BA - Howie's 97 ZXi. New MS Splitter fitted.

**Posted:** Sun Mar 09, 2014 5:51 pm

Very nice Howie. Always inspires me to get my car back in in mint condition.

Arne

**Posted:** Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:45 pm

Absolutely stunning work Howie, very inspirational indeed

**Posted:** Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:25 pm

Wow stunningly beautiful. its as if you have an automotive mirror

Amazing

**Posted:** Thu Mar 13, 2014 6:29 pm

delight for the eyes

**Posted:** Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:57 pm

Many thanks for all the comments

**Posted:** Fri Mar 14, 2014 1:11 am

Oh how I wish I could treat my Meanie to such love and attention!!!!!!!

As always Howie, beautifully done chap :thumbright:

**Posted:** Fri Mar 14, 2014 7:25 pm

Cheers Andy

**Posted:** Tue May 27, 2014 6:24 pm

Today my F reached the 88888 miles mark, had time to stop and take a pic:

Wanted to share a few pics from a meeting at our farm about a week ago.
My good friend and local Meguiar's customer Matt came over to show me his new car, a gorgeous Mazda 3 MPS in black.

Then brought out my F for a size comparison

Really looking forward to giving Matt a hand with the finish etc. (Y)

**Posted:** Tue May 27, 2014 7:06 pm

Looking awesomely

there Howie, the finish on your F mate :cyclopsani:

**Posted:** Tue May 27, 2014 8:22 pm

Great photos Howie :thumbleft:

Quite a difference in size too.

**Posted:** Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:46 pm

great pics as always Howie :thumbleft:

**Posted:** Sat Jul 19, 2014 4:24 pm

Finally decided on replacement tyres for my Goodyear Eagle F1's, because they are no longer available in my size :roll:

The rear pair were an advisory on the MOT, as well as being about 8 years old.

I wanted a similar quality set to the F1's, and which also had an aesthetic tread pattern.

Decided on a set of Yokohama Advan Neova AD08, sourced from a local garage and collected on Wednesday:

I'm very pleased with the tread pattern.

Will have to wait a week or so for them to be fitted, my spare set of alloys are being stripped and repainted locally,
just waiting on the call to drop the tyres off

**Posted:** Sat Jul 19, 2014 4:33 pm

ooooooo those look lovely

**Posted:** Sat Jul 19, 2014 8:17 pm

nice, hope they give the same good handeling as the F1's
cant help but notice that the label on the top tyre is about 2deg off set from the other three :dontknow:

**Posted:** Sat Jul 19, 2014 9:26 pm

Cheers, really looking forward to having them fitted.

sorry Nick

...................................must be camera distortion as I checked the labels with a level :roll:

**Posted:** Sun Jul 20, 2014 9:12 am

Very nice!
They are supposed to be awesome tyres! Let us know what you think

**Posted:** Sun Aug 10, 2014 7:17 am

I'm still waiting to try out the new Yoko tyres...............................................

.............................................................but have been busy deep cleaning the F

Actually I have been stripping her ready for a full respray

It has taken me quite a while to find a local body-shop, who I feel happy to undertake the work to the standard of finish I want.

The wheels were sent on ahead and are coming on well,
the F will be away for a few weeks, until the painter and I are satisfied with the results.

Both rear arches are showing rust bubbling again, and the sections behind the stone guards are crumbling away
and causing the plastic to bow out.

These areas will be cut out and new sections fabricated where needed, including under the sills and seams:

The respray will also sort out problems with old accident repair and paint from previous work.
Firstly when the side of the F was driven into about 12 years ago, the respray work didn't remove the handles:

and the quality of the work on the bonnet, from 5 years ago, has always irritated me,
so the bonnet will be fully stripped back and repainted to give the correct clear mirror finish.

Please keep your fingers crossed for me,
the F has been away now since Wednesday and I'm nervously excited to be finally getting the car sorted. (Y)

I'm keeping busy in the garage cleaning the leather seats and all the trim I have removed.

**Posted:** Sun Aug 10, 2014 10:13 am

wow! some more excellent work there Howie! Sad to see the rust monkeys have been at her but so good to see another F being overhauled and sexified again

(thats right sexified is now a word)

Cant wait to see the results dude

**Posted:** Sun Aug 10, 2014 10:49 am

Cant wait for the results howie. Always loved the standard at which you have kept this car

**Posted:** Sun Aug 10, 2014 11:09 am

Glad you have found a paint guy who you feel can meet your standards

, he must be the most nervous guy in the country right about now, Im sure your faith will be rewarded though.

**Posted:** Sun Aug 10, 2014 7:48 pm

smurf182 wrote:

he must be the most nervous guy in the country right about now

haha!

Also looking forward to seeing the results!

Arne

**Posted:** Mon Aug 11, 2014 1:24 pm

Looking forward to seeing this all fresh and lovely in a few weeks

Jeez, that MPS looks massive next to your BA! :lol:

**Posted:** Mon Aug 11, 2014 6:43 pm

Ooooooh very nice

Presumably going for the same colour, or something a little different?

**Posted:** Mon Aug 11, 2014 7:39 pm

Cheers guys, really, really can't wait

Sloth wrote:

Ooooooh very nice

Presumably going for the same colour, or something a little different?

Yes, do love the Noble Green colour (...............and Lerch has taken pink! :evil4:

)

Whilst stripping the F, I took the opportunity to change my wobbly passenger wing mirror with a nice new one from Mazda

and replaced the rear demister / hazard switch unit:

great to have this working again.

Last night I started sorting out the garage, beginning with the floor tiles,
took about an hour to clean half the tiles. Used the new Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner. (Y)

Have just ordered new fittings and fixings for the mudguards and flutes, to replace the corroded lumps.

**Posted:** Tue Aug 12, 2014 3:07 pm

Fingers crossed for you mate. You ask a lot from these paint guys. But only because you care. Hope you've found a proper craftsman

**Posted:** Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:36 pm

Went over to visit the F yesterday,

They wanted to show me the extent of the rust monkey action(..................they must have been a party :shock:

)
Could see that the previous arch repair had not gone far enough (no surprise) leading the the bubbling paint.

Looking dusty and sad:

The cut-out section of the wheel arches:

Was shown the templates made, and discussed the work on the sills,
also saw the hanger for the rear numberplate lights being stripped and re-painted, good attention to the details.

Really looking forward to having the rust and paintwork sorted, and feeling confident in my choice of painter / restorer.

**Posted:** Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:54 pm

Really happy you have found a good painter/restorer, one who is willing to talk you through his work and decide on the details mutually.

**Posted:** Fri Aug 15, 2014 10:35 pm

That is quite some hole there... Its good that is going to be fixed

The numberplate lights holder on my car is worse than your arches... the lights are holding it , even with some zipties, together :lol:

Will it be ready for JAE?

**Posted:** Sat Aug 16, 2014 7:05 am

barreljan wrote:

Will it be ready for JAE?

I really do hope so, Stuart seems fairly confident once the prep work and repairs are done.

**Posted:** Sat Aug 16, 2014 10:45 am

It looks like Stuart has the same 'attention to detail' as yourself Howie.

Its always a shock to see your pride and joy mid way through a repair. Considering the age of your F she is still in fine fettle compared to some. Thats all down to you and the care you have taken of her over the years.

Im looking forward to seeing the end results and heres to another 16 years of ownership :thumbleft:

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BA - Howie's 97 ZXi. New MS Splitter fitted.

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