Project Domes shonky autos - Grand Cherokee departs, Kangoo titivation and 911 dug out.

[GingerNuttz]

Tis very white 😂

The gaffer approves 

Little but of urethane wave but it'll block out before it's buffed. 

[hairnet]

skillz (from nuttz obvs)

joke dome

 

[GingerNuttz]

Front valance was done before I was put in hospital but I never posted a pic.

Just the black lip around the spoiler to do so hopfully that'll be done this weekend.

[GingerNuttz]

Been polishing some stuff on the days I can get up.

Will update this with more of the shell later this week.

 

[dome]

Ok, time for a fairly boring update as not a lot has been happening.

Kangoo

Not a lot going on here. I bought a new wing from the scrappy to replace the drivers side, the passenger side was done last year. It's with @GingerNuttz just now and I'll get it fitted when it comes back. 

Jeep

Speaking of our favourite tame welder, he got delivered the Kangoo wing in the back of the Jeep which is still with him. Why?

Well, it got advisories for rust on the sills last year but I chose to ignore them. The MOT ran out about a month ago so I set about prodding to see what I could find. 

It's got rock sliders fitted from the factory and these were rusty, I thought (hoped) that the tester had meant these. I started on the driver's side and cleaned it up. 

 

Found a hole

Cut it out 

Made a repair patch

I'll spare you the pictures of my welding as I'm still shite at it but here it is with some paint on it 🫣

I chose to ignore the sills in this side but couldn't do the same on the other side sadly😳

Sill end with foam in it. 

Looking up from underneath.

Aye, that's fucked.

I did the right thing and ignored it for a bit.

I did buy a new bonnet for it as the original one had been painted by Stevie wonder.

Going full Roadkill with the bonnet off.

And the new one fitted.

@GingerNuttz has cut all the old rust out. I posted this pic on the FB group and it would appear that foam is from the factory. Thanks Jeep!

911

It's not been far since the weather turned.

One mod I'd wanted to do was to the drivers seat. The seats in mine were pretty basic and not very comfy. There's loads of aftermarket or genuine Porsche options but they're all spendy. 

I have a pair of bucket seats for the Manta though and for £100 purchased a mount for the 911.

So, seat out.

Much measuring and trial fitting and the bucket was on the side mounts

And installed.

What a difference it makes! I'm actually in the car now and not sitting on it. Best £100 I've spent on it👍

I spent a couple of weekends emptying my lockup of Manta and MX5 bits and transferring them to my garage/shed and yesterday tucked the Porsche up for the winter. 

Tyres up to their maximum pressure and sitting on carpet, tank filled and battery will be coming to the house to get conditioned. There's plenty of ideas on how to store a car but that's what I'm going with.

It'll be back in spring for some more miles and hopefully some paintwork too. 

One thing of note when clearing the lockup out 

One of these wiring looms is from my 1981 Manta, the other from a 2008 MX5.  

Progress*

 

 

[Tayne]

29 minutes ago, dome said:

 

And installed.

What a difference it makes! I'm actually in the car now and not sitting on it. Best £100 I've spent on it👍

 

 

 

Back in the day, you could option your 356 or early 911 with a sports seat for the driver and standard seat for the passenger.

[dome]

Well, that escalated quickly on the Heep

At least @GingerNuttzwill be able to enjoy his Carribbean holiday when I've paid for the welding 🫣

[dome]

The Heep did live by the sea in Kirkcaldy for 10 years so it shouldn't come as a surprise I guess.

Here's the Kangoo as a contrast.

The shell must be on about 170k miles but it lived in the midlands til I got it on the road up here 4 years ago. It's getting a clean up and some fettling to try and keep it good. 

That strut was a genuine Renault one and brand new when I got the van👀

 

[dome]

After getting this back from @GingerNuttz yesterday with added metal underneath I spent my Christmas Eve the traditional* way by trying to find the source of wet carpets in the Heep. 

Removed the seats and carpet to get to this stage.

Despite spending a couple of hours inside with the hose pointing at various bits on the outside I'm no further forward. 

There was a bit of a leak around the rear LHS door seal but the worst of the leak is in the front LHS and it doesn't look like that's where it's coming from. Sunroof, windscreen and door seals are all now fine so I'll dry out the carpet and try again in a few days time. 

I did have a go at fixing it earlier in the year, checking sunroof drains and the drain for the Aircon which can cause issues.

I guess I might have sorted it but it's just never dried out properly? I think that's a bit optimistic though. We'll see.

 

[Tayne]

Does it consume coolant?

Is there any chance it’s weeping into the carpets via the heater a la p38?

[dome]

33 minutes ago, Tayne said:

Does it consume coolant?

Is there any chance it’s weeping into the carpets via the heater a la p38?

It uses a wee bit of coolant but there's no coolant smell in the car.

The air con drains are notorious for leaking into the cabin, the next thing to do is to run the engine with the carpets out and see if that is a thing. The air con is fucked though so I'd be surprised 

[dome]

Wow, was it really December I last posted in here? Shame on me.

Time for an update I guess

Jeep first.

We left this with holes everywhere. It went off to @GingerNuttz who started about the sill and ended up somewhere around the prop tunnel in a search for good metal 🤣

I got it back and through an MOT, I then started to investigate coolant loss which turned out to be a leaky radiator

This wasn't too bad a job thankfully and it was leak free.

I then decided enough was enough as I wasn't using it and it needed more work to make it perfect.

So, some shiny pictures were taken...

and it was sold. Sad times but I had enough on the fleet to keep me occupied...

 

 

[dome]

Over Christmas I stuck the Kangoo in the garage to give it a clean up and redo the plastics which were faded and looking a bit rubbish. No pics of this but the bumpers and trims got removed, sanded and sprayed black.

 

It's just back from Scotlands premier tat restoration emporium for @GingerNuttz to work his magic-the drivers wing was rotten, the bonnet had lacquer peel and the drivers side rear was full of filler.

 

I need to give it a proper clean and polish to do it justice but it's looking ace. I may have to treat it to a new set of wheels 🤔

 

Oh and it got a pair of Rainsports fitted to the front a month or so ago so you've all got me to thank for there being no rain since then🤣 

 

[dome]

The 911 got tucked away for the winter

And dragged out a month or so ago.

It's going well as long as you ignore the bodywork which is getting worse-the shonky repair around the arches and sills is getting bad. Plan is to drive it and not look at it. 

Like this

It'll be due an oil change too and I need to mess with the suspension settings-the coilovers seem a bit soft on the front so I've stiffened them up a few clicks, just in time for the first rain in over a month up here which means the roads will be like ice, testing that out can wait...

[Matty]

The Kangoo must be a keep forever job. Surely irreplaceable. Totally silly yet also weirdly useful.

[dome]

4 hours ago, Matty said:

The Kangoo must be a keep forever job. Surely irreplaceable. Totally silly yet also weirdly useful.

Yeah you've summed it up well. When I had the Heep one of them was surplus to requirements, no surprises that it's the Heep that's no longer here.