‘97 Mk3 Astravan, just me and old faithful

Rear window de taped & cleaned up



Gave both bumpers a buzz over with P320's on the DA




Taking the smaller scratches & scrapes out



But filling the larger ones





Once I was happy with the profiling I applied a good coat of an adhesion promotor



Followed by a few coats of this



Which gives this type of effect (This is just a test card)



Then left them in the sun to cure



The finish tends to dry a little more course that what's required



But a quick flat over with some 400 / 500's gets it back to where you need it



Then back into the workshop for paint



Door mirror & the rear trim detail for the tailgate also getting some attention with the paint





Then just stored then ready for fitting tomorrow



Did give the front bumper a quick wipe with some plastic bumper gel to see how it came up though





Its not perfection but its a million times better than what we started with and will look fine once refitted to the van



Although the bonnet looked good there were some ghosting halo's similar to the problem that I had with the Corsair paint last year - I had to point them out to John - they are only visible in strong light - anyhow has you have now probably correctly assumed I not letting go like that



Keyed back with flatting paste & scotchbrite



Then onto the stand for paint



Painted and then into the sun



And Sid sat on security duties to ensure no one touched it



Some polishing in the morning - John will then come over and bolt the last bits onto it and drive it into the sunset enroute home

shiny is good.... textured is fascinating though. thanks for showing the process chris.

This afternoon I drove down to Grumpy towers, when I arrived Chris was polishing the bonnet on the van.

So I got to work assembling the front end, first point to note is that it’s a lot harder to reassemble a lovely shiny freshly painted van than a scruffy one!




Then moved the van and assembled the rear end too, I’d sourced some new badges for the tailgate, so fitted them too

When disassembling the van before dropping off with Chris I had spotted that the loom looked a little ropey, so got some loom tape in readiness and was going to install the wiring loom whilst Chris ran an errand but on moving the rubber boot it was a bit worse than I thought




So left that for now, I’ll strip it out over the next few days and can tidy it up and heat shrink and loom tape it before installing.

Then the last bits were fitted, side rubbing strips (which are harder to fit than Chris made it look ) Then a quick clean and moved outside for the Jowett van (with a photo opportunity not to be missed)







And then the drive home!

Van looks stunning btw, really impressed that it's been taken to this level.

I reflated then polished the bonnet



John came over to start fitting the van back up and I assisted where I could



It was a long day but eventually the van could leave the confines of the workshop



It still needs a valet and John has several finishing off items on his list



But its starting to very much look the part - great choice on the wheels too



Just goes to show that you don't need to over bling something to get it look right



Wearing its RR member badges with pride - John will be along with some his own bits & pieces / progress with van & no doubt some better shots once everything on it is complete - cant wait to see it sign written up

Jaw dropping btw😀😀

Better than new ! Fantastic, enjoy
James

stunning though!!!

2 of us with number plate mounting ocd then...