Restoration Thread

Yes because our cars are getting to that stage and I know a lot of you want to get back to some kind of oem look/ spec...
Get posting.

First up what do people use to get the wipers back to black?
Just buy a new set or what paint/ spray to use..

I would say wet n dry key and then a matt black spray paint.
I colour coded mine.

Oh, that does look nice.
Just read online too....

---------

So just lift up the wiper and put newspaper under it, covering the windshield. Then just spray away with black acrylic paint - either in a garage or on a day when it isn't windy. It drys quickly. I'm not fussy about "indoor" "outdoor" or whatever paint --- it's cheep. If it doesn't hold up, next summer I'd spray it all over again. Only takes 5 minutes.

Lmfao please don't follow that haha

I bought a can of spray paint from jawel online.
Took the wipers off and rubbed them down to key them up and then painted them.
I have done the rear one too.

Looks good, haven't thought about doing this, I'll add it to the list

Ditto - i need to do the same

Also - one day when i feel brave enough i need to drop the roof lining and expand foam in-between the roof and the support bar in the middle - it came loose years ago and rattles real loud at low revs - not constant but annoying - until now I've just blipped the throttle to stop it LOL

Re the roof bars rattling .. All I did was fold a few pieces of cardboard and shove it in the gaps. . It has Worked for 14years so far

Welling_AL wrote:Ditto - i need to do the same

Also - one day when i feel brave enough i need to drop the roof lining and expand foam in-between the roof and the support bar in the middle - it came loose years ago and rattles real loud at low revs - not constant but annoying - until now I've just blipped the throttle to stop it LOL

Just use black silicone or sealer. Neater and expanding foam is shit stuff and breaks down over time

Oh the frustration of realising I could have done this before I installed my hood lining a few ago

Well I think a big one is engine bays, a lot of the stock silicone pipework etc looks tired and things like the manifold heatshield etc get tired. A good tidy up of the plenum and clean really brings back the engine bay along with cleaning/spraying the radiator mounts and removing the lights to clean around that area. A lot of R engine bays do look dirty and old, much because of the lack of an engine undertray and the vents

Rob / Johnny - tips appreciated !
I'll forget the foam idea and attempt it with a more sensible approach !

Shroom - agreed - engine bay looking old and tired for me too.
Some of the hoses would benefit replacing and the inlet plenum cleaning.
I seem to recall a thread on here a while back with recommendations of products to use for plenum cleaning - ill have to look that up !

Here you go Welling_AL, you even posted in the thread hehehehe
http://www.gtir-motorsport-club.com/t275-engine-bay-clean-up-project?highlight=plenum+clean

Another is subframe bushes and the fuel tank hoses. i never realised how old some things were on my car until i removed the subframe and fuel tank

splmum wrote:Here you go Welling_AL, you even posted in the thread hehehehe
http://www.gtir-motorsport-club.com/t275-engine-bay-clean-up-project?highlight=plenum+clean

Ah man - 2012 that thread - 4 years on and still only 'thinking' about it !
Cheers for the link
Shame the pictures don't show up anymore but i do recall a a very fresh looking plenum

A top tip for freshening up the engine bay is Autoglym's tyre dressing; no seriously! As long as its not filthy this stuff brings it up like a freshly detailed garage queen.
You warm the engine up slightly, then liberally spray the stuff everywhere (the first time I did this I shat myself because it looked like somebody had jizzed over the entire engine). Once you've soiled yourself at the mess you've created, close the bonnet and leave it for half an hour. You won't be disappointed I promise

mike74 wrote:A top tip for freshening up the engine bay is Autoglym's tyre dressing

I'll be trying this

mike74 wrote:A top tip for freshening up the engine bay is Autoglym's tyre dressing; no seriously! As long as its not filthy this stuff brings it up like a freshly detailed garage queen.
You warm the engine up slightly, then liberally spray the stuff everywhere (the first time I did this I shat myself because it looked like somebody had jizzed over the entire engine). Once you've soiled yourself at the mess you've created, close the bonnet and leave it for half an hour. You won't be disappointed I promise  

Interesting, good tip