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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/18/2015 in all areas

  1. OK, since some people here expressed interest in the process of refurbishing my 16-inch wheels, I decided to put up a little how-to, although there are many out there... So, I purchased a set of 16-inch wheels to put winter tyres on them. I was looking for a set of cheap alloys in decent shape, as I didn't want to invest too much money in them and eventually I found a set of pretty decent HRS' that had seen some curbs, but nothing major, as you can see from the pictures... So, I thought since they were in pretty good shape, I'd just buy a single spray can and fix only the edgies. Well, that was the initial plan... However, when I thought of it, I decided it was going to be impossible to find the same colour paint in a spray can, plus I didn't really like the colour anyway. So I decided I'd repaint the whole wheels. All it took were 2 400-mililiter cans of primer, 2 cans of paint (if anyone's interested, the colour is RAL9007 - graphite), 2 cans of lacquer, about 1 meter of sandpaper 320 grit, a sheet of sandpaper 1000 grit and another one of 2000 (that I didn't even use) and a small amount of putty with аluminum powder, that I had from my previous wheels refurb. Total of all this was €20! First I started sanding the clear coat of the wheels, so the primer and paint would be able to get some grip. You don't need to sand all the way down to the metal, no need to even remove the paint - just the clear coat. This is what they looked like after the sanding: Took me about 4-5 hours to sand them down. Once sanded, I mixed some putty with solidifier and apllied the mixture to the curbed edges (you can use old credit cards if you don't have other tools). Gave the putty 24 hours to cure and then sanded it with wet sandpaper 1000 grit, so it got nice and smooth. When all was done, I took the sanded wheels to a selfservice carwash and washed them thoroughly with sponge and car soap - LOTS of car soap. This is what they looked like after the carwash: Once I got home, I started the last prep before the spraying - wrapping all parts, I don't want painted, in papers: Well, we are a step away from spraying... Put all 4 wheel close to each other, but leave some room between them, so you can walk arround all of them. Spray all 4 simultaneously, otherwise you will need much more primer, paint and clear coat as you can't appraise how much have you sprayed. Spray from 20-25 cm distance. Don't try to cover everything in a single pass or you will get the primer/paint running. Take your time, spray 2-3 light coats of primer and allow 5-10 minutes between coats, then do some more heavy coats, till all two cans of primer are gone. Eventually, this is what you have to end up with: Half an hour later, primer has cured enough to spray the paint. Before you start painting, make sure it is smooth, otherwise, when painted, all imperfections will get more visible. Touch the primer and if you are not happy with its smoothness, wetsand it with 2000 grit. If you sand after the primer though, you will need to wash the wheels again, otherwise any ash or dust that remain on the wheel will make the paint peel off. Once you are happy with the smoothness, proceed with the paint. Again - don't try to spray the whole thing in a single coat or the paint will start running. Start with 2-3 light coats, then go heavier, but be careful not to get the paint running. In the process of spraying, if anything sticks on the paint - a hair, ash, fiber... DON'T TOUCH IT! No matter how tempting it is to remove it right away, don't do it, as you will ruin the whole paint which is still wet! Let it cure, then wetsand it with 2000 grit and it will be gone without a trace. When done with the paint, give it a couple of hours to cure, then apply a couple of light coats of clear coat. Again... 10 minutes brake, then a few more coats of lacquer. Here is the final resut: And this is what they look like in sunlight: Sorry for the poor quality of some of the pictures, mates, but the light in my underground garage is not very good and all I had with me while painting them, was my phone. The pictures really don't do them any justice - they look way better in person! Couldn't get a good glance of the paint, so here is a picture of my old wheels, that I refurbished with the same paint: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/OJzsrQ7OYSjhkcJtjtmG-nIdCWEIL1w6-i4CZwWWhwxtEQbO6hs3BqEjhdd33pIJLQKTpM2zZb7AYQGakCt6aXV_3mkciXR3hR0mOrVPhHNHah3c2oMgQdN8vjBUATYq2F01nOheP_kdA-K-sV9AGL4QfnYTITLtekT2cFWcgpa6OhKlMzUkJ8YTLoNNGpJXEEoLEs07Lg1iWTzzZQHr_mBU6KguW_2re82xcY7oVc7h6c--gwKkr9s9Q5n3Kj-S9HxxYyLiHVOKj0MWe3s57OA_fpwqgEk-sACAwsY4hteczXf5kBficnt0XQvYgG2Qmr-QmCxCnfrVJxs4ySho_TWvlYB-iHdbzqo8OQUC1v99KY34vi_Z0lE9UseGJOzywmqr4tpGxyNn8zRnryR2ok2Qd-_Byb-36G00gSMjkdlwFeryP0mTKzeCn-wUWRAiuw6IEXjR6y4TgFjcD_u-C9h9MwKiwvpwqx7ByufDx2IX9Kmil0KC2ec-zSwPtoiAuobX4hahPdngIgLjqd-FLbIR_JOHDHx5K6J7M76g9sM=w858-h643-no
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  2. I second that Wayne, what the handbook's telling you. It used to be a problem with automatics which had a pawl that locked the transmission when you put it into Park and if you didn't apply the handbrake when you were on a slope the car would roll backwards or forwards and it could put terricifc pressure on the pawl. So when you next started the car and selected Drive sometimes it would release with an almighty bang. I don't know exactly how the transmission works on the Hybrid but Toyota must have gone into all that and deemed it safe to leave the handbrake off although they do advise you to chock the wheels (if necessary).
    1 point
  3. http://blog.toyota.co.uk/bob-old-and-his-435000-mile-hybrid Il just leave this here
    1 point
  4. Think this should work, just put some photos in here... http://s1382.photobucket.com/user/philip_Cook/library/Corolla%20GTi Hard to take pictures in a garage and my garage on slope and don’t want to drive up and down in case make engine any worse. In boot is collection spares have accumulated to come with car as I will have no use for them once car sold, and saves me trying to sell them after.
    1 point
  5. In the Which? Report, the Rain Experts scored 4 (out of five stars) for dry braking, dry handling, wet braking, fuel use and wear. They scored 5 stars for wet grip (straight) and wet grip (bends). The Conti's scored 5 stars for dry braking, and 4 stars for wet grip (straight) and wet grip (bends).
    1 point
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