Wednesday 28 May 2014

Stone Chip Protection Film, Decals, Wheels, DVLA and Carbon Headlights

The car arrived back at CC midlands after being re-sprayed by XK Engineering last week.  Dean emailed me on Friday to say that the stone chip protection film and the decals were going to be fitted this week, with the remaining 'rebuild' of the car to commence after that.

Once again and sooner than expected I got an email from Dean this morning saying the stone chip protection film and decals had been applied.  He also supplied some pictures, and even from the pictures it looks like the paint is extremely shiny... Dean has suggested the paint has a deeper shine and apparently one of the mechanics commented how good the paint is, thinking it had a glass like finish.  I just hope the stone chip protection film will go some way to protecting this.

We decided it best to fit the stone chip protection film, then the decals on top of the film... The nose, rear wings, and full height sides of the car have been covered with the sides being covered as far forward as was possible.  So really the only areas that could get chipped are the bonnet, scuttle and behind the rear wheels.
Caterham R500 looking very shiny, now with stone chip protection film and new triple stripe decals.
Caterham R500 looking very shiny, now with stone chip protection film and new triple stripe decals.
Another full view of the R500
Another full view of the R500
Offside view of Caterham R500 decals, now correctly aligned too
Offside view of Caterham R500 decals, now correctly aligned too! 
A view of the rear triple stripe
A view of the rear triple stripe
The wheels also came back from the power coating company today, and they too look like they have a real nice deep colour.
I think these are the front wheels...
I think these are the front wheels...
So that makes these the rears!
So that makes these the rears!
To pass the time whilst I was waiting for the car to be IVA'd and the remedial works to be resolved, I managed to spend a few quid on some carbon headlights from a carbon manufacturer in Germany.... I went with the 2x2 weave, and they arrived last week... The laying of the weave and the construction was very good indeed, but... unfortunately they arrived scratched and looked as though no lacquer had been applied - I was not impressed, especially as they cost a hell of a lot of money.  
Caterham Carbon Headlight Bowls with highlighted scratches
Caterham Carbon Headlight Bowls with highlighted scratches
I expressed my dissatisfaction at the quality of the finish to my contact there, and she agreed it was not up to their usual standard.  She then organised for the headlights to be collected, refinished, lacquered and I received confirmation from her today that they have now been re-shipped to me, so these should be with me on Monday... I'll do a post about the headlights, swapping them over with the existing headlights, and a weight comparison too!  I also have some other carbon light bits for the rear, namely indicator blocks and rear fog light and reversing light blocks - again I'll post about changing these over when I get the car back.

The DVLA have been spoken to today, and they believe the registration paperwork will be finished on Friday of this week (30th May 2014).  

So the next stage for Dean and the team at CC midlands, is to put the final bits of the car back together, fit the seats and harnesses and then tell me it's ready to collect!  All being well hopefully by mid to end of next week I'll FINALLY have my car back.  Happy days!  I just need to pray for some decent weather!

2 comments:

  1. Hi there. Wondering what paint protection film you went for?

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    Replies
    1. It was called 'hexus' and was supplied by the guys that fitted the decals - Signsuk.co.uk

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