dry, then on to the next stage:


Yes, a bargain 3M claybar - only £3 from a highly reputable eBay reseller - and and some lube. Once again following all the prep the clay was surprisingly clean, the worst areas (shown) being the lower panel on each door:



Another rinse down, dried and out with the PTG:


No areas of concern, and taped up for the next stage!

[mattarosa]

looking a million times better since the start! iwill be follwing thats for sure.

[NornIron]

So there were a couple of areas which required wet sanding.

Firstly the replacement lamp unit (why do breakers label everything with paint :wall:):


And a badly scratched area on the RH rear of the roof:


A quick depth reading was taken before the sanding:


Then the area was wet sanded with Meguiars Unigrit 2000 / 2500 / 3000 which had been soaking overnight:



The lamp unit was also sanded to remove the paint:


Then the DAS-6 Pro was used, with a Chemical Guys Hexlogic Orange Pad and Meguiars #101, resulting in this:



After testing a couple of other pad and polish combinations, I stuck with Orange Hexlogic and Megs #101 for the first pass... my aim for the machine polishing was to Enhance, not Correct as I genuinely believe full correction is beyond my ability.

So a sample 50:50 of this enhancement:


Bonnet before machine polishing:


And after polishing:


Apologies now for the lack of pics, but the process continued with refining the finish using a CG Hexlogic Green Pad and Megs #80. This was followed with cleansing using Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite, then two layers of Britemax Extreme Elements Sealant, both of which were allowed to cure for 12 hours before buffing.

So some good "old school" products:


And the results? Well let me know what you think...

[GTIChris]

You have far too much time on your hands

Looking good

[mattarosa]

Doris is looking even better now,I don't think a full correction would be beyond you... not from what ive seen and please don't stick a L plate on find someway of trying them on with bits of string please, for Doris.

[NornIron]

...and please don't stick a L plate on find someway of trying them on with bits of string please, for Doris.

Given what I've removed, it's got to be an old cable tie and a bit of gaffa tape