WITW - Andrew's Irish Green

[MikkiJayne]

That's a good idea Mini-meet & detailing day

[tintin]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

That's a good idea Mini-meet & detailing day

Especially looking forward to those photos (shallow, I know...)

[strummagnet]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

That's a good idea Mini-meet & detailing day

We could rock up at Nicola's for a "washdown training session" Bert can take some shots (sans Scooby) and get some additional editorial stuff for his magazine. Win Win.

[MikkiJayne]

The arb links are wrong on the standard D2 Meyle kit as well as the FE I'll fix this when its back from Nicola.



The driver's door trim strip was in a bad state - the aluminium is not recoverable, and its bent at both ends





Window frame out so I can change the strip



Bad one removed



Replacement fitted - I polished this one before putting it on



Shiny



Mirror before



and after



The front passenger window was oddly crunchy so I removed the frame to investigate. While it was off, I polished the trim on this side - this one came out fine



Very bizarre - the cable has somehow escaped from the pulley Its under the glass so not particulary easy to get to



Some fiddling and poking got it back on. The window slides up and down just fine so I'm not sure how the cable came off in the first place. It shows no inclination to come off again



The Allroad is broken (because Allroad) so Lilith is doing yard donkey duties and she is not impressed! A D2 moving another D2 like this is very hard to manuever. It would be much easier with something short like an A2



Conspicuously still not at Nicola's yet Just the left side doors to put back together and then it'll be off

[GH77]

Loving this WITW . . . . as always!

Question on - "Replacement fitted - I polished this one before putting it on"

What's the recommended process & materials for polishing the D2 chrome (aluminium?) surround trims?

I know (through miserable 2x£165 Audi spend experience) that the D3 rear quarters are irrecoverable once milky. It is nice to no longer have bright white rear quarters at night tbf though. Almost worth the expense . . . .

I've always avoided going to work on the D2 shiny bits because I thought it was the same deal as D3. If not, I'll be glad to get to work!

[Adrian E]

Just catching up on Car SOS nonsense and it reminded me of a spray silvering process that might work for unrecoverable ‘chrome’ trim

This is the company they used:

http://www.chromespray.co.uk/

Might be worth a try with a set that’s well past it and see if it’s cost effective/looks right? I suspect you’d need to do a full set of trim or there’d be noticeable variation in finish

[steamship]

Originally Posted by Adrian E

This is the company they used:

http://www.chromespray.co.uk/

There is another product that I came across a couple of years ago called Hydrochrome, but both products are quite expensive (even the 'basic' setup), so they're not the sort of thing an individual would purchase just for their own car. They both seem geared towards a full time business concern.

[MikkiJayne]

I have seen the silver nitrate products - you can buy the solution on its own relatively cheaply. I was looking at one the other day which is activated by a flame and goes from clear to chrome-effect. They look good on a nice smooth substrate, but when the anodising fails on the D2 parts they go like sandpaper. The silver nitrate coatings would just make shiny sandpaper in that case. You'd have to chemically remove the remaining anodising to bare aluminium, then sand and polish it to a perfect smooth finish (same as you do for actual chrome), at which point the silver nitrate is moot anyway since you could just polish the aluminium. The silver nitrate needs lacquering over the top to protect it as well so another extra step.

I suspect you’d need to do a full set of trim or there’d be noticeable variation in finish

Indeed so. The amount of time this would take currently makes it cost prohibitive - it would be several thousand in labour just on brightwork. I can't see that being viable at the moment tbh.

I am planning on doing a full set in gloss black for my S8, which is going to be fairly labour-intensive, although doesn't require the full polish that silver nitrate would. It's probably going to be blasted and powder-coated. I'll report back on how long that all takes.

[sarg]

Originally Posted by Adrian E

Just catching up on Car SOS nonsense and it reminded me of a spray silvering process that might work for unrecoverable ‘chrome’ trim

This is the company they used:

http://www.chromespray.co.uk/

Might be worth a try with a set that’s well past it and see if it’s cost effective/looks right? I suspect you’d need to do a full set of trim or there’d be noticeable variation in finish

I saw that programme too, have their website saved in my bookmarks for 'another day'

[strummagnet]

Originally Posted by Adrian E

Just catching up on Car SOS nonsense and it reminded me of a spray silvering process that might work for unrecoverable ‘chrome’ trim

This is the company they used:

http://www.chromespray.co.uk/

Might be worth a try with a set that’s well past it and see if it’s cost effective/looks right? I suspect you’d need to do a full set of trim or there’d be noticeable variation in finish

I wonder how well that would work on a prepped front and rear screen trim surround?