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Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
#1295138
06/12/2011 22:59
06/12/2011 22:59
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Hello! I bought Duncan 78's Moon Grey Plus last summer to replace the '97 Sprint Blue 20VT I started off my Coupe life with. It's a well known forum car and one I'm keen to maintain it to the (high) standards it's been used to. This is the one! On getting it back to the house and having a better look it became clear that whilst it's been well looked after, it was still showing it's 11 years and mileage. The bonnet was stone chipped and needed painted, under the bonnet, whilst mechanically near perfect, needed a refresh and the usual rust had taken hold of the front end. Whilst it had an undertray fitted it had come from another car obviously fitted with a humungous FMIC, the gap cut for this had let a lot of crud in unfortunately. It immediately got a complete front end respray, the bonnet taken off and chemically stripped and painted on both sides after the rust was treated. Here's some of what I found. Interestingly the rust was much worse than my earlier car (Which did have half the mileage on it but was 3 years older) Here are some 'work in progress' shots And a few before and afters! It's a long way from being done but it'll look a bit younger when I'm finished! I've still got the suspension to do (Strip it all for a paint and plate/replace bolts, swap out the front subframe for a stitch welded/powdercoated one) a whiteline 22mm bar to go on the rear (Again it'll be painted black so it looks factory) and a set of braided brake lines, all wheel bearings/CV gaitors etc will be replaced as a matter of course, the brakes will get stripped and given a refurb to 'as new'. Should be done for the weekend! Any comments (And advice!!) welcomed in the associated thread. Regards DD
Last edited by Duffy; 07/12/2011 10:37.
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1297540
14/12/2011 22:03
14/12/2011 22:03
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Duffy
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Duffy
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Some small progress
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1319921
26/02/2012 23:54
26/02/2012 23:54
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Progress again! Engine bay is just about done, still got a bit of cleaning, full set of stickers and bit and bobs to do but it's beginning to show some promise!
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1319923
26/02/2012 23:56
26/02/2012 23:56
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Another shot.
Last edited by Duffy; 26/02/2012 23:59.
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1319929
27/02/2012 00:09
27/02/2012 00:09
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Been busy doing some mechanical stuff and paying attention to the drivetrain. Driveshaft oil seals that were well gone despite only having done circa 40K Steering rack gaiters, both oil seals and the infamous 'o' ring all done as they were all flecked! Moving onto the suspension and brakes now. Everything in sight is getting renewed/painted/licked clean etc etc! Pointless stuff! Who's ever going to see this (The plate that covers the downpipe as it goes under the sump) but still.... State of play at the moment is that the skirts are off and away for painting (Managed to snap 3 of the mounts off and they'll need to be welded back on with stainless stud), the brembo's are completely stripped for refurbing (A bit of corrosion under the guides but they'll clean up nicely) and then it's time to start the back end. Don't know if it'll see a road this year but you never know!
Last edited by Duffy; 27/02/2012 00:09.
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1319932
27/02/2012 00:26
27/02/2012 00:26
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Duffy
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Duffy
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A last few before and afters! above is at the body shop, about 4 days after I bought it, all I've done is take the bumper and undertray off. The following are bits of what's been done! Ignore the stuff at the back of this photo, it's before I've laid a finger on it! Stitch welded and powder coated subframe
Last edited by Duffy; 27/02/2012 00:34.
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1320088
27/02/2012 16:33
27/02/2012 16:33
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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A few things about brembo's and also to explain why grinding pads back isn't necessarily a good thing. I've stripped refurbed three sets of Coupe brembo's all of which have had the same problems, to a greater or lesser degree. The corrosion is always under the bottom brake pad guide plate, with the inside one being markedly worse than the outer (I presume more water gathers here for some reason) This is the area that corrodes Which causes this plate to flex from it's normal, completely flat position, to this as you can see it's tapered from the outside in, ergo the tight fit with a new pad that's not been ground down at all. If however you do grind the pad edge down to make it fit, once the pad wears and the pad backing plate moves in (Towards the disc) the pad is now too small and can move much more than it's meant to. This is how a reasonably fresh surface looks, so you can see the difference! The only answer is to strip and rebuild the pads, not a five minute job however!
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1320483
28/02/2012 18:50
28/02/2012 18:50
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Thanks for the comments, one more of the other side! Popped some oil into the box today and started painting the brembo's! They looked like this when I got the car but had never been stripped/cleaned properly ergo the crud on the inside. Beauty needs to be more than skin deep!
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1323054
07/03/2012 19:48
07/03/2012 19:48
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Duffy
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Duffy
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Brakes done! Pad supports look a bit healthier! Calipers a bit smarter! Just the ABS wire to mount along with the pad warning wire and job done at the front end!
Last edited by Duffy; 07/03/2012 19:57.
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1323060
07/03/2012 19:52
07/03/2012 19:52
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Duffy
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Duffy
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This, sadly, is about 3 hours work with a scotch pad and a lot left to do..... At some point in it's life, when the car's been painted, there's obviously been overspray onto the plastic arch liners, this has then been painted black to cover this, leaving quite a mess. Which I couldn't put next to this....... So maybe it'll be worth it!
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1323383
08/03/2012 21:30
08/03/2012 21:30
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Duffy
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Duffy
Unregistered
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The other side!
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1323742
10/03/2012 00:05
10/03/2012 00:05
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Duffy
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Duffy
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Front end finished, wing liners back in place, the new chassis legs have the mounting point in a slightly different place so I had to blank off the old one and redrill the liner, better than drilling the leg with rust thereafter I suppose. The car is now up at the back and these are next.
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1324473
12/03/2012 18:31
12/03/2012 18:31
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Duffy
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Duffy
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Had good crack at it today! I'd debated beforehand whether the back suspension was worth doing or whether it was just a waste of time. Turned out to be very worthwhile. I found the following on stripping it all apart (Bear in mind this is one of the youngest coupes out there and has only done 92K, it's also had a whole lot of loving from its previous owners) Rear off side suspension arm - completely seized and bearing in bits. Both wheel bearings U/S (one fell apart on removal, the other is completely dry and rough) A lot of brake pipe corrosion. Brake compensator - seized solid One of the caliper mounting pins, seized solid. Subframe bushes in very poor condition. Very little rust at the rear end however, good news there!
Last edited by Duffy; 13/03/2012 11:17.
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1329368
27/03/2012 20:49
27/03/2012 20:49
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Today's progress! I bought one of Joe's double dip galvanised subframes, a good starting point and so heavily covered that it will never rust! The subframe is now fitted and the offside suspension arm along with the hub/disc assembly is fitted. Nearside next!
Last edited by Duffy; 27/03/2012 21:33.
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1331009
01/04/2012 23:39
01/04/2012 23:39
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1332757
07/04/2012 18:53
07/04/2012 18:53
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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I had a seperate thread up about chroming the wheel bolts. Price wise it was coming in at well over £100 plus VAT and postage. I've ended up playing about with the electroplating and there are seperate optical brighteners you can add to the mix, you can also adjust the level of shine by adjusting at what level within your mix you part sits. This is what you get when you add brighteners and put the part right at the top of the mix. It's not chrome but it's a lot better than before!
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1334412
13/04/2012 22:01
13/04/2012 22:01
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1339057
30/04/2012 18:50
30/04/2012 18:50
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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A little progress. Skirts back from painting, they were pretty badly marked and were letting the side down (No pun intended)the retaining studwork was bent at the front on both sides and was badly corroded to the point some of them snapped when being taken off. I bought some 3M self adhesive plastic and covered both end plates and am using stainless fixtures throughout, the Fiat clips on the inside have been replaced by ebay copies (At half the price) They look right braw on! and I've moved the ballasts for the HID's and secured them to the underside of the bonnet with adhesive velcro, they are now out of sight under the bonnet liner and away from the headlamp adjuster motors. I've got the airbag light to sort, the wheels to go back on once they've been powder coated, the front scuttle and wiper arms to paint and some stickers/detailing to do along with a little bit of dent master stuff. Job almost done!
Last edited by Duffy; 30/04/2012 18:58.
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1340765
07/05/2012 12:19
07/05/2012 12:19
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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My car shall be perfect! It shall be a shining example of a standard Coupe! It shall be silent and smooth as I drive it out of the garage for the first time in 8 months! It shall.....................knock and thump like a bag of dropped spanners! http://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1082713Doh! Nobody's perfect. Other than the front scuttle and wipers going back on (I'm waiting for some paint), and some serious clay bar/machine polish and waxing, it's done!
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1342423
12/05/2012 14:35
12/05/2012 14:35
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1343043
14/05/2012 12:47
14/05/2012 12:47
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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The MOT man went "proper job!" (for all you scrap heap challenge fans out there) he too commented that it looks like a new car, which is most agreeable.
It's done and on the road and it feels lovely!!!!!!
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1343230
14/05/2012 22:45
14/05/2012 22:45
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1345891
23/05/2012 21:34
23/05/2012 21:34
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Brakes were noisy and I managed to both snap a wheel stud and shear the threads on a different hole on the same hub! Yep I was using a torque wrench! New offside front hub flange and bearing to go with the brakes (Which are lovely!!!)
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1349446
07/06/2012 10:18
07/06/2012 10:18
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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And now up for sale! Advert on Pistonheads
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Re: Duffy's Moon Grey 20VT Plus 'refresh'
[Re: ]
#1353552
20/06/2012 22:49
20/06/2012 22:49
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Duffy
Unregistered
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Just to show it's never really finished!
Set of 286x bulbs fitted to dash today, to replace one that had been out (Faulty holder) job made a lot easier by whomever was there before me and who'd not bothered putting the central bolt back in.
Set of rear MTEC 'black edition' drilled discs fitted to the rear (Just to match the fronts, which are lovely!) and a minor squeak traced to the dash end panel.
Firmware in head unit updated from 1.7 to 3.1 to give upgraded phone compatability and better system control.
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