First of all, I suppose I should write up the story so far. So I ordered my 197 Cup June 2008 and finally took delivery of it on 18th September 2008. Here she is at the dealer before final checks were and before the spoiler was fitted:
Then a few pictures of her once I had collected it:
Then came the first few modifications, which tbh are pretty unimpressive:
Motorsport stickers
I then painted the lettering on the cup spoiler end caps white
Added a Recaro sticker to the passenger seat subframe
Then came some 'carbon' wrap on the diamonds and a 'Tow' Sticker'
Fitted a small aerial
Replaced the Tow Sticker with a CF effect one
Dressed the engine:
Then replaced the original Spoiler end caps with some genuine pre-preg carbon items they are very high quality carbon, but are only in clear coat, so have a more matte effect. Still not decided if I want to lacquer them or not:
Then came the latest and last modification to the cup for this stage of its life, the controversial R27 style graphics:
So now after 12 months of ownership and having got a bit more focused on the direction I want to take things, I am making starts towards a big change cosmetically, and then this will lead onto the things a little more than cosmetic
So as some of you may have seen already, I bought a spare wheel to have a go at refurbishing, and this was the result:
This leads me to where we are now.
I recently picked up 3 more wheels from SteBurns, two pretty good condition in silver and one kerbed in black. All the decals are going to be removed to take it back to a fresh start. The carbon fibre wrap will be removed and then as this thread progresses the new styling bits will be revealed.
So for those still reading, progress on the refurb. As I said I got 3 more wheels, and I am doing them one at a time for ease as spare time is limited. The first one I picked up to refurb is one of the silver ones which after picking it up and giving it a quick clean looked like this:
and a close up of one of the very few small little marks, which will come out during the refub, most of them have been removed already.
So after cleaning and drying the wheel I began to prep it for painting. I gave the inside of wheel a quick rub down with a low number grit (I cant remember which now) as I am not too concerned over the finish on the inside of the wheel. I then rubbed down the front. First with a pass over of 400grit wet and dry, which left me with this:
Next was a second pass with wet and dry, but this time with 800 grit to give a much smoother finish ready for the primer, which leaves me with this:
Thats as far as I have got for now. I bought the required Grey primer and Capsicum paint on my way home tonight and so over the next few days (weather dependant, unless i make room in my shed) I will start painting this wheel and then move onto the other 2 wheels. So i will update the thread with pictures of this wheel as I go and then the black wheel next as it looks like it will need more work than this one, so might be a slightly more interesting read. lol
Oh and if you got this far, you deserve a medal tbh.
Then a few pictures of her once I had collected it:
Then came the first few modifications, which tbh are pretty unimpressive:
Motorsport stickers
I then painted the lettering on the cup spoiler end caps white
Added a Recaro sticker to the passenger seat subframe
Then came some 'carbon' wrap on the diamonds and a 'Tow' Sticker'
Fitted a small aerial
Replaced the Tow Sticker with a CF effect one
Dressed the engine:
Then replaced the original Spoiler end caps with some genuine pre-preg carbon items they are very high quality carbon, but are only in clear coat, so have a more matte effect. Still not decided if I want to lacquer them or not:
Then came the latest and last modification to the cup for this stage of its life, the controversial R27 style graphics:
So now after 12 months of ownership and having got a bit more focused on the direction I want to take things, I am making starts towards a big change cosmetically, and then this will lead onto the things a little more than cosmetic
So as some of you may have seen already, I bought a spare wheel to have a go at refurbishing, and this was the result:
This leads me to where we are now.
I recently picked up 3 more wheels from SteBurns, two pretty good condition in silver and one kerbed in black. All the decals are going to be removed to take it back to a fresh start. The carbon fibre wrap will be removed and then as this thread progresses the new styling bits will be revealed.
So for those still reading, progress on the refurb. As I said I got 3 more wheels, and I am doing them one at a time for ease as spare time is limited. The first one I picked up to refurb is one of the silver ones which after picking it up and giving it a quick clean looked like this:
and a close up of one of the very few small little marks, which will come out during the refub, most of them have been removed already.
So after cleaning and drying the wheel I began to prep it for painting. I gave the inside of wheel a quick rub down with a low number grit (I cant remember which now) as I am not too concerned over the finish on the inside of the wheel. I then rubbed down the front. First with a pass over of 400grit wet and dry, which left me with this:
Next was a second pass with wet and dry, but this time with 800 grit to give a much smoother finish ready for the primer, which leaves me with this:
Thats as far as I have got for now. I bought the required Grey primer and Capsicum paint on my way home tonight and so over the next few days (weather dependant, unless i make room in my shed) I will start painting this wheel and then move onto the other 2 wheels. So i will update the thread with pictures of this wheel as I go and then the black wheel next as it looks like it will need more work than this one, so might be a slightly more interesting read. lol
Oh and if you got this far, you deserve a medal tbh.
