Jay18's Grand Vitara 2.0 16v LWB

[Jay18]

Cleaned up the excess paint yesterday and I am pleased with the results, they aren't perfectly blended in but I'm sure there is more I can do to make it a bit better

I've done what I wanted to do and that's make them less noticeable and stop any rust from continuing into a rust hole..

I have some clear coat that I'll be putting on the chips repaired areas to help it last longer

Here are the chips now...

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This one needs a little more paint in it to level it off with the surrounding paint..

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And the scratches..

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The "blob eliminator" seemed to eliminate the thin layer of paint that was left above the door handle :/

Not sure weather I should get a little paint brush a brush a good few coats onto it and then smooth it off gently with the "blob eliminator" or use a fine sand paper, then clear coat it and polish it, any tips would be appreciated...

If I could afford it I'd have the whole thing re sprayed, but for now I just want it looking tidier than it was...

I have a dent next to the near side tail light that I'll repair next, then I need to sort the shed out so I can get the bumpers and trim all off and respray them, then she should be looking sweet

[Jay18]

Decided I wanted to move my iphone holder and radio lead to a more visible and tidy place, so now I've modified a window sucker holder to mount to the dash...

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[Jay18]

Got some LED's for the footwells, I know! Chavtastic! Also started work on a new sub box...

[Jay18]

Got the drivers side LED's wired in but it seems there is a diode in the drivers door switch wiring, so only the drivers door turns the fromt and rear drivers side LEDs on as I've wired them to earth through the drivers door switch, I'm guessing the diode allows the drivers door only to make the warning sound when the key is in the ignition and the door is open?

Anyway here is a couple of pics for now...

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[Jay18]

Another update...

All LEDs are now in but the drivers side LEDs need to be grounded through the rear switch as the drivers door switch has a diode so they don't come on with any of the passenger doors

Sub box is now wrapped and has the amp and sub installed, the bass is a lot deeper and louder now it is in a 1.5 cubic feet box instead of the normal 1 cubic foot box

So I now have good boot space again and even better bass, really happy with the results...

I plan to stick some LEDs to the bottom of the parcel shelf using a 12v jack plug so the parcel shelf will still be removable...

More updates to come when I get time to do more, I have all the paint waiting to do the floor and chassis and suspension parts etc...

[Jay18]

been a while since i updated this so here we go...

i never liked the chrome trim on the front grill so i had a go at wrapping it, first attempt was terrible and it started peeling after 2 days, so i removed the trim completely to get more overlap and its been fine since..

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the subwoofer box is now in the car and sounds better. it still needs a trim peice around the amp and a peice of ply for the boot floor as the carpet is worn and the floor is not very uneven with the under floor storage.

i didnt do much too it for a while until i decided to get the timing chain replaced as it was coming up to winter, so i payed a backstreet garage to do it, biggest mistake ever!

so after the Suzuki dealer fix their mess she was running sweet and has been ever since, no rattles at all! i also had both Lambda sensors replaced and replaced the bodged engine warning light bulb.

i havent done much since apart from a few stickers, new passenger side cv boot and lots of painting, she went straight through the MOT last tuesday without any advisories, guys in ATS were impressed..

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my plans this year are:
paint calipers and drums
repaint springs (silver)
fog lights
respray all bumpers and trim silver
tint rear windows
rear spoiler (hopefully)

does anyone know if these GV's came standard with axle breather hoses going up above the fuel tank somewhere? got a feeling its been used offroad at some point as there was a lot of surface rust underneath..

[Darrell]

does anyone know if these GV's came standard with axle breather hoses going up above the fuel tank somewhere? got a feeling its been used offroad at some point as there was a lot of surface rust underneath..

Yes..........

[Jay18]

Thanks Darrell! That's good to know...

Does anyone know of a good paint to use for exhausts? Just me centre pipe has a lot of surface rust and it's had a new rear section because of the old one being corroded, just want to save a bit of money as a new section is a bit on the expensive side since it has a cat in it..

[donkeychomp]

No paint I know works on exhausts....high heat paint just flakes off unless you can take the whole unit off and prep it properly. Best bet is sand it down in situ and apply rust killer, it'll turn it all black and it should get past an MOT examiner ok.

[Jay18]

Passed its MOT last week, it's just everything underneath looks nice and clean now but got a rust exhaust so would like that to look nice as well, mainly so that the rust doesn't get worse...