Gold 2.0Si

[Eddie nuff]

Have you managed to speak with Mark at Edwards & Son and I recall the car was a black 2.0sei

They don't have what I need.

[Eddie nuff]

For the black door trims, flat down then prime with primer and paint with satin black spray paint. Don't forget to do the slim window guides as well, it makes significant difference to the overall look. The XM was designed with a "band of glass" round the whole car, so needs the black to make it work.

The window trims I have done too. Painted that is. I would use an etching primer. I didn't and it has chipped a bit. Cold weather and snow got to it I think. Just mask up and spray em up. Looks soooo much nicer when they are done.

Very busy weekend with all sorts to do but got stuck into the above in the midst of it all. Rubbed the strips down with an alcohol based cleaner, masked up, one coat of etching primer and four very thin coats of satin black spray, and I have to agree it looks soooo much better.

Removed all the trim out of the boot to bring it back to life. Some of it has faded due to the sun but a good clean and a touch of dye works wonders. The boot itself was filthy. Stuck the vac in, gave it a good wipe down and it's gold underneath all the crap. The boot area looks a damn sight better now that it's the colour it should be. Went over the plastics again with the Meguiers, they're slowly coming back to their original colour.

Cleaned up all four doors whilst the cards were off. Had to apply rust preventer to three of the doors (surprisingly the drivers door is the best of the lot). The NSF door will probably need a small plate on it later. Put the new door cards on and moved onto the scuttle.

Removed the end plates to see the scuttle is held on by one screw on each side. The other screws have sheared. Removed the scuttle to find half a bloody forest in the well. Took an age to clean all the leaves, muck and rubbish out and give it a good clean down. The washers aren't fitted to the plastic trim, merely resting on them, this isn't right surely. There is only one rubber gromit holding the scuttle on, it's secure but needs the other three to firm it up.

So, what's left to do? Speakers in the front doors will be needed to complement the radio I've found. Gearknob will wait and if it does fit back on loose maybe fit a new stick. Don't know . . . will leave that for another day. How the hell do you refit a glovebox catch?? Tried all ways . . . there's obviously a knack to this but I'll be damned if I can see it. And then we're into the engine bay for a damn good clean down (that's all I seem to have done for the past few weeks). Just going to drop the oil for now and see how it performs over the next couple of weeks before I do the other service bits to see if anything crops up.

And that's it!!

I'm sure there's something I've forgotten . . . something that's been playing on my mind all the time . . . sod it, carry on with what I can do.

[russ92xmsed]

Great progress. Those trims do make the car look so much younger when they are painted.

When you say dye, what and how did you do it? I just thinking of my carpets. They have faded a little too. In fact gone brown in some places.

If your scuttle was full of trees, you probably have done this already, but check behind the front arch liners done by the sills. They collect so much crap. With the scuttle being so full of rubbish some of it might have collected down there.

[Eddie nuff]

I used this dye and dabbed it on with a small sponge. You can use boot polish or satin black paint spray but the results are more patchy.

I haven't had the front wheel arch liners off. But I'll have a look whilst I'm checking the state of the front struts.

Finally got a decent insurance quote, £165 FC, but in there is an option to have the car valued. Fill in a couple of forms, send pictures and they value the car. Now I'm not so naive that I would trust an insurance company to value anything in my favour, my question is more of the "is this a common thing" affair?

[russ92xmsed]

That's interesting, just simply using Dylon. Does it not dye other things if it gets wet again?
I'll have to investigate that though...an easier fix to sourcing another decent black carpet and stripping out the interior!

Your insurance quote is good. Let us know the cars 'value'...should be good for a laugh! Hopefully they will take it seriously and give you a fair price.

[Eddie nuff]

Taxed and insured, it's now on the road. It's not finished but it needs to be used to find any little gremlins that only usage can find.

When I bought the car it had a small 3 inch crack on the top drivers side, not silly but I thought I would get enough use out of it to last a few weeks - noooo!! First day out in it yesterday, stone hits the middle of the screen and now the crack is 6 inches down and 4 inches left into the middle of the screen. Brilliant!! Anyone know what tints these screens came in or are they just clear glass.

The radio's been sorted out and will be fitted tomorrow. (What's with the two aerial leads?). The spare tyre cradle is not in good condition and the tightening mechanism is seized solid and needs replacing. I took the front wheel arches out and was surprised to find it was fairly clean behind, hardly any leaves at all, just dust. The front struts look decent too. The brake discs have water rust on them from being stood but that should clear soon, but it's obvious that she's going to need a new set of rear pads this summer - and a fair bit of luck in removing them going by the state of the whole brake mechanism.

Has anyone got some blue/grey headlining material hanging about? Don't need the full lot, just enough to make a wrong un into a right un.

I'll try to get some pictures of the car up over the weekend - as the saying goes " a picture paints a thousand words".

[russ92xmsed]

I think one of those Ariel leads is a diagnostic lead...I think! I have one too.

Everyone's cradle has needed attention at some point. Mine did last year. And Jaap has just done his...so its your turn!

Bad luck on the cracked windscreen. Typical a stone would hit it. I hope they are still obtainable from somewhere. I have a little star in mine and I tried a home repair kit. It kind off worked. Need to try it again.

Great news then. It is legal. Just in time for the warm weather. look forward to some pics.

[Dieselman]

All XM screens are tinted green, heat reflective glass.

[Eddie nuff]

Thanks Will. I was told to look at the screen at dusk as this gave the clearest idea of the colour of the tint.

It looks green and I'll find out tomorrow when he can fit one.

[Eddie nuff]

I think one of those Ariel leads is a diagnostic lead...I think! I have one too.

The black and red leads are AM and FM ariel leads. There is a grey lead which has a computer type connector at the end. Any ideas?