[Sean159]

After being informed that images only work in here and me wanting to show off the 159 to it's best and do my usual commentary on the way I thought I'd leave the thread in the detailing section alone and put up all the pictures the way I like to do it over here, so I hope you like

I started on Friday with this


IMG_2146 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2147 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Dunno where the leaves came from


IMG_2148 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2149 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2150 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2153 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2154 by seanjones794, on Flickr

The wheels are in a depressing state and want a refurb, but I did what I could in the time available


IMG_2151 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2152 by seanjones794, on Flickr

 

[Sean159]

I jacked and supported the car and removed each wheel in turn


IMG_2178 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2179 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2180 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2181 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2183 by seanjones794, on Flickr

The wheels were cleaned with AF Imperial, soaked in Tardis and Iron-X'd to get them clean. They were then waxed with AF mint rims

Arches were cleaned with APC and jetted, liners dressed with Chem guys bare bones


IMG_2184 by seanjones794, on Flickr

I was going to do the callipers black, but the red paint just fell into my hand


IMG_2185 by seanjones794, on Flickr

I know, my finger is in the way :tut: and this is the worst wheel on the car. The centre caps were removed and realigned with the valve caps

The interior is the bit I was waiting for though, the plan was to steam clean all the leather surfaces, it makes your leather nice and matt again, not shiny like leather conditioner does but here's what I was faced with


IMG_2158 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Nasty stain on rear armrest


IMG_2161 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Crud in the nooks and crannies


IMG_2162 by seanjones794, on Flickr

 

[Sean159]

Notice the dirt on the drivers seat


IMG_2163 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2175 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2176 by seanjones794, on Flickr

This is a 50/50 shot, the left side has been done with the steam cleaner which I wrap an MF cloth around and scrub lightly


IMG_2186 by seanjones794, on Flickr

It's difficult to see in the pictures, but you can if you look carefully


IMG_2187 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2188 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Steamed the rear seats and got rid of that nasty stain


IMG_2200 by seanjones794, on Flickr

And the finished drivers seat


IMG_2201 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2202 by seanjones794, on Flickr

The steering wheel was rank, I have no befores though but it was just filthy :vomit: Took me ages with small steam cleaner ends and cotton buds in warm water to get it like this


IMG_2203 by seanjones794, on Flickr


After that it rained. The key was bugging me though, so out came the cotton buds and furniture polish


IMG_2190 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2191 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Looking better


IMG_2192 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2193 by seanjones794, on Flickr

 

[Sean159]

New badges are on order


IMG_2194 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Keyring has been won on eBay today, a red leather one too


IMG_2195 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Thanks to the rain, the car was left like this after being pre-washed with VP Orange Pre-wash via the pump sprayer and 2bm washed with AG BSC


IMG_2196 by seanjones794, on Flickr

I couldn't leave the fuel filler as it was though, so that was attacked with APC and a brush


IMG_2166 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2167 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2209 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Wheels got finished OK though


IMG_2197 by seanjones794, on Flickr

The tyre on this one doesn't match the rest which bugs me, so I'll do something about that soon

And the rear with the realigned centre caps


IMG_2199 by seanjones794, on Flickr

So did the engine bay which I also steamed


IMG_2205 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2206 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Today I was able to begin the claying and polishing. I used BH Auto clay soft with AF Glide as lube. The paint felt rough enough to strike a match on so I was expecting great things


IMG_2207 by seanjones794, on Flickr

The paint looks dull with no reflection, check out the dirt from the wheelarches too


IMG_2208 by seanjones794, on Flickr

 

[Sean159]

Now I get into the groove and plug my iPod in and just polish away totally oblivious to the world and I forget about WIP shots totally, I used my normal enhancement method of Chem guys Yellow pad with Megs 205 to bring out the flake and ramp up the gloss aswell as removing 90% of the swirls and all the clay marring

Then my favourite pre wax/seal DJ Lime prime on a finishing pad is worked in by machine and my LSP of choice on light coloured cars, AF Power Seal, a friction activated sealant you put on by machine. After that, the whole car was wiped down with AF Finale QD, the glass cleaned inside and out and sealed with DJ supernatural on the screen and Nanolex urban on the side and rear glass. Black trim was dressed with AF Revive and the tight bits where the machine doesn't fit were done by hand with AG HD wax. Shuts were polished with AF Tripple and I layered with mint rims on the wheels and applied a couple of coats of AS Highstlye to the tyres


IMG_2211 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Smarted these up with some Autosol and wire wool


IMG_2212 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2213 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Gunna give them another go to remove all the soot

It's just rained here so I took these beading piccys too


IMG_2216 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2217 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2218 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2219 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2220 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2221 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2222 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2223 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2224 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2225 by seanjones794, on Flickr

 

[Sean159]

IMG_2226 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2227 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2228 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2229 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Hope you likey :thumbs:

 

[GhostyDog]

Nice work OCD boy, its a piy you can't get replacement key cases and just swap the insides over.

 

[Sean159]

Nice work OCD boy, its a piy you can't get replacement key cases and just swap the insides over.

I know, that is a pain, but I hope the badges'll do the job :thumbs:

 

[edraven71]

Good job there Sean, but how dirty where those wheels before? I couldn't sleep at night if mine where 1/100th of that.
Still looks cracking now:thumbs:

 

[Sean159]

I've only just bought the car, so I can't be held responsible for that :tut:

Thanks too :thumbs:

 

[Sean159]

The weathers turned great over here now so I've finally got some sun shots


IMG_2230 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2231 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2232 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Dunno where those spots came from, they weren't there before


IMG_2233 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2234 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2235 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2236 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2237 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Car is just on the cusp of hitting 88k miles and I've already found a couple of things to add to the to do list, namely the cracked foglight, the blind-man-with-a-stick rear wheelarch repair which I thought I could live with, but I can't

Still love the car and the noise is to die for :thumbs:

Thanks for all the comments guys

 

[Sean159]

Soooooooo, I've not finished here yet, further up the thread is the knackered key badge and this bugged me, so I awaited the arrival of the only solution I could find, cheap stickers off fleabay.

So prise the badge off


IMG_2258 by seanjones794, on Flickr

And the result?


IMG_2261 by seanjones794, on Flickr

As you can see, they are too big, but in reality they are OK, I held it on with araldite and you have to give it a good push otherwise the key doesn't fit in the slot!

Also upgraded my keyring


IMG_2264 by seanjones794, on Flickr


The next thing on my hit list was combating the scores of stonechips. I thought I'd give chipex a try on recommendation, and I have to say, the blending system is great as are the brushes and cloths. The polish isn't great but I'm used to machine polishes, so meh. The paint is of superb quality, but they guarantee a 100% match. I was sceptical being silver, and I was right to be, it's too dark, but never mind, once you've done your stuff with the blend fluid, you've got a job finding what you've done to polish! For polishing, I machined with Scholl S40 with a cyan pad and re sealed with AF Powel Seal

Here's what happened


IMG_2266 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2267 by seanjones794, on Flickr

The dots are quite clear before blending


IMG_2268 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2274 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2275 by seanjones794, on Flickr

And after blending, we have...


IMG_2276 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2277 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2279 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Not too shabby, but there are a few I want to work on again. In other news, Gtechniq L1 has been applied to the seats, no pics but they look the same. Next thing, the wheels are going Alfa anthracite grey

 

[Sean159]

There's more actually! After studying the stone chips on the flared rear arches, I wanted to combat any more forming, and I was depressed by the lack of floormats, so fleabay came to my rescue again with a genuine set of mudflaps, floormats and a rubber boot liner like the one I have in the 307 all for a reasonable £169.99

I also found some Alfa valve caps


IMG_2283 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2291 by seanjones794, on Flickr

The mudflaps are great and well worth the money, fitting like a glove; the Italians can't do decent working diagrams though, I could do better on the back of a beer mat. After drinking the beer :wow: While I was here, the exhausts got another polishing session and I painted the whole thing in silver heat proof while I was there as I didn't like seeing a rusty exhaust!


IMG_2285 by seanjones794, on Flickr

The floor mats were given a couple of coats of Gtechniq I1 before fitting


IMG_2286 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2290 by seanjones794, on Flickr

While I was browsing 159 options, I came across some cool looking load nets, but at eye watering prices!!! I like these as is keeps stuff tied down, an off-roading mentality I still have from my Land Rovering days, which with the sale of my Discovery and caravan will make me a 1 Land Rover man again. Anyhoo, I found these at a car boot for a couple of quid and they do the job!


IMG_2287 by seanjones794, on Flickr


IMG_2289 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Finally, the front number plate was wonky and annoying me, so was straightened


IMG_2292 by seanjones794, on Flickr

That's all this weekend, But I can revel in now having 6 weeks off to sell my tat, and sort the dirty 307 before SWMBO starts asking why I'm lavishing the Alfa, she already thinks I'm up to something :tut:

 

[bigjim]

looking good :thumbs:

 

[Sean159]

looking good :thumbs:

Thanks mate almost happy with it now :inlove:

 

[giordano92]

Looks awesome :thumbs:

Saluti, Giordano.

 

[Sean159]

I thought I'd put these here as this can now be a blog for my car as I think I've almost run out of things to do to it now!

First things first, the car went to Gus at Alfatune to have a new stainless exhaust fitted along with a remap. He opined that the injectors were a little slow to respond, so another bottle of injector cleaner has since been emptied into the tank. I thought it was a good car to drive before, but now, well, there will definitely be no diesel owners keeping up with me. As for the noise, I think I win there to, there's never been much contest, but now, 1700 miles after fitting it's getting to the point of being settled and quiet with a lovely burble at low revs and a hell of a growl in the higher revs

It's now on 90.5k miles and I'm still in love with it, here's the new zorst


2013 - 3 by seanjones794, on Flickr


2013 - 10 by seanjones794, on Flickr


2013 - 2 by seanjones794, on Flickr

I'm well chuffed with that :wow:

It's just had another detail and finale top-up, I've also ordered the wheel filler and Alfa anthracite paint to refurb the alloys as they look cack, I let them get dirty because they look better, I only clean them if the dirt is disturbed!


2013 - 5 by seanjones794, on Flickr

These will soon be grey :thumbs:


2013 - 8 by seanjones794, on Flickr

And the rest of the car with the new grill I got, might to the rest of it as I quite like it :wow:


2013 - 7 by seanjones794, on Flickr


2013 - 6 by seanjones794, on Flickr


2013 - 9 by seanjones794, on Flickr


2013 - 11 by seanjones794, on Flickr

Next thing is the HID's which should be here by the end of the week. I know they're illegal but they won't dazzle anyone through the projectors so I don't care. I must be going blind as these are the crappiest headlights I've ever had in a car, so for the first time I'm having HID's to see what's what. I have at least gone for a legal 4300k temp set up and I already have LED sidelights. After that, towbar (detachable of course) and I should be done :thumbs:

 

[ACAPULCO AL]

cracking job sean :thumbs:

whereabouts on anglesey are you?

 

[Shant Ole]

Good job mate :thumbs:

 

[Sean159]

cracking job sean :thumbs:

whereabouts on anglesey are you?

Thanks :thumbs: I'm in Menai Bridge, which today is like driving through clouds cos it's foggy!

Good job mate :thumbs:

Cheers

I've decided to go for the extra mesh grills, so they have been ordered :wow: