70 replies to this topic

[Gilgamesh]

lol fix that badge or remove it 

[pete-r]

Sort those badges out before they get too stuck on lol but the colour is fantastic!

[IWOOT]

VX220 badge is wonky.

Actually, it's straight   

lol fix that badge or remove it

Yeah, you're right, this does bother me. How should I fix it? Will the hair drier work?

[IWOOT]

I was planning on wrapping the surround in matt black, but haven't decided whether to try it myself. The rest of the car is so perfect that the slightest bubble/fold in the wrap will annoy the hell out of me.

I couldn't find anyone local to vinyl wrap the windscreen surround (one company quoted me £198!), so I decided to have a go with a can of Plastidip. What could possibly go wrong?!

The answer - the whole car getting coated in a fine layer of matt black overspray

Before starting, I cleaned the car and then carefully masked off the windscreen, side windows, soft top and door mirrors. Then, with only a little trepidation, I went to work with the spray. The first coat didn't go on as evenly as I would have liked but, as the layers built up it started to look OK. There was a slight breeze but, due to my diligence with the masking tape and newspaper, I didn't think too much of it.

When I'd finished I was a bit annoyed that it wasn't as perfect as I'd have liked. Some areas (especially where the surround meets the front clam) looked a bit patchy up close, but it was passable.

It was only when I went to put the car back in the garage that I realised I'd Plastidipped more of my car than intended. It wasn't really that visible but the doors and top of the rear clam now felt like sandpaper The plastidip had carried on the breeze and was now pretty much everywhere. I think it would be fair to say that at this point, I panicked a little! I'm well aware that you can peel this stuff off, but a million tiny spatters were going to take a while

Anyway, a little bit of research, a few hours with a clay bar and a new coat of wax later and all is well again. In fact, as the car's never been clayed before it looks better than it did before. I'm steering clear of Plastdip for a while now though

Quick pic:

[myles]

That is a fantastic colour! I was quoted just under £200 for wrapping the windscreen surround and 'V' recently. I think the guy just didn't want my business.

[Rudy]

Looks good I had a bit of light overspray when I did mine (and I did it in a garage so no wind!), but it just washed off with some warm water:) At least plastidip can be easily removed. Imagine if you'd spray painted it eek!!

[Bumblebee]

Absolutely love that colour! Shows the angles of on the Vx really well

Edited by Bumblebee, 17 August 2014 - 08:27 PM.

[TazN]

glad it went ok in the end there Lyndsie.

 

I've now done my windscreen in vinyl, I expect the plastidip looks as good if not better it was a right pita to get nice around the top corners.

[CocoPops]

£60 windscreen excess?

[IWOOT]

Thanks everyone. Myles - I think you're right, they just weren't interested in such a small job. Rudy - If it weren't for the knowledge that the plastidip were fully reversible I wouldn't even have picked up the can, let alone pressed down the nozzle! Bee - Thank you Taz - I'm not convinced by the finish I achieved. It does look better than it did before, but only just Coco - I'm waiting for a stone chip in the right place!

[IWOOT]

Super shiny:

[Mopeytitan]

that is a gorgeous colour, going to be a few jealous neighbours i'm sure!!

[IWOOT]

The neighbours may think differently once I finally get round to fitting my VSE!

[Andrew aka Stuwy]

I wonder what my wheels would look like on your car?

[IWOOT]

I wonder what my wheels would look like on your car?

That's funny because I was wondering what your wing would look like on my car!

[Andrew aka Stuwy]

 I think you should not do anything to detract from the colour and clean lines your car has IMO

 

(it would look epic)

 

[Jimmy-Boy]

Love this!

[IWOOT]

My car is now with ES Motorsport in Norfolk for a full suspension refresh. With the exception of the wishbones, which will be powder coated, everything is being replaced with new parts before they do a full geo. I'd always thought I'd go with Quantum blacks but the replacement billies from the Lotus auction site were too good to pass up. There's a bit of play in my steering which they're also going to look at for me, then I should be ready for the National next month

[PaulCP]

Standard bushes hopefully? Their poly ones, whilst still maintaining a reasonable ride, do tend to require a bit of regular attention to stop them squeaking

[Kieran McC]

Go with OEM bushes. I have polyl bushes on mine ,If you are doing mainly road miles they tend to make for a harsher ride on our great smooth roads LOL