De-chromed Roadster

[X7LDA]

Have been meaning to put a post up for a few weeks now to show the progress on my dechromed V8VR.

The car has had quite a lot of work now. Here is the full list:

OEM Clear tail lights
OEM V12 sills
Lowered 20mm
Rear spacers 20mm
Full Geo
New Tyres
New Clutch
OEM carbon splitter
OEM carbon diffuser
OEM carbon strakes
OEM carbon pack grille
Vantage collection carbon spoiler
Upgraded discs and pads
Debadged rear
Gloss black painted window trim
VS exhaust system
VS 200 cell cats
And removed fuse 22..

It's also had a lot of maintenance since I picked it a year ago (almost to the day). I like to look after my cars - and it's my daily driver!

I need to take some better/more pictures however managed this yesterday before I left for work.



Cheers
Lewis

Edited by X7LDA on Friday 6th December 16:26

[avinalarf]

Looking good !
Is your middle name Donald ?
Let the wind blow high,let the wind blow low, Donald where's yer troosers ?
Am I having fun or what ?

Edited by avinalarf on Thursday 5th December 14:28

[X7LDA]

Thanks!

And for anyone wanting to know, removing the window trim was an absolute pain in the backside. Not sure about coupe cars, however the Roadsters are as follows:

- Rear trim piece under the hood simply slides out. It's circa 5 inches in length and is wedged between two bits of rubber. No bond on the back. Put a plastic tool in behind and edge along one side towards your body. Should get easier as you go.

- The trim along the door pulls up (towards the sky) and clips off. This includes the rubber backing. Put the window down, go to the rear of the door and pull up on the trim piece, working your way along towards the mirror. It wont take much force and should pop out easilly.

- The two small pieces on either side of the wing mirror are simply bonded on. Put a screw driver or similar in behind and wedge on. Takes two seconds.

- The trim along the A-pillar is a nightmare depending on how you look at it. You need to pull the door seal away from the trim, starting at the roof and working down, until you can see all screws holding the trim in. There are six in total (from memory) and a star head screwdriver will remove them all. Sounds easy to do - but getting the seal back on properly is the nightmare part. Take plenty of pics before so that you know how it sits before. If you get it wrong it will not only not sit right, it will look rubbish, the door wont close properly, it will let water in and you'll get wind noise. Took me a few attempts to get it right. Just take your time - and pay attention to how you took it off.

I had mine painted gloss black from a local body shop for £120 all in.

Hope this helps.

[Jon39]

Very smart.

Your long list shows how busy you have been.

I notice that you have not changed the wheels. I like them as they are.

Probably best not to paint them black, because George will go mad.

[X7LDA]

Jon39 said:

I notice that you have not changed the wheels. I like them as they are.

Thanks. For some reason I really like the OEM 19s..!

[divetheworld]

The whole job is astonishing. I think more pictures are required.....

[SlartiF430]

Your car looks utterly brilliant. I would be very, very tempted to put a set of sportspack II wheels on, I think they would really finish her off perfectly.

[Laser Sag]

Looks the nuts and I would leave the wheels just as they are, they set off the rest of the car perfectly

[JiggyJaggy]

Agreed silver headlights and alloys look great against the all black.

[avinalarf]

I like those wheels.
I would keep the wheels,provide contrast with the bodywork,otherwise it might look a bit too .......errrr.....black.

[Manwhoneverwas]

Lewis,

Did you replace the clutch with the same OEM one or did you go for something else?

[X7LDA]

Agree with the wheel comments - would always have them silver. Cleans up better as well IMHO.

RE the clutch. Yes, I stuck with OEM. The original managed 39k miles (on a SportShift car).

[northernmedia]

Love what you've done, I'm thinking of doing the same to mine (currently met black / red callipers coupe)

I really like this one too - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Apparently he got his window chrome wrapped instead of painting.

[X7LDA]

northernmedia said:

Love what you've done, I'm thinking of doing the same to mine (currently met black / red callipers coupe)

I really like this one too - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Apparently he got his window chrome wrapped instead of painting.

I thought about the red calipers but kept mine back instead.

To be honest I wanted a permanent and flawless finish on the window trim. I've seen two PH's cars that have had them wrapped and I personally couldn't live with it, as you could tell. Also, the roadster trim is harder to wrap due to the shape of some of the pieces.

I was quoted £100 to wrap them. £120 to paint. No brainer for me.

[Keever]

Looks great Lewis.... thinking about putting the OEM V12 sills on mine.

How much did you pay for them including painting and fitting if you don't mind me asking?

[X7LDA]

You should pay around £800 for the sills and call it £250 a side for painting/fitting from a reputable dealer.

If you get the V12's budget for wheel spacers to fill the new body line. N400 sills are slightly cheaper. And in my opinion look better unless you space the wheels are add some other upgrades - otherwise the V12's don't look right.

[Manwhoneverwas]

Lewis,
Sorry, some more questions, observations please?
See below

Edited by Manwhoneverwas on Saturday 7th December 08:01

Edited by Manwhoneverwas on Saturday 7th December 08:02

[Manwhoneverwas]

Lewis,
Sorry, some more questions, observations please?

The OEM clutch you got fitted was it done by an AM dealer?
The reason I ask is that I am based in Glasgow and if it was not the AM dealer in Edinburgh then wondered who fitted it for you, circa costs if possible for my reference?

My V8VR Sportshift has only done 19K miles and interested to know yours lasted 39K miles, I think the clutch gets a bad press here, but is it based on facts or forum/internet speculation

I got my car serviced recently at a local Garage to me in Bishopbriggs, the owner also has a VRVR, I got them to clean the throttle butterfly amongst general service items and what a difference that has made, would highly recommend it if not done recently

Your bonnet vents are also now black, are these painted, anodised or did you buy the OEM black vent kit from AM, I priced the OEM AM vent kit but did not get it fitted when my car was in the AM body shop ay Edinburgh getting its major facelift in the summer

Have you considered Carbon Fibre mirror caps (OEM ones not available from AM for our MY), I thought about these as well from the Chinese supplier discussed on here, also available on Ebay and Vorland Technik online (probably the same supplier as on Ebay) I am still mulling over these CF caps and black bonnet vents.

If you want to PM me fine, we have actually spoken via email in the past, but I have now reincarnated myself here as Manwhoneverwas.

The owner of the local garage to me with the V8VR recently priced up the V12VR OEM CF kit, wheels etc to replicate a V12VR, it was interesting to see the costs!!!!

Edited by Manwhoneverwas on Saturday 7th December 07:57

Edited by Manwhoneverwas on Saturday 7th December 08:03

Edited by Manwhoneverwas on Saturday 7th December 08:04

[FatFrank]

X7LDA said:

Thanks!
And for anyone wanting to know, removing the window trim was an absolute pain in the backside. Not sure about coupe cars...

Didn't remove mine, covered it with a thin vinyl wrap. Much easier. Once the heat gun is used it wrapped tightly around and completely covers the bright work.

Your car looks great BTW. What about the wheels?

FF

[X7LDA]

Manwhoneverwas said:

Lewis,
The OEM clutch you got fitted was it done by an AM dealer?

My V8VR Sportshift has only done 19K miles and interested to know yours lasted 39K miles, I think the clutch gets a bad press here, but is it based on facts or forum/internet speculation

Your bonnet vents are also now black

Have you considered Carbon Fibre mirror caps

The owner of the local garage to me with the V8VR recently priced up the V12VR OEM CF kit, wheels etc to replicate a V12VR, it was interesting to see the costs!!!!

Clutch was fitted by a company down south - was under £2k all in. It was the first clutch however I'm not sure how the previous owner made it last so long. Personally think it's pot luck sometimes!

Bonnet vents are still silver and I think the mirror caps might just be a bit too much carbon. Didn't want to over-do it. However in saying that I've not seen a car with them up close so might change my mind...

Yeah it's unfortunately all been very expensive. I don't want my car to copy another car however, or replicate a V12, so happy with the subtle mods I remember chatting about your water problem - hope you got it sorted!!