The Bandit

[GTXTRA]

we must sort that dash swap out mate.

don't want to hold you up.

[Mr Funk]

Welcome back.
So when I said that the car was going into storage until early next year I lied like a cheap market stall watch.
The moment I taxed the bloody thing and realised that the insurance runs out in April I may as well have admitted that I'll keep it running.
The engine change is currently being prepped up. A couple fo guys from the excellent Vagingit have volunteered to lend a hand in return for beer, bacon sandwhiches and Dutch Snaffle which is superb and a potentially fun mini meet.
So while that's going on I thought I'd get the interior sorted.
The current thinking is to go one of two ways:
I know of some lovely Sparco Torinos for sale with harnesses and can get the sub frames for a decent price. The down side to this is that I'll then feel compelled to fit the show cage, it's not all a bad thing but I'm going to keep it in mind for the time being.
The other solution is to keep with the plan and get the raddo seats retrimmed and have the interior very sutble.

So with a week off I'm about to start work on the dash. It'll hopefully come out this afternoon/tomorrow morning giving me the perfect chance to clean up the wiring and start playing around. The ice blue lights Pete supplied will go it, the custom front unit will be trial fitted and I'm try and think of a way round the gaping carpet hole where the cubby hole would be. I'll also mount the Tweeters.
Luckily I have a spare dash on it's way to me in case anything goes wrong. I'll trial fit everythin then look at building it up and having it flocked before i put it back in. Honestly I think it'll be near the end of the year but it's not like there's any rush.
Oh yeah, then there's the bloody rear to finish.....

[Mr Funk]

Things are still moving on but I'm not sure for how much longer.
Basically with the end of the summer I have to stop making the car my big priority at the weekends. The sailing season is over so Groove is at home a lot more and it's actually quite nice to spend some time with your girl friend of nearly nine years.
That's not to say it'll all grind to a halt but gone are the weekends of spending every waking hour on it.

So anyway....

I think I've finally finished the door cards and come up with the best solution for the rears.
Here comes the blatant plug.....

Matt and the lads at Enigma in Ashford. I've mentioned them before and they didn't let me down.
The problem stemmed from the carpet I was using. very simply I couldn't get a good constant quality from the interweb, some of it was good and some of it not so good. Yeah it was cheaper and it was perfectly fine to use but i couldn't seem to get the same stuff twice leads to the problem of having to go over everything again.
But the main problem was the rear. i haven't got a picture as I forgot the camera but the frear wheel wells are complete bastards. They aren't the same and they're not a constant shape as the fuel filler neck goes right through one of them. The long and short of it was that the cheaper carpet just couldn't keep up.

So cue Matt....
Paying a bit extra for the good quality carpet change absolutely everything. This stuff is a bit thicker but isn't fluffy, if that makes sense. And the best bit is just how pliable it is. Before, you have to spray the adhesive and hold the carpet in place in dips and pray that the glue set and nothing came away, this stuff is incredibly bendable. Just attach it to the bottom of a dip then tug it until it covers everything and there's no stretch marks, piece of piss.
The rear now looks like it should but I've still not finish it hence no pics but the blue for the fronts arrived:

The pic doesn't do the blue justice but assume it's a nice electric blue just bordering on bright. The woofer is hidden behind the door card (a mission in itself) and the black surrounds round the door handle will go on. i had toyed with chrome one to match the mirror adjusters and window winder but I'm not sure as it may be too much with the blue and the black and I've missed out the Jesus handle.
More pics and blatant plugs for people that give me discounts next time.

[Bill]

Looking supurb, some neat touches

[Mr Funk]

So an early a start at the barn yielded some results.
I'm properly happy with the door cards, there's one or two minor points that need sorting but nothing I can't live with. Back should be done this weekend with the dash going in next week.




You get a better idea of the blue in the outside pictures.

[Mr Funk]

Here's a quick update, worked this mornign but gave up when the thunder and lightning started.

[Mr Funk]

Unfortunately I forgot my camera today so no pics but there's little difference apart from the fact that everything's a bit tidier.
The drivers door card is now mounted and the crossovers are wired up and stuffed in the glove box. While I was fixing stuff I realised how much I need.

[Mr Funk]

I know what you're all thinking.
Jesus, not more bloody photos of the interior. Well I see where you're coming from and what's worse is that it'll get another overhaul over the next few months as the dash is rebuilt, the new seats go in and the rear brace is built.
But today I got to drive it for the first time in amonth and I was shaking. The pick up and response is so completely different to the Corsa, it's such a joy to drive.
Anyhoo, here's the seats:
http://www.rallysportdirect.com/shop/im ... oRSDLG.jpg
and here's the interior as I left it earlier:

[Mr Funk]

Good morning and welcome to another Episode of "The Plan and the gaping reality",

So here I am at 9am with hazy ideaas of what I'm going to try and get sorted today:
*Chop off the bits of metal that are preventing me from getting the sub frames in
*Strip the subs and rebuild them so they sit slightly lower so they fit in the car with a gap between the top of the seat and the roof lining
*Fit everything.

Sounds piss easy doesn't it?

I'll report back....

[Mr Funk]

For those of you that haven't looked outside it's hammering down, freezing and to top it all I'm driving the Corsa as the Bandit is more of a "summer car". I don't mean this in a "oooh, I won't take it out in the wet as it ruins the paint, none of that bullshit. This is much more along the lines of some of the seals being 20 years old and me not wanting a waterfall on the inside. It's not looking promising.

[Mr Funk]

Well the first thing we discovered is that if you use the wrong cutting blade on quarter inch steel you're looking at a problem.
The second thing we discovered was that that problem may very well lead to a rather nice scar when it heals up.
I am quite a lucky man believe it or not.

[walkinginperu]

Sounds nasty mate, hope you're alright

[Mr Funk]

I'm absolutely fine although playing with angle grinders is now in the same category as fibre glassing and something I'll stay clear of whenever possible. I'm pretty hot of 'elf and safety due to my job but sometimes you just can't help what happens.
Anyhoo it's resulted in a chunk of the side of my finger going missing. Oddly enough it didn't hurt at all. I saw it happen and remember thinking "Christ, that's going to sting." But it didn't. It was such a clean cut that I hardly felt a thing, mild shock and the realisation that I was't going to fit the seats but other than that nothing.
Like I said, I'm a lucky man.

I'm currenty looking at the possiblilty of custom runners. I'm so used to how low the rado seats sit that it's a definate possibility.
Style over substance every time.

[Bill]

Glad your ok Fella

[Mr Funk]

So it's been a while.

Things have been moving along despite the lack of updates. I've been mentally busy for the past few months so everything has pretty much taken a back seat and while I've been playing when I can it's been bitty at best.

The first, big thing to report is that it's had a full service and cam belt and it runs like a different car. Before it was ticking over at 2000 rpm as Moomin and i had forgotten to reset to the idle when we stuck the audi throttle body on. This hilarity led to me pissing petrol out the rear like the Exon Veldez and the terrifying "oh my Christ the Throttle has jammed open!" episode.
While it was having everything done the mystery of the flat battery was attacked and found to be my wiring on the headunit taking a much larger feed than it needed and draining the power, but more on that later.
The big problem was the seats. The sub frames that i got from Tim were far to high to begin with and have ended up being next to useless. The adjusters had to be removed from the off as the top of the seat was hitting the roof (not a good look). The hassle that was then need to cut them down and make them fit turned out to be more trouble than it was worth and a call to Demon Tweeks got the most helpful saleman in the world who measured one of the seats and the custom Scirocco Cobra Sub frames. They need mounted on strips but I'm asured that they're the right hieght and I can return them for a full refund if they aren't up to spec.
Lovely.
Then we come to the ICE.

trousers through the thread you'll be aware that I've got a bit of a fetish about this kind of thing. I'm not particularly good at it but it's bloody good fun figuring out the solutions to problems of my own making.
So yesterday morning I took the stereo to Enigma (0870 123 2045) here in sunny Trashford. The problem turned out to be one wire plugged into the wrng connector, jackpot. I then got talking to Matt, the head honcho and probobaly one of the friendliest guys I've met in a while.
So I stayed for the next five hours while we ripped everything out of the rear and started again. Sound mental don't I?
In return for my Saturday afternoon I actually got hands on while we rebuilt the rear install, it wasn't bad to begin with but it was like a rusty car. We'd open one part up and find something that I'd rushed that could be made better.
Matt gets pretty passionate about people wanting to do the dirty work themselves and spent his time and effort showing me how could do things better and ake the best out of the install. We only managed to get the rear board in and the pics don't do it justice but take a look at the car in the flesh and you'll see what I mean. All the wiring was re routed through the side panels and the sub and amp are going to be remounted.


What he's also happy to do is open the shop/workshop to groups and spend time going over stuff and sorting problems. It boosts his reputation and shifts a few bits and pieces and we get quality kit and the benefit of his expertise.
Winner.