[gargreen7]

"After a week of "I'm not touching it" it happened....again... "​

But all those nice little touches that you are adding make you feel like the car is now yours, if that makes sense! :thumb:

It's a beefy looking little motor, really like it.

They're tasteful improvements that you're going for, it has an OEM+ feel to it and that's the way to go in my opinion.

All the best with it.

AnthonyIRL

Thanks for reading! Hopefully I can get the car to where I want it.

 

[gargreen7]

Had a break in the wether so started on the fog lamps.

Turns out the fronts need the bumper off so that'll have to be a job for another day.

The rear though, easy enough.

Luckily my hunch paid off at the units were indeed the same. Better still, I finally got the chance to use my mini ratchet set that "would come in handy" about 9 months ago. The eagle eyed of you will notice I've re purposed the bottle holder dash trim I recently replaced as a bits and bobs holder.

Whilst at it, more warning stickers were replaced, this time for the slam panel.

 

[gargreen7]

Another small update. Occasionally, the baby seat has to go in my car. I've noticed the Isofix has marked the Isofix covers a little bit.

In preparation for no longer needing the baby seat, I ordered some new covers. £2 would be rude not to.

 

[gargreen7]

In preparation of maybe having some sun this year, I've got myself another set of genuine mats so I can have a Winter and Summer set. I just don't get on with rubber mats so this seems like the best option for me.

The set that came with the car, presumably have been there from new (just turned 5 year old) and could do with a bit of refresh.

As you can see, they're not terrible and don't warrant being thrown out.

So here's the new set.

And new drivers mat against the old

Unfortunately, these mats come with a bit of a price tag so I wanted to make sure the new mats had a chance from the start.

You guessed it, more Detailed Online products

Before application I wanted to remove the warning label that's annoyingly been stitched in.

I got new self a fresh blade for my knife to make things easy.

Luckily, I could pull back a bit of the edging to get a clean cut without getting close to the red stitch.

And off.

After a hoover of the mats, out came the fabric protector. I have all 4 mats good coverage and they're currently drying as per the stated time of 11 hours. After that I'll give them a second coat.

The product seems to be going a long way too, this is a 250ml bottle and there's still plenty left.

 

[Andyblue]

Looking good. Be very interested in your thoughts / findings of the fabric protector :thumb:

Does it help to repel water / bead any water on them ?

 

[gargreen7]

I’m not sure what I’m expecting to be honest, Andy. After the second coat is applied tomorrow morning and dried by the night I’ll spray some water onto the mats and see how we get on.

 

[gargreen7]

Looking good. Be very interested in your thoughts / findings of the fabric protector :thumb:

Does it help to repel water / bead any water on them ?

To follow up, the second coat is now dry.

I did a water test. The water still seemed to absorb into the carpet. No beading. Though it didn't leave a water mark. I assume that it will help with lifting stains by not becoming embedded in the carpet fibre. I hope to not find out just yet but i'm Sure over time they'll get equally as dirty as the last set.

 

[Andyblue]

Cheers mate. Hopefully you don’t find out, but looking forward to your thoughts on it down the line :thumb:

 

[gargreen7]

On with my winter/summer theme which seems to becoming a thing now.

I got hold of a used set of OE 17" Sport wheels. Exactly the same as I have now but just in a bit of a state.

The plan is to get them cleaned up and refurbished and alternate between a winter and summer set. I'm yet to have any centre caps or tyres for them but that will have to wait for a while.

I may even break my own rules and go for a darker colour when they get refurbished. I'd like to match the rear valance and front bumper accents

 

[gargreen7]

Got lucky today with regards to centre caps. I got hold of a brand new full set of OE caps which are off a Suzuki Baleno. They're a little different in colour to the wheels but it could be a colour I try.

also had a black cap kicking about from my old Boosterjet Vitara S and a spare Sport OE one to so colour match.

They may not be any use to me at all when I decide what I want to do with the wheels but for £3 a cap I couldn't leave them there. (The Sport ones are £20)

 

[Andyblue]

Think the darker wheel option could look very nice :thumb:

 

[gargreen7]

Lucky enough too have a week off this week before I start my new job, today, I'm also child free so I saw this as a good excuse to get working on the car.
The weather is not up to much so a clean is out of the question but there are a few bits that I've been meaning to do.

First off, changing those front fogs that I've been putting off.

First issue, the cars is too low for the jack so after some digging I cut up a fence post I had left over from a garden job and drove up on to it, still just got under.

I didn't think through where I was going to put the bumper when it was off, so I had to settle for the BBQ.

The strip down had to start from the rear, the fog surrounds have to come off to gain access. Needed my trusty impact as the screws were tight in there.

Here you can see the state they were in.

And the dirt caught inside. This was cleaned out prior to fitting the new fog lamps.

Here are the new and old units side by side. I had a look at the part numbers and the new version is the fourth variant of the fog, so this must have been a known issue and the problem has been tackled (I hope)

And on to the second lamp

Whilst the surroundings were off there were treated with Detailed Onlines PTFE polish and surreal wax.

And refit

Managed to snap a trim clip but luckily I keep a few spares in my tool box.

 

[gargreen7]

Something else done today, not massive just something that kept catching my eye. The rear p[late is on the wonk. You can see here from the markers.

A new plate is in order then.

Didn't know what was the best way to line the new plate up as I didn't want anymore unnecessary holes in the bumper.
The best thing I could think of was colouring the tops on the holes with a sharpie. Lining the new plate up and getting a print on the back as a marker for where to drill

Two power tools in one day! It's definitely a good day.

Treated with surreal before fitting

And there we have it. One straight plate.

 

[garage_dweller]

Looks great. Out of interest why did you screw the plate on rather than stick it on?

 

[percymon]

Fogs look much better; if the part numbers are anything like Porsche though the variants can be an improved design or just a change in supplier

 

[gargreen7]

Looks great. Out of interest why did you screw the plate on rather than stick it on?

The original was screwed on so leaving behind holes.

I did have a stuck on plate, but I used an amount of chemicals on the rear which caused it to fall off.

 

[gargreen7]

Third and final job of the day done. Front brakes.

The callipers have lost their original silver finish I know, but unfortunately it's a job for another day. With the weather against me again, I didn't have time to give the car the deep clean I'd have liked with the wheels off. I also didn't want to have too much going on when I was changing such an important characteristic of the car.

Chance to use my new alloy wheel socket set.

And this very handy wheel alignment tool, also known as the shin breaker.

Although not terrible, the brakes were factory fit and had covered 33K. I don't have any more time off for a while so I wanted them done.

One retainer screw rounded off, first time using and extraction tool and it worked a charm

Gave the carriers, hub and calliper a good clean up.

New retainers.

And opposite side, much of a muchness so no images really

Fitted with one very dirty wheel.

 

[gargreen7]

New 17mm nut covers are here too, will be replacing the old set and will be going on when the car is clean..

 

[gargreen7]

Couldn't help myself.

Wheels back off for cleaning.

 

[cloughy]

Looking great! what did you use for the wheels? thinking of getting a detailed online mystery box now because of this thread!