#238 - UK based - project thread

[pat_t]

Right, so once I had settled in the design I had to choose how best to realise it. The first step was confirming what materials to use.. for the brown I found this pretty easy, as I knew I wanted a metalflake and there only seemed to be one truly high quality option which was "Copper Black Starlight" by KPMF.

For the caramel orange it was a lot more difficult. After a lot of looking at samples and photos of wrapped cars I eventually settled on Oracal "Golden Yellow".

I found good UK suppliers for both and actually all in this wrap has probably cost me less than £400 in total!

To mix it up, I put a brushed gunmetal stainless steel texture on the bonnet (hood).

Next step was a thorough clean of the car and then stripping down all the trim. To get a good result and because I am by no means a professional at this I stripped down as much of the car as I could, flares, skirts, front and rear bumpers, roof trim, door handles, mirrors, headlights and side markers, trunk lid and hood and hinges all were removed. The only bits I didn't remove were the doors and hinges themselves, however I did remove all the hardware from the door jambs so I could wrap in there too.

Next set of pics:

[LeftCoast32]

Amazing!

[pat_t]

So once every panel was accessible and clean it was time to start laying down the vinyl. It's been a few years since I last wrapped anything (the previous graphics on the Camaro) and that was done with old vinyl that I had leftover from even older projects. So it was immediately apparent that the quality of these films has come on leaps and bounds. The Gloss levels are now not that far off paint, and the conformability and how forgiving they are to mistakes and re-positioning has improved a lot too! I would give the KPMF 9/10 for quality, and the Oracal 8/10...somehow it wasn't quite as predictable and seemed less "tacky".

Sorting the stripes on the trunk and bonnet was pretty easy just measuring from Centreline with a tape measure. The roof was more tricky as I was working alone with just the occasional help from my wife to peel of backing paper and do the initial lay down, so reaching all areas of the roof was challenging but I managed.

When it came to lining up the stripes onto the front and rear bumpers, I wanted it to be perfect with no mismatch, so I invested in a Laser line marker, and wrapped the Caramel with bumpers back on the car to ensure a perfect alignment.

That pretty much brings you upto date with where I am now, I have all the trim refitted apart from the flares, as I am waiting until the weather warms up to fit them, as i have previous bad experience with the self adhesives not activating well in cold temps, and I really don't want gappy flares!!

[Flannel-On-A-Camel]

This is incredible! Top-notch work, Pat! There's few things worse than misaligned stripes.

[olblue75]

That brown looks really cool!!!

[pat_t]

Big euro-road/trackday trip booked for late April/May.
another 4 days lapping at the Nurburgring, followed by trackday at the legendary Spa Fracorchamps in Belgium!
Very excited

[j o n]

Did you look into buying 2 more rear z/28 wheels and running them up front with spacers... should of went that route... far less weight too

[pat_t]

Originally Posted by j o n

Did you look into buying 2 more rear z/28 wheels and running them up front with spacers... should of went that route... far less weight too

Yeah would be nice, unfortunately would cost a huge amount just to import 2 wheels, and the chances of finding 4 rears for sale in Europe are very slim!

It's only 0.4 kg per wheel, tyres vary in weight by similar magnitudes... Also as I'm going to rotate them, not going to bother with TPMS sensors, not sure how much weight that saves?

[pat_t]

Got the tyres mounted today. As I thought the wheels are very wide for a 10.5J as you can see there's almost no bulge with a 325.

Total weight = 55lbs for the new rim and a mounted 325 Dunlop Sport Maxx Race with no TPMS. OE rim with a 325 Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tyre is 52lbs. But I think the 325 Pirelli Trofeo R was heavier than the Michelin Cup...so anyways it's definitely in the ballpark and won't affect the damping of the unsprung mass too much

The setup is now totally rotatable with a 15mm spacer at the back and a 20mm on front. When swapping back to the OEM rims I'll simply swap the 20mm spacer for a 5mm spacer, and leave the rear one in place (imho the rear arches can take a little more tyre width anyway).

Pagid RSC1 brake pads (full car set) on order. Soon as they arrive the car is ready to go for the new season! Can't wait!!

A few pictures:

[tstodii]

Those wheels look great!

[pat_t]

New pads arrived. Piece of cake to fit. Spring finally arrived.

I'll let the pictures do the talking, suffice to say it felt so cathartic to get out and drive this car again the past few days after I spent so much time working on the new wrap. It looks even better in person than the pictures.

[Dixon Racing]

I've seen those headlights online, was thinking about picking some up. How do you like them? Going with the brown was bold, and the center stripes look great. Are you going to put the dive planes back on at some point?

[Gbland60]

Definitely have the 2nd gen look going. Turned out well.
I think some wheels (just for street and shows) to match that period would finish it off.

[pat_t]

Originally Posted by Gbland60

Definitely have the 2nd gen look going. Turned out well.
I think some wheels (just for street and shows) to match that period would finish it off.

Thank you! Yes that was exactly what I was going for. I don't really need a 3rd set of wheels, and I'm running out of space to store another set but I agree it would be a nice touch. What I might do instead is get the OE rims refinished in a gold or bronze as they'll need doing soon anyway as some minor stone chips etc after 3 years of trackdays and racing.

Can't use it at the moment due to covid apart from the occasional shopping trip! Remember to shop sensibly and considerately people!