Aye i'd agree there I saw a lovely green P38 today which was nice apart from the grill!!

The paint thins out when hot and lessens the possibility of orange peel and splatter ;)

Nice Job!

That 4.6 is gonna be a stormer i bet!

My 4.6's get up and go has got up and left LOL

love the VSE can't wait to see it going under its own power!

I'm sure you'll end up with a great result..

Throwing the cans into some scalding hot water before painting can help the paint be more cooperative.

H

dhallworth wrote:

That's really, really nice! Well done mate!

Have you got a link to the leather dye and varnish that you used?

David.

Thanks David.

Finish is quite good!!

Here is the dye..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/slredirect/picassoRedirect.html/ref=pa_sp_atf_aps_sr_pg1_1?ie=UTF8&adId=A01713673BC2EIEPREOSW&url=%2FTRG-Easy-Dye-128-Orange%2Fdp%2FB00HF5Z9K4%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1_sspa%3Fcrid%3DXGF0A243DSCR%26dchild%3D1%26keywords%3Dtrg%2Beasy%2Bdye%26qid%3D1590443143%26sprefix%3DTRG%2B%252Caps%252C196%26sr%3D8-1-spons%26psc%3D1&qualifier=1590443143&id=4850827858825533&widgetName=sp_atf

I used "cream"

I SHOULD ALSO NOTE THE DYE HAS TO BE SEALED!!

for that i used this......

https://www.amazon.co.uk/resistant-waterproof-Suitable-interiors-furniture/dp/B07JL68XW5/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1IIQKSOJFTE45&dchild=1&keywords=leather+sealant&qid=1590443201&sprefix=leather+seal%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-7

The varnish was a Rustins Mahogany..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rustins-POGM250-250ml-Poly-Varnish/dp/B001GU8A96/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=rustins+mahogany+wood+varnish&qid=1590443269&sr=8-4

Cheers.

Cheers!!

The finale!

In any case the varnish on the wood might be ok, but in my particular case the varnish had gone milky and was missing in areas..

The colour i found closest to factory is Rustins Mahogany.

1) - Sanding the old varnish to a key is essential, it also levels the surface, this is again a necessity, as with sanding the leather!!
I used a 240 grit

2) I'm assuming the PO was a Gimp and wore skin tight leather suits with spiky rings, as there was a wear mark in the varnish which matched perfectly to a spiky ring, fetishes aside. you have to level the varnish to any damage otherwise the finish will look shit...
No other way of putting it..

3) Paint on the coats thinly, again don't go lobbing loads on as it'll run and look crap, if done properly you won't need to sand/polish it..

The finished result is after 5 coats, use a quality brush otherwise you'll be picking off stray hairs, which isn't good..

Patience is key..

A quick before and after...

After.

If a numpty like me can do it, anyone can!!

i'd call that a result!!

"small edit"

The leather on the wheel which is freshly dyed has to be sealed, if not done the leather will go mank very quickly!

Wait 24hrs after dying before sealing.

The masking tape is now removed.

The finish is quite good, i have to varnish the wood next!!

The brakes on the Series properly maintained aren't too bad..

Atleast IMO

That reducer looks well "bling" blends in well!!

Can't wait to see a V8 in that space.

Thanks David..

I've seen the chap on facebook, but the cost put me off, I also like a challenge!

Relatively simple process, if i were closer i'd do em for ya, free of charge!!

Quite therapeutic in an odd way..

Right gentlemen

Anyone who owns a HSE/Vogue with the Wood/leather steering wheel, i can almost guarantee it has some form of degredation, especially being that the youngest P38 is 18 years young.

All that time being exposed to the sunlight will damage even the best leather out there..

In my case the wheel had started to go mank, the leather was starting to break down, and it looked very unpleasant...

Steps to restore this goes as follows..

1 Cleaning - now i do realise some have an adversity to cleaning things, but in this case it is a necessity if not done correctly the dye won't stick and you'll end up with a dirty sticky mess.

This is the kind of shit you can expect to come off, just imagine that the next time you touch the wheel on your P38, yuck..
In this instance I used baby wipes, it is gentle enough to not harm the hide, but strong enough to clean off the crap..
Don't use a Leather cleaner, as it likely will have conditioners in it or some kind of humectant to hold moisture and this again will harm progress....

2 Dry off the wheel and look at what you have to play with..

Looks crap doesn't it!!

3 The product required to restore this wheel can vary depending on what damage is done, in my case it was just surface, if there were dents or leather missing you'd need a specialist filler.

My application only requires a dye..

This is the product I used, it comes with a sponge and some liquid, as you'd expect..
The sponge itself has a split personality, as it is both an applicator and a remover!!!!

4 Application of the dye oddly requires you to sand the wheel, chances are the wheel is clean but quite slippy, the sponge has a rough edge to it, placing a towel on your lap to catch the scale, rub it up and down the wheel until the surface goes a Matt colour and the old sealant is level with the exposed leather, or in some cases the exposed leather is both level and slightly rough.

Goes without saying but you should mask the wheel off, so you'd don't get dye on the wood or plastic..

This is achieved after 2 light coats, don't be tempted to slap it on, patience is key and also don't use a drying aid, it has to flash off naturally..

Another 2 light coast sees it looking even better..

This coat No4 was left for 12hrs to cure and then you do something odd.....

Get the rough sponge or very fine sandpaper out again and remove any rises or scale that might of landed on the wet dye during the application and drying process, this also forms a basis for the last coat,
Do this only when it is 100% dry..

Once done give it the final coat, this one will be a light coat to fill in the scratches from the sandpaper and will serve as the final finish, so don't rush...

Done right it'll look like this.....

There will be a PT2 to this when i re varnish the wood, as mine is damaged, which is the reason for the masking tape remaining on for the moment..

Leave the final coat for 24hrs before touching..

HTH

Love the 2A

Looks very smart Sloth..

Looks like a neat piece of kit.

My issue with the ride be absolutely intolerable came to an end yeaterday!

A nice box arrived.

Inside it contained...

Very much like a magpie, i'm drawn to shiny things!

Nice......
The box contained a nice pair of rear shockers, as i might of mentioned when i did the fronts, there are quite a few opinions on what shockers work..

Boge is OEM and Bilstein is the recommended!!

I like to go against the grain and use Terrafirma!

Look at these beauties!

Anyway removing the old ones was a pain in the ass..

In theory removing the shocks is an easy Job don't need to remove wheels or anything I'd wholeheartedly recommend soaking all threads in lubericunt..

Nut on the bottom seized on solid, however lubing them can make life easier..

The upper bolt can be accessed by a socket through the wheel arch, or a bent spanner!

In my case I used a socket with a few extensions!

Some twit layed the LPG pipes on the chassis rail and caused bolt access to be impeded a tad, thank you the last muppet to fit the LPG etc etc ☹️

The bolt came out easily enough

Removing the lower securing nut can be a pain, I used a pair of oil filter grips to stop it twisting, assuming you have a good grip, i could only twist enough to use one hand..

Thinking they'd have some pressure behind them, i braced and used 2 hands on the body to compress it, unfortunately they were both dead and they shocker shot up at a rate of knots and i bust a knuckle on the chassis!!!! fuck that 'urt etc etc

old one off, both were ruined i could compress them with 2 fingers!

Re-fitment is the reverse of the removal etc

When driving this thing around I noted the ride was horrible you felt every lump, even running over a pebble you felt through the entire car!!

Perfectly smooth roads felt like you were driving over a ploughed field

She's always felt like this and i thought it to be normal.

However Journalists used to say "rides like no other" erm "don't feel the bumps" etc etc I felt like they were spouting crap!!

But after taking her out today with the new shocks I couldn't believe the difference

The ride was incredibly soft and supple - originally it was very jarring!

It no longer bangs over bumps the ride is constant.

Taking it over a piece of road i knew to be smooth, it felt like i was floating on "air" he he he!

Across a terrible road it felt incredibly composed and you couldn't feel any of the potholes,

Happy!!

Mine used to pull according to a PO" a Farr 7500 sail boat!

510kg, i doubt she felt it!

the HP24 has has a bigger fluid pump and longer torque converter there are 3 different size torque converters for the P38 the 4.6 has the biggest one, the 4.0 has a smaller one and the diesel the smallest.

The Latter ZF4hp24 Is known as the 065, it is 15mm shorter than the earlier Hp24..

You can use the tailend off a diesel housing to bring it back to the same length overall..

Bolt patterns are the same, torque converters are different, the 4.6 is a tad bigger!

Mine is Tornado mapped..

Makes a difference to the low end grunt "slight" might be because my motor has been around the block LOL

At the risk of being lynched..

How about removing the system altogether?

"dons tin hat"

It is required!!

Make sure you use shit oil too for the break in!

Parts have to conform together!!