Willsy's 309 GTi - Latest update 04/09/2018 - Page 8 - Saxperience

Bedford126 · 7th April 2014, 23:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by willsy

Brief pause in 309 progress- my new garage flooring has arrived so I'll assemble that tomorrow morning. Taster pic as follows

Is that the flooring they have in jtf at the mo mate £10 per 4 tiles?

willsy · 7th April 2014, 23:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bedford126

Is that the flooring they have in jtf at the mo mate £10 per 4 tiles?

Hey mate, no it's not those ones. Ordered from http://www.ecotileflooring.com not sure what the JTF ones are made of (seen a lot of foam based stuff) these were £35 for 4 tiles.

willsy · 14th April 2014, 19:45

Evening all, another meaningful update finally.

I've spent this afternoon removing the GTi trim pieces from the passenger side of the car. Took out the red stripes in order to clean all the pieces fully. Used the same method as I did on the front bumper and it's made a huge difference. The panel behind the kit pieces was also filthy.

Before

After the first piece was done

Here's how bad things looked behind the trim

Soon sorted that

All done

Rear bumper needs tackling

Ive also managed to remove the dash now so I've started cleaning that up too, stripped everything down to each individual piece again. Here's the switch console piece after I'd reassembled it, quite like the finish :-)

And that'll do for tonight's update.

Dan-Subtle^m · 14th April 2014, 21:48

Wow, that's all I can say haha.

LEE_VTR1 · 15th April 2014, 16:01

Insane how awesome its transforming!! Especially after seeing it in person and working on this car myself!!

willsy · 15th April 2014, 22:15

Cheers mate, it's definitely coming along nicely now.

So chuffed that the electric windows are up and running, nice for something to be so easy to retrofit for once :-)

willsy · 17th April 2014, 13:55

Garage floor is looking good, making working on the car so much nicer than rolling around & kneeling on concrete. Still some more to buy until it's finished but I can get on with the car again in the meantime :-)

willsy · 22nd April 2014, 20:14

Evening all, had another productive day on the 309 today. After doing the passenger side trim panels last week the state of the rear bumper looks awful in comparison.

So what follows has taken me well in excess of 8 hours to achieve today but I was determined. Rear bumper taken off revealed this...

Under all the muck the passenger side seems pretty good. I havnt made it round to the drivers side yet but I know the rear bumper mount on that side is knackered and some welding will be required, it's a common rust area though and I knew that bit needed doing when I bought it so it's no surprise.

Anyway cleaned up the passenger side & I'm pleased with the result

Nice new rear light cluster too

Then moved on to the rear bumper......

willsy · 22nd April 2014, 20:25

The rear bumper was horrendous, this is how if looked before I started

Finished pics to follow in a moment

willsy · 22nd April 2014, 20:33

Several hours later here it is finished

Cleaned inside aswel as out

And back on the car for now

Over the weekend id done a bit more on the dash aswel

And that's the end of today's update :-)

Alanapone^p · 22nd April 2014, 20:36

That is crazy!! I honestly can't believe the difference in the plastics once you have finished with them! Such good work although I can't help thinking you must have shares in bluroll or something!! lol.

Jigs2895 · 22nd April 2014, 20:40

The work on that rear bumper is the best you have done yet, it would pass for brand new.

DavidsVTR · 22nd April 2014, 20:49

Coming along nicely!

How do you get your bumpers to look that spotless?! .. What's the secret?

Gashman · 22nd April 2014, 20:55

You amaze me with every update! Great work

deano_123 · 22nd April 2014, 21:06

quality work, what sort of mileage is on the car?

willsy · 22nd April 2014, 21:07

Cheers guys :-) I am very pleased with it. The bumper does have a few small scuffs and light scratches still but they don't look half as noticeable now I've spent some time on it and got it as good as it can possibly get

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidsVTR

How do you get your bumpers to look that spotless?! .. What's the secret?

Stage 1 - clean them with Autosmart Tardis and work it in with a toothbrush. I've gone over every inch of it until it's as clean as possible. That's the time consuming part as I've literally cleaned it to death until no residue is noticeable on the baby wipes used for wiping down
Stage 2 - heat gun used to go over the plastic, almost immediately the natural pigment returns to the surface and it's back to its true colour. In theory this should only need to be done once to give it a 'fresh start' regular care after that will keep it tip top.
Stage 3 - whilst the plastic is still warm apply Auto Glym Vinyl & rubber care. The bumper will absorb the product well and the moisture that's lost over the years whilst it's fading in the sun is replenished a bit.
Stage 4 - when cool apply a second cost of AG vinyl & rubber care
Stage 5 (optional) apply AG bumper gel as a nice top coat.

And that's it. It took hours for me to clean the bumper at stage 1. So much moss stains, tar and general road crap to remove. Worth every minute spent though :-)