Vyv - my series 3

[Marc S]

Blimey...haven't updated this thread in a while!

This weekend I fitted the Wipac headlights and wiring loom that I picked up last week (thanks guys, you know who you are )

Cibie compared to the Wipac...ok, so I had polished the wipacs, but the old ones weren't exactly dirty...



quick check of the loom



and it was good to go...although first test saw the beams reversed, as in high beam was low beam...but a quick re-wire sorted that






I also fitted some new speakers up front. I have an Alpine head unit and rear speakers, and wanted the same for the front, instead of the £5 maplin ones

these fitted a treat




All I've got to do now, is give it a clean, and take it to Retro Rides

[spoddy]

the new lights look great, heck the car looks wonderful. really nice paint job and colour.
just like a brand new fb.

[KiwiDave]

Looking forward to seeing VYV at RR .... VYV's Wipacs vs TWiR's MX5 lights.

[Marc S]

Thanks spoddy - although the camera doesn't show the keyed panels, or the bubbles popping up everywhere...hopefully I'll address some of those issues over the winter

sounds good Dave, we'll have a "light off"...or something

See you Sunday

[spoddy]

keyed panels? who did that?
paint bubbles can be common on resprays, i had my mx3 done back in 06 and she is bubbling again.
it's either bubbles or cracks in the paint. stone chips are a pain too.

one trick to fix any key scores is to get an old syringe and fill with touch up paint (thinned down)
and slowly go along the score and fill in with the paint. Let dry and then level out, t-cut, then polish up.

halfords do good touch up kits with touch up pens with small nibs, same idea. just take your time and
do it evenly. help take the bad look off the panels.

[Marc S]

The bubbles have that nasty brown stuff that used to be metal underneath them...I don't mind a few on a 30 year old car, but some I need to deal with over the winter

I have touched in the keyed bits, better than it was, but I couldn't match the paint, so I used the closest thing I could get, which isn't good enough. I now have a litre of paint made up, so the bad bits should all be taken care of

[spoddy]

i have used a pin to burst the bubble and water came out.
must be this new paint?
but the idea is to pin hole the bubbles and then when water out, touch up paint again.

anyways i'll have to rub down and blend in the rear arches again. old cars yes.

[Marc S]

Last big event of the year for us is JAE...Karissa and I are the event managers for Club323F, so we were there with them - maybe next year some FBers would like to join us, plenty of room on our stand

anyway, here's a couple of pics of Vyv





a quick shot of my badly painted blue box of god (basically 'cos it was a rust box of god ) complete with new sticker - available if anyone wants one!



and a clever night shot...




Unfortunately, with some bubbling in the heater matrix when revving, and some even more scary mis-firing when starting from warm...I fear I need to find another engine

[Lucky]

Looks great dude, the sticker came out really well. Tempted to have one of you just to stick on the wall or something

Sad times about the engine Have you tried a champagne test in the filler neck yet, confirm if it's water seals?

[Marc S]

Thanks mate

the one on mine was a first off, needs tweaking a bit - it's correct to the original one, but isn't quite the perfect diameter to actually match the top of the filter housing - I think it would look better "wrong" but the right diameter, if that makes sense

I was always a bit "head in the sand" and didn't want to face the truth, so I never did the test, but I will do now. The last month or so it has been a bit tricky to start when warm, it mis-fires, sounds all lumpy, and then kicks in and runs ok - could this all be down to water seals, or is it a sign of something more serious?

I want to put the Elford on it, but it seems pointless if the engine isn't 100%