New 350i owner

[ralph350i]

mrzigazaga said:

"ere mum these kiwi's taste funny"..."Thats cos they are lighter skinned"....

Bined lol that reminds me, need to fix that vise to the kitchen table soon, as need to start hacksawing my exhaust only one boss in my house and it ant the misses

[ralph350i]

Evening Guys
Well got some proper drill bits from work today so completed the other seat frame and all that left is to fit the ductwork support channel across the frame and bolt in, have chopped up the matterial on one of the rear seat bases and sent them off to Dynamix to colour match so i can re-colour the dash/ centre console and door cards.

Am unsure what the wood is going to look like after these changes, still if it's bad, i,ll carbon vinlyn them as this would match the carcoal seats, cheers

kitchen table back in action:rofl


b888888d rivets:mad


and a nice flat seat runners at last:thumbsup

[ralph350i]

Evening Guys
Well finally the weather has gotten a bit better so started to remove the interior for the re-colouring, clearly someone had been there before me as the 2 nuts that hold the upper part of the dash have been ripped out, still made the job alot easier.
Still not sure on the colour change, but it will either be black/ gray or gray/black, so i,ll have a mate photoshop to see what looks best.
Car is now running well after the jet upgrade, so once this is finished, it should be ready to put back on the road, could anyone advise on how they removed the panel running around the bottom of the hood as it seems fixed somehow? are the screws in the boot? any help appreciated, cheers Ralph



Part i need to remove is marked with a white dot.

[ralph350i]

al 350i said:

hi ralph, you're correct it is bolted through to the boot, should be 3 bolts, 1 centre and 2 either side. you really need to stick your head right in to see them, might be some material covering them. They are awkward to get at and chances are you'll shear the bolt but don't panic if they shear as you can then remove panel peel back material and put new bolts in.

Who are you using to re-colour panels or are you recovering them? i used this guy, mark is a really nice guy and charged me £220 to re-colour (light grey to black) centre console and both door cards, the back hood panel i had to have recovered as it was past its best and the rest of the little panel i recovered myself which was quite easy. also i'm pretty sure he's not far from you near oxted.

http://www.benchmarkleather.co.uk/text/gallery.htm...

Hi Al
Cheers for the info mate and am going to re-colour myself using this stuff/ http://www.dynamixdyes.com/ , have done it a few times so it not an issue, just trying to make sure i get the colour right to match the seats which are charcoal in colour, but have sent the guy some matterial from the rear seats so hopefully he can match, all the best, Ralph

[ralph350i]

Well its been a while chaps, but have been working on the car but not really much to report, last week i finally finished off removing all the scotch locks and sorting out the wiring and today complete installing the new underlay, so the carpets can be put back in, unfortunately the dye for the interior re-colour did not come this morning, so am going to start installing the stereo equipment and finishing off a few bits off trim, cheers

scotch lock and lose wiring hell






dont look much different, but beleive me it a world apart from what it was


stripped interior


underlay installed



[URL=http://s994.photobucket.com/user/rjb382i/media/IMG_1353.jpg.html][IMG]http://i994.photobucket.com/albums

[ralph350i]

mrzigazaga said:

Blimey Ralph you going for that shag-pile carpet after all...I thought you had posted up picture's of some loft lagging....Only messing mate..Looks like its gonna be home from home when you have finished..Mind you i suppose it will be more comfortable than the garage floor if ever the missus kicks you out for sawing the kitchen table in half or drilling through the sette......If you are about on monday i might pop over...cheers...Ziga

Hi Mark
well not managed either yet, but am sure i,ll miss one day lol, she an't twigged yet about all the dash etc in the study as will be using the kitchen as a spray area when i re-colour the leather and that underlay was a bargain mate, £15 to do the hole car, which now dont smell like a damp pair of old knickers lol, be great as always to see you mate, but drop me a call as am on call on Monday but should be about, cheers Ralph

[ralph350i]

Morning chaps
Well as the old ariel was shot, so its was time to remove and bin and will be replacing with a stick unit, i have also started installing the ICE, and was going to go the hold hog, but have decided to lose the sub and just install one 4 way amp which will run rear woofers and 2 x componants up front, amp has been installed and i just need to make a face plate to cover the wiring which hopefully have done today, cheers, Ralph

They dont make them like this anymore


amp install

[ralph350i]

Evening guys
Well Mr zig popped over today and helped me sort out my immobiliser issues, which turned out to be a bad earth,so cheers mark for the connectors and chat mate, always good to catch up
Well after i started the carpet installation and also managed to get one of the seats in and thank god they just fit and hopefully this week should have the dash etc dye so the finish is in site.




cables all in for the stereo



seat installed,


Thanks for looking, cheers Ralph

[ralph350i]

Evening Guys
Well spent the hole day re-colouring the leather interior to graphite and once again it came out looking the biz, this time i used a small air compressor and a air brush which was much better, am knackered now, but here's a few pictures as always and before you ask it was completed in my kitchen :lol:lol

first off all a bloody good clean



Before door card



after


dash before


after




rear panels


hopefully should get them installed tomorrow so will take a few pictures

cheers

Raffa

[ralph350i]

GV said:

Nice Job Ralph - what colouring product did you use?

Morning Andy
Hope you well mate, i have pretty much tried them all, but this product from dynamix is way better than the rest as leaves a really nice factory matt finish, cheers, Ralph

[ralph350i]

mrzigazaga said:

That's come out really well mate...I wonder if that product will work on leather pants...White is not a good colour for low bowel tolerance...........

Cheers Zig
Bring them around, am sure i could air brush you some extra manhood highlights, cheers

[ralph350i]

TVRIK said:

Really good, I'm doing the same thing at the moment, are you using Gliptone or Dynamix, or something else?

Hi TVRIK
Dynamix as i prefer the matt finish and thanks, did you sort out your colour issues mate, cheers Ralph

[ralph350i]

Cheers Adam and mark, much appreciated chaps

Well as i completed the re-colour under kitchen lighting, i thought i would check the parts in day light and was not happy with the finish on the dash, so out in the garden to have another crack at it, and now i am happy , and managed to complete a few other items









Well hopefully the weathers good this weekend so i can get it all installed, thanks for looking, cheers Ralph

Edited by ralph350i on Friday 17th May 08:53

[ralph350i]

GV said:

Ralph - did you spray Dynamix neat or watered down?

Hi Andy
i normally water it down, but as i was using a small air compressor, the air volume enabled me to use it neat, however i did clean the air brush out after refill, as it was getting blocked, cheers

[ralph350i]

Evening Guys
Well the weekend is here and you know what that means,, more bloody work

Been working on a replacement for the heater cover and at last finished it this morning, i also sprayed the face plate and cleaned up the switch, OCD or what




Also finshed removing all the glue from the roof section and rear cover section, what a misson, but found a easy way by using a wirer brush on a drill



after dying


next gearshift gatter and hand brake, i was gonna replace but decided to keep


well as the side panel which go around the centre control were shot, i used some off the seat material to recover



I still cant beleive how many parts off the interior this car has, its taking me forever to complete, but hopefully i should have the window pillars dyed tomorrow then it can all good back in , thank god

thanks for looking, cheers, Ralph

Edited by ralph350i on Saturday 18th May 20:30

[ralph350i]

mrzigazaga said:

That's looking really good mate..Your doing a cracking job!..I might pop over tomorrow if you are about..This time i wont distract you by gas bagging i will actually help you...I better bring me pain pill's as me back will no doubt be jip!...

Yeah stop bloody talking your always welcome mate and would be great as need a hand sticking the dash back in, fancy a sunday roast mate for helping me? cheers, Ralph

[ralph350i]

Cheers Mark for the hand putting the seats in, I never fault I would get the them bloody seat bolts, well that what until you told me I had the seat bases the wrong way around and your welcome mate, anytime

Well popped back out this evening and installed the doors cards and rear speaker panels and am not sure if the colour I picked for the dye matches, still its near enough and really want the car back on the road now, so it will have to do, I cant remember what goes above the rear speaker panels, could any one advise please





what part am I missing which goes above the speakers please????


Cheers


Ralph

[ralph350i]

mrzigazaga said:

I think the roof goes above them mate....Actually not sure about the 350...I think the door handles might look better covered in Red/burgundy vinyl or leather cloth..I might be going to the trimmers this week so will grab some pieces of red and burgundy..here is what the burgundy looks like...Cheers..Ziga

Hi Mark
I don't think the roof sits that low mate, still I'll check my pictures to see, and if you could pick me up a bit off burgundy that would be great mate, only need a small bit please, thanks, Ralph

[ralph350i]

superwedge said:

looks great, THE DOGS EARS,yes so many parts to these car.s inside,thanks for the part,i send you email, about the left over.s about the other parts, let me know,

Cheers Superwedge I,ll have a look this morning when I get to the office and thanks 400se Dave, spot on mate, I wondered what them 2 pieces in the back off my car was, Cheers, Ralph

[ralph350i]

Evening Guys
Well took the day off work to try and get the interior finished and thankfully its nearly done just need to get some small chrome hinges for the glovebox, new steering wheel on and new radio installed, so just the speakers to buy and rear quarter panels to trim, have ordered a new starter motor, so with a small service Jix will be ready to put back on the road after nearly a year




Cheers

Ralph