Last weekend I had chance to return the engine bay back to standard. I removed the ebay induction kit (Including corroded filter
) and also the Sustec strut brace, as the brackets are very rusty, so I'll get those powder coated.
So she went from this...
To this...
I gave her a quick clean all round as well to make her look half decent, including removing all the oxidization which covered pretty much everything aluminium. I also switched the spark plug cover with the one I'd painted from the project lude as the bonnet heat-shield had warn a mark in the original one.
I also wanted to remove the exhaust-manifold heat-shield as well, so I could remove the rust and either polish it or paint it. The two top bolts were no issue to remove, but of course the bottom one is seized and I've had no joy removing it yet as the bolt has started rounding off
I'll have to get my Dad's mole grippers on it
Then yesterday I had a day off work (I was having a phone line installed at home for this new-fangled thing called Broadband
), so I took the opportunity to replace the front passenger side upper suspension arm (Amazingly simple job by the way!) ...
I also slapped on a whole load of this stuff on to the front ARB bushes, which has since gotten rid of the god-awful squeak
After taking her for spin last night to check all was well now, I could still hear a knocking coming from the NSF suspension area. I knew exactly what it was though, as when I had been cleaning the engine bay a couple days previously, after removing the strut brace I noticed the nut on top of the shock dampener was actually loose. I told myself at the time, I obviously need to tighten that before I go anywhere, but blatantly forgot again
Anyway, tightened up and hey presto! She's sorted! No more knocking!
Before starting work on the car yesterday though, I pulled her forward slightly to get better access. Barely a metre forward she went, yet the start-up was obviously enough for the bonnet heat-shield to wear a patch on the newly painted spark plug cover as well!
... So off it comes...
Then, next job of the day was to replace the number plates. Both the front and the back were pretty hideous. The front hung over the frame on all 4 sides, it's had an obvious spider crack in it and generally looked naff...
The back basically had a crackle-glaze effect on some of the digits...
So I replaced them with these sleaker looking import-sized-character ones...
The front one was still bigger than the frame, but this was ok as I was going to remove the frame completely anyway. But after struggling to unbolt the blessed thing and finding the bolts are just too corroded, and also the fact that if I did remove the frame, there would be an obvious wear line across the bumper where the top of the frame had been rubbing (which would have easily been seen), I decided to leave it on.
Instead I decided to trim the new number plate down...
So now it fits perfectly
...
The back one looks much better to...
Last job of the day then, was simply to replace the blander looking OEM grey mats with a fresher set of OEM
Zebra mats
...
Shockingly bad photo (needs some colour
), but it's starting to feel more like home again
I'd also previously fitted my stereo, so now I've just got to fit my Richbrook R1 steering wheel and we're sorted.
