Right then. I'm felling ambivalent towards this car at the moment. On the one hand the work that has been done I'm really happy with, on the other... Well I'll get to that later.
Just to remind everyone, this is what the car was looking like before it went off to workshop:
So all in all, pretty awful really.
But on May 22nd it was sent off along with this collection of goodies for repair:
Anyway, after a far longer than expected wait of 11 weeks and 5 days, this is what she's now looking like:
Note the new chrome strips in the front bumpers:
New paint on the boot lid:
The repair work, I'm really happy with.
All the doors open and close just as they should, it feels great, I don't think many would be able to tell that it's been in an accident.
The photos don't do it justice:
The best thing is that they were able to transfer all the original glass and handles from my original doors so everything still matches and no need for a second key:
All the original interior has been refitted too:
The wheel arches have turned out very nicely:
(looks like a white scratch in the photo but it's a reflection from the alloys)
The rust in the boot cut out:
As for the suspension, I think it's bang on. It's firm yet not at all harsh.
All the odd creaks and knocks are gone and it now just glides over bumps.
It still defiantly feels like a Cav to drive but it's limits are much higher. I find myself being able to go round corners at twice the speed I thought was possible before in this car.
The ride high is just perfect too:
New arms fitted:
New top mounts and shocks under there. Apparently the old top mounts were completely knackered:
One thing I forgot to mention was the leak into the boot.
water was seeping in through a rust patch along this seam, it's now all been welded and sealed up. Quite a neat job I thought:
That's all the good stuff, now for the bad.
First of all, and this is only minor, they didn't paint the pinstripes on rather they used the stick on variety.
Unfortunately these have already started to peel off:
Secondly, remember my shiny new rear boot panel back on page 1 of this thread?
Well, it came back looking like this:
The alloys, oh the alloys. Not only does the nearside rear wheel have this lovely dent in it...
But they are splattered with tar spots and overspray!
The front bonnet now looks even worse, yes that is a big bird poo on the to right, and yes it has eaten into the paintwork and cannot be removed:
On top of that, my rear badges which I toiled over on page 4, have been on the receiving end of an overzealous machine polisher. Thus, the silver coating has been buffed away along the top edge:
I'm most annoyed about the crack boot panel. Everything else is reparable.
Such an unnecessary waste, of all the things to get broken, why did it have to be one of that hardest parts to get hold of.
I'm also slightly annoyed that they painted the sills black instead of red.
As I said, I feel ambivalent at this stage. It's driving really well and I'm happy with most of the work. Yet I know there is allot more to do. There is still rust that needs sorting underneath, the interior needs a few things done (the leather on the steering wheel and the cloth on the A-pillar is coming away) and now I've got to repair stuff that I've already done before.
Initially I was happy with the cost (it was £1200 by the way [£1000 of that was covered by the insurance pay-out]) but I keep on thinking what I could have got with that money instead.
It just seems like such an unlucky car.