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Alva - New engine and more paint problems


Amber_Nunny
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Common practice in the motor trade I'm afraid. Always the customers tough sh.. To be honest the firm I work at is small, but no way would the customer be wrong. Covering it for the time you did it clearly ain't done anything to it. We had an Astra come in today with the same issue. Obviously has never seen a cover. And it certainly has been re sprayed. Not going to UD??? Can't you wrap it temporarily to match the interior? Silly ideas me. Missed the show last year. Hope to catch your car through the season though. Get on to trading standard's, get them to shake him up. Good luck with it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some digestives and a cuppa tea later and I've finally read the whole thread. What awesome little car you've got there dude! Alva is legendary! I love the simple mods like the gloss black dash parts. How did you take these out by the way? I guess with a tincy flat screw driver and they pop off?

Oh and sorry to hear about you paint as well, that sucks, hope it all goes well for you. :(

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for taking the time to read the whole things, that's a lot of pages! Glad that someone appreciates the clean style in going for.

Yeah the T piece just comes out but you have to cut the plastic welds. For the centre console there are some screws behind the stereo.

I'm hoping to flat back the paint and see if that helps at all, I don't really have time for a respray until after show season...and I've rather not wrap it if I can avoid it...

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You going to be doin it yourself? Or a paint rectification person. As we are all aware your pretty ace at building cars and don't need much advice from someone like me, but try a small area first. Attack the larger spots first, it may burst through exposing the primer, then again they may go perfectly.

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I'm going to get someone to do it, wouldn't risk doing it myself haha.

I think for most of the car it'll work fine, just worried about my rear bumper as that's got the worst reaction, I think that might go through to primer...

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Tidy. Modern paint has a good tolerance to cut back imperfections, and with measuring devices available all should be hunky-dory. A good body shop could get your bumper painted overnight if it came to it. Fascinating story of your car's progress so far and very inspiring. The best bit is when you get near the end only to find that you haven't sold it....

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  • 9 months later...

So its been a very long time since I updated this, which is a shame because I always wanted my progress to be somewhere so that I could look back and see everything that I've done.

Anyway, to fill in the gaps where possible...

D8888E2F-D8F8-4F52-BF8C-D99D1D7F0816_zps

Alva moved to her new home and now lives in the boyfriends barn.
This is how she currently looks:

74960E4B-3376-47BC-B6A0-3D263315C999_zpsqnq1rxyf.jpg

257460B0-076A-40E1-BE6A-B2E04E925023_zpsucxpe8ds.jpg

FB7827DF-DA73-40CB-8D40-D76BFA7F8A6A_zps9ges6zaq.jpg

As my AUB engine again was running worse than a tractor, I decided it was time for a complete change and this is what I have been working on. I'm going back to basics with GSXR 600 carbs and simplicity. Removal of 90% of the wiring by the time its done which will be so nice.

736ABC7F-CB74-4B16-AAE1-E58ADEF1173B_zpsroltc655.jpg

804C938B-C751-4A18-9948-5A51D4E0B8A1_zpsf68hvblh.jpg

Its still a work in progress, but i've set a personal deadline for Early Edition 16 so I hope I can meet that.

In terms of paintwork, its bad. Whole car is covered in microblisters still and I've become really frustrated with it. I have taken the big step forward and decided to book it in for paint AGAIN...3rd time lucky I hope! This time its back to bare metal and all paint is being removed externally to ensure that this time nothing comes up. Where possible I have got brand new panels, so new wings and a new bonnet. Would love to source a brand new rear bumper but I imagine finding a sport one untouched will be like golddust.

I've also got something interesting in the pipeline in terms of wheels. They are definitely going to be a one off in terms of the spec.

And to top it all off, boot build and more interior details are definitely in the pipeline, but details will not be disclosed ;)

 

Other stuff which has kept me busy, as some people may know, is my new daily.
I went and got a brand new Audi A1 although it didn't take long for me to mess about with it.

The 10 hour transformation:

BC9866F2-8BBB-4B6F-B61A-5227D361A380_zpshqtke08q.jpg

A few pictures since owning it...

 

3BC577D8-FEF6-4409-B356-DBB79B9A0F9B_zpsrmny79br.jpg

63FCF44E-65E1-4D90-8C34-9414DA436D59_zpsk2rhxf9w.jpg

52827873-9F03-4E9C-B443-6EDA572CF9D5_zpszonf40pj.jpg

F5B3FD1F-453D-48FD-AF59-FFA9A4614168_zpsbnb6irhk.jpg

Current winter mode:

 

DDB40192-26D2-4220-BA56-D8893D66C60B_zpsz5xmxqxo.jpg

And a huge surprise during the end of show season this year...

D6F307AF-5DB0-4C73-A389-30F568D8FAF8_zpsckzljkii.jpg

Edited by Amber_Nunny
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On 22 December 2015 at 6:13 AM, 666DUB said:

Love the Audi, and cant wait to see the Lupo finished.

 

On 29 December 2015 at 10:04 PM, Dj Xaler said:

All your cars are beautifull!!

Nice work with the new engine.

Thanks for the comments! ^_^
I'm finally regaining motivation for the Lupo so hopefully you'll see me around at some shows this year!

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Just read through a lot of this at work, its great that you've not given up on her despite all the right reasons to do just that! I need to get my GTI up and running properly, its had no carpet in her for over a year now as she's got a water leak somewhere (I think through the windscreen!) and this is inspiring me to do that! I love my Up!, but the Lupo always puts a smile on my face!

Alva will be back up and better than ever soon! Oh and VW are showing 1 brand new Sport rear bumper in stock

6X0 807 301 G GRU - £140.74 inc vat retail.

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On 4 January 2016 at 5:16 PM, lupogtiboy said:

Just read through a lot of this at work, its great that you've not given up on her despite all the right reasons to do just that! I need to get my GTI up and running properly, its had no carpet in her for over a year now as she's got a water leak somewhere (I think through the windscreen!) and this is inspiring me to do that! I love my Up!, but the Lupo always puts a smile on my face!

Alva will be back up and better than ever soon! Oh and VW are showing 1 brand new Sport rear bumper in stock

6X0 807 301 G GRU - £140.74 inc vat retail.

 

On 4 January 2016 at 8:34 PM, lupo_ro said:

Love the A1 !!!

Thanks for the amazing comments. I am as ever going to persist and she will make some shows this year!

It means so much to me that people still take the time so read through all 32 pages of this ^_^

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Wow haha,slamming a brand new A1 on day 1 of ownership lol, I reckon that might be a world first :) Are you allowed to do that on finance? :P Very tidy car, I do have a soft spot for Audi's, just can't see myself buying one due to cost mainly lol, but they're terrific motors and now's the time to buy one.

Credit your perseverance with your Lupo. I think I'd have given up long ago. You've had a lot of bad luck with the paint jobs and engine etc, but it sounds as though you're finally onto a winner touch wood. I can't wait to see that engine in there. Do you reckon you could fit something bigger in? Just space wise? That'll be insane. Hope to see some updates very soon with it back on the road and I imagine you're going to have the best time of your life haha!!

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On 8 January 2016 at 2:07 PM, Silver! said:

Lovely car Amber...

 

A1_AN.jpg

 

:wub:

Thanks Silver ^_^

On 8 January 2016 at 3:45 PM, lupogtiboy said:

A1 is looking great too! Its nice also to get in a car and everything works!!

That's the thing that I love!

I got it the third week in September and I've already done 8500 miles in it...but I knew that was going to be the case so that's why I went for a new car and with a high spec. I spend at least 3 hours a day in my car so it's got to be nice :) that was my justification to myself anyway haha.

On 8 January 2016 at 6:01 PM, Skezza said:

Wow haha,slamming a brand new A1 on day 1 of ownership lol, I reckon that might be a world first :) Are you allowed to do that on finance? :P Very tidy car, I do have a soft spot for Audi's, just can't see myself buying one due to cost mainly lol, but they're terrific motors and now's the time to buy one.

Credit your perseverance with your Lupo. I think I'd have given up long ago. You've had a lot of bad luck with the paint jobs and engine etc, but it sounds as though you're finally onto a winner touch wood. I can't wait to see that engine in there. Do you reckon you could fit something bigger in? Just space wise? That'll be insane. Hope to see some updates very soon with it back on the road and I imagine you're going to have the best time of your life haha!!

Well I already had the air and wheels so it would of been rude to not do it straight away...

Technically, as long as the car is returned at a standard height then it doesn't matter. Plus it's obviously declared for insurance so it's fine ;)

I had an Ibiza before and even when I got that I wanted an Audi ideally but couldn't justify the cost, but when the mk2 shape came out I just thought screw it - I want one!

Hopefully onto a winner - this is the last time it's being painted so it'll have to be right for me to not burn the car (which I have thought about doing many many times!). 

I could definitely go bigger with the engine as I'll have lots of space in my bay but I wanted a clean look so decided to stay simple. Love the idea of the 1.8T conversions but I've never seen one that's pretty to look at due to them being such a tight squeeze. 

I haven't driven my car since around November 2014, so I'm unbelievably excited that hopefully in just a few months I'll be able to drive Alva again :wub: 

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  • 1 month later...

So Alva is definitely going in for paint this weekend - transportation is arranged and everything so no backing out now.
Lets how respray number 3 is the final one.

 

In the meantime I've been cracking on getting some things done...
We got another Polo 6n 16V - purely because I needed an engine mount and the thermostat housing.

image_zpspjyg5fko.thumb.jpeg.7a2b7fc7ce6

The car then obviously got abused with the digger - standard at our house.

image_zps61lcwumm.thumb.jpeg.61f525398c7

But the main purpose of this was to enable me to finally put the engine in!

Had to put in a barn picture with the Guybus in the background :wub::wub:

image_zpspafq9kc7.jpeg.495249ded3e0148d8

Of course, we used the digger again to get the engine in place.
FYI - seatbelts are incredibly strong and make very good straps for carrying engines!

image_zpssi7cu9ew.thumb.jpeg.c53d0a9ef8c

image_zpswq8smtjg.thumb.jpeg.ca9fe8b4ba8

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And it was in - and finally aired down for the first time in about 6 months.
Before anyone asks - no its not wired up, that'll be after its back from the bodyshop.

 

So now Alva is sitting pretty in the barn waiting to go for paint :D

image_zpsqfsdn9sw.jpeg.04940a8049faec320

 

Oh and I finally tried on my wheels (only had them about 9 months...)
They'll be different to how they are here, but I wanted to gauge how they looked on the car. Safe to say they are going to be epic!

image_zpsetbh68aw.jpeg.6256bb81c9d772a6b

 

Updates from now on may be quite slow - I'm going to keep quite a lot of things hidden but once the car is revealed I'll make sure I back-fill :paperbag:

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