im Axle Specialists
IMG_04742.JPG
IMG_04742.JPG

Grande Punto My 1.9 MJet GPS

Overview Gallery Discussion

Introduction

Long overdue I know, but after MITCar and noticing everyone else has a build thread heres mine.

Here she stood, all standard as of June 2011.


First things first, new Forge underbody braces. The once front heavy and understeered 1.9 now feels a lot less boggy in corners.


Got hold of some CF vinyl and went about modding the front and rear badges. Pretty simple to do, and a bit different from those that have repainted it.


I also covered the silver trim (passenger dash strip, driver dash strip, around gear gaiter, steering wheel controls etc) with the CF and clear lacquered it to look less fake. Pics to follow.

Got hold of some 20mm hubcentric spacers for the rear, courtesy of Mayatt, fill the tracking now and feels a lot more planted. At the same time I had all 4 tyres replaced with Maxxis MAZ1 215/40/R17's. Great tyres and I opted for a slightly wider tyre to standard 205's as I was dropping profile but also for rim protection.


Spurred on by Wisey's new gear stick gaiter I decided to mod my current one to save some pennies. Took a while as stitching isn't my strongest point but I think it turned out pretty well?


Last things last, got hold of some Plastidip in black. Went about painting my upper grill with it (from the silver tinted look to matte black to match the lower) and also did all 4 wheels. It looks good, but i'm not totally happy with it so may redo it at some point.


Little things that don't need pics, had new bulbs all round and also put red LED's into the footwells following guides on here.

So without compromising anything (ride quality, looks, performance) i'm pretty happy with how she is at the moment. That being said.....

Future Mods.....
- BMC panel filter (on order at the moment)
- Paint engine cover
- Possibly go lower at some point
- Remap or tuning box

Hope you all liked her at MITCar, you guys gave me some ideas too but all comments and feedback welcome!


Chris
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Reactions: SJB1985 and tempz
Click to expand...
TheSilverFox said:
Cheers pal!

Yeah it was dead simple to do. If I was to do it again i'd do a few things differently though. If you follow the youtube vids on how to apply it you can't go wrong.
Click to expand...

Few questions regarding the Plasti Dip on the wheels, as I want to do it to mine as they look a mess
- did you leave them on to do it and if so, how easy is it to get the insides done?
- if you took them off, how long do you need between coats and how long to dry before refitting? Not having a spare will make it a pain
- what did you do with the wheel nuts to get a colour match?

Thanks in advance. Hope mine looks as good
 
DueUno said:
Few questions regarding the Plasti Dip on the wheels, as I want to do it to mine as they look a mess
- did you leave them on to do it and if so, how easy is it to get the insides done?
- if you took them off, how long do you need between coats and how long to dry before refitting? Not having a spare will make it a pain
- what did you do with the wheel nuts to get a colour match?

Thanks in advance. Hope mine looks as good
Click to expand...

I'm really interested in this too mate. I've been looking at around £200 for a refurb since it was a lovely old lady who owned my car and now after 6 months of owning it I can't stand the site of my alloys.

They're so skuffed and battered. I could touch up some of the worse parts then use that plastic dip it would save me an absolute fortune for now until I decide on a new set of alloys.

So if you could answer this it would be greatly appreciated man!:slayer:
 
grantm616 said:
I'm really interested in this too mate. I've been looking at around £200 for a refurb since it was a lovely old lady who owned my car and now after 6 months of owning it I can't stand the site of my alloys.

They're so skuffed and battered. I could touch up some of the worse parts then use that plastic dip it would save me an absolute fortune for now until I decide on a new set of alloys.

So if you could answer this it would be greatly appreciated man!:slayer:
Click to expand...

Hey pal

If you watch this video its really simple to do:

I watched it loads before starting out. All I can say is:
- leave the wheels on
- use bin liners for the brakes, do all 4 wheels at a time
- do 4/5 thin coats and don't be tempted to do a thick coat as it runs
- spray first coat on first wheel, then 2nd wheel etc so that by the time you get back to 1st wheel its ready for 2nd coat etc. Carry on until 4/5 coats applied
- then once you think you've done it all, roll the car back so the wheel rotates a quarter, check and spray again
- keep rolling and checking as you go until completely rolled around
- make sure you spray high onto the tyre as in the vid, I didn't get a thick enough coat on the tyre and it was a pain to pull off. 4/5 coats on the tyre should enable a good removal as in the vid.

At the end of the day, if you mess it up, leave it to dry and then remove.

Chris
 
Seen loads of the videos and can't believe it's as easy as they make out, but only one way to find out, I guess.

With the wheels on, is it easy to get to the back if the inside of the wheel? I've got the same wheels as you and looking at them, it looks like they'd be really patchy as there's not much space through the spokes, but I guess it depends how the spray works.

One last question - does it need to be relatively warm to get it to work and dry? All the videos are from warm bits of America, but is it something you could do on a dry winter's day in England, or is it one for the one dry day in summer when the temperature creeps above 15 degrees?
 
So I had a little bit of time off from work today, so I treated her to a full clean inside and out:

Washed with AG Shampoo, Dried, Interior (vacuum, dash, plastics, glass), Polished with AG SRP, Plastics dressed with AG Bumper Care, Waxed with CG Petes 53 Black Pearl Signature.



Views so far?

Possibly looking to do the following pretty soon:

- Team Heko's
- Eibachs (not sure on sportlines or pro kit)
 
Soooooo........................bit of a big update

It is with regret that I picked up my new car today. To cut a long story short its been a fab/fun car to own, but sodding hell has it had its moments! The alternator going a couple of weeks ago tipped me over the edge and the new car search began.

I am now the happy owner of a Ford Focus MK2 Zetec S. Maybe not as sexy as the GP but reliability/warranty/practicality is better for me right now. I hope you like it :)

Many thanks to all the help i've received from you all, was lovely to meet you at MITCar and has been a laugh. I'll stick around for a while and may even go Italian in the future, who knows ;)

Cheers guys

Chris
 
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