WiNgNuTz's Diablo DT

[WiNgNuTz]

Some of you on here will know of my old China Blue 1.4 LX project, which has now met its end, thanks to a VW Golf.

I have now replaced the China 1.4 petrol, with a Diablo Red 1.9 Vivant DT with 104k on the clock.



Seems in pretty good nick at the moment, no undue knocks, noises or otherwise. Drivers seat is well fudged though, makes me feel like a midget! Got a sneaky suspicion that the previous owner was someone "of size"! Bodywork looks good too, although first time i wash it im more likely to spot any minor parking dings and scratches. Theres only 1 dent ive found so far, under the drivers side rear light. Picture quality isnt all that, as the winter sun was very low in the sky at the time, will get better pics tomorrow hopefully:



Also the bonnet badge is fairly broken, but i can replace that for about £12 off fleabay.



Got a quick pic of the 2 generations next to each other before we started ripping the China apart:



My first job was to swap the shonky harriers over for my freshly refurbed Lasers, and brand new tyres. I must admit, i think the "Vauxhall Moonland" colour goes better on the Diablo than it did on the China.



My brother can be seen in this picture, attempting to remove the drivers seat, which we have now swapped over for the drivers seat from the China, which is very NOT broken. Only problem that we've had so far is that we cant get the 4th bolt into the floor (the hole in the runner doesnt line up with the hole in the floor. It got dark and we gave up though), and the airbag light is flashing, so any pointers on this would be appreciated.
I also swapped the rear lights over, as mine are slightly tinted, and also havent got holes in them, allowing them to fill up with water, which then leaks into the boot. :clap:
Started debadging as well, got both the rear badges off, but while i was removing the "Vivant" stickers on the front doors, they started bringing the paint with it!



Anyway, i finished debadging it, and only managed to lose a little more paint off the driver door, passenger door sticker came off without a hitch.

The china was also relieved of the centre console and bits of the dashboard so that i could smooth and colour code it, along with the mirror caps, although im lousy at taking progress pics, so ill just put up what i got:



After a few coats of filler primer:



And the finished products:



And how it all looks installed in the DT (boost gauge also "white-tacked" into place by the A-pillar):



Ive also painted the brake calipers and drums bright red, but havent got any pics of that, but im sure you can imagine how it looks!

Thats pretty much it at the moment, plan is to hopefully lower it about 40mm, then start on the engine! Need some ncb before doing anything too major to the engine though!

All comments welcome!

[4WayDiablo]

That centre console looks good smoothed off! :-)

[Dan!]

DTurbo > 1.4 8-)

Good to see youve made the change mate, even if it was 'forced'

First thing, the seat bolt. Im pretty sure the rear bolt can go through one of 2 holes in the seat rail, but the front can only go through the one hole. By the sounds of it you've put the rear bolt through the wrong hole and therefore the front is about an inch to far forward or backward (cant remember which way it'l be)

Secondly, I like the spoiler! I think its the same as Jakes and Padges? Certainly different but me likey

And lastly - Engine mods The beauty of the XUD is so much can be done on the sly and the insurance wont be able to tell. hhh: Im not at all suggesting you commit insurance fraud, its just everybody else does it Just a simple stage 1 tune to get the power up a bit wont hurt for sure. I think it needs a trip to see me :dance:

Hope it does you well mate, and I hope I see you at an EA meet soon :geek:

[WiNgNuTz]

DTurbo > 1.4 8-)

Good to see youve made the change mate, even if it was 'forced'

First thing, the seat bolt. Im pretty sure the rear bolt can go through one of 2 holes in the seat rail, but the front can only go through the one hole. By the sounds of it you've put the rear bolt through the wrong hole and therefore the front is about an inch to far forward or backward (cant remember which way it'l be)

Secondly, I like the spoiler! I think its the same as Jakes and Padges? Certainly different but me likey

And lastly - Engine mods The beauty of the XUD is so much can be done on the sly and the insurance wont be able to tell. hhh: Im not at all suggesting you commit insurance fraud, its just everybody else does it Just a simple stage 1 tune to get the power up a bit wont hurt for sure. I think it needs a trip to see me :dance:

Hope it does you well mate, and I hope I see you at an EA meet soon :geek:

Sounds like a win there dan! Im planning to do a stage 1, but wanna get the bosch pump first, as it seems to be a WHOLE lot easier to work on!

As for the EA meet, may well see you sunday if your coming!

[declantg]

Have you put your name down for the meet?

[WiNgNuTz]

Have you put your name down for the meet?

Ive registered interest on .net, but still unsure im gonna be able to afford the diesel, but at the moment, im swaying towards being there. Just a long ass drive from the south-east coast! nearly 3 hours to the meeting point, and 3 and a half back from the norwich area! hock:

[WiNgNuTz]

That centre console looks good smoothed off! :-)

Thanks! Somehow missed your post, and thought Dan! was first to reply! Fail! :nope:

[Dan!]

It should be a good meet. Do it!

Also, if you arent fitting the bosch yourself, gimme a PM

[WiNgNuTz]

It should be a good meet. Do it!

Also, if you arent fitting the bosch yourself, gimme a PM

I think the decision has been made then, see you in Ipswich!

Haven't got the bosch pump yet, but may have to come up and see you when I do get it! Cheers mate!

[WiNgNuTz]

Slight update, my spoiler, or should i say spoilerS arrived today, nearly a week late, but better late then never. Now just to decide on which one to fit.

Check out and vote in the poll here --> <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.306oc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=2250&view=unread#unread" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=30&t=2250&view=unread#unread</a><!-- l -->

/Shameless plug

[WiNgNuTz]

As you may tell, this is a very slow moving project, due to permanent lack of funds!

Slight update for now, just done a light tune on my Lucas pump, running just shy of 17psi now, feels quite a bit quicker though! A little smoky, but not too bad.

The China 1.4 has now been taken away, so ive now got space on my mums driveway to work on the DT, and the last thing i got off the China was the sideskirts, gonna get them sprayed up and fitted to the DT to cover up the HUGE dent running down the drivers side sill.

The spoiler is all primed and ready for its top coat, but i havent got enough paint to do the whole thing, so thats been put on the back burner, along with the sideskirts, as ive also run out of primer

Sprayed both my front and rear badges:





And thats kinda it for the moment, working on my sticker collection at the moment, as they're all pretty much £2 a piece. Snap-off, XUD9TE Inside and for the gamers out there, i also got "The cake is a lie!", with a few more to come.

Seriously on the look-out for a bosch pump, with all the gubbins, so anyone whos got one for sale, hit me up and i might just bite your arm off! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Dave]

Bigger turbo and 40psi time I think....

[WiNgNuTz]

Bigger turbo and 40psi time I think....

All in good time my friend, all in good time. As mentioned, funds are a major issue at the moment, and the fact that im being bent over and lubed up every month by my insurance company dont help!

Those are the long term plans though

[WiNgNuTz]

Quick update on the sticker situation, as i havent got the funds for anything else at the moment (and wont have for a couple of month probably ).





"The cake is a lie" was removed, as i didnt like where i'd put it. Thoughts?

[ginge191]

stickers = vom imo...

shame

[Chris]

Looking good so far.

You should deffo sell me that spoiler as I've been looking for one of those for absolutely ages. I've a standard spoiler I could give you if you sell it to me

[WiNgNuTz]

Looking good so far.

You should deffo sell me that spoiler as I've been looking for one of those for absolutely ages. I've a standard spoiler I could give you if you sell it to me

Thanks for the offer, but i think ill pass today. Ive got a standard Dturbo spoiler that came with the one thats going on, but thats just a bit :text-baaa: Want something a bit different.

[Eeyore]

That interior looks lush! might have to do mine like that

Was it diablo paint you used? Think i like the spoiler too1 Should be good to see how this goes!

[me-tm]

Ive got a standard Dturbo spoiler that came with the one thats going on, but thats just a bit :text-baaa:

...and the horrific amount of clichéd stickers aren't?

[TheGateKeeper]

Stickers look good Let the haters hate

[WiNgNuTz]

That interior looks lush! might have to do mine like that

Was it diablo paint you used? Think i like the spoiler too1 Should be good to see how this goes!

Yep, Diablo paint in a rattle can from halfrauds, there are a couple of small runs in the lacquer, but you can only really are them when your looking for them. I'm well chuffed with how it came out actually, was slightly worried about it looking too red!

Quite looking forward to payday, especially if I can afford to get some more paint to get the spoiler and sideskirts sorted, then other than glossing the rest of the black plastic, I'm kinda some on the bodywork side of things, gonna focus on the engine next.

Stickers look good Let the haters hate

Cheers mate! They're definately growing on me, I know they're "cliched", but I don't care.

[padge]

Spoiler is the same as mine!

[WiNgNuTz]

Spoiler is the same as mine!

And that's why I know it'll look good, even if I do have more doors for more whores!

[WiNgNuTz]

Removed all the stickers today, after a mate from work said they gave the car a slightly "rat" look, and that's not the look I'm going for. Kept the club stickers though...obviously!

[WiNgNuTz]

Small update, still due to a distinct lack of funding.

I had 10 orange LED's left from my china, as i was planning to relocate the side repeaters to the mirror caps. This, i decided, was a whole load of work that i wasnt really up for doing. So the LED's just sat in the glovebox, and there they stayed until i scrapped the old girl.

Then, a few nights ago, i had a flash of inspiration concerning said LED's, as I'd still quite like to smooth the side repeaters from the front wings. Having had the bumpstrips off recently to paint them Gloss Black, i happened to notice there was space between the clips for things to be added, such as LED's.

Here is the result:





And wired into place on the car:



The bulb has been removed from the original repeater, so just the LED's function, but the repeater is left to fill the gaping hole in the wing, until such time as i can get them smoothed over and sprayed up.

Thoughts?

[Eeyore]

Quite a good idea really. I thought about the mirrors but didnt know what design/layout i would have put them in. This looks good though but i can only assume there will be a time when the leds go and youll have to undo youre hard work to swap them :/ Anyway with the wing if youre going to get it done properly there may be no harm in having a go at doing it yourself before hand! Might come out better than you think! More likely itll be worse though haha

[WiNgNuTz]

Well im intending to smooth it myself at least, if not spray it as well. Thats pretty much the idea with this project, do as much of it myself as i possibly can. If i cock it up, then i might get the pros on it, but im giving everything a damn good go myself first. Shouldnt be too much work to replace a dead LED actually, as the bumpstrips just pop off, then ive just got to wire in the new LED. Simples!

[kingy]

like it. like the idea of do it youself spraying also. i would love a project like this. dont matter if you fuuck it up. saves ya loads. ftaw. good luck matey.

[WiNgNuTz]

like it. like the idea of do it youself spraying also. i would love a project like this. dont matter if you fuuck it up. saves ya loads. ftaw. good luck matey.

:thumbup:

[kingy]

felt really bad for ya when i read what happened to your old car. hope this one is better for ya matey.