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Mondo

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Posts posted by Mondo

  1. No, they were never recovered - weighed in for scrap probabl. There was a widebody celica supra, Lancia montecarlo spyder, 2 fulvia 1600 HF, a sunbeam talbot Alpine, and a bmw 2002 tii - plus all my heavy workshop equipment, shotblasters, folders, an english wheel, and welding/cutting tools. It was a bad day !

    That's beyond devastating...!! :o :o

    • Like 1
  2. Seeing as people want to know:

    The leather that Toyota used through the years is, frankly, crap. It does like to stretch and, after a while, the seats look crap as well.

    Alcantara does have a small amount of stretch in it, but only on one axis (whereas leather stretches in all directions). So using it on seat centres will lead to less sagging than using Mr T's leather.

    There's always a downside though. No matter what anyone tells you, Alcantara is simply not as durable or robust as leather is. So it will wear faster and it will look a bit tired faster!

    As for "colouring the stitching"... well, let's just say I use expensive thread because I want it to be colour-fast in all conditions... ;)

    • Like 2
  3. Highly detailed Beams supercharger thread!

    Read the above and be prepared to be dumbfounded by the cost involved in supercharging the Beams engine! As for nitrous... given that your engine currently runs a rather high compression ratio, I'd be disinclined to force much more pressure through it, to be honest.

    Less weight = more power. Strip the car out. Or just enjoy the driveability and fun factor that the Beams provides. You may never be able to compete with the Big Boys in it, but you'll still surprise quite a few cars out there. :)

    • Like 1
  4. Alcantara is more expensive because it's man-made and phenomenally hard-wearing. It retails for between £85 - £150 per metre and is 1.4 metres wide.

    An average full-size leather hide is around 5 square metres and a top quality, UV treated upholstery hide can set you back £300 plus delivery.

    In comparison, approximately 5 square metres of Alcantara (even at £85 per metre) will sting you for £476 (4 metres long x 1.4 metres wide).

    As a rough guide to coverage, 5 square metres will usually cover a pair of front seats. Another 5 square metres for the rear seats. So, anyone who fancies a full Alcantara retrim but balks at the £1,000+ quote they're given, just try and remember that the poor trimmer would like to try and get some sort of payout for the huge amount of time and effort that goes into building seats...

  5. Wow. :) It's quite strange to see a concept car that actually looks so much like the production car that followed it!!

    Damn good read, that :)

    Thinking about it though, if the first car was launched in 1970 then that would be 43 years of history? Someone at Toyota can't count :lol:

    Not if they ended production of the marque in 2006... ;) (yes, I'm aware that's 36 years)

  6. I'm looking to find out what differences there are between exhaust systems for turbo'd cars and naturally aspirated ones. I know all about the manifolds - I'm wondering if there's any differences in backbox design, more than anything.

    The reason I ask is this: I mated a Blitz Nur Spec backbox (from an ST205) with custom 2.5" pipework to the standard Beams centre section (2.25" pipework) and I can't help but think that she's down on power ever since I did that!

    I appreciate that I may have simply "gotten used" to the power of the car, but it does feel noticably less rapid since the exhaust was modified? Could it be the 2.5" pipework reducing the back pressure? Is the GT-Four rear box too free-flowing for an NA engine?

    Anybody got any thoughts please....?

  7. Tom Brady took me for a little spin in his Faff early last year. Felt lovely and rapid and gave a satisfying push back into the seat when he floored it. :)

    That said, I still enjoyed getting back in the Beams and giving it a bit of stick. Yes, it doesn't have "boost" but it picks up quickly through the gears and certainly isn't any sort of slouch! :thumbs:

    Cravo: thought about a Beams, mate....?

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