A bit by bit "restoration"

[Temeeo]

Thought that it would be a good idea to start a thread where I could show/share some of the work that I do on my baby. I'm a bit limited at the moment at what work can I do as I only rent a room in a house and have no garage - all the work is done in drive way or back garden.

Apart from keeping the car nice and shiny I try to find each month a bit of time to bring the car closer to what it looked and felt like when it left the factory.

[Temeeo]

Here is few things that I've done this month:


Windscreen wiper arms respray

They are held in place by 12mm nut and after undone could be removed by hand - no puller needed. I first wire brushed all the rust and flaking paint away, then used Deox Gel to remove the rust around the hinge and 200 grit sand paper to get them look like this:



Things like this are all about preparation. I've first degreased them and then wiped them with lint free cloth soaked in white spirit just before I applied the first coat of primer. I used Zinc etch primer for the first two coats followed by regular primer:



For the top coat I've used satin black paint to match the OEM look, here is the finished product, they look almost like new now:





New ones now go for £130.99 on Camskill. Total cost was about €15 + few hours of elbow grease so that's a few bob saved right there

[Temeeo]

Battery tray and clamp respray:

The battery tray was spoiling the look of otherwise relatively clean engine bay, here they are just taken out of the car (the "before"):



I've decided to remove the rust chemically (using Deox C), 5 minutes in and you can see the rust starting to come off:



1 hour in Deox C:



2 hours later, after a bit of scrubbing with scotch brite pads and soaked in batch of fresh Deox:



Then I used wire brush and 200 grit sand paper, degreased all the bits and cleaned them up with white spirit just before the primer, here is the tray sprayed with Zinc etch primer:



Tray and clamp after few more coats of regular primer:



Little bonus - dynamic dumper that's part of the engine mount - also looking shabby:



All paint removed, ready for primer:



Primed, ready for top coat:



And the finished product (the "after"):



Not sure about the gloss black paint, think it might be little too glossy, satin would have been better, other than that I'm delighted with the result. Wish I had a plating kit at home so that I could do the bolts right (zinc plate and passivate them - to get the "gold" OEM look)

[Bernard]

Excellent work and a good idea for a thread, one to keep an eye on.... well done.

[Kace]

Patience of a Saint and obviously some time on your hands. Well done !!