The Underdog

iv found a lightend fly and 250bhp clutch for 475. will try and find it again for you.

The Underdog

http://atspeedracing.co.uk/products/...roducts_id=867

PaulinhoT

You Steve are a star that should stop the rattle

PaulinhoT

Well today as I was off work I thought I would spend a little time cleaning the parts you don't normally clean on a car.

I spent a little time really trying to bring the dash and dials back to new spec, with no dust what so ever





I then moved to the back of the car where the hatch hinges are.







This area wasn't that bad, but I made up some of my own cleaning solution and set to work with a little brush.



I even cleaned in and around the bumper plastic screws.



A little better.





After the back of the car I moved forward towards the doors.

PaulinhoT

So the front doors. Behind both were spiders webs and dust, so again I set to cleaning these up.









The amount of cars that come into work that are black in and around these areas, but look brilliant on the outside.

PaulinhoT

Not forgetting the door plates.

















A little better, although I did plan on waxing these areas, but it started to rain

The Underdog

no probs, im wanting one myself as my clutch has started slipping.i read that you get chatter noise from them at idle which i would assume could be a pain at resale of car to convince new owner everything is fine.not heard one myself just what ive read.on my track car the noise wouldnt be an issue for me but maybe for an issue for you so, do some research before you buy one.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

You bufty lol.

PaulinhoT

That's an interesting point, I have sent the company you linked an email, just to ask about stock etc, so will see what they have to say.

PaulinhoT

thank you kind sir

PaulinhoT

Well not much of an update today, but I had some new discs and pads fitted on at work, as one of my front discs had a high spot on it

I have only driven 2.5 miles home, so have yet to decide on how best to bed them in.

PaulinhoT

So along with my Nilfisk Centennial Pressure Washer (1650W) I treated myself to some:



Now I've waited a week to get out side and use it, and I admit today wasn't the best of days, as it was raining a little bit, but I couldn't get the foam to come out as thick as I want. Still it did a great job, and was good fun.

phil1975

Liking your work and attention to detail on your car and thread

I've always liked st170's I always give them a second glance when I'm out driving, probably would have had one years ago but I had my st200 at the time.

Keep up the good work.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

There a good car the ST170. Shame the tax is high and they arnt the best on fuel.

PaulinhoT

Thanks for the comments Phil. I do really enjoy the car, yes it could be lower and quicker, but the more I drive it, the more I bond with it

I agree Glen, when I bought the car it was only for a temp run around, but here I am over a year later and I still have it.

I plan on getting a rotary polisher very soon, then I will set about having the clutch done (still not slipping, just rattles), then some bush work along with suspension tweaks

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

I would have a ST170 for defo. People say there slow but I dont think they are.

PaulinhoT

I enjoy mine

Sat here looking at tiger stripe kits online at the moment

The Underdog

dunno what to think bout tiger stripes. maybe 20 yrs ago lol

PaulinhoT

lol true

PaulinhoT

So here we are, Saturday. I was up early this morning with every intention of walking into town and having a large cooked breakfast. But after I went for a brief walk along the coast I couldn't face eating anything. So I popped into my local hardware store and picked up some trigger spray bottles and walked home ready to clean my car.

So first thing was to put on my rubber gloves, am I the only one that doubles up on rubber just encase it splits on you



I then laid out my products on the table ready to set about my days work.



Before you all ask, no it's not marmite (although I do like it), it's actually tea. I gave up milk some 15 years ago, and sugar about 2 years ago.

So first job of the morning was to clean in and around the fuel filler flap, as it's a real pet hate of mine when I go to fill up a customers or sales car, and the cap and flap are all covered in gunk.

So I mixed up some spray solutions which consisted of a tiny drop of washing up liquid (as this removes all gunk and polish lol) and some very diluted engine degreaser, just for those stubborn bits of dirt.



I worked in the formula with a soft brush, just to agitate the dirt, thus making it easier to wipe off.



One cleaner fuel filler cap and flap



That was all from behind the filler cap

PaulinhoT

So onto the next job, and this was to be my second attempt at cleaning my headlights.



I had bought some products in the week via ebay (as my nearest car accessories shop is 25 miles away), and thought I would give it an honest go.

So these are both my headlights, not to bad as I had tried to clean them before.





I then taped up around the edges of the lights with some 3m blue masking tape. I actually think I may have brought the wrong tape, as it was a bugger to get off. Any other ideas as to what I could try ?





Once the lights were taped up I got my drill with the soft mop attachment that came in the kit





I don't have any photos of myself using the product, but I dappled it over the glass and moved the drill back and forth over the light lens.





As you can see it has made a slight improvement, although both lights are still not perfect. I do have more stuff in the kit to try, so will await the next sunny day



I'm not actually sure if these marks are inside the glass ?

PaulinhoT

This was my other purchase this week I find rain-x an amazing product that just works really well for me. I also bought a long handled razor blade to clean the glass with. I hold the blade at an angle and just run it down whetted glass. You will be amazed at home many little bits it takes off the glass, leaving it really clear, and ready to be treated.

PaulinhoT

Whilst cleaning my car windows I decided to fit a tinting kit I had bought the other day.



I hate to say it, but I fitted it pretty quickly, as it was pre-cut kit, but when I stood back from the car, I just simply didn't like it at all. I have nothing to hide in the back of my car either, and also reversing into my drive at night would be a pain, so off it came. £26 wasted, but it was worth a try.

The Underdog

looks good but iv never felt the need to double up my rubber gloves. lol

PaulinhoT

I like to be extra safe

PaulinhoT

One of the things I haven't really done on my car yet has been the engine bay. I'm not a show and shine nut, and the paint on my car is more dot to dot with stone chips than actually paint. But I thought as I had the bonnet up I would put a damp cloth around the engine bay.





For the plastic I used some meguiars engine bay cleaner that a rep gave me a couple of years ago. It looks 1/2 decent, but no alloy or carbon here, although that may change.

PaulinhoT

Almost done for today.

I did spend some time using some Autoglym products on my wheels, maybe it's me, but I'm not overly impressed with it as a product, but it was all given to me free by a local rep so I wasn't complaining. But can anyone recommend a really good strong wheel cleaner.



This is one of my wheels done, it didn't come out to badly to be honest, although my wheels do have a couple of marks on them. I keep thinking about getting them sprayed gold, but I'm unsure if it will make the car look to Scoobish ?

I didn't used my tyre gel as I ran out of light but will treat the rubber tomorrow.

Another little job I did was to fix the inner wing guard, as it wasn't seated correctly. It was actually 1/2 hanging off, this was down to when I had the screen wash bottle checked, and the inner wing guard wasn't clipped back in correctly.



The picture doesn't really show it sat outside the wing lip, but it is.



A quick gig on the actual wing, whilst pushing the guard back up, and all was fine

So that's another little job done.

After this I gave the car one more rinse over, and a coating of soft resin wax, then another coating of this stuff I found in my box.



It seems to add a little depth, but boy is the jar small

Finally, car clean, glass clean, and tints removed.



Now the money shot



Not too bad for an old car, covered in stone chips. I still have the rubber to do tomorrow, and then the car will be almost where I want it. After that I plan on buying a rotary polisher, and seeing what damage I can do to her then.

H3lsing

Hey nice update man. As for the wheels this stuff called sonax is pretty good. It's a bit like ironX meaning the wheel will bleed purple after spraying it on. It removes fallout and tar particles that regular washing won't remove. I've also heard it being used as a pre claying treatment.

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/blog/p...leaner-review/

PaulinhoT

Thanks for the tip, I will look for some now

PaulinhoT

Well not much of an update, but I had some more post today.



So I plan to try it out this weekend, and will post up the results

On a quick note, does anybody know much about uprated rear anti-roll bars for the ST170. Basically I want to reduce the body roll on my Focus, and wasn't to sure if I should start with springs and shocks or rolls bars.

Thanks

H3lsing

Well the clue is in the name, anti roll bars reduce chasis roll. I would also invest in an eibach anti roll bar as it's made from thicker steal. They do cost but they are well worth it.

nevsrevs

I would look into suspension first, I have removed my roll bars as I have eliminated the need of them.

PaulinhoT

Interesting comments, on my last few cars I have always fitted Spax krypton gas shocks (and springs), and have never felt the need to fit stiffer anti rolls bars, but everyone I speak to with regards to my ST says "You need to uprate the rear anti roll bar".
Now I understand that a stiffer rear roll bar will help turn in, but does this apply if the car is A: sitting lower and B: has a firmer ride.

nevsrevs

if you eliminate roll through stiffer spring rates better dampers, ect, then the roll bar can start to have a negative effect with mirroring the other wheel, depends how far you want to go really,

PaulinhoT

Well I want to drop the car about 1" but also want to bring the back wheels out slightly further in the arches, as they seem really inset.

I also want to just improve the cars roll, as at the moment with oem set up I find the car does lean a little around corners. I put this down the shocks being old and little else. I don't really want to go all out with coil overs, I just want to tighten the car a bit

The Underdog

off the shelf springs would not be stiff enough to lose the arb though would they and if they were then the ride would be harsh on a road car id think? on a road car id go stiffer arb as it will be less harsh but on the track rog knows his stuff. good or bad advice rog?

PaulinhoT

Well today I managed to finish work whilst it was still light, so I came straight home to try out my new wheel cleaner

Despite it being freezing outside, I put on my rubber gloves and set about having a go at my wheels. Now my wheels aren't that dirty to begin with, but I do have stubborn marks in the corners of each spoke. So this afternoons mission was to just try to remove some of those marks.

So here is photo number one of my wheels. As you can see, not overly dirty, but not clean either



So this is after I sprayed on the cleaner, which I then activated by rubber it into all of the spokes corners, just to adjetate the hard to remove marks.



Finally after a quick rinse down. Now although not perfect, they are actually a lot cleaner, and once the weather picks up (April?), I will then give them a real good clean

nevsrevs

yea suspension wise it comes down too dosh really, I would probably go for a nice spring and shock combo, unless a arb was a bargain.

PaulinhoT

I suspect I will go for a shock and spring combo just after Christmas having moved a few months ago I've had a few set backs with my health and with some financial things. Work is still great, but having taken 5 years of my life to clear my debts, and having been debt free for over 2 years (nearly 3), I've just had a run of things breaking in and around the house. Things needing to be fixed or replaced, and even this week the microwave has gone wrong. So that and Christmas has left me with a Visa bill of around £1900, which isn't actually that much and will pay it off just after Christmas. Then I will start in earnest to order some bits

I will just have to work on the order lol..

As for today, well I went outside to give my car it's weekly wipe over, but it was honestly too darn cold So I cleaned the glass, and that was about it lol.

Colin_P

I'd be very cautious about fitting an unrated rear ARB.

Reason being, in stock form you get nice safe controllable understeer, tighten things up and at the limit your on a knife between less understeer and losing the back end, which is game over.

Only if you are an extremely good driver could you sense it in time as it would happen very quickly and being FWD drive there is little can do.

Fair enough on a track car but on a road car, having a bit of safe controllable understeer is better than meeting a fiery death when the back end breaks away with no warning and you find yourself going backwards and sideways ending up as a fireball embedded in a tree. Or if you do have the skill to recognise when you are at near the limit the following applies;

More power, loose the back end.
Lift off, get massive oversteer.

Either way your going to hit that tree!