Trigs "Car in front" - Bonnet repairs!

[srad34]

That looks great, almost too good for AS. But that interior brings it back into the fold.....

 

[trigger]

Yeah, that interior is pretty wank, what was they thinking?!

[Partridge]

They were thinking it was the '90s. Every type of fabric had to look like shit swimming trunks.

[RobT]

I keep resisting your cars when you come to sell them Trig, but I really like this. I'll join the queue when you're done with it!

[Volksy]

We had three of those as courtesy cars at a garage I worked at. They got thraped all day every day and stood up to it. That 1300cc motor is an revy, unburstable lump. Yes the trim is dire, but that was the norm for toyotas of that age, as per the one of mine photo H'imp posted. I'm sure the designers were failed Japanese Laura Ashley students.

[trigger]

I had a bit of a mare with this today, one of the rear tyres was persisted so i popped to the local part worn tyre place, £30 for a new tyre fitted seemed fair plus an extra £30 to get the tracking laser checked.

 

So they started to remove the wheel and bang, the fucking locking wheel nut snapped.

 

 

(I really must fix that bumper) Who ever fitted the wheels last done them up so tight with a airgun that the garage had a hell of a job of removing them, in the end they managed to remove all my old locking nuts with a hammer, screwdriver and a breaker bar, I was pretty lucky really as they didn't charge me for the extra 1/2 hour it took to do the job.

 

 

The tracking was a mile out also which explains why it pulled to the left, it feels much better now.

 

 

I've ordered a set of replacement wheel nuts of ebay now for £16, Toyota wanted £15 just for the two!. Now I'm waiting for the stickers and a replacement CD player to arrive, a spring for the fuel filler flap to arrive from Toyota and these nuts and I'll be sorted!.

[Station]

I like the stickers, i don't like the seats. 90s puke camoflaged.

 

What was it with the 90's and their loom's 'most random pattern generator program' seats?

 

Trigger, hope I have a need for a Starlet when you come to sell this!

[plasticvandan]

Those seats remind me of being dragged around DFS on a wet,boring Sunday afternoon as a child

[oldcars]

Yeah, that interior is pretty wank, what was they thinking?!

You should see mine in the Shuma 

[RobT]

That annoys the fuck out of me when places don't torque them correctly.  Your nuts look a bit rusty too Trig so maybe they were seized good and proper anyway.

[greengartside]

Liking this little buzzbox Trig! You need to get all DMB Graphics on that - would look great with a set of correct period plates on it.

[trigger]

The postman arrived this morning bearing numerous gifts...

 

 

Namely the CD player of ebay, new wheel nuts and the SR sticker set, along with the paint and the fuel flap clip I'd already got I cracked on this morning getting the car sorted.

 

The clip was a easy fix and now the flap opens with the lever as it should, the CD player again was very easy to fit and has made the world of difference to the choonage, it picks up more stations, sounds much better and it's easier to use, £30 well spent.

 

The wheel nuts also went on fine too although the old one's were 21mm and the new one's 19mm so i had to faff about with a small bar, and lastly i polished it again with some black polish which is excellent at hiding scratches.

 

The problems all started when i fitted the sticker kit though, I'm useless at that sort of thing and should have got some help really, I managed to fit the front one ok although it didn't cover as much of the old paintwork line (where it was painted around the old sticker before) as i hoped but the boot one was easy, the worse was the side ones, I'm not sure if the stickers aren't quite the right size but i couldn't get them to fit, then one of them creased and it's now started unsticking, not good after spending £45 on them.

 

 

 

 

Bit late now though, They looks good i think mind you, what do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I'm about to start work on painting the front bumper corners.

[cort16]

Looks great, the stickers make a surprising difference. Don't worry about the crease no-one will ever notice (other than us) and if they do then say someone on a forum you go on fitted them and made an arse of it.

[saucedoctor]

Excellent work young man.

[xtriple]

A hairdryer makes putting on stickers surprisingly easy, if you warm it now round the creases you should be able to smooth them away. If the edges start to peel away (you did remove all the old polish from the area first didn't you?) then use a bit of the wifes nail polish to re-stick them.

[Parky]

Smart. Don't worry about the stickers, the odd blemish or loose corner adds patina. If they had been the originals we would all be saying how well they had lasted and how well the car had been looked after. They honestly look like they have been there since day 1 Trig!

[trigger]

I think I'm just fussy with things like that, especially after spending so much on them. It's never going to be a show car and they will be covered in mud and shit soon anyway, bit annoying that they have already starting lifting on the corners and where I've been rubbing then the colour has started to come off.

[HillmanImp]

I would not worry about the crease you will be the only one that will ever notice, I would suggest taking up heavy drinking as a way to forget though. 

 

I think it looks ace with the stickers though, they really make a big difference to the car.

 

I would be annoyed too if I did it, especially as I would have made a much much bigger mess of it but it will soon blend in with the rest of the car.

 

If the stickers are lifting you can use some clear glue to stick them back down. The colour loss is just patina innit.....

[trigger]

Back to my crappy car again, Now since i cleaned it the scratched front bumper corners have really been letting it down, I'd already bought a can of colour mixed paint for £11 from the local motorist shop and i had plenty sandpaper/primer/scotch pads etc in the garage so i attacked it yesterday evening and finished this morning.

 

I've got a electric DA which is excellent at jobs like this so i attacked it and filled the scraps with some filler.

 

 

 

Primed the corners with some plastic primer and flatted it back this morning.

 

 

 

A little bit later i had finished with the paint.

 

 

 

and Voila, a nicely painted bumper again, even the colour match is good. I'll give it a polish once it's hardened probably.

 

 

 

I really, really enjoy working on cars like this.

[phil_lihp]

That looks lovely and the stickers really look great, I wouldn't worry about the odd crease, no-one's going to notice.  Those Starlets were the dullest things ever when new but they've aged quite nicely now, never seen a sporty one before but it seems to suit it.  Plus, being that generation of Toyota, it'll go on forever.

[barmatt]

Excellent work Trigger, I think the stickers look ace, It is quite cathartic doing all those little jobs that really finish a motor off nicely. Makes me want to go and sort the bumpers on my MIL's Starlet.

[xtriple]

Great job on the bumpers and the whole car looks excellent.  You've been at the wheels/tyres as welll haven't you, you little minx

[AndyW201]

Great stuff. I've always had the horn for these SRs since they were new, when I was in my small buzzbox phase. I remember there was an ex demo one that they did in white with the proper Castrol graphics and a different style of Speedline alloys, in our local Toyota dealer. I think it was a special Carlos Sainz edition or something. I was sorely tempted but ended up with a brand new Micra k11 1.3 Si. Same type of thing but 3 years free servicing and low rate finance on the Micra swung it. I think the Starlet looked like it would have been a more fun steer though.

 

Yours is looking sweet Trig, as said already dont fret about the graphics, it still looks so much better with them on.

"Must not search for Starlet SR on ebay..."

[Billy SR]

I made the same sticker mistake myself and I spent £120 on original deadstock toyota! I wish I had taken her somewhere to get them applied. Wrote her off not long after too to make things worse  

 

Andy you are on about the TTE kit on the corolla e11

[Felly Magic]

Trigger is now 'Captain Starlet'. It does look a little cracker Triggs. You have deffo saved it from being run into the ground. Top shiteing

[mat_the_cat]

I really, really enjoy working on cars like this.

 

Me too. I find that the enjoyment of a job is inversely related to how important it is, so it's the little (some would say pointless) jobs I get the most pleasure from

[AndyW201]

I made the same sticker mistake myself and I spent £120 on original deadstock toyota! I wish I had taken her somewhere to get them applied. Wrote her off not long after too to make things worse  

 

Andy you are on about the TTE kit on the corolla e11

Billy, it was definitely a Starlet. Actually, it seems it was just an SR in white...

http://blog.toyota.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/history-of-the-toyota-starl.jpg

But the one I looked at had a different design of Speedline wheel and a Castrol windscreen banner. Must have been a tart up job by the dealer.

[Lacquer Peel]

NOT CARLOS SAINZ.

[Luckythirteen]

Looking good!

 

And I thought it looked okay in the first place...

[Timewaster]

Given that Starlet is a byword for dull grey motoring, that looks like a fun little thing.

One slight niggle though.... wtf is going on with the heater controls? Half sliders and half rotory. That would send me nuts.