Paint job finished, good as new!

by **silverdreammachine** » Mon May 05, 2008 3:55 pm

At last, the silver dream machine is sparkling and looking like new (almost!). Had to go back to the painters with a micro blister problem on the roof area. It appears that one of the prep guys left the car outside in the drizzle after stripping it and before spraying it. This left moisture on the roof which was then trapped, now blistering. They aren't getting it back to respray until after the summer season (WSR, Le Mans Classic, Silverstone Classic, etc) so I can get some use out of it!
Replaced all the pads with new EBC Greenstuffs. The ones that were in the calpiers had glazed and braking had become a bit erratic! (the wife didn't think it was funny - a bit 'close you're eyes and pray').

by **clee** » Mon May 05, 2008 4:07 pm

Looking very, very good

by **simontaylor** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:16 am

Very sweet !

by **rob1** » Tue May 06, 2008 8:06 pm

Looking good javascript:emoticon(':D')
it's really what the alpines need as each car on the road is an advert for the marque, and there are too many not so good ones about!
thats one reason that the values so poor.

by **BIG_MVS** » Tue May 06, 2008 9:59 pm

MMMM Yes looks "proper" as one of my mates would put it! What do your new seats look like then?

by **silverdreammachine** » Wed May 07, 2008 12:23 pm

Hi Martin,
New seats look like this -
IMG]http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj128/silverdreammachine/Alpine0508039.jpg[/IMG]

Had to make up steel carrier plate to get them to fit, although the track is the same width as the originals, due to improved thigh bolsters, they were too tight to the tunnel. They give much improved thigh, lower back and shoulder support. Keeping the originals just in case anyone wants to put it back to how it was. :lol:

[/img]

by **mettersl** » Wed May 07, 2008 5:59 pm

What are they from? They look good.

by **silverdreammachine** » Thu May 08, 2008 9:14 am

The seats came from a company on ebay called Chart One Automotive, not cheap, cost me £419 for the pair (ebay item no; 310033507155) but I hade been searching for a set of original leathers for ages with no luck and they would have cost more. Looked at getting the originals recovered but with new foams the cost would have been close to £900 for the set, so these seemed about right. Could have gone for cheaper buckets but as I'm 6'4" needed recliners otherwise my head is putting a dent in the headliner! The contact at Chart One is a guy called Lee Franklin, he was most helpful and the quality of the seats is very good, although the leather is a matt finish, not gloss like the Renault originals. Just need to find a pair of black leather seats to match better than the velour ones.

by **simontaylor** » Thu May 08, 2008 10:01 am

The GTA original seats have the backs of such a shape that the rear passengers get lots of knee room while they have their legs apart. How do these seats compare ?

by **silverdreammachine** » Thu May 08, 2008 3:09 pm

Sad to say, I'm 6'4", my wife is 5'10" so the seats are always right back. Having had a look, it is safe to say these seats are only worth fitting if you use the back seats just for bags, storage, etc, not for passengers.

by **darrenbiggs** » Sat May 10, 2008 9:22 pm

Nice one Ashley.

Same seats as I fitted to mine ages ago: http://www.renaultalpineownersclub.com/ ... ight=seats

As you say slightly different in finish but thats partially down to the leather polishing up more over the years as you clean them.

They do grip you more though don't they? You certainly wouldn't want to try squeezing in if you were too big :lol: