My 98 2.1TD Executive

[steve_earwig]

I tried looking inside it but I couldn't see anything obvious, Pug just tried a new one and it worked so I bought it.

Or rather, Pug tried a new one and it worked but I was too stingy to buy it so I thought I'd see if it could be fixed, took it to bits, couldn't fix it so I went shame-faced back to Pug and bought the new one.

[HimBigChief]

My usual technique down to a tee! Will try some scrapyard cars first as I don't fancy paying out Pug prices when I can liberate it from a scrappy!

[HimBigChief]

Got the new wheels for the car today. ACE 112's in 17", fitted with 215/45/17 on the front and will be 235/45/17 on the rear. I know the tyre sizes aren't ideal, but I got them cheap so I'll just keep my eye out for the right size in the next few months. I will be getting all the tyres taken off and sanding back and re-painting and re-polishing where necessary to get the wheels back to how they should be, but here's the wheels and them up against the car. I shall try to get 2 of them bolted on on Tuesday and get some pics then.

[HimBigChief]

Right then, quick update...

I've finished the wheels earlier in the week, and just had the tyres put on earlier today. They're still in the back of the car at the moment as there are some people coming to view the house tomorrow morning, so once they've gone I shall be setting to the task of getting those 235 wide rear tyres to fit in the arches without catching. Anyway, here's the pics:





While I had some paint left over from doing the wheels, I decided to set about a few interior bits and bobs. 3 full cans of colour later and here's the results:







I also found a Laguna still with its splitter in one of the local scrap yards, so for the princely sum of £8 I bought it (the splitter, not the car!). It's a tiny bit short on the sides, but still a pretty good fit. I need to mess about with the mounts and bends on the passenger side slightly, but the drivers side is near enough spot on. Will get some better pics tomorrow once the wheels are on, and when it's light .

[mjb]

I generally don't like interior modifications like that, but in your case I'll make an exception. It looks GREAT! Mind you, it's not too far off my new coupe

Not keen on the alloys, but you've done a good job on them - well done

[HimBigChief]

I generally don't like interior modifications like that, but in your case I'll make an exception. It looks GREAT!

Thank you kindly. If the car was red, or white or some other less subtle colour, then it wouldn't work, but with the dark grey, I think it looks pretty good. I'll probably put the standard stereo back in as I've also taken that apart and sprayed the front and flip mech face part, but unfortunately one of my dogs chewed 6 of the buttons from the front last night , before I got the chance to put it all back together, so I need to liberate some from a scrappy. I only put the Kenwood headunit and surround in as I couldn't be doing a 70mile daily commute with the wife in the car without a stereo! Also the surround has been sprayed up for when I get my TV headunit back from storage and decide I can be bothered to spend a couple of weekends finding places for, and fitting, all the associated boxes of tricks.

[bigdaves406]

i do like what you did to the trim looks really nice
was that splitter easy to fit

big dave

[Captain Jack]

Dude, you could have cleaned it a little prior to taking pictures...

[HimBigChief]

The cleaning will be getting done today. The car has only been on the road for about a month, and when you do a 70mile daily commute on country road, it tends to get pretty dirty, pretty damn quickly (i.e. one trip to work or back). The back of the car is so dirty you can't make out any of the reg whatsoever (will get a pic before I wash it).

Also, when I took the pics I'd only been off work in the afternoon, and I spent that time fitting the splitter and the colour coded door trims back in, so I didn't have time. Will get some better pics later on today once wheels are on and I've washed and polished it a little.

The splitter is relatively easy to fit. You just need to cut and bend it slightly to get it to fit the contours of the bumpers properly. I still need to adjust the passenger side slightly to get it perfect, and again, I shall try to get that done later today.

[HimBigChief]

Wheels on, and car cleaned, bumper snotted and hoovered, just for you Captain!

[teamster1975]

Very tidy Chief! Good job!

[eoin27]

You did an incredible job with the interior trim. Well done. I'd like to do someting like that to mine. The wheels look really good as does the splitter.

Two suggestions: Lose the towbar and get some chrome mouldings or do a captainjack job to your existing mouldings

[HimBigChief]

Two suggestions: Lose the towbar and get some chrome mouldings or do a captainjack job to your existing mouldings

Half the reason I got the car was because of the tow bar! This is still my everyday practical car and I need a towbar I'm afraid. I will repaint it black so it looks a bit better, and get rid of the number plate protector part as that looks naff, but I'm afraid it's there to stay.

Personally, I like the all black moulding. There's no other chrome trim on the car at all that I have spied so far, bar the front and side badges, so I think that they'd look a bit out of place. That said, I have previously considered it... I'd quite like some phase 2 door cards too and then that's the interior pretty much done for now.

Better pics of splitter:

[eoin27]

easily the nicest D8 i've seen

[HimBigChief]

easily the nicest D8 i've seen

Cheers for that, but it's not finsihed yet. Give me a few more months and then we'll see what you think...