Following my minor nudge with the arse-end of a wayward Polo, the guys at Veetec Neasden did a simply fantastic job in fixing up the door frame and passenger side. Respray is barely noticeable (the spray was tailored to the inside of the door-shut), the little details weren't overlooked and the staff were friendly and professional. Glad I didn't have to fork out the £2.5k it supposedly took to put it all right, but hey! For being crashed into, it wasn't a wholly unpleasant experience XD
Now that she's back I splashed out and bought a bunch of Autoglym detailing gear as it was at a decent price when I saw it:
- Autoglym Perfect Wheels & Bodywork Collection
- Autoglym HD Wax
Having never done a full-on detailing session before, it was uncharted territory! Resorted to a very un-manly tactic of reading the instructions, but was over the moon with the results
Body
- Rinse
- Demon foam Snowfoam
- Two bucket wash Autoglym shampoo
- Shammy & microfibre cloth dry
- Autoglym Super Resin Polish
- Autoglym High Definition Wax
Wheels
- Demon Wheels spray
- Autoglym Clean Wheels
- Autoglym Instant Tyre Dressing
- Autoglym Alloy Wheel Seal
I was surprised at the difference that the polish & wax made, a beautiful glassy finish (and a pleasure to clean with a cheeky pressure wash to take all the bugs off the front each week). Feedback was helpful too from the FB site; next time its microfiber all the way, not just for the polishing. *Throws shammy in the Pit of Doom*
With the list of jobs backing up, I enlisted the help of the Old Man again; fitting the Maxton Design carbon effect side runners and changing the rear disk brakes.
The side runners looked spot-on in terms of meshing with the front spoiler, a couple of carefully placed rivets and the supplied sealant later and they were on
Have to admit, they didn't look like they'd mesh with the side skirts 'out of the packet', but once offered up to the right place they were good to go.
The rear disks were...less than easy. After doing my research, the intimation was that they'd simply slide out diagonally once the caliper was removed. However, turns out on the R that the caliper carriers need to ALSO be removed in order to slide the oversized discs. After abandoning the effort the first time due to not possessing the right hex-nut, the second time also ended in failure due to not getting enough purchase on the bolt once the rear-end was jacked up. After bribing enough work-friends with promises of beer, we got the car up on a ramp and required a 6ft torque bar to loosen the carrier off! After that, the change was plain sailing; the rears being replaced with Brembo discs with ATE Ceramic pads.
Anyhoo, enough waffle! Pics!
Next on the list; fitting rear Dectanes \m/ ';..;' \m/ Hope to have them fitted and running by 20th May for the Newforest meeting
