Last time with no paint..

[Tourershine]

Today is the last day my van will have unfinished grills, and the piano black project commences tomorrow.

To date, I will be painting the upper and full lower grills, side repeaters, i'm tempted to loose the silver splitter, and not colour code, but also black this, but just need to see if that effect works how I want.
Lastly, the full mirrors will be body coloured, and might loose the VW carbon covers, because i'm still not sure about them...

So this is a pic from today that will be the last time I have to look at those unfinished parts of the van thank goodness!



I will add before and after pics after job is complete.

 

[B19DRG]

Look forward to seeing the results

 

[PukkaT6]

It is a lovely van

 

[Tourershine]

Thanks..

Stage1 of the project done

Annoyingly to remove the top grill, you have to remove the full bumper, which is a bit of a faff, but gives me a chance to re-fit the splitter that the dealer did, and it moves about. Note to anyone removing the side repeaters, they pop out quite easily, but the clear part does not separate from the black plastic surround, however, they are only £7.65 from VW. So not such an expensive breakage.
Mirrors are also a right faff, and not only did I need to remove all the door trims, to unplug the wiring loom, but I also separated the full mirror because I wanted a certain look, that will make it look more factory spec, but thats just my OCD. So each mirror is in a lot of separate parts when fully broken down.

We've decided to not paint the Silver splitter, and leave that as it is, but everything was going into the booth to be painted as I left, and should be ready to build back up tomorrow.




Again, not a straight forward job for what seemed like a few parts to be painted Black, but I know it will be worth all the fiddly bits when I put it all back together.
I'm lucky enough to use one of the best bodyshops in the UK, and these guys are more at home restoring vintage classics, and modern exotics, but they also do all my business Caravan and Motorhome paintwork, and all my Car and Van jobs, so I get to strip and prep everything myself, which I love and it makes a change from my usual day to day operations, plus the banter is always great.

Hopefully it should be all finished tomorrow and the next pics will be the done job.

 

[Deaky]

That’s great. Can’t wait to see it done.

 

[Tourershine]

Finally finished and all back together.
As you can see, the T6 looks a little out of place in this bodyshop, and it's more spot the rare cars..




Van finally finished after all the hard graft by myself and REO Motors in Oadby, Leicester.
Well chuffed with the results, and exactly the look I wanted. The gloss Black looks far better outside, and really makes the painted parts stand out.

 

[David Owen]

Its very subtle but what a difference! Personally I like the silver lip. Great job

 

[Tourershine]

Its very subtle but what a difference! Personally I like the silver lip. Great job

Thanks, it looks a little more dramatic outside, and I will get some better shots later.
As for the silver lip, my man at the bodyshop explained the reasons behind the silver bottom part, and how if I Blacked it, you'd loose the effect the VW wanted to incorporate, and it would look less aggressive and more soft, which I kind of understood. He knows more than I do, so I trusted his judgement, rather than doing something I might not of liked afterwards.

 

[Ed Webb]

Looking forward to some outside shots. Looks awesome

 

[Petehelmet]

Totally agree, so much better with the gloss black parts

 

[Generaljake]

very nice . any chance you can redo the first pic now with all the shiny?

 

[BAZT6]

Very nice, I agree with keeping a bit of silver to break it up. My in progress van is black and the whole of the front has got to be painted, bonnet is wrapped with carbon finish. I am toying with the idea of a stripe down the sides of the van and some of the same colour on the front end.
Baz

 

[RattyMcClelland]

]

Van finally finished after all the hard graft by myself and REO Motors in Oadby, Leicester.

Just down the road from me.

 

[Tourershine]

As requested..
Before



After

 

[Deaky]

Looks tha bollox mate. Bet your well pleased.

 

[Generaljake]

Looks tha bollox mate. Bet your well pleased.

+1

 

[PukkaT6]

+2

 

[Tourershine]

Thanks chaps, that actually means a lot. It's hard to balance the mods I want to achieve without going past a point that I find tacky. These things look ok from the factory, but need our little touches to make them stand out.
I do have a normal list of things I change on any of my vehicles, and that list never seems to change much. De-badge, paint any plastics, change wheels, but get as close to looking factory as possible, lower if needed, but without loosing too much ride quality, and just make look as mint as possible. This is my tried and trusted mod scheme I use every time, but it's always great when people notice the tiny details, and appreciate the work put in. (specially as it's my work vehicle) My business trades on it's reputation, and my image, and the image in my industry is hard work to keep where it is, but so worth all the effort and cost. (even if the accountant would disagree)

Anyway, not sure what I will do now it's finished.

 

[PukkaT6]

Its one of my fav mods so far - subtle but obvious

 

[Paul Holmes]

Very nice