Olympic Blue / Silver metallic 1972 US Import 1.7L

[LMR]

I have carried on with the fuel tank area today. As a minor distraction I have started to look at the suspension components. I removed the bottom ball joints (I have the correct tool, but found a hammer and chisel far more effective). I will add a link to the knowledge pool as to where to source the tool as a cheaper alternative.

I am going to replace all the rubbers in the suspension. The photo below shows the suspension rubber is oval. I assume this is just standard wear? Any suggestion on where to source alternative bushes? Or ball joints for that matter.

[Mr Pharmacist]

Mine were oval too.

I went for elephant racing bushes - but they might be a bit harsh for road use.

PMB website gives a good idea of most of the options you have - you might be able to find suppliers over here, or if you are heading state side take a big suit case

http://m.pmbperformance.com/914suspension.html

[LMR]

Stuart

Thanks for the link to PMB performance, subject to them confirming the postage cost, the bushes should be ordered today.

I have been away on business for a couple of days, but hope to get to the workshop this evening, as i believe there is progress to report

[LMR]

I debated for a munger of months how to finish the underside of my car. I did think black underseal may be the way to go, but as my car came with body colour finish, I wanted to replicate this. But I knew from stripping it the paint was very thin, and whilst the metal had survived remarkably well, it had survived on California Roads rather than UK ones.

After some research and advice, I settle on the use of a 3M stone chip / anti chip product.



It is very hard wearing and durable. It is also eye wateringly expensive. Whilst the car did not have stone chip before, I felt that as this will be a car that will be used, it would allow me to drive the car without worrying unduly about road and wear conditions. After weeks of preparation, I was pleased when the photo below was sent to me yesterday.



But I was even more pleased when I popped into the workshop this evening



All the preparation time suddenly felt worth it. The photo does not do justice to how good it looks (in my opinion)

As ever, I am deeply grateful to Mark who does the welding and spraying for me. I was worried about using the 3M stone chip as I didn't want to affect the suspension mounting points. The photos below show that careful masking really does make a difference

[defianty]

Very nicely done. Exactly what I had in mind to do to mine, thanks for the info.

[Mr Pharmacist]

Nice work - looks fantastic!

[defianty]

Very nicely done. Exactly what I had in mind to do to mine, thanks for the info.

Out of interest how many of those 'eye wateringly expensive' pouches did you use?

[Darren C]

Very nice, I'm even mildly impressed

[LMR]

Stuart, Darren, kind words, thank you!

Stephen, each bag is 250 ml, I ordered 30 and I believe there are 2 or 3 left over. There are cheaper ways to achieve a finish like this, but I am happy that my cash has been well spent as I am very pleased with the finish achieved

[Green Ernie]

Wow, those pics are sexy. Great job, perhaps we should start a gorgeous bottoms thread

[defianty]

Stuart, Darren, kind words, thank you!

Stephen, each bag is 250 ml, I ordered 30 and I believe there are 2 or 3 left over. There are cheaper ways to achieve a finish like this, but I am happy that my cash has been well spent as I am very pleased with the finish achieved

Many thanks for the information. Keep up the great work.

[LMR]

Today's update is far less exciting than yesterday. New key cut as current one is a bit twisted

[glovebox]

Wow, those pics are sexy. Great job, perhaps we should start a gorgeous bottoms thread

Great idea !

[LMR]

Weekend off last weekend, and Christmas do yesterday meant today was limited to quiet jobs not requiring power tools!

As part of working through my sub assembly list, I had been considering options for the rear lights. I did think the only option was to buy new ones with a yellow lenses for the indicators rather than the red US ones. Having seen that the fit of the aftermarket lenses, I was hoping to find a way to stick with the originals. I had started thinking about whether to add a filter behind the lens. I asked a question in the technical section on here, and someone point me to use LED bulbs. I figured it was worth a go, so ordered some bulbs and a flasher unit. The attached video shows that the yellow bulbs work pretty well, and I will be sticking with these lenses for now. Canarydelia did point out that I could use the reverse light instead, which will be plan B of the MOT tester doesn't like what I have done.

The link below is to a video of the bulb in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHzLl4i8vXA

[defianty]

They look perfectly orange to me. Any problems I suggest a friendlier MOT tester, they're good people to know