Jim,

I love what you have done with the calipers and matching wheel center caps. And those new wheels look amazing! Very nice.

 

Thanks MrWhite....I appreciate they may not be to everyones taste, but I think they look pretty good and always get lots of positive comments.
I admired yours in the detailing thread but a bit light on the pics though
Beautiful looking car...

 

Hoping to get in to get the H&R wheel spacers fitted later today......

 

Well I was lucky enough to have my son help me today, Connor works at a well known tyre retailer so we had a ramp and necessary tools / time required.
It was off with the wheels and H&R hubcentric wheel spacers fitted and torqued correctly, wheels put back on and torqued as required. I do have to say it's only approx 13mm gain either side, but I definitely notice the difference
Once I get a chance and she's cleaned up, I'll take some pics and show her as is....
Thanks
Jim

 

Ok so here's the before and after pics.....no massive changes, quite subtle, but added approx 13mm on the vehicle track, so looks just a little wider, a little meaner
Before....





After.....





All good so far....
Jim

 

Here's a few more, cleaned n looking better, albeit in a Tesco car park...lol
Couldn't resist turning and having another look as I walked away, again!
So decided to snap a pic or two....

<a href="http://s140.photobucket.com/user/jaycam0802/media/Jag%20XJ%20Wheel%20spacers/3.3_zpsochbkqtt.jpg.html" target="_blank" abp="1937">
<a href="http://s140.photobucket.com/user/jaycam0802/media/Jag%20XJ%20Wheel%20spacers/1.1_zpsjqnfzyvg.jpg.html" target="_blank" abp="1941">
Here's a few roughly similar side by side before and after shots that may give a little better idea of the end result


<a href="http://s140.photobucket.com/user/jaycam0802/media/Jag%20XJ%20Wheel%20spacers/side%20by%20side_zpssb9sjck7.jpg.html" target="_blank" abp="2861">


<a href="http://s140.photobucket.com/user/jaycam0802/media/Jag%20XJ%20Wheel%20spacers/side%20by%20side%201_zpsinihbox7.jpg.html" target="_blank" abp="2867">

 

Bought 2 x caliper repair kits today £49.90 total
They should arrive in the next few days. I'm hoping to get the calipers removed / disassembled / checked and seals / pistons replaced to see if this helps with the braking issues I've been having.

The car's going in for paint on front bumper, bonnet, wings and sills as well as rear bumper on Thursday, so the caliper issues will be checked after that

 

Well got my car back around 12 pm today, and to be honest, really pretty satisfied. Looks to be a good paint match and a good finish overall, and reasonably clean afterwards too.

You may or may not have seen, there was a little stone chip damage to the front bumper and it was flat, almost a matt finish somewhat. The wings and bonnet also had some minor stonechips and swirls, the sills were quite stone chipped and were difficult to bring back to a gloss black finish.

Over and above this some numpty had kindly left an 18" scratch on my rear bumper marking the paint too.
Now all resolved in one fell swoop.

Before I add the pictures, I must say, still not quite finished but you may get the idea.
Also I'd like to ask the following.....

I've had cars reworked by OEM Vauxhall and Ford dealerships, by Nationwide car body repairers as well as by Audi dealerships as well. In all that time, from any of them, there's always and I mean ALWAYS been some issue
There's either slight hologramming of the paint
There's polish residue in panel shut lines / headlights
Not cleaned out properly
etc etc etc

Never, has a car came back absolutely 100% perfect in that regard, to be fair this is no different. There are a few slight holograms and a little polish here n there.
Has anyone, ever, I mean ever had a car come back 100% perfect, bearing in mind high standards??

Overall I'm very happy with the result and intend to get my DA polishing machine out to sort out the roof, doors and bootlid and also to rework a few holograms left by the machine polishing process, then some PB Blackhole topped with BLACK wax by Chemical guys, should be really something when finished I hope.....










New foglight housings fitted too as well as a new number plate to complete the look.
Well chuffed

Jim

 

Jim, why the different color plates on front and back??

 

Hi Jay, UK law.....


"Number plates must be displayed in accordance with The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001.
All vehicles manufactured after 1 January 1975 must display number plates of reflex-reflecting material, white at the front and yellow at the rear, with black characters. This type of reflecting plate was permitted as an option from 1968: many vehicles first registered before 1975 may therefore carry the white/yellow reflective plates and, where they were first registered during or after 1968, they may have carried such plates since new."

 

Thank you Jim. Can't see that happening here, too many double digit I.Q idiots would change the plates around merely to aggravate law enforcement.

 

Had the chance to try out my DA polishing kit today for a short while



Only enough time ( as it was outside - no garage access after the conversion ) to do the bootlid.
I used Auto Finesse see link here..
Revitalise, Our Paint Correction System

I tried it on the bootlid which shows light swirl marks I used polishing compound no 2, it is our all rounder, capable of restoring average swirling and paint dullness.
This has a pad specifically to match to make it easy for DA novices like me, then followed up with no 3 which is a Refining compound and has been developed to produce an ultra crisp clear finish.
I then topped this with Poorboys Blackhole and finished with BLACK wax from Chemical guys.

Looks to be a pretty decent finish, not 100% but so much better. I'm looking forward albeit with a little trepidation to trying out on the rest of the car
Jim

 

Well, should be going in to see Dave tomorrow with pistons, seals, repair kits etc to get calipers checked, disassembled and see if there's any issues, replacing said parts as we go......that'll be tomorrow around 7pm

Guess what Rear park sensors on the fritz too, wouldn't you know it. I swung by Prestige today and Dougie plugged her in, failing sensor rear left centre. He's ordered it in and am "hoping" to call in tomorrow afternoon to get this repaired.......It's a slim hope so we'll see on that.

Whilst at Prestige I called in to Anonymous detailing a few doors down and chatted to Craig there about paint correction. He's offered me a really sweet deal to do a 2 stage paint correction on the entire car from bumper to bumper around 4 days prior to the meet in Crieff.

In all honesty, what with work as is, issues with MIL in the hospice with MND, looking to be on her last few days and all that entails, combined with the forum meet that now requires urgent attention along with a few dozen other items, I simply won't have the time to do her justice.

The deal is so sweet I just couldn't refuse under the circumstances...lol
The upside is, it may actually afford me some time to complete the add on door seals and sound deadening project!

Onwards n upwards eh...
Jim

 

Well, called in to Prestige today, Dougie pulled out all the stops after yesterday and got 2 parking sensors in, painted and ready good to go for this afternoon.

Called in around 2.30 and had them both fitted for a very reasonable price I have to say, £125.28 due to issues with previous unit, excellent service.
Came home and decided to treat the ole girl to a quick wash n brush up, wheels done, all shut lines, engine bay and boot and tyres blacked.....boom, job done.


Heading to see Dave at around 7pm to check on the caliper pistons / seals / slider pins on the fronts
Jim

 

Well called in to see Dave re this issue, a cross between nervous and almost excited, been chasing this down for a while now!!

I went through everything that had been done again and vented my frustration as Dave got the car jacked up and started to remove the drivers side wheel. This was after a brief test drive so he could experience it for himself of course.

As the wheel came off, he checked various bushings etc and then also checked for hub run out, removing the disc after checking that too....... he commented on how well it looked and that everything seemed in really good order.

Discs, calipers and caliper carriers were all removed too and everything was checked, wire brushed and or cleaned. He eventually got around to removing the piston with a quick shot of compressed air it popped out really easily. He checked the slider pins and they were all A ok, the piston looked great as did the seals and everything else.

Strange to say but NOT GOOD......I was hoping for the exact opposite!!

All cleaned, wire brushed, lubricated, new seals and piston, sliders etc etc and all buttoned back up, wheel on....done, now for the passenger side.

Started the same process on the passenger side and everything was duplicated and everything was bang on the same, no issues, nothing to show for the nights work, then.......

As he got the caliper off and was setting about removing the piston in exactly the same way with compressed air, pffff.......nothing!
The piston on the drivers side just popped right out very easily?

Tried again, and again and then, bam, out she came.
There you go he says, there's your problem!!!



The piston was rusted around the rim and had been sticking, not retracting as easily as it should have been, probably stuck on, causing the disc to heat up and or warping causing the brake judder he reckons, see attached pics.....

As before all replaced, wire brushed, cleaned, lubricated and put back together
Went for a test drive and yes, the issue still seems to remain, albeit less aggressive. He reckons that the disc will be warped / have run out on the internal face and once replaced should be all good.

This could be music to my ears!!!
I'll be checking with Prestige and Pagid tomorrow ( They promised another set of discs / pads under warranty ) and hope to get them fitted ASAP and get an alignment done, possibly wheels double checked again for balance and see if this is finally sorted.
Fingers crossed, but could be the best £100 I've spent in a long time

I'll report back obviously
Jim

 

Jim sorry to learn about your MIL, hope your wife is holding up well (and you too) under these circumstances.

Jay

 

Hi Jay, many thanks for the comments
She's a tough old bird, but been going through this now for a little over a year, my wife was told she only had a few days expectancy around 2 months or so ago, so she's done well.

Unfortunately going through this for so long it somehow almost gets you used to it being told this day in and day out for so long. My wife is really struggling, its her life long best friend as well as her mum, so it's going to be tough.
She's now so far gone that even my wife crying through waves of tears said that she just wanted her to go and be free of all the pain and suffering.
In the best possible way, we hope that she'll be at peace soon and then god help us, as she's the glue that held the whole family together, so it won't be pretty.

Many thanks
Best
Jim

 

If it were me, I really would've just put in a new piston instead of reusing the old rusted one, especially since they had everything pulled apart anyhow.

Edit: I just re-read your post. I may have misunderstood. Was the piston replaced with a new one?

 

Hi there, see below...

"All cleaned, wire brushed, lubricated, new seals and piston, sliders etc etc and all buttoned back up, wheel on....done, now for the passenger side."

Yes I did go for all new pistons, seal kits, new slider pins and their rubber bushings etc etc.
Everything else - such as the caliper, the carrier and other parts wee checked, cleaned, wire brushed etc.

Thanks
Jim

 

Jim,

Another possibility to consider, have you replaced the flexies to the calipers? If not it might be one to consider, as when they breakdown internally they can act as a one way valve allowing fluid into the caliper when the pedal is depressed but not back out when released effectively making the caliper 'stick' on overheating the disc.

Cheers.