A new project...'The Smartie'

[stealthie]

Or maybe today !

The flatting off of the roof is complete and now the polishing process can begin when I get the stuff.

So after finishing the roof off I set about cleaning up the front hub carriers and calipers.

The dusty, rusty bits:

Then I stripped them down so that I could wire brush them all clean and get rid of the crud that has built up on them.

I had to leave the hubs for next time as I checked the bearings and they are well wobbly! I don't keep my bearing puller/press kit where the car is so I couldn't take them out. I will get two new hubs and bearings and press them in once I have painted the carriers all up

So I gave the calipers and caliper carriers a coat of satin black paint. They came out nice and I will build them back up on my next trip up to the workshop.

And thats it for this update folks, more next week with any luck! (it was only a short day up there as its valentines day )

[McBeardy]

Found your thread doooooooooooooooddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Now after a TDi, although the GTi will do for now

[suani]

whoop whoop! finally getting back on with the loop

[stealthie]

Yep, and the 7am start tomorrow will see some interesting work being done so watch this space for some more in progress pictures people!

I shall update with a feast for your eyes over the weekend at some point.

Oh and Im redoing the calipers as they are not good enough, Chris even filed a complaint against me via text message the other week!

Tomorrow will see some painting and some mocking up for alignment and some flatting of primer!

[stealthie]

Ok, so here are the pictures from yesterdays efforts. To be fair, Chris did most of the work as he was flatting the primer ready for top coat while I was getting my Caddy off the roller and then he did the doors while I put the Lupo on the roller and then we both cleaned the floor pan and I watched while he painted!

So yesterdays work is mainly down to Chris! Thanks Dude!

As ever, the pictures explain things better:

First off the flatting of the primer:

Then I fitted the front up so we could check the wing and bonnet alignment. After a bit of shifting and banging it all sat spot on

Then on to the roller......

It couldnt go all the way over as it was a bit close already

It would have been nice if the previous owner had of cleaned the floor pan can't have everything easy though I guess!

Dirty:

Mid way through cleaning:

It did come up a bit cleaner before we painted it but as some of the underside was still the grey primer it always looked dirty in the pictures!

So..... on to the paint. We decided that we hadn't seen a car with the floor pan sprayed to match the roof colour before so.....

So there you go, now if I roll the car no one will notice

That finishes the days work, I am going back up there today to fit all the heat shields and the fuel cooler and floor pan bungs etc back on so will have some more pictures up tonight I expect.

The bodywork is all now ready for paint bar the bonnet and the tailgate.

Now it is even closer to the final body work stages I am itching to get it done but am working every weekend in April so it may have to wait a month

[stealthie]

Today I bolted all the bits back on the chassis....

Fuel lines and the fuel cooler re fitted.

I zinc primed the exhaust brackets while they are off:

Then gave them a coat of satin black:

While they were drying I decided to put all the bungs back in their bung holes Started by boiling some water and sticking them in so they get a good clean up and the boiling water makes rubber more flexible so I could stick them back in easier.

Then on to the heat shields. I took out all the old clips and fitted all new ones, then fitted them on to the chassis.

Then bolted on the freshly painted exhaust brackets and it was all back how it should be until I fit an exhaust

Oh, and one more picture..... there was enough paint left in the gun for an additional item that I thought may as well get a splash of colour....

Thats all until I get another day up the workshop, as ever though comments are welcome people.

[Defcon5]

I didnt even know there was such thing as a fuel cooler

[stealthie]

I didnt even know there was such thing as a fuel cooler

Yep, it's only on the diesels.

As the fuel returns from the engine it comes out of the engine very hot, so it goes through the cooler to make it a suitable temperature to go back into the tank and through the system again. If it wasn't there the fuel would just get hotter and hotter I guess.

I had to fit all the fuel lines from the Tdi chassis to the petrol chassis as they are different mainly due to the cooler.

[stealthie]

This saturday will see the top coat going on the majority of the car! whoop whoop! Pictures will of course follow

Last weekend I stripped the rear beam down and took it to Chris along with the front subframe so it can be painted at his leisure with a rubberised paint to avoid stone chips. It is just going to be black as I dont want it to stand out when you are behind the car. I do have acouple of pictures but will post them when I get the beam back so you can see the before and after shots in one go.

I started to sandblast the calipers so I can give them an etch prime and then some proper paint as the black I did is not up to standard and wouldnt last too long. I got a bit of it done and then the blast cabnet sprung a leak so I need to fix that before I can carry on, should be able to sort that out on Sunday and then the calipers and hubs will get a blasting and etch ready for top coat.

All starting to come together and cant wait to be able to bolt bits back on.....

[stealthie]

So the day began with an early start which for two guys full up with a cold was not much fun but needs must and we had decided that nothing was going to stop the Lupo getting it's coat of paint on the body at last! The date had been chosen and we decided to hold ourselves to it.

Note the time I was driving to pick Chris up please - dedication to this Lupo from Chris and myself has been outstanding I think you will agree!

So after lots of nice weather we were not helped by the drizzle of rain that greeted me when the curtains were opened saying that though it did get better although the drive to collect Chris was like this:

So onwards to the workshop! I picked Chris up no problems, got there bang on 7am as planned Then we had a 45 min drive to the workshop only to get there to unload the boot of goodies (paint etc) for Chris to realise that he had forgotten his spray gun.... Doh! So a quick call to his girlfriend and she nipped off to collect it from his house so that I could meet her at theirs to make it all a bit of a faster remedy! Thanks Katie, your a star!

So I had to go back to Kent (workshop is in Essex), collect the gun and return triumphant with the tool for the job! Hurrah!

Without further ado here are some pictures of the work:

Doors hung, masked and ready for the shiney stuff:

Rear hatch in the same situation:

And the biggest bit.... the car itself:

Then on to the painting where it was all up to Chris, who might I add did a great job even with a sniffy nose from this stinking cold! He is excused from forgetting the gun due to the man flu brain he (and me) have at the moment!

And thats where it's at now

It looks black but I promise that it is 100% Brown and you can kind of tell that in a couple of the photos and if you are actually looking at the car in real life! All in a successful day with the Lupo coming on a massive step. Next task is to flat it all back and start polishing it up, the finish is good but there is a lot of work to do on it yet!

Keep watching and comments are welcome as always!

[pro3mark]

You can tell that it's brown from the last picture.

Looks good.

Game is getting stepped up by Club Lupo.

[nfbr]

coming together nicely mate

[greenson]

strong work there! you can defo tell its brown in the last two pictures, im looking forward to seeing it complete

[stealthie]

You can tell that it's brown from the last picture.

Looks good.

Game is getting stepped up by Club Lupo.

'Game is getting stepped up by Club Lupo' I like that Thanks dude, glad the effort is appreciated

coming together nicely mate

Yes indeedy!

strong work there! you can defo tell its brown in the last two pictures, im looking forward to seeing it complete

You and me both fella, hopefully it should all move a bit quicker now this bit is nearly done!

Thanks for the comments, I was beginning to think no one was looking!

[stealthie]

So another day, another 6am alarm set!

Got straight to work on the little beasty today with Chris working on the paint from the other week while I sorted out all the other bits to be painted today, I had already done most of the prep work so it was just the final prep, clean up, set up for paint then get the shiny stuff on.

Heres the car out in the open with the paint from the other week:

But thats not shiny enough for us so Chris set about flatting it back...

Then the beginning of the polishing:

Then a bit more.....

Then it is coming close to the finish we want

Reflection of the clouds in the roof

And a final of the two colours together

So the polishing has begun, There are a few more stages to go yet but you can get a very good idea of how the finish will be I can't wait!

Meanwhile I was doing the prep...

I smoothed the moulding 'flash lines' off the mirror caps as I think it looks unfinished when they are left on.

Mounted the parts for painting:

Blow over of top coat...

[stealthie]

Then the shiny bit:

So that was the mornings work, done and packed up by 12 as Chris had things to do and I had a few bits to sort out today myself. All that is left to paint now is the bonnet and rear hatch which both will be on their way to being done next week, we forgot to do the rear hatch today and the bonnet still needs some fettling.

I will start putting it back together very soon so the updates should be coming along with some good pictures

Thanks for looking and let me know what you think.

[swinburnTDI]

cant w8 to see this, looking good so far dude

[stealthie]

Cheers mate, me neither it's been a long time coming!

I just replied to your post in the bikes thread!

[Tigz™]

Nice work!

[Scotty1.4]

Coming along very well indeed. Looks great.

[jamiea7x]

WIN!

[stealthie]

Cheers guys, all approvals are appreciated

I hope to update it with some rebuild pictures over the next few weeks

[greenson]

amazing colour¬!

[marcusgrant]

Nice! any idea on when it should all be finished?

[stealthie]

amazing colour¬!

What one?! Cheers dude, I'm chuffed with them

Nice! any idea on when it should all be finished?

Well I plan to go and finish polishing the body on Sunday and then I have booked four days off work next week to get a load done on it. I am going to stay at my dads for those days so that I am close to it (it's a 45 min drive away from my house!) and get early starts and late night finishes. I am collecting the front subframe and rear axle from my painter this thursday and the plan is that by the end of the month I will have the engine in and wired up, dashboard in or nearly in, hopefully all the carpet, rear seats, front seats pedals, windows and winder mechs etc.

I'm going to just have four days of pure Lupo work to give it the big push it needs. There will be a few bits that I am missing or have lost I expect as I started it back in 2008 but hopefully that will not put too much of a delay on the work. Also have to clean it all before it is screwed on so I have a big busy four days ahead of me!

If all goes to plan then it should be a massive transformation although still be a long way from finished