Slugster

Welcome Benny. Oi sherv, we got another one from Kent . Well another Gen7 at least.

Aw Gimba, you got beaten to the Slugster new year raffle by a few mins. Sorry but I did say first PM gets the prize. I can let you have an empty paint tin or maybe a broken torch if you're interested. Laydeez 'n' Gentlemen ...... the winner is 'bigstring' All others thanks for the PM's. Thanks for playing.

I have finally got round to to sorting my garage out as requested (well, demanded) by Wifey. Amongst my vast collection of empty paint tins, rusty bits of metal, broken things (that may come in handy some time) and used engine oil I came across 4 x Gen 7 centre caps to fit the original 5 spoke wheels. These may not be the best centre caps in the world, but all the clips and spring thingies are there and the price is a good un..... FREE - yes free.... and they will look 100% better than a hole in the middle of your wheels. I am willing to donate these to anybody who wants a set. Not only are they free, but I'll throw in an ex Chinese take away container as a bonus item. I'm not sure what was in it but it is clean and has been through the dish washer. PM me your address and I'll stick em in the post to you all safely wrapped in a 2nd hand but good jiffy bag that I found in the garage as well. I wont be able to get them in the post till Tues 3rd Jan at the earliest as I have Nutorious coming round to use my driveway for some oil change therapy on Sat, I've booked a major hangover for Sunday and Monday is a Bank Holiday. However, If you do want to assist with postage etc (£1 max) I promise not to argue or moan and can provide Paypal details if required, but this is not a requirement of the deal - you want free - you get free . Grab em while I feel in a benevolent mood....... I must admit my garage looks much better, so once again WIfey was right!!!!! First to PM me gets them.

No worries. Cross your fingers and hope the previous owner has just applied the wrap over the original finish without resorting to sanding the plastics first in an attempt to get better sticking power or to cover up some damage.

You can just pull it off, but it may be a bit brittle and come away in small bits. The way I remove vinyl is to warm it up first with a hair dryer or heat gun to soften the adhesive and pick away. Any glue residue left behind can be removed using white spirit or meths etc.

I agree with maizy I had a set of F1's on my 16's (205/50/16), I found them a great tyre with good wear rates, grip and handling. I've recently gone up to 17's and have had another set (215/40/17) fitted, I'd recommend them to anyone.

I have a Harley and a Celica. Where would I stand with regard to the above comment, or does one cancel out the other?

Stainless steel fixings have their uses, but I'd do a bit of research first before using them on your engine. I have always been told that stainless steel nuts and bolts should only be used on toilet seats, food prep areas and marine fittings. Another thing was Stainless bolts into nuts or a captive thread of a differing material can cause shearing owing to an effect called 'galling'. If using stainless bolts always use stainless nuts of the same grade. It is very tough material to work with and if you plan to cut any bolts to length make sure you have a good supply of hacksaw blades to hand.

Before I did the wrappng I sprayed the wheels in Ford graphite grey but left the bits to wrapped in primer (and overspray), this may be what has caused the lifting at the edges to happen. Any sort of vinyl will stick better to a smooth glossy finish rather than a matt one. So if you have a smooth surface leave it that way.

T'was me who wrapped a spare set of G7 wheels I acquired. To be honest the result was not up to my expectations. Heat didn't seem to be a problem tho, but brake dust and road dirt made a nice home for itself in the 3d bits of the wrap in no time at all. Attempting to keep them clean has caused a fair bit of lifting under the inner edges near the centres and around the bolt holes. These wheels have now been relegated to behind my shed and may well come out again for winter use.

My bay used to be very grubby and dirty. Getting it to the present state has taken a few months but is worth the effort. I just removed anything that could taken out and got into all the little places I could using some old towels and Gunk spray on engine degreaser and wd40 etc to loosen the crap, followed by cutting compound and polish if accesable to do so. Some places are hard to get at and can invlove stretching down into tight gaps this can leave a few battle scars and scratches on arms and hands. Any bits removed are cleaned up and given a coat of paint if poss while they are off. I recently fitted a new rad and spent so much time cleaning up the new found dirty areas that the job took me a day to do!

That sounds to me to be a very good price. My G7 went in the body shop 2 weeks ago for a front wing repair after a slight mod by a reversing XJ6. It had a new (gen Toyota) front wing and a respray that inc pass door to blend in paint and a ful machine polish. I saw the bill to his ins and it came to just a tad under £900. I don't know how much a gen wing costs, but lets say £300 on a very bad day so it cost around £600 for just 2 panels and a polish.

On a lighter note Meathead, was it you in Beaver road Ashford this afternoon around 2ish?

I saw the title and thought you meant the sandy place near Rye and what are the lumpy things on your feet that sand gets in-between. Taxi!

I've admitted it ..... Slugster = an old fart!

Good on ya mate. I had to tick box 6 , I remember my 40th, I was competing in a National Grasstrack meeting and came home 2nd beating a whole load of young upstarts. I'm now 55 and happy with it (56 in a months time). I'm quite happy being the age I am, I have a G7 on the drive, a Harley Davidson in the garage and love to play with them both. Age is all in the mind. Mind you I wouldn't want to starting out again with mortgages and high insurances....been there done it!

Basic camber diagram. Hope it helps.

Somehow one of the chips turned into a crack overnight on Monday, I blame the frost. So yesterday morning (Tues) I spoke to a very nice lady from the insurance company who relieved me of £60 from my card, I thought is was £50 but I was wrong, glass is £60 and accidental damage etc is £100 excess, she put me on to a repair man who took all the car details etc and then said there's going to be a delay on a G7 screen , can they do it today? (Weds). if thats a delay it sounds a good one to me. The guy turned up at 09.15 and was on his way by 11.30. He had a look at my old screen and counted 6 nasty stone chips and said any one of the could have gone at any time, as the one that did, did! The view out the new screen is lovely and clear now and I'm a very happy Slugster. If I was to real picky, I reckon the front tint is slightly lighter than the original, or it could just be more light getting through without all the chips Eek, I hope it all goes back together!

Thanks guys. I understand the criteria for the free repair bit, I had a large free chip/crack repair done on my Mondeo St and it was done really well and you had to know where it was to see it, clever stuff. It's the scratches and grit pits that bother me. The peppering is quite visible as in 0.5mm size pits spread all over the sceen and there a loads of them and rough to the touch, plus I get through wiper blades in no time at all. I dont mind paying the £50 excess if required for a replacement screen, if it comes to it. I'll give them a call and see what they reckon.

My front screen is starting to show its age (10yrs) now and I'd really like a nice shiny new one. It has all the signs of being peppered by road grit and crap during it's life and also has a couple of nice wiper marks from worn blades over its life. As a bonus it has 2 chips around 8mm one on the passenger side and one in the driver critical zone but not enough to fail the MOT on. I have full screen cover on my insurance inc free repair of chips. I'm a bit concerned that these 2 chips could grow and cause problems in the future. So, if I call my insurer and tell them about the chips who decides if the screen needs replacing, or is a repair the only option I face? Edit for bad speeling - must try harder. 7/10

Not just me then? I reckon it's something to do with silicones in the plasic moulding from the factory. ..... I hate doing jobs on vans when the owner says "I've washed and polished it for you" and I then have to resort to a strong Fairy Liquid wash to undo his work and remove the polish so the vinyl will stick.

I too thought my G7 clock surround would look good in carbon. I ended up wraping myself in the damn stuff, it has no begining and no end and the surface seemed to resist all attemps to get vinyl to stick. Poss it's a matt finish thing but try whatever cleaning stuff (IPA, meths, panel prep, etc etc) I had to hand, it just would not stick. I didn't fancy a bash with wet n dry as I only had the one surround to play with so I put it back in place and now intend to wait for a proper wrapper to post a tip on how to it!

A wrap is a wrap, err.... as covering something completely in vinyl. A square section, as in the middle of a bonnet would in my mind be a graphic. Mind you I'm speaking as a mere 'sticker monkey' here (I just do vinyl lettering, graphics and signs etc) and have utmost respect for vehicle wrapers who go the whole way with colour changes and printed images etc. I've done my own console in textured carbon and I'm happy with it, but doing the same for a paying customer would be a different thing.