Martin - The Daily Grand Tourer

[Felix]

Couldn't resist snapping a couple more today with the sun out

[Felix]

Starting on the exterior; the roof looks like sh1t:





So a trip to our guy in Swansea sorted that right out:



But more importantly, Martin has cataracts, as well as a scuff from someone reversing into him in a car park, making the whole front look a bit old and tired:



I can't do much about the scuff until I decide to respray the bumper (or maybe the whole car), but it was time for a new set of lights at least:



The difference is nuts:





I am also trialling some bolt-in exhaust baffles, as I'm driving to Italy later this week, and the exhaust drone gets a bit much after the first couple of hours. So far they sound surprisingly good, and cut out almost all of the 3k rpm motorway drone, but i'm looking forward to them getting covered up with a layer of exhaust deposit, as they don't look great.



Much love.

[Joesson]

@Felix
Sorry, I have to agree about the hood.
The rest is looking good.
Enjoy your visit to Italy.

[Felix]

We're back from our trip to Lake Como, and Martin absolutely smashed it.

It's rare that a car can drive to the Klausen Pass in one piece, redline most of the way along it, then drive another thousand miles with absolutely no issues.

[Alex Knight]

That's amazing. Great photos.

[Mezula24]

Brilliant.
Congratulations Martin!

[Joesson]

Your car doesn't just look good ( apart from the hood).
How did you manage that trip with so little luggage space?

[Topdownman]

Great to see people on long road trips.

Good to see that you solved the problem of remembering which side of the road to drive on!

[Felix]

@Felix
Sorry, I have to agree about the hood.
The rest is looking good.
Enjoy your visit to Italy.

Your car doesn't just look good ( apart from the hood).
How did you manage that trip with so little luggage space?

Thanks!

By hood do you mean the roof? You saw I already got a new roof in my post on 1st May right?

Easy, flipped the spare wheel in the front so I could fit a sports bag and a coat in there, another sports bag and a backpack behind the seats, and a small bag and road trip snacks in the passenger footwell  Okay, not exactly easy, but perfectly comfortable.

[Joesson]

Thanks!

By hood do you mean the roof? You saw I already got a new roof in my post on 1st May right?

Easy, flipped the spare wheel in the front so I could fit a sports bag and a coat in there, another sports bag and a backpack behind the seats, and a small bag and road trip snacks in the passenger footwell  Okay, not exactly easy, but perfectly comfortable.

From the www:
Hood is used by British English-speakers to refer to the waterproof cloth top covering the passenger compartment of a car or pram.
I missed your 1st May post, I will look for that.

My mention of luggage space was because there are those that think there is insufficient luggage space in our cars when compared with a MX5! I took an unwanted freezer to the recycling plant yesterday in my daily, wouldn't  have thought of using a sports car for that. My wife and I have been away for a week in our 2, I also use the space behind the seats for a hanging bag of clothes.

[JohnGee]

My wife and I have been away for a week in our 2, I also use the space behind the seats for a hanging bag of clothes.

Apologies for going off topic, but is that a hanging bag simply 'pressed' between the back of the seat and the rear passenger compartment, or do you have a more elegant solution. Suspect I know the answer to this, interested to learn more.

[puma2]

  now that is some trip with excellent views and love the picture of your 2 in the middle of the road

[Joesson]

Apologies for going off topic, but is that a hanging bag simply 'pressed' between the back of the seat and the rear passenger compartment, or do you have a more elegant solution. Suspect I know the answer to this, interested to learn more.

One could confuse simplicity with elegance or vv but  I opted for a loop of Paracord over the headrest portion of the seat and hung the bag hangers from that.
The fore/ aft position of the seat of course dictates what can be fitted in and can contribute to holding the bag/s in position
I do use a similar idea in my daily on the frame of the rear headrests and drape the bags over the rear seat.
In both cases I find that the clothes arrive uncrumpled.
I have seen similar on dailies with the hangers on the rear grab handles but that does look like your hanging the washing up!

[JohnGee]

One could confuse simplicity with elegance or vv but  I opted for a loop of Paracord over the headrest portion of the seat and hung the bag hangers from that.
The fore/ aft position of the seat of course dictates what can be fitted in and can contribute to holding the bag/s in position
I do use a similar idea in my daily on the frame of the rear headrests and drape the bags over the rear seat.
In both cases I find that the clothes arrive uncrumpled.
I have seen similar on dailies with the hangers on the rear grab handles but that does look like your hanging the washing up!

Simplicity, elegance, practicality - just as I expected from a stylish chap.

[Joesson]

Simplicity, elegance, practicality - just as I expected from a stylish chap.

I could not but "like" your comment, like minds I'm sure!

[JohnGee]

I could not but "like" your comment, like minds I'm sure!

If only!

[Felix]

Popped down to France last week for a wedding, and once I got back I noticed this rather terrifying crack right through one of my wheel spokes:



All the tyres needed replacing as well, and the wheels are generally a complete mess, so I decided to go shopping for a whole new set of wheels. I found these 90s Borbets for a steal at £150:



I took the passenger seat out to pick them up:



I wasn't sure I'd like them on the car, but they needed a refurb regardless, so I gave them a quick but effective rattle-can job:



And here they are fitted with 4 new tyres. Turns out I like them a lot!









I think I need to commit to coilovers and slam it now though, so that's probably coming soon.

Peace out.

[Topdownman]

That was a timely spot with the wheel, could have been very nasty.

Got to love a rattle can wheel refurb!

(Nice valve masking!).

[puma2]

  good effort on that and they do look good to me  

[Felix]

I usually like to show the progress of anything I do here, but I was too excited this time that I just did it.

I found some barely used MeisterR coilovers for £550. I immediately fitted them after work in the work car park.

I also got some toyota centre badges for the wheels, then realised they were really boring, and went for ferrari ones instead. The wheels look similar enough to the wheels on a Ferrari 550 or 360, so maybe i'll fool a couple of people.

Anyway, here it is, sorry everything's filthy, it needs a good clean. I'm very happy with how it looks: