Oyster Grey 250 Cup

Thanks mate, the wife thinks I need help lol

 

I was going to go with the Fuchs Titan Pro, but the Millers wasn't actually that much more.

Lots of tests claiming more power using the Millers, I just wanted the very best protection for my engine

 

Cheers, a bit sad I know, but keeps it all together

 

Indeed I do love driving it :cool:

I am obsessive about cleaning it, but it's not a garage queen and does get used, I've banned the kids from eating inside it though :eek: lol

 

Not too much to report, apart from more cleaning!

A bit early, but a winter prep with Werkstat Prime and Jett, came up really well with 5 layers of Jett....

Some pics inside the garage:






















Some pics outside:




















Werkstat seems to really bring out the flake in the paint (flake pop!), pictures don't really do it justice, but this is not a bad pic







I also did a quick video showing how well the water sheets off the paintwork


http://vid2.photobucket.com/albums/y35/scoobyr/IMG_5350_zpsae4c5d8b.mp4

 

I also bought this thing.....



Bloody great for cleaning in and around your wheel nuts!



Oh, and a new keyring :cool:



I also got some cheap rolls of floor covering from Costco for the garage, I'd really like some Mototile grarage floor tiles, but it's over 500 quid for my garage, so thought these would do until I can afford the tiles..... Hopefully the ripples in the covering will settle and flatten once it's been down for a few days, hopefully makes the floor a little less cold for the winter.













A new banner to brighten things up





I also had a new garage door a few months back




Garage certainly not exactly as I want it but it's certainly an improvement from when we moved in!



All tucked up and ready for bed

 

Quick up date on my 250 Cup.

Many would have seen my steering wheel re-trim in the other thread, had the wheel on a couple of months now and very happy, looks and feels great.






Needed a couple of tyres and it was also time for a service.



Service carried out by the excellent R-Sport in Wimbledon, using the Millers Nonodrive Oil I purchased from Opie Oils. I also decided to fit a BMC air filter at the same time. Two new Michelin from Camskill, cheapest I could find online.



I also decided to get all 4 of my wheels refurbished, to be honest they were in pretty decent condition apart from a couple of small scuffs on one wheel. I did however have one wheel refurbished earlier in the year by a mobile company, a smart repair, and although the repair to the scuff was OK, the black colour used didn't match the other three wheels. It has been really bugging me, so I wanted all four wheels done properly, tyres off and a full refurb.

I couldn't decide weather to go for matt or gloss black, but I just love the gloss black Turini's on the 275 Trophy so finally decided on gloss black.

I took the car to Premier Wheel Repairs in Redhill and left it with them for a couple of days while the wheels were fully powder coated in gloss black, Premier also fitted the two new tyres while it was there.



Really impressed with Premier, smart unit, staff helpful and efficient and most importantly did a fantastic job on the wheels, finish is first class. I also like that the wheel weights on the inside of the wheels are black to match, nice attention to detail, would definitely recommend them http://www.premierwheelrepairs.com

Once home I gave them a quick rinse and sealed them with two coats of Wolf's Chemicals Rim Shield, nice and easy to apply with small cotton pads.



Pics don't really do the finish justice, but here a few both inside the garage and outside.

 

Thanks mate

Yes, one of the nuts is a locking nut, I think they really finish the wheels off nicely, got them here http://www.taperpro.co.uk/2012/

Re the BMC filter, not sure really, certainly good quality and a nice fit. How much difference, if any, it makes to performance is open to debate, but the car definitely felt good when I picked it up :cool:

 

Cheers Jamie

Some nice pics of yours in the other thread :cool:

 

Thanks noshadow

I guess half of this thread should probably be in the detailing section, but rather than starting multiple threads, thought I'd keep it all in here.

So, since having the wheels referbed gloss black, they look so nice and shiny, everything else looks a bit grubby, well it does to me, OCD and all that

Tyres and arches in particular, must have tried every tyre dressing known to man but still can't find one that I like :rolleyes:

Thought I'd try 'Gyeon Tire', which I got from Polished Bliss, supposed to be more of a protectant rather than a dressing



A good scrub with Auto Finesse Citrus power to clean the tyres, followed by a wipe down with 'Gyeon Prep'



Then applied the Tire with the Auto Finesse Handi Puck





Then dried and left for 24 hours, the only time I'll ever need a hair dryer these days :eek:



First impressions are good, nice natural look and certainly seems to be holding up better than the usual dressings, which seem to last about 5 minutes!

The other thing is the arches, I always give them a quick clean when washing the car but they always look a bit faded and tired. On nights today, so a quick wash this morning, a bit chilly, but just above freezing, so no problem, the water wasn't freezing up neighbours think I'm nuts lol



scrubbed the arches with Citrus power and a wheel woolly



Washed and into the garage to dry off



To get the arches looking a bit better, I thought I'd try Chemical guys 'Bare Bones', only cheap so worth a try.



Car jacked up to get a bit more space to spray on



Left for 10 minutes before wiping down any excess Bare Bones



Not perfect, but for a quick try, it certainly looks miles better and should add a little protection too, will get the wheels off and do it properly in the spring.

 

All clean





It will, of course be covered in shite again after about five minutes in this weather :rolleyes: lol

Rear discs also looking a bit shabby, got a little bit of life left in them, but going to change them anyway :rolleyes:

Special delivery from Ads



And in other boring news, fitted a storm guard under the garage door, to stop any leaves, dust etc blowing in under the door.

 

Cheers Jamie :cool:

I've heard so much about the Gyeon stuff, but was put off by some of the early stories about it being difficult to apply. I did read that the new Wetcoat was much easier to apply, must give it a try!

Look forward to pics of yours when you've done it

 

So driving to work last week through central London for a night shift, knobend in a big M Class Merc hits the rear of my 250 trying to push in in traffic :mad: To say i was angry would be an understatement, I was absolutely bloody livid, I'm normally pretty laid back, but touch my car..... lol









To be fair to the bloke, after initially being a bit defensive (probably because i was ranting at him), he was OK about it and agreed to pay for the damage. It actually looked worse than it was and I managed to polish a lot of it out. Even so, with my OCD it's go to be perfect

So a week later I got a local guy to do a smart repair, chap with the Merc paid him direct, so all sorted :cool:



It was only a very small repair in the end, but a top job by http://www.auto-body-cosmetics.co.uk even touched up a few stone chips on the front for me without me asking, as he had some paint mixed.

That's better, washed this morning and all back to normal Luckily the little bit of snow we had yesterday morning was very quickly gone

 

Cheers rory265, definitely the best outcome under the circumstances

 

Cheers Massiah1987 :cool:

 

Cheers mate, I'd be really interested to hear how you get on, I've literally only tried the tyre stuff, but everyone is raving out the Gyeon stuff.

 

Oh, and the wife hit our garden wall while reversing off the drive in her Fiesta



This is exactly why she isn't insured on the 250 and why she won't be going anywhere near the driver seat anytime soon!

 

Cheers Ed, more products to buy! lol :rolleyes:

 

So last month I finally had the rear discs fitted that I got from Ads in December. As usual, R-Sport in Wimbledon fitted them for me, always some nice Renaultsports being worked on, so my car always in good company when it's there.





Love my gloss black wheels, but they do seem to mark quite easily and just like black paintwork, show up scratches and marks, no matter how careful I am. I've been using the new wheel soap from Auto Finesse when cleaning the them, lovely and slick with plenty of lubrication.



Now the better weather seems to be here, I decided to take the wheels off and give them a proper clean, along with the arches.



Used a couple of pieces of wood wrapped in old microbe cloths to stand the wheel on while cleaning, to protect the wheels and keep them off the ground.



First gave the wheels and arches a good clean with Auto Finesse Citrus power



Calipers also got a good clean



Wheels then cleaned with Auto Finesse Imperial and the decontaminated with Dodo Juice Ferrous Dueller. Not a huge Dodo Juice fan, but like the way this stuff clings to wheels and paintwork, seems a little thicker than some other iron removers (also got it cheap on Amazon)



I like to try and keep my wheels clean, but still a little contamination once agitated.




Tar remover also used on wheels



Then arches sprayed with Meguiar's Super Degreaser



Then given a good scrub with a Vikan long handled brush



Tyres also scrubbed with a Chemical Guys stiff brush



Looking better!





Wheels then dried off and looking much better for a real deep clean



This is really ocd and a probably a bit sad, but I then lined up the R.S. centre caps with the tyre valves, my dad used to enter the Porsche concours and always used to align the Porsche crest with the tyre valve for extra points....



I then wiped down the wheels and callipers with Gyeon Prep

 

I then polished the wheels with auto finesse Rejuvenate, just wanted something quick and easy to use by hand that I had in the cupboard, wheels came up well.



For summer protection I gave the wheels and callipers 3 coats of Chemical Guys wheel Guard. I know this won't offer the same protection as a coating but it's so nice and easy to use and leaves a lovely finish. I'm going to do them again before winter and will probably try some Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour.







One of the front callipers had nasty scratch on it, presumably where not enough care had been taken when the wheel was once removed, can't be seen when the wheel is on, but touched up anyway.







Arches then liberally sprayed with Chemical Guys Bare Bones.



Bare Bones left for a short while and then any excess wiped down with an old microfibre.



All finished and looking much better













Bolts given a clean before the wheels were put back on



Wheels back on and torqued to 130nm



Looking so much better, makes a real difference taking the wheels off and going them properly



A quick wash and all done

 

Thanks Xanda73, my OCD seems to be getting worse the older I get :rolleyes: lol