DIY Paint and Other Summer Mods

[Steve and Matt Pegrum]

So the cars only been on the road for a few years now and i'm not particularly happy with the paint/body. When we originally started the re-build, the body was in a very bad state, absolutely covered in cracks required a huge amount of time getting it into a reasonable state. After this, the paint was then done with many spray cans, hoping to get a reasonable and inexpensive paint job. So considering this was the first major body work I've ever done its not too bad.

Never the less a lot of cracks have re-appeared, a section on the bonnet has bubbled up due to lack of heat reflective material against the exhaust manifold and there are lots of thin patches.

I plan to have a second attempt over the summer using a proper spray gun, hopefully getting it to a more professional standard so any advise on equipment and techniques will be very useful.

Cheers, Matt.

[Steve and Matt Pegrum]

Ooh I just found out the dome sticker people *can* do chrome/silver. I think it is the backing of the underlying vinyl.

So probably we need a transparent gif containing the black and white and the silver layer is then the transparent part

https://www.stickersinternational.co.uk/engine-design/domed/?s=rect...

So just need those transparent gif things.....

[Neville Smith]

I will ask my lad if he can produce the artwork for this with the outline for the letters and the outer line transparent to allow the chrome to show through

[Steve and Matt Pegrum]

Thanks

I guess we then have to choice of domed or whatever sticker in a style reminiscent  of an enamel badge - or a completely flat Vinyl cutout.

I am supposing that the flat cutout type would be all one colour with the paint/gelcoat showing through

[Adrian Southgate]

That second one is very close if not perfect Neville.

[Neville Smith]

My Son did take a long time to get it right.

[Steve and Matt Pegrum]

Been a long time since the last update and lots of good stuff has happened!

Whilst having the whole body off for the re-paint a few other improvements were made, including a new role over bar, fuel tank with rear end reinforcement and boot floor and a new silencer for the exhaust.

Here's some pics...

Role over bar with cranks so that i can be welded directly to the chassis

Added triangulation and cross bar for seat belt harnesses

Does look too much different with the body back on, just a bit more beefier!

After lots of mulling over we decided to get a new fuel tank that would sit a lot further in the car, just in case of any rear end accidents.. It also gave us the opportunity to rebuild the boot floor on top of the rear end reinforcement which is massively better than the previous version.

Mounted fuel tank with rear end reinforced.

Wiring up the fuel pump and using it to transfer fuel from the old tank to the new.

It has now all been completely paneled over along with the necessary holes for wiring and tank inlet/outlets. With the body back on we now have a completely solid boot space. No pics of the complete final version unfortunately... 

Stolen the silencer of dads Sylva Stylus muhaha. This isnt how it was finally mounted, it sits much closer and straighter to the body works and looks "right".

The car is 95% back together now but iv traveled back to Portsmouth for my last year of uni and have left dad to button up the last little bits.

Look forward to seeing you all at Stoneleigh! 

[Dave Adams]

personally i would have put the ally checker plate upside down in the boot to give the smooth side up.....

 but overall it looks a really nice job.

[Steve and Matt Pegrum]

Cheers.

We did think about whether to go smooth or checker ally but decided checker. Wouldn't think it would be a good idea to rivet checker side down directly onto the chassis.

[Dave Adams]

i would have ground off a "lip" then put some sealer between the ally and steel... either the soft sticky  tape or some mastic.

[James Doulton]

That is looking good.

I like the idea of a roll bar that might be strong enough to really work. Where did that come from, or was it specially made? The tank looks a little larger than the original, I assume that you bought it. Is it foam filled? The reason that I ask is because I have wondered about a new tank myself, as part of an EFI upgrade.

[Steve and Matt Pegrum]

Roll bar was specially made after lots of measuring by Tube Bender http://www.tube-bender.co.uk/ out of 2" 2mm thick tube. 185+vat delivered. not specially cheap perhaps but very accurately made.

It's designed to stand on the main chassis rails on this S3. Also provided was tube for the forward facing diagonals although those were made to fit on the trailing arm boxes that we have here. Could have been rear facing but that would have been more truckth with the rea bulhead and bodywork that we have

Interesting facet was that he didn't have a 300mm radius bending mandrel - which is why i went for the double bend in the diagram. However when made it actually looks like a 300mm single bend anyway. I guess that's because 2 165mm 45deg bends 150mm apart are pretty much the same thing

[Steve and Matt Pegrum]

It was all welded together at home - as was the horizontal bar for the seat harnesses (3mm thick tube)

Also welded onto the chassis - less hassle than bolted on.....

Quilte pleased how it came out - esp considering this was all done by email. Very accurate and the clearance to the body sides is less than 1cm so that's just as well!