Dave

No masking required although I was initially going to mask it. Just got to be carefull, don't keep the gun concentrated on one area for too long. I used the flat narrow tip for the gun so more controlable where the heat goes, and had the gun around 10cm's away from the panel. Basically start at one end, pointing the heat gun at the one section for no more than 2 to 5 seconds then move along the part slowly, so it's spending 2 to 5 seconds heating the bit that's in front of it. I had the tip horizontal, so it was only really heating the plastic, not the paint (although some heat obviously transfers as it's blown over the plastic). I moved the gun slightly up and down towards the edges of the trim as I moved along it. I did 3 passes over the trim like this, then stopped to let the trim cool down and also let the gun cool down. Once gun has cooled down, move to next bit of trim. Once all are done, go back to the start and do it again. Think in total I did 9 passes over the trim (with the stops as mentioned above) and it came out really well. Like I say, just got to be careful and methodical with the movement. And your spot on mate, the theory from what I've read/watched is that the natural oils and dyes in the plastic move from within it back to the surface, which leaves it looking like new again. Highly recommend it! Going to give DD's one final pass, then might do poppy's arches/kit (although it's still pretty black tbh).

Did a little bit of resto work on DD recently. Her plastic door trims and sills were looking faded and patchy (as all car trim goes over time) so decided it was time to do something about it. Normally just put back to black on them once shes been washed, but the effect only lasts a few days so wanted a more permanent solution. Had seen videos of folk using heat guns/blow torches and it's meant to make them like new again. Thought, right, lets give it a bash! Had the heat gun on a low heat and took my time with it... Heat gun at the ready! Drivers door trim done, can see the difference compared to the wee bit trim on the front wing which hasn't been done. And after.. Drivers door (done) compared to rear door (not done) All done including the sills Wee photo of DD and Poppy together Really impressed with how they turned out. A week later, and they still look like that so going to give them another wee go over with the gun then maybe seal it with silicon spray. Has made a big difference to how she looks as she's now dirty again but trims look good!

yes, I never get tired of the MB/MC shape. To me it's a classic 90's design, simple and classy.

Look at the space in the rear of the bus! That's amazing mate, can see the appeal of these, so practical but still look sweet! The Broon bus looks to be packed to capacity Simon lol

TypeR is looking spot on mate, shame about the drive shaft though. That wee Clio is prefect 1st car for your boy.

Hi mate and welcome. The Civic M's get there model codes depending on year/body style/what engine is fitted. So all the MB2's are 1.4cc D series, but you can have base, LS, sport trim designations. Going by the black mirrors/handles, it looks like yours is the base model. But even these could be specced up when new, so you'll possibly have the electric pack (electric front windows, electric sunroof and electric mirrors). Good thing with these cars is it's easy to improve the spec so you can fit interiors from the sport/VTi or even go full leather and fit the seats etc from the ES model. Yours looks really clean and tidy, and love them in white. Linking your plans for the VTi/VTiS kit, it really does improve the looks. The rear spoiler from the MGZS Rover also fits, as does the Accord TypeR (slight modification needed if I remember rightly). I also had the FN2, fast as hell but in the end I couldn't keep up with the fuel bill and the suspension was way to hard for me personally. Stunning looking cars though, even today still look fresh! Enjoy the club mate and any Q's just ask

Still not a patch on yours though mate, I'd say yours is the next level. Very nicely restored and modified

Seen videos on you tube of that one Andrew, quick car too! Price is a bit over the top though!

lol just noticed this! I meant to post that in Poppy's thread! It's Poppy who passed her MOT, DD's isn't due till next month lol

Not heard of a J-pipe before mate. Yeah, if it's even touching it in the slightest, the vibration will give louder noise. So, got the standard pass side back box, and got the mid section heated up and knocked back into shape so they fit like a glove together. Well Happy! Fitting it wasn't easy as the standard exhaust has a fair bit of weight to it, but Gayle gave me a hand and we got it on. That bloody extra bracing reared its ugly head again! Even though I had fired the torx bolts in and out loads of times after fitting the stainless exhaust, and covering the bolts in copper grease before hand, one bloody bolt had siezed solid! I mean "how????" Impact gun wouldn't even shift it (in the end it destroyed the torx head). Don't understand why it stuck, the rest came out ok. And when fitted, the threads were so clean/free you could do them all the way up by your fingers then do the final torque with the ratchet, so puzzles me. Did manage to swivel the grace around enough to give just enough room to get the exhaust past it. Fired her up, no leaks at all, exhaust sounds perfect! Nice and quiet, although if giving her beans, you still get a very subtle gurgle on over run which is exactly what we wanted. Picks up really nice too, can hold a conversation easily with passengers, and can hear the supercharger whine again!! Oh, can also hear the annoying squeak from the dash that I had forgot about, but can fix that by either fitting some felt to the back of the trim where it goes on the dash........or turn the radio up louder! lol Poppy is now driving sweet, ready for some summer fun!

Maybe try an exhaust bung thingy mate, see if that quietens it down a bit?

hydrogen is the way forward totally! I've said time and time again I'd sign up to that, zero emission fuel

Well, it just seems to have got more and more noisy as it's bedded is. So much so that when we went to Glasgow at the weekend, the motorway bit was unbearable. 60mph onwards, the noise is horrible! You press the throttle even a couple of mm, the noise becomes deafening. Put the foot down in 6th and where she would pick up really quickly before on standard exhaust, now there is just a whole lot of noise and the pick up is slow. Not happy with it at all tbh, it's basically just the typical shitty boy-ricer exhaust imo. Had a check and doesn't appear to be blowing anywhere (that was my 1st thought), and last night even on the wee run over to the moors to the next village (where you barely get above 40-45mph) the sound was loud as hell. Going through villages even at speeds as low as 20mph (yeah, we got 20mph limits here!), lift off even 1mm on the throttle and it sounds like a bloody machine gun. Just makes the car sound clapped out. I still have the brand new front section that arrived squashed flat at one end (which I've managed to get back into shape, just needs final fettling with the blow torch and the wee hammer), and have found a 3 month old standard back box for £45. Salvaged one hanger from the old standard exhaust (other was rusted to hell) so new hanger bought for £30. Trouble is the back box is a 2 hour drive away! So guess what car we're going in? Yeah, DD! She's prefect for the long drive, nice and quiet and only noisy when you want her to be, and nice and comfy. Picking it up tomorrow after work so will have a look at fitting it all this weekend if I get time. Stainless one will get put up for sale, some local boy racer will no doubt be happy with it! Malian exhausts = cheap noisy crap!

hehe, yeah, but DD din't want to give up her shoes for too long.....fitted them back on DD during my lunch break today lol. Poppy back on her black rims now......oh.....and the new exhaust...it's coming off! Bloody hate it! But that's another story that will be posted soon by future Dave. It's his problem lol Stay tuned!

Sooooo...................MOT day and they've just called. She's passed!!! Went to have a look on the gov mot website to see if any advisories but they must be updating it as she currently shows as a red Astra!! She was deffo showing as a mini on their at the start of the week lol. So chuffed, always dread the 1st mot I put a car through as it can sometimes show up things you couldn't see when buying them. Although, tbf, I have been pretty much up close and personal with Poppy's underside with all the exhaust work etc lol Picking her up later so looking forward to getting to drive her again! Off to Glasgow tomorrow in Poppy to Gayle's sisters so be first long run since all the work was done.

bloody hell mate, you put us all to shame! What an amazing build this is, she just keeps evolving and improving (even when you think being better just isn't possible!!) Loving it mate!

MA's/MB's and MC's all have twin reversing lights regardless of which country they have been made for. Only thing that differs is the rear fog light. For right hand drive models, the rear fog is on the right, and for left hand drive models its on the left. Think thats the only difference to our civics lights for different countries. Some have converted the rear fogs to twins so have both lights lighting up, and can also run them as twin sidelights and fogs with a bit of wiring. There's a guide in the forum for this too

Stunning Aerodeck mate and first Civic Aerodeck SR I have ever seen. As said above, love the fabric on the half leather seats, looks sweet! Love the recovered steering wheels too, the perforated leather really updates it! Can't wait to see this with the VTi Fans fitted. Stunning condition mate and lovely Aerodeck.

If you look at the 2nd pic of her in our drive (next to the gates) you can just make out our "pet" pheasant in the background! He's usually hangs aroundd the garden and shouts at us when he wants fed (and if ignored looks in the patio doors and taps on the window!) Now affectionately known as "Phil the Pheasant" lol

Soooo.....been a right royal pain in the butt, but have finally managed to get Poppy's new radiators and coolant hoses fitted. When I say fitted, what I mean is this is the 3rd time they've been fitted!!!! 1st time, all fitted, ran car for about 20 mins, no leaks, system bled, happy days! started bolting front back together. Ran for a further 15 mins, bloody coolant all over floor!! She'd sprung a leak where the new hose was fitted to the water pump Turns out it was sitting just past the wee groove that sticks up on the pump, so was causing a slight gap when heated up. Refitted hose, tested again! Ran her for approx 1hour 40 mins as I wanted to be really sure there were no more leaks. Ran fine, system bled and all good. bolted most of the front back on, only part left was bumper. Started her up to leave her running while I fitted it....10 mins later, coolant everywhere! Coming from same bloody bit too, although I had to completely strip down the front of the car again to see where it was coming from. Took the new hose off and realised that it came off rather too easily. Hose was too big on the end where it goes onto the pump (its smaller at the other end on the radiator) so was never gonna seal properly once heated up. Ended up cutting the hose back a bit to where it was smaller diameter, then refitted it (along with a new clip). Fitted nice and tight now and hose length is fine. Ran her for 2 and a half hours solid, both on tickover and at around 3k revs. System was a total pain to bleed this time, but got there in the end. Happy to say, thats the last of the leaks! Started putting her back together again... Then got her fitted with DD's alloys, then full valet done on her ready for MOT. We took her for a wee test drive along the back lanes and she drove spot on! Temp stays where it should, no leaks, exhaust sounds fruity! Gayle loves the wee burble on over run, and nice tone to the exhaust. We did get a fright however as we stopped to turn round and come back. Could see steam/smoke coming from engine bay and weird smell....thought she had caught fire! We both jumped out quickly and I popped the bonnet to check. Lots of what at first looked like smoke but turned out to be steam coming from down behind the airbox/gearbox area. realised it must have been the coolant that over flowed when I was trying to bleed her the last time (I'd forgot to put the cap back on and she boiled up and blew it out everywhere over the bay. So must have been that just getting burned off with the heat thankfully! Anyhoo, here's some pics in our driveway (pre-valet) and the last one in the garage is after she's been valeted.

Think the rolling diameter is the same on them due to the profile, although with the 16's I put on a larger profile tyre so those ones deffo fill the arches better. The wee 14's are just the standard size profile. It's making my choice of new wheels (which is a long way down the line) for the MINI a bit easier, she really suits the dished wheels. Always wanted to see what she'd be like with 16's (has 17's as standard) and thought the 16's if dished might look too small? They look bob on I think!

So, not much been happening lately for DD, just enjoying her new life cruising about all the lovely wee country roads we have here. Due the MINIs MOT coming up and needing a tyre or two replaced (and I'm skint!) decided that Poppy could borrow DD's shoes for the mot for now. So DD's now wearing her OEM alloys, which are still in amazing nick considering they're all original, never been refurbed. Weird seeing her on the 14's again lol

Right, time to put an end to these Russian twats. Closing all guest sections on the forum for security and to avoid spam attacks.

@KiNK43 Nice catch Jake!

where did you find those????? Looks amazing mate, so much nicer than the wee standard ones. Are those the genuine OEM big fogs? Are the casings on those the same kinda white metal as our small ones or are they plastic (would prefer plastic!)