Looks really nice Luke

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Almost standard 1999 Bianca Rallye
Hilux InvincibleX daily

306 No.13

Carp and specialist Anglers Click here

Fit new rear beam with new rear shocks
Paint rear calipers and other bits
Fit front suspension
Fit new droplinks and TREs
Remove cat and get the outlet pipe welded REMOVED just needs welding
Fit new steering wheel and boss

Paint front calipers
Fit brakes front and rear and flush fluid
Refit all the now repainted things I removed earlier
Get tyres swapped onto TD wheels
Get tracking done
Give it a really good clean

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61k miles Ph.1 Diablo '6 Project Thread

Had yet more incorrect parts turn up which is getting really old now, so that slowed progress somewhat.

Yesterday me and a friend fit braided lines at the rear, and redid the hard lines from the caliper to the flexi in copper pipe as the unions weren't floating on them and they just twisted as they were being undone, plus they were a bit corroded anyway. I did tidy it up a bit after taking this picture:



Braided lines will also go on the front but will probably have to re-do some more hard-line there are the unions are similarly shagged there.

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61k miles Ph.1 Diablo '6 Project Thread

This is now a joy to drive. Had a new ball joint on both sides and mounted the radiator more securely which got rid of the knocking. Just needs tracking as I just did it as best I could by eye, tracking will get done at work this week. It vibrates at high speeds. Felt like the cornering was bad as I couldn't feel anything dramatic happening...then I looked at the speedo and realised it was taking corners at speed without even breaking a sweat.

I fit a K&N cone for bwarps and also made a shield to stop muck swirling up from the road straight onto the filter, it will also guard against splashes. At some point I might make one that encloses the filter a bit more.





There's still a fair few things to do and sort out on this car, but it's definitely heading in the right direction and is great for just enjoying for the rest of the summer. Once the winter comes the next round of fixing and fettling will begin!

Bring on Pugfest.

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61k miles Ph.1 Diablo '6 Project Thread

Save the money and spend on a decent weld job ive been into minis since I was 17 and it pays in the long run

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Old pugs don't die they just get faster

Well, I haven't had it welded yet due to work being busy and me being abrood on holiday visiting the gf's family for a bit.

This weekend I set about doing the most essential work when your car has no MOT and needs repairing before it goes: cosmetic modifications.

I started out with these, which were a bit grubby, especially near the driver's and passenger's buckles where people have grabbed them with their grimy hands:





So, I soaked them in warm water with some laundry soap mixed in:



The water which remained after this was a bit horrible. Not very nice to think that these rub against our chests all day:



After this, they looked a fair bit cleaner but there were still some stains and they still weren't as bright as they could have been, so I blasted over them with the pressure washer from a safe enough distance not to cause damage. This created a night and day difference between how they were previously and the colour has pretty much come out bright, primary colour red, as they were when new:







I then pulled the rear half of the interior out of the car in order to swap them over. Had a bit of confusion as the rear belts were labelled for the opposite sides of the car and wouldn't extend which took a bit of headscratching!





They break up the all black of the interior quite well, and match the outside of the car. I'm very happy with them.

Last weekend I also started work on a set of morettes. I sanded off all the paint, then fillered all the imperfections, then sanded again with various grades, and painted them diablo red. The paintjob has turned out fairly well for a rattle can job. Trying to decide whether to fit them, get new inside lights for them, fit them with trumpets etc. I do have inside lamps but they're corroded and I haven't been able to get them to work yet. The outers work with sidelights, dipped and main beams.

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61k miles Ph.1 Diablo '6 Project Thread

Shiny new battery terminals fitted:



The car was washed and waxed as it has been sat for a while and I'd like it to be clean for the MOT. Unfortunately the lens was foggy.



The contents of the wheel arches look rather nice. Shame the faces of the discs have some surface corrosion on them but a good hoon will sort that out in no time.

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61k miles Ph.1 Diablo '6 Project Thread

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61k miles Ph.1 Diablo '6 Project Thread

P.s. what size steering wheel did you go for and can you still reach the indicator etc?

I re-insured and taxed this at the end of January, and have been driving it a bit. It goes really well. I've got a few more updates planned soon I hope.

Before taxing and re-insuring I swapped engine looms to see if that was causing my rev-counter issues but this had no effect. Whilst I was there I did the usual painting up of the inlet manifold & fuel rail, and also painted the slam panel and tow-hook whilst I had the front bumper off looking at the loom along there, which I now suspect to be the problem as it looks like it has a fair bit of heatshrink on a lot of the wires.

I had one side welded but a small hole has appeared on the other side of the car behind the front wheel arch where they all go. I will be attempting to repair this myself as I'm not convinced by the previous repair on the other side. There's also a bit of surface rust elsewhere that I'd like to grind down and treat, hopefully that will be sufficient.

Anyway, right after getting it on the road the bonnet release cable snapped. With a friend at work we managed to fit a new, genuine one. It appears that the ph.1 cable has been superceded by a new part number which replaces both halves of the cable but doesn't include the necessary clip for the slam panel s we had to do a bit of bodgery at the end to get it to work correctly.

No pictures really as my phone camera has totally given up and I'm certainly not allowed to take any at work either. New phone soon so pictures should be following in future updates.

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61k miles Ph.1 Diablo '6 Project Thread

Definitely not finished, just working every hour of every day at the moment.
Thanks for the kind comments.

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61k miles Ph.1 Diablo '6 Project Thread

Love this car Luke ...keep up the good work m8 & keep the updates coming & pics