Are you madabout kit cars      
 "We've Got Kit Cars Covered" Information about Madabout-Kitcars.com Contact Madabout-Kitcars.com         Home of UK kit cars - madabout-kitcars.com Various kit car write ups All the latest kit car news Kit car related and general discussion

Search
Manufacturers
Kit Cars
Kit Car Data sheets
Picture Gallery
SVA Knowledgebase
Clubs & Communities
Build cost estimator
Kit cars for sale
Knowledge Base 
KitcarUSA.com
Classic-Kitcars.com
 

Go Back   Madabout Kitcars Forum > Mad Build Area > Tribute Automotive Builds

Tribute Automotive Builds Discuss your Tribute kit build

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #321  
Old 28th September 2019, 16:35
IanA's Avatar
IanA IanA is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Oxon
Posts: 1,118
IanA is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by SwiftyDS View Post
IanA - that was a great recommendation on the eBay vinyl printing company. It turned out they were only 10 mins from where I live as well. I uploaded the images yesterday morning and today 14 stickers turned up for the pricely sum of £13.50 incl postage! They even had an offer on with discount for buying 3 lots...
Good aren't they? I've used them several times for different shapes and applications and have always been pleased with the quality and longevity- especially at that price.
Reply With Quote
  #322  
Old 28th September 2019, 18:36
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

Fantastic - many thanks again for the recommendation
Reply With Quote
  #323  
Old 28th September 2019, 18:47
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

Isn’t it funny how the parts of a job you think are going to be the hardest turn out to be relatively easy, and the easier parts turned out to be a right pain!

I made a start this morning on the drivers side ‘ear’ (scoop on the side of the clam). Given the complex curves I had decided to put a join running along the middle front to back as you look at it side on. I also put a couple of filler pieces in the front edge where the grille is fitted. Job done in about 30 mins when I thought it would take a couple of hours.

Then I decided I would do the flat roof area of the clam (between the two ears). It’s a flat surface with edges front and back where the vinyl needs folding over. My... I ended up spending 2 hours just trying to get the vinyl to sit smooth on the top surface. It’s clearly not a flat surface and even applying the vinyl wet and having assistance to hold the vinyl off the surface while smoothing out the air bubble it was proving impossible to get it flat.

In the end I resorted to a bit of low heat from the heat gun and had to stretch each corner slightly to get it flat. Unfortunately that meant when it came to folding the edges over on the front and rear air inlets to the clam the areas I stretched when cooling down crinkled a bit on the edges - not major and certainly not enough to warrant removing the vinyl and starting again.



So that’s just the passenger side ‘ear’ to do and the stripes and door piece to do on that side. I reckon a couple of afternoons and I will be there.



I also came across a couple of darker blue Ford badges which are a bit closer match to circa 1986 period so fitted those for a bit of a rest from wrapping :-)


Last edited by SwiftyDS; 28th September 2019 at 22:28..
Reply With Quote
  #324  
Old 28th September 2019, 20:33
jones jones is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Midlands
Posts: 405
jones is on a distinguished road
Default

I like the headlights in black too, good effort!
Reply With Quote
  #325  
Old 28th September 2019, 21:38
froggyman's Avatar
froggyman froggyman is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Devon
Posts: 550
froggyman is on a distinguished road
Default

Looking great, the decals really finish it off. A cheap registration number from the mid eighties would be a nice touch.
Reply With Quote
  #326  
Old 28th September 2019, 22:02
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I’ve actually bought a 1986 reg (C plate) that’s on a retention certificate. I was going to wait until I’d MOT’d the car before transferring it but there’s really nothing I can see that prevents me putting it on now.

A couple of folks have seen the back of the car when the garage doors have been open with the 06 reg plate on it and said that’s the only give away for it being a replica. I know from the front you can tell it has an MR2 Roadster screen :-)

I think you’ve just spurred me on to do the reg change in the morning and get a set of plates made up - would you believe it the online service is only available 7am to 7pm!
Reply With Quote
  #327  
Old 30th September 2019, 17:20
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

I made a start on applying the vinyl to the passenger side today, and turned the car around after struggling to paint the Plasti Dip on the other side of the garage which has limited space.

Was nice to see the car turned around and have a different view from the garage doors :-)



Didn’t have that much time on the vinyl, but made a solid start and should hopefully have it finished if I can get another good afternoon in later in the week. I managed to finish the other “ear” yesterday as well.



All the old “wrong” stickers have come of the passenger sill and I’ll apply the correct ones once the vinyl is on. I should hopefully also get a couple of plates back in the post tomorrow for the C reg, and get them on before the next update.

Those following my build thread will remember a question from Nostromo on the flag just above the side repeater. I’m thinking of applying the drivers names from the no 6. 1986 car and spent a bit of time trying to source the font. Was impressed with an online AI driven font finder (you upload a couple of images of individual letters in the font you are looking for). Seems to be a close match and I’ve gone back to my favourite sticker/decal maker on eBay to get a couple of stickers printed and will let you know what they look like. You can see the masking tape in the picture above where I was working out the dimensions for the stickers. This is the font I managed to download.....

Reply With Quote
  #328  
Old 1st October 2019, 09:32
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

Probably helps if I show a pic of what I’m trying to recreate here from original car No. 6

Reply With Quote
  #329  
Old 1st October 2019, 22:20
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

Stickers arrived in the post today. Think the overall effect looks ok and is a close match to the original.



Issue is that the gel coat on the bonnet area/sides is probably the most yellowish in terms of shade of white hence the white gloss vinyl backed stickers with the driver / co driver name script stands out quite a lot against the panel.

I’ve found someone who can do the same size script in black die cut vinyl so there would be no gloss white background and they would be applied straight to the body work (eg like the Shell and Pirelli logos). For sake of £20 which is the cost of a pair of these I think I will go ahead and do the job properly.

The gloss white vinyl background on the sill stickers I had made up doesn’t seem to stand out at all so I guess the sills must be a brighter shade of gelcoat or you don’t notice it so much given they are lower down on the car, shadows etc ???
Reply With Quote
  #330  
Old 2nd October 2019, 20:00
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

I managed to get most of the vinyl completed on the passenger side today. Those who’ve followed my thread since the beginning will be aware that the passenger side of the kit is often described as the “ugly sister” to the drivers side ... lets just say there are quite a few imperfections in the sills/door mouldings compared to the drivers side.

Anyway it meant that the measurements I’d used for the large blue vinyl wrap piece for the door on the drivers side were a bit out when it came to the passenger side. Luckily it needed to be slightly smaller to line up and get the angles right rather than bigger so no wasted vinyl in the end.



I also added back the correct sticker/decals for the sill on this side.



Looking back over the pictures I’d taken with the car outside, I realised earlier in the week that I’d not got the black Pirelli stickers on the rear bumper centred between the outer grilles - I think I’d centred them on the lights but on the original cars they seem to be centred against the lower grille. Pedantic I know, but I had a spare set so decided if a job is worth doing it’s worth doing properly.



New number plates fitted ... decided to stick these on rather than drill them. Will see how the pads hold up but may need to go back and drill them later ... you can just about see it in the pic above and the one below :-)



Will get the car out of the garage to have a closer inspect in the light tomorrow as there are a few rough edges I need to tidy up, particularly where the rear screen buts up to the blue vinyl, and the recesses for the door handles on each door.

I then need to get back to my remaining list of jobs as they sort of went on hold whilst I replaced the Plasti Dip with the vinyl. If I remember them it’s largely around fitting the mudflaps and sorting the interior out. I’m also thinking I should reinforce the door mirror mounts as there’s a bit of movement in them. I also want to run a black line along the centre indent in the panels - should have really done this before I applied the coloured vinyl but I’ll find a way of getting this fitted - going to try a 9mm vinyl strip first but may end up having to resort to paint.

Last edited by SwiftyDS; 2nd October 2019 at 20:04..
Reply With Quote
  #331  
Old 2nd October 2019, 21:53
molleur molleur is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,401
molleur is on a distinguished road
Default

great job! looks the part.
Reply With Quote
  #332  
Old 3rd October 2019, 09:03
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

Thanks molleur - looks lot better in the flesh than the Plasti Dip. Need to press on now to get it MOT’d as itching to get it out on the road
Reply With Quote
  #333  
Old 3rd October 2019, 19:07
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

Largely a day of tidying up rough edges having applied the vinyl and stripes over the last week. This included a bit more patching under the door handles which blended in rather well (ps. The pic below was taken earlier in the day before I’d patched the drivers side door handle recess!)

The black vinyl 9mm stripe also arrived for applying to the centre crease/indent along the side of the car.



If I’m honest I’m not sure about this, particularly around the front bumper area. Original cars had it, including those in Rally liveries so I’ll leave it on for now and see if it grows on me. Would be interested in what folks think who have been following my thread.



I then indulged myself in applying the Ghia badges I’d bought way back even before the kit had arrived from Tribute. And yes the original cars had these, as a nod to the fact the Ghia design studio in Turin played a major role in styling the RS200.



Final task for today was to redo the matt black paint around the rear screen recess. The use of masking tape to apply the stripes had taken its toll on this. Once it’s dry tomorrow I will fit the battery isolator and then put the rear screen back in using the hex head DZus bolts I’ve bought to replace the D-ring fasteners I’d been using so far. Oh and I must make time to fit the mudflaps - they’ve been on the to do list for too long now :-)


Last edited by SwiftyDS; 3rd October 2019 at 19:09..
Reply With Quote
  #334  
Old 3rd October 2019, 19:29
molleur molleur is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,401
molleur is on a distinguished road
Default

Fantastic! It really captures the original precisely.
Reply With Quote
  #335  
Old 4th October 2019, 15:42
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

Thanks molleur - decided the black stripe along the centre has grown on me overnight :-) I have removed them though from the front bumper side quarters as a) they didn’t look right as the indent/lip sort of ends abruptly when it comes to the wheel arch and b) they don’t seem to be on all the original cars.
Reply With Quote
  #336  
Old 4th October 2019, 15:52
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

I haven’t been able to get much time on the car today, so decided I should crack on with fixing the battery isolator in place and then I can bolt down the rear screen and not have to keep removing it to access the battery.

I found a mounting point for the isolator on the rear frame between the engine and the rear of the clam, low down enough for me to reach up under the back of the clam without having to lie on the floor, and high enough up not to be covered with grime/water from the road.



The key is now on a short piece of cord attached to the isolator itself so when it’s unlocked it can’t drop down/get lost.

I used the junction box I mentioned in a previous post to take the existing negative wiring from the battery terminal and run the extension wires to the isolator down the rear of the engine bay.



Last couple of jobs before I had to call it a day where to have a go at wrapping the strut brace bar in the engine bay. I was going to paint this but thought I’d see how the dark blue vinyl wrap holds up. I suspect it won’t last long and will peel with the heat from the engine bay, but will give it a go.



The die cut vinyl lettering also turned up for the drivers names on the bonnet. The Image Works produced these for me and got them out to me overnight for a very reasonable figure (£15 all in with next day postage) given they are cut so no white background. Think they look a lot better anyway :-)



Jobs for the weekend are to get the rear screen back in and fit the mudflaps. I’m undecided if I should cut these down to half their size (top to bottom rather than across) given you see a lot of each one, particularly the front two, when looking at the front of the car. They are blue vinyl universal “Sparco” ones (although the Sparco stickers come separately so was planning to leave them off).



I did a bit of a trial fit and took some pics so will have a ponder on this overnight and then decide in the morning.


Last edited by SwiftyDS; 4th October 2019 at 15:59..
Reply With Quote
  #337  
Old 4th October 2019, 15:53
molleur molleur is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 1,401
molleur is on a distinguished road
Default

Good decision, looking super!
Reply With Quote
  #338  
Old 5th October 2019, 07:37
DaveP DaveP is offline
Senior Member
Enthusiast
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Reading, Berkshire
Posts: 688
DaveP is on a distinguished road
Default

Wowser. Your creation gets better each time you post an update. Really looks the part.

Must have a couple of Kgs of stickers on it by now too

My compliments

Dave
Reply With Quote
  #339  
Old 5th October 2019, 08:27
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

Many thanks DaveP - I sort of got carried away with the stickers and it became a bit of a challenge to myself to create as much of the 1986 Rally Livery as I could. I think though I will stop short now of applying the numbers!

Your comment about weight of stickers reminded me of some research I read in one of those RaceTech racing magazines a couple of years ago where someone in the US had researched weight of paint vs vinyl wrap for use in NASCAR. Outcome was the vinyl was half the weight of paint - on average paint was 15 lbs whereas vinyl wrap was 7lbs. Wasn’t clear if that was a full paint vs wrap job. There’s also plenty of research that says matte paint vs gloss is better aerodynamically (I guess stalling the air flow??) which is why Red Bull and now Ferrari have gone this route.

That means I must be well in on the weight vs performance stakes with matte white and vinyl :-)
Reply With Quote
  #340  
Old 6th October 2019, 11:05
SwiftyDS SwiftyDS is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 326
SwiftyDS is on a distinguished road
Default

Not a lot of time in the garage yesterday but enough to get the rear screen back in swapping the Dzus D rings for hex head Dzus bolts.



Before fitting the screen I gave the engine bay a good clean out - it was covered in dust from when I was sanding the panels. I also fixed down the intercooler pipes just to stop them flapping about. The strong cable ties don’t really show through the rear screen given the bronze tint.



Job for this afternoon is to cut down and fit the mudflaps. Looking back at pictures of car no 6 from when I was last at Goodwood FOS I’ve decided to reshape the flaps I’ve bought so this are wider and less deep.



I don’t really want a lot of the blue PVC showing in the arches when you look at the car front on so think this approach will sort this. Here’s a rough idea of what they will look like but they’ll be closer to the road than shown here.



Hopefully get some pictures posted later with them on the car.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +0. The time now is 04:17.

copyright © madabout-kitcars.com 2000-2024
terms and conditions | privacy policy