Pete-225's Leon Cupra R 225

[Pete225]

Hello my fellow tuners!

Well I fly for Tenerife tomorrow, but as I finished on a half day at work today, I thought I would put my packing off to go and get this perfect gift from RDS (aka Rich)

What a fantastic top bloke this man is! Can't get over how nice and helpful he's been to me, and the little surprise inside......

Now, he won't accept payment, and as I don't know who he is (personally), its going to be a hard task, But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let me know when you are at a car show, i will look for you, I will find you, and I will thank you in person

Cheers again mate, now just to get the aluminium and bombs away, I can make a start

 

[RDS]

Not a problem mate, pleased to see you finally decided to pick it up. Enjoy your holiday.

I'll be at inters

 

[xDaNx]

Now, he won't accept payment, and as I don't know who he is (personally), its going to be a hard task, But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let me know when you are at a car show, i will look for you, I will find you, and I will thank you in person

haha

 

[Pete225]

I know it's took me long enough, I'd have got it last weekend but my misses was like nooooooo, it's Finley's birthday, and need to get presents etc lol, think she was being a bit selfish haha (just kidding)

I really do appreciate it though

I have got a question, when it goes together to make the L shape, the base has a very thin flap that sits against the wall of the L shape.... Do I copy that with the aluminium, and then use some metal sealant of some sort to bond them together? (If you need pics to help aid my atrocious explanation then just ask haha)

 

[RDS]

Yes mate you need to keep the flap and bound it together

 

[Pete225]

Yes mate you need to keep the flap and bound it together

Nice one rich

Well, quick update, been soaking up the sun and the misses wanted to go out for a meal, so whilst she was getting ready, and the sprigs were napping, I thought I would take advantage of the FREE wifi (like anythings free lol) and do some eBay searching, which resulting in me spending money !!

The following parts have been ordered and should be waiting for me on my return to my desk a week on monday

Autosol Polish
VHT Red Spray Paint
JB Weld - Kwik Weld
Simoniz Clear Lacquer
Simoniz VHT Super Black Gloss Paint
Wet & Dry Paper - 200,400,600,800,1200,1500 Grit

Should keep me busy for a while, then need to buy the aluminium for the heat shield fabrication!!

 

[Pete225]

Well I've returned from Tenerife, and as you know I've ordered a fair bit for my return (and hopefully will be waiting for me at work )

But, as I had some spare time last night, and a cleared cheque for my misses's insurance rebate, I thought I would let my misses secretly treat me to some more bits and bobs, as she's great like that

1 x Carbon "S" Sticker
1 x SCN Sticker ()
Polishing Wheel
Polishing Goblet Tool
1 x 80mm Red Silicone Pipe (100mm in length)
1 x 80mm Alloy Coupler - With Swaged Ends (100mm in length)

Including the all important GTI International tickets for the Saturday only, but one day is better than none

All I need now is:

SFS 3" TIP
Jetex Cone Filter
And some aluminium - hopefully be getting this for Father's Day, so I can make a start on the custom heat shield

Then I'm all ready for Stage 1 Map, or if I get the toyosports intercooler, then I should be good for stage 2 after a decent exhaust
All in good time though, hate waiting

Pics will be coming soon!

 

[Pete225]

Well 1st day back at work was pants!!!!

On the plus side, these batch of goodies were waiting for me.... boom!

Spot the SCN sticker

Oh there it is

So I've got everything bar the metal coupler and the GTI Inters tickets

Thanks for looking

 

[Pete225]

Well yesterday I received my Aluminium Coupler from Auto Silicone Hoses (ASH) and I wasn't very impressed!

I ordered:

80mm diameter
100mm length
Swaged edges
Polished Aluminium

This is what came:

As you can see the finish is terrible, and the edges haven't even been filed properly, and a few deep chunks.
As for the diameter and length, spot on, but no Swaged edges....

Got on the phone, and quoted my order number, and the customer service was fantastic. The bloke said his apologies, and said he would send me another one that's polished with Swaged edges and smooth edges too and said I can keep the one they sent, bonus!!

So that should turn up tomorrow.
Apart from that, nothing else to update, but should be making a re-start on the engine cover and a few other bits in the engine bay

Thanks for reading.

 

[Pete225]

P.S.

I will be putting this spare part in the "Free Items" section if anyone is interesting in polishing it, and smoothing the edges and beading it?

 

[Pete225]

:UPDATE:

The new aluminium coupler came, which I was very surprised at, and also how quick they dispatched the part.

The finish is polished, but still wasn't the best (better than the forge charge pipe finish though).
The edges were a lot smoother, but needed a bit of a touch up, and the most important was, it has Swaged edges, result!!

Here's the before pics:

As you can see there is a little dullness there, so I set to work with half rounded file, autosol polish, and some wire wool.

The edges are perfect, no sharp bits in sight, and set about using the autosol, after wiping all the aluminium shavings off.
I didn't think to take pictures of how black the polish went, but here's a close up of the wire wool, and how black it went:

The finished result

Nice mirror finish:

The finished result, with the tools I used

So now to get my charge pipe spanking as it still looks quite dull, and then to make a start on the Inlet Manifold, and then make a start on the painting of the bay!

 

[RDS]

Crack on then mate

 

[Pete225]

Will do mate, should be looking spanking for Inters (at least the bay will be in so many ways) lol

How's you? You planning anything for yours mate?

 

[RDS]

I'm canny, just attempting to get mine cleaned up for inters

 

[Pete225]

My Inters ticket arrived today

Will just make sure I can get as close to the club stand as possible, and speak to you all

 

[Pete225]

Another update

As you can gather, I'm steadily making my way towards an sfs tip, jetex cone filter (FC-8001) and heat shield.

For Father's Day, I shall be getting the jetex cone my partner has just ordered it, so it should be here by Wednesday at the latest, can't wait.

So I thought I'd be really cheeky and see what mood my mum was in, and she's agreed to buy me the SFS Tip as an early birthday present (only 5 months early mind )

My partner has said that as I wanted the aluminium, but she knows I wanted the Jetex just as much, she thought it would be better to have that, than the aluminium, so should be getting that when I get paid from work..... As I said from the start, a slow progress, but will get there soon enough.

I shall be posting more polishing and painting progress soon, as that's on the cards today!!

 

[Pete225]

As stated previously, I've made a start on the Forge Charge Pipe.

What an absolute ball ache of a job, just goes to show the finish was pants, been at it 2 and 1/2 hours, and this is as far as I've got

Before:

Half way progress on bottom half:

Completed bottom half:

Not the best pictures, but you can definitely see the difference.
I'm happy with the progress so far, just wish it didn't take so long, OR I had some sanding wheels, as that would speed the process very quickly.
I started with 400 grit, and worked my way up to 1200, the only problem is, any major imperfections, and you have to start all over again :yawn:

However I find it a little therapeutic, so not all bad

Let me know what you think?!

 

[Richy Cupra]

That's not a bad job tbh mate, you can see the difference. I had to get a 3 step chrome polishing kit in the end to make it perfect.

 

[Pete225]

Looks beaut that mate!
I think if I'm going to do it properly, I think it's the way I will have to go, but the original finish was bugging me, so at least it won't be as big of a job when I can do it "properly" lol

How much was it for your kit?

 

[Richy Cupra]

Looks beaut that mate!
I think if I'm going to do it properly, I think it's the way I will have to go, but the original finish was bugging me, so at least it won't be as big of a job when I can do it "properly" lol

How much was it for your kit?

Cheers mate I would do it properly if I was you. Its very easy to use but you still have to sand it before hand to get rid of the imperfections as they will show up no matter what. Might take a couple of goes but you will get there.
I paid about £25 for mine, can't remember what kit it was though