Grahams81-Leon 4wd, Big Turbo - Back in the saddle :-)

[Applemobile]

That Wing is going to be awesome. Although it has given me terrible ideas.

 

[ohara]

Please update. Please.

 

[grahams81]

Looking forward to seeing it all come togeather!

I've only been on this forum for a year and the anticipation of seeing the final product is killing me so god knows what longer members are like!

Great work

That Wing is going to be awesome. Although it has given me terrible ideas.

Please update. Please.

Thanks For the comments guys.

I'm very sorry about the lack of updates, i've been really busy working on just about everything else other than the Leon..... then when i got geared up to do some painting i came home to find an oily drive. The missus cracked the sump of the Golf 4motion so i ended up spending a couple of weekends working on that and giving it a good service etc.

Well i last updated whilst i was still on holiday.... thought i'd get back and prime the doors, that didn't exactly go to plan as i was looking after the little-un and doing other running around n family sh*t.

I also realised i'd only prepped two doors, thought i'd done them all (must have been wishful thinking as i hate rubbing paintwork down / sanding out marks etc.

I had a good tidy out of the garage on Saturday and got everything covered up to control the over spray.

It was really hard mounting the doors for paint as i wanted to paint it all inside and out without having to paint one side let it dry turn over etc etc. i propped the front door on one of my alloys and the rear on a couple of paint cans.... bit wobbily but it worked to a fashion.

Sunday morning came and i was itching to start painting so by 8:30 i had both compressors running flat out whilst i gave the doors two generous coats of filler primer. If my neighbours don't already hate me they will now :huh:

Felt nice to get the gun out again.

.........

I really struggled priming both sides of the door in one go so I went online and found a double panel stand for £100... I thought ideal paid for it and it said delivery in 3-5 days, well it all went pete tong and it took like 3-4 weeks to get to me

So in the mean time -

I found a couple of small dents in the driver side doors during prep, so i decided to fill them in this morning, you can see the different colours from the high / low spots -

Popped a bit of the filler in -

And wet sanded with 180 then 320 - nice and flat now.

After doing that i cleaned the panels off and then wiped them over with some panel wipe.

After nearly knocking over a door last time and not having my panel stand I decided to use my step ladders as a panel stand and mount the back door from, just cut some m6 studding to push the door from the ladders to get to both sides... so after a bit of covering up i was nearly ready for paint.

All primed up

Doors everywhere :laugh:

All 4 done now, thank god.....

My stand then came and i built it up and mounted a couple of doors on there to test drive it

Then last weekend i managed to knock the front door off the stand (i tried to move the stand and i'm guessing the door wasn't properly held )

Needless to say the door went crashing to the floor and really bent the front edge of the door over

I then got really down on the project - all my friends have been finishing there projects and i'm still so far off

I thought again about scrapping the shell and just buying a Golf 4mo and putting my engine in.... i even bidded on a Golf 4motion 3dr on ebay that was only a grand - luckily i got out bided at the last minute
I thought after so many people following this thread i may get lynched if i don't complete it

So i straightened out the door and filled it, sanded it down -

I re-primed all 4 doors today -

Tomorrows job will be flatten all 4 doors in preparation for putting some orange paint on.

Stay tuned guys, and thanks as always for reading.

 

[James23Parkin]

Awesome Graham! With a 4 month old son and a busy job, I can totally appreciate where you're coming from... I've garaged mine for a year or two until I can find the time to enjoy the hobby again. So, it looks like I'll be living my dreams through yours, so keep it going

 

[grahams81]

Awesome Graham! With a 4 month old son and a busy job, I can totally appreciate where you're coming from... I've garaged mine for a year or two until I can find the time to enjoy the hobby again. So, it looks like I'll be living my dreams through yours, so keep it going

Thanks James it's quite amazing how much time the little-uns take up - i wouldn't change it for the world..... but hobbies are definitely further down the pecking order now.

 

[traumapat]

Lynched would be an understatement. Progress is progress no matter how slow.
Come too far now to walk away

 

[ReDBull]

Kids just suck the money and life out of you. When do the school holidays finish?

 

[t0m]

Glad you didn't chuck the towel in and buy the 4Motion. Leon's are a LOT prettier than MK4 Golf's IMO!

Don't think about other's finishing theirs before you either, good things come to those who wait.

Good work mate.

 

[grahams81]

Lynched would be an understatement. Progress is progress no matter how slow.
Come too far now to walk away

Lol yeh i wouldn't be able to show my face...it's ok now though the love is back

Kids just suck the money and life out of you. When do the school holidays finish?

Haha Oh dear, someone sounds bitter

Glad you didn't chuck the towel in and buy the 4Motion. Leon's are a LOT prettier than MK4 Golf's IMO!

Don't think about other's finishing theirs before you either, good things come to those who wait.

Good work mate.

Cheers Tom, i'm glad i didn't win the Golf... like you say not as pretty as the mk1 Leon.
Been making a bit of progress so feeling the love again.

Update Time -

So then last time i updated i'd just reprimed the doors after dropping one of them.

Friday night i managed to sneak a couple of hours in the garage as the missus had a friend round
So I flattened two doors down and cleaned them up with panel wipe, ready for painting Saturday.
Then got bored and started prepping the door handles & Fuel cap -

Saturday Morning came and i had a dedust and clear up, then re-panel wipe and a quick going over with a tack rag..... then started putting down the orange stuff.
Three coats in total... went ok but i got a run in the middle of the back door - not the end of the world, i'll leave it to dry and once i've finished the painting i'll flatten the whole body and machine polish it up.

Anyhow Glory Pics -

Run Forrest Run...

I've also jointed Detailing World to get some pointers on bodywork finishing, using polishers / wetsanding etc. There's some great info over there with some canny people.

MAJOR PROGRESS !!!!!! Putting the doors back on

Today i decided to get the doors off the stand and back on the car, and my oh my - it's starting to resemble a car again.

Back door on

And front on

Still got to finalise the hinge positions but i had to run in here and update !!!

So i'm over the moon, wasted no time mind - next two doors are in the stand ready to be flattened then Tango'd.

This has really spurred me on, feeling the love again for this project.....I WILL FINISH IT !!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks As always for the supportive comments i really appreciate them all

Graham.

 

[traumapat]

Looking very smart in her new frock

 

[6th.replicant]

Jeez - engine/transmission/suspension/bodywork/paint - grahams81, you really are a one-man-band

Keep up the good work

 

[ibizacupra]

this is so cool to see evolve

keep it up graham...

its going to be Ace!

 

[t0m]

That orange is a really sexy colour I love it haha

 

[Scam]

Such an epic project dude

One of my guilty pleasures now is getting an email notification on my phone: 'Grahams81 has replied to a post you have subscribed to.....'

 

[Ronin225]

Good to see youre cracking back on again and importantly enjoying it
Just to echo others on how much quality workmanship is in this too

 

[cupra-barn]

Excellent work mate.
Like you say, time with family is precious and can leave little time for much else however all the hours here and there will add in the end.

Keep it up Graham!

 

[Seal_LCR]

Awesome!!! One thread I love to see on my new post lost

Keep up the good....sorry great work!

 

[Jakalus]

Well this is amazing I look forward to the next update!

 

[cupraslayer]

Just been through the whole thread again!!! Amazing what you have done. Just wish I was able to hold the knowledge and skills you have.

You need to finish this project now . It's been my pass time for today at work .

 

[bendyb633]

Schweet work! Keep it up! Properly jealous!!