Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

One for Nurse.

Am also looking at doing a plastic wrap on a car and see what results I get. Matt black seems to be popular as its easier than getting matt paint applied.

Doing a wrap yourself? bad idea unless your cars is made without any curves or you're an experienced signwriter. I've carbon wrapped a few roofs and bonnets, also Did the majority of stickering to this including the MSport stripes -

That is only after 3yrs of signwriting. A novice may be able to cover a roof with some practice and the correct tools. You'll need a heat gun, scalpels, squeegees of the right kind, clean surfaces to cut the vinyl on and set out the backing paper. Also the knowledge of how the vinyl behaves - initial tack, flexibility, amount of heat to use....

A full wrap of a car can cost as much as a paintjob. Difference being - it's not permanent, after 5yrs it's likely the vinyl will degrade and loose colour/turn brittle and crack in the recesses. Vinyl will protect your car from stonechips and keying, but you have to watch out for the paint on plastic bumpers as the paint is fairly fragile and likely to come off when the vinyl is removed (as the owner of a Dodge Viper found out...)

Plus, the whole flat black thing is ~18 months too late now.

It's no longer cool- you routinely see ML320's "murdered out" taking the kids to school in Chelsea.

Pink shirt? Check. Polo jeans? Check. Flat black BMW? Check- you're a sloane with no imagination.

Or a wannabe.

Trad brown parcel wrapping paper and hairy string- now that's cutting edge

I'm all about the high-gloss, non-metallic finish these days.

Nah.

Loving it under the bonnet. But I'm not a fan of the external

Back to proper cars :)...

One of my top ten garage cars has come up for sale.

http://pistonheads.com/sales/3057499.htm

Unlike most purists I absolutely fell in love with the looks of the last of the Diablo's when Audi took over and with those 6.0L monsters in them why wouldn't you?

Back when supercars looked like supercars. I was sent this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx2Rz09EhE4&feature=player_detailpage

and I don't see anything that makes me look except the 911's, the Bristol, and the Diablo. Just nothing looks special anymore. Why the tit recording the video decided to record the poor man's Murcielago rather than the far more exotic Diablo next to it at 2:28 I'll never understand.

Hmm... If I'm being honest I'd rather a Murcielago to a Diablo. No matter how amazing and wild a car I always come back to the fact that the car is designed as a mode of transport. For that reason it's pretty unlikely I'll ever want to buy anything with a 6.0l engine or for that matter a Bugatti Veyron, in my opinion the least pleasant car ever produced. It's an exercise in excess and vulgarity. Also the fact that they've never been raced is off-putting, you can tell a lot about a car by it's performance in the likes of Le Mans, for example the majority of Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghinis output. Veyron and Koenigsegg though are purely for overweight, balding poseurs with fat chequebooks. The Diablo is a funny one though. Obviously epic but it just doesn't do it for me, the red on I posted I kind of like but if I'm honest I'd rather a lot of other cars. I like the Murcielago and the Gallardo though because they're basically Audis and you can actually use them everyday if you wanted to... I love the Aventador because it's beautiful and it's normally aspirated.

I also love the new Porsche 918 Spyder because it's a hybrid, it's awesome. The Veyron is just so bloody obnoxiously vulagar I genuinely hate it though. Offer me a Mint BMW E30 or a Veyron and if I couldn't sell it I'd take the E30 anyday.

Proof that Enzo liked turbo-charged Volvo's in this (awesome) quote from the great man:

"Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines." —Enzo Ferrari

That Indigo interior looks proper special on Alpine white. Nice example you have there.

I picked up an E36 Sport Touring today to replace the Jeep chore mobile. I'll be looking to find some BBS splitties to put on it before it's allowed to park up next to the E31.

I presume you're familiar with Scuffmaster? I've renovated many a ropey interior with their dye with very good results. My top tip, apply neat in a dabbing motion with triangular make up sponges.

Thanks, need to borrow a carpet cleaner so the next job will be to remove the seats and to clean the interior, will need to renovate the leather at some stage as well.

Hers a photo with the hood up.

That's lovely indeed! The proper cabrios seem to be a better machine than the Bauer convertible aswell, good job sir! Enjoy it!

You also have Liquid Leather by Gliptone but I will check out the bumph on Scuffmaster.

Looks like its part of the range, need to send a sample off.

Liquid leather cleaner and conditioner is good (smells great) if a bit pricey but I do use them either side of the dying process.

I don't know if there were varying shades of Indigo but they've always managed to deliver a spot on match just by quoting the official colour. But then it's never really been an issue as I usually get the 250ml bottle which is enough to do an entire interior. The fact that you're removing the seats makes the process much less of a chore.

Doing a wrap yourself? bad idea unless your cars is made without any curves or you're an experienced signwriter. I've carbon wrapped a few roofs and bonnets, also Did the majority of stickering to this including the MSport stripes -

That is only after 3yrs of signwriting. A novice may be able to cover a roof with some practice and the correct tools. You'll need a heat gun, scalpels, squeegees of the right kind, clean surfaces to cut the vinyl on and set out the backing paper. Also the knowledge of how the vinyl behaves - initial tack, flexibility, amount of heat to use....

A full wrap of a car can cost as much as a paintjob. Difference being - it's not permanent, after 5yrs it's likely the vinyl will degrade and loose colour/turn brittle and crack in the recesses. Vinyl will protect your car from stonechips and keying, but you have to watch out for the paint on plastic bumpers as the paint is fairly fragile and likely to come off when the vinyl is removed (as the owner of a Dodge Viper found out...)

Initially am looking at doing some motorbike panels and then have a go at a car.

Would it be alright to contact you off board about this.

Nt used scuff master but used this from woolies:

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-117-leather-renovation.aspx

fit up the exhaust on sun in mates driveway. fuck its loud!!

Well suspect rear bearings/diff/gearbox on the 928 as its got a strange noise/rumble/grinding. The underside rear is covered in oil and grit mixed in to a lovely paste. Its on the brakes and the tyres too. Washed and sprayed degreaseant on the tyres and its still there. The only way it seems to clean off anywhere is with a rag and degreasent sprayed on it.

Clean the area and see where the leak is, if its a gasket/seal or something more serious.

I think I may have to get an MGB GT.

My dad rang me a couple of days ago, says "Tom, I've bought a car"... he's only gone and got one of these! I can't wait to have a go, they've always been a favourite of mine. Off over to his today, I'll try get some pictures.

Hah! Well, I think I might end up sleeping in it if I bought one now, but it's on the list of "when the house is done".

Pics woudl be good, go and enjoy it.

WOW!! 360rwhp for those of you in hp. he was throwing in an extra 4-5 degrees into it. farken loud at WOT. tried to record but mic on ph is shit.

Nice! What engine management are you using?