Classic Car restoration Archives

August 28, 2018September 17, 2018

Ms Renault Megane from top of a hill

We read the Facebook trash and treasure ad with interest as it has all the elements of what we want for a Nano/Mechanical blog project. So for this blog this is where the adventure starts.

The Megane was described as having a mechanical failure but well looked after in it’s life. It was about 200kms from our place which is a further away then we would like but we decided to reach out and see what this car held for us. After many months for what started out to be a reasonably straight forward Nano/Mechanical restoration ended up dishing out lots of surprises as you will read below, but we did get it finished.

We arranged to go and see the car to determine if it was a feasible project and if so buy the car, then go back and get the car on a car trailer using one of our other DIY project cars as the tow vehicle.

We left to go see the car and hit road works all the way delaying us about an hour but on getting there we were greeted by a massive great dane closely followed by 2 chihuahuas and 2 Shetland ponies who looked on with slight interest.

The Megane was sitting on a hill on it’s own. We took a look at the car and saw that the car had been licked clean in some places by a big tongue, possibly from a cow or that great dane. The body was in good condition with some battle scares in the usual spots but for our purposes these are acceptable.

We could not see the mechanical fault that was described so we spent about an hour looking at the basics. There were no faults in the OBC so we determined that the problem was more than likely the cam belt was broken. Super hard to see the condition of the belt on these engines without some effort. So we decided to buy the car anyway.

A few days later we leave pre-dawn and drive the 200kms with a car trailer using our Mazda Tribute to do the heavy hauling. Surprisingly the Tribute did the towing of the trailer very easily.

We get to the Megane, load up and head back to base. On the way we stop to check the tie-down tensions out font of a second hand wares shop that had a lychee covered VW beetle for sale out front. The owner came out to find out more about Ms Megane’s issues and fate. During the conversation he made an offer that was well above what we paid for but we gracefully declined his offer and got on our way.

The following day we decided to have a look at the cam belt and got to work. As suspected the cam belt idler pulley bearing had failed and the belt had broken as a result. We needed to remove the head anyway to see what level of damage had been caused as this is like almost all engines of this era are interference engines so the pistons and valves occupy the same space, meaning there would be some internal engine damage.

Engine damage

A few hours later we had our answers. very minimal damage had occured to the internal engine. Very, very lucky. We sent the Head off to one of the finest Automotive engineers we know in Mr. Phil Baker to recondition the head. While that is being done we will get to work on the rest of the car.

What we need to do:

Wash and claybar the car with NDG Mega Gloss wash
Cut and polish the paintwork and carry out paint correction
Replace the passenger door regulator
Remove buckle from front rim
Find radio code
Hyperseal the body and all other plastic parts
Order trim clips
Refit plastic trims that are missing screws
Replace the water pump and other seals
Service the injectors
Order colour coded touch-up paint

Mid way phase

We get to work on locating and ordering the parts we need.
We start on the bodywork NDG DIY bodywork coating process.
Wash and claybar the car
Carry out paint correction on several areas of the car.
Re-secure any body plastic parts
Clean engine bay and apply NDG Instant engine gloss
Recharge battery
Check and change all fuses

Some weeks later,

We assembled the engine replacing the waterpump, idler, Timing belt and tension and various bolts and this got the Megane back on the road.

We took it for it’s first road test. 1 and 2nd gear it all sounded good then as we grab 3rd we hear a bearing growl start-up in the gearbox and this only got worse in 4th and 5th. Dam, this is not something we needed to have happen!

Out comes the gearbox and stripped down. Noisy bearing found and the search started for the bearing kit. No kits in Australia so a kit was ordered from the UK which arrived a week later.

With the Gearbox rebuilt and installed into the car we get to detailing the car and Hyperseal the body and plastics and fitting the new passenger front window regulator.

All done.

Plan is to drive the car for a couple of weeks and then put it onto the open market to sell. But, it turned out so dam nice ans so much fun to drive it is tempting to keep it!!!.

An Update to the Megane.

It is certainly a head turner and people want to know what it is, Sounds strange as they are common but not so in rural Australia, they are around but tend to blend in as most are standard looking commuters.

The car was delivered to it’s new owner Narelle in Sept 18 and, she loved the car the moment she laid eyes on it.

July 15, 2018

Matte Vinyl Wrap Restoration

We have always claimed that our Hyperseal is an excellent coating for Vinyl wrapped cars. Here we have photographed a recent job that was on a late 2000’s BMW 740il that has had a metal flaked matte vinyl wrapping for approximately 6 years.

First inspection of the wrap showed that bird droppings had left their permanent mark on the horizontal surfaces and that the Suns UV rays had dried out the same surfaces. The metal flakes were very dull and the surface looked 1 dimensional.

There were several large scratch marks on the Boot/Trunk lid possibly from shopping bags or boxes being dragged on or off but other than that the wrap adhesion was as good as ever.

The restoration plan.

The plan was to restore the wrap to look unified in it’s appearance and the original Metallic flake Matte look.

First we washed the car with Mega Gloss Wash to clean the surface well

Using a waffle pad and an orbital buffing machine on low speed applied Hyperseal to the horizontal services and hand applied Hyperseal after misting all the panels with water to the vertical surfaces and left to settle for 30 minutes.

Using the same pad and machine on midrange speed we buffed the excess Hyperseal.

The Bonnet/Hood and Boot/Trunk took some work. The dryness was worse than it first seemed so it took 3 coats of Hyperseal & polishing process to get the look and feel of a newly wrapped car in all it’s glory.

The owner was beyond happy with the result and so were we.

The end result.

End

April 2, 2018April 3, 2018

SummerNats 2018 & 2019

Summernats is an Australian must do if you are interested in over powered cars that can win an event by being the most entertaining and fastest to shred tyres down to the rims (an beyond in some cases). Mullet hair styles are your ticket into the cultural inner circle in Canbra (Nats abbreviation for Canberra).

A number of cars were already NDG Automotive product users so we had the opportunity to see these cars in their natural environment of the Summernats in Canberra (or Canbro as the local vernacular calls it).

The smell of burning rubber and over fuelled engines and screams of Supercharged V8’s added to the whiffs of red bull drinks combine to being unique sensations. Almost worth bottling it as a motorhead fragrance.

More on the Summernats can be found here

News of the day is that NDG Products will be Sponsoring the Event for 2019 and exhibiting our NDG products with live demonstrations over the Summernats week with great prizes and challenges for competitors and travelling visitors in true NDG testing program style. More on that and other programs later in the year.

February 26, 2018March 7, 2018

Tutankhamun’s Chopper resurrection

Tutankhamun would not be rolling in his tomb after we finished this bike. We think he would have his servants hand him his matching gold helmet so he could cruise the Nile boulevard at sunset.

We came across this bike in Dubai where we were looking to do a demo on a custom bike. We were given this bike which was an early 90’s bike that had some oxidisation and just dulled off in every way.

The real gold paper motifs were certainly dull and the chrome didn’t have any shine at all.

We got to work and gave it the NDG restoration process which takes some time as bikes are a lot harder than cars with all the exposed areas and tight spots to access. Everything is viewable to the beholder.

Three days later the bike is finished complete with NDG Self Healing coating on the painted surfaces and NDG Hyperseal on all the other surfaces for restoration and sealing in the goodness.

It kind of reminds us of the ancient embalming process where a lot of care and skill are used to restore and preserve for the future to come.

The results were beyond what anyone expected.

A true Showroom new look was achieved, once again.

The bike was taken to a auto show in Abu Dhabi and it won Custom bike of the show! This was against all new comers from all corners of the world.

Tutankhamun would be well pleased.

February 26, 2018March 7, 2018

Lost, but still very worthy

We were alerted to a car that was iconic as the fleet car of choice in the long country and city roads of Australia. In their day you would be hard pressed not to see at least 1 of these Australian built Mitsubishi Magna’s on any drive anywhere.

Here we have a wagon version of this car. Super versatile with being a very reliable 3.5ltr v6 and fold down flat rear seat made it excellent for travelling sales people to securely transport their samples to show clients.

The cars were good for well over 500,000kms of hammering without more than the normal service items which in this case were very cheap in comparison to other vehicles.

Enough of the preamble and into what we found.

Lost, but still very worthy — Been a long time since these were cleaned

We found an excellent low milage example of one of these 2001 Australian produced Mitsubishi Magna that had been sitting in the spot we found it for 8 years and was owned by an elderly couple of almost all it’s life. Before coming to rest here the car was a daily commuter and didn’t leave the city of 50,000 population so it idled along.

The DIY work begins

First thing to do was check the oil and coolant levels and put in a fresh battery to see if it would start. It had a full tank of fuel which would be stale but enough to start the engine.

A few cranks to get the oil pressure up and then we went at a proper start which it did just like it was driven the day before.

4 washes later we had something we could move to the DIY driveway and get on with seeing if we could get the showroom new look using our NDG products.

https://ndgproducts.com/lost-but-still-very-worthy/ — 4 Mega Gloss Washes later

6 hours were spent on the car to detail it inside and out but it turned out looking brand new. A sensational result!!

The Before & After Images

The car will head to it’s new owner soon enough and will be a good solid workhorse.

We are tempted to keep this one as a low cost reliable, useful car.

February 25, 2018March 7, 2018

9 Years in the baking Sun

The Mighty Toyota Starlet

9 Years in the baking Sun.

Here, we go deep. Deeper than we have ever taken our products before, just to see what we can achieve using just normal DIY tools and techniques just to prove that our NDG Automotive products are truly DIY products and that great results can be achieved, at home, in your driveway.

This project was a huge success with the car looking close to showroom condition in every way. NDG Automotive Specialty surface coatings are true DIY superhero’s.

The Project

We found this 1997 Toyota Starlet sitting in a front yard where it had sat for 9 long years in the Harsh Australian climate. What happened before it arrived in the front yard it’s owner cannot recall so it’s history is lost to the mist of time.

So after negotiating removing the car and completing the relevant paperwork we asked for the keys. We were handed a big bag of keys and told that the keys were in that bag. 30 minutes and 87 keys later we had no luck finding the car keys or the wheel locks. We then broke into the car and removed the door lock to get the key code and crossed our fingers that this was not a chip enabled key system and got a key cut at the local locksmith.

Next day we went back to the car armed with “Start ya Bastard” spray and a spare battery to see if we could start the engine, so we were lucky with the key. (see video of this process).

We got the car to start after a bit of clutch encouragement using Start ya Bastard but something was wrong with the fuel system.

We removed the fuel sender and pump from the tank and found it completely crystallised. So we know that the engine runs and the clutch is operational so we left this for the moment.

We removed the wheels and fitted another temporary set and moved to the car to our driveway where the DIY process of restoration would begin.

So far so good.

We went to the local wreckers in search of a donor car and we found one so we were in luck.

We took off the mechanicals we needed and the windscreen and go to work on our project. So far we spent $200 on the parts we needed. All the tyres were buried in the dirt and dry rotted.

First thing we needed to do was to get the car running so we cleaned the inside of the fuel tank with the donor fuel sender, fuel pump unit, fuel filter and some fresh fuel, and got the engine to fie up straight away. So we took it for a short drive to check out whether it drove ok or not.

Outside of a noisy front wheel bearing we were solid as it drove great once we got the brake discs to burn the surface rust off the brake discs. Back to the wreckers to get the wheel bearing and brake discs.

Wheel bearing and Brake discs and pads replacement

Next steps

To start the DIY process while the new tyres were being fitted. as
Wash and claybar the body using NDG Mega Gloss Wash and NDG Claybar lubricant and remove the pin strips off the body.
Remove a couple of dents
We got our resident artist to produce son JDM Toyota stickers to cover the baked in stickers and to make the car look a little more appealing.
Replaced the windscreen

We then we cleaned out the interior using:

NDG Nil Odour
NDG Instant Detailer
NDG Bio Crystal Magic
NDG IPA
Applied Shield 120 to the windscreen

The results made the abandoned wreck look completely showroom new.

The abandoned wreck look before we started

Showroom New results!

We needed to re-trim some of the side panels where the vinyl was lifting.

Fitted a genuine radio system and sorted out some hack job wiring that someone had done in the past.

Down to the final touches.

We then carried out the NDG Hyperseal process in true DIY fashion driveway style which brought back the original shine to the paintwork and added the new decals and serviced the AC system.

The car passed roadworthiness inspection so the project comes to an end.

This Toyota Starlet turned out to be a really nice car.

A GREAT SUCCESS.

The end result was we advertised the car on the local car mart website and it sold within the first week to the first buyer.

Before and after shots

July 22, 2017July 23, 2017

Barn Find restoration

For this Barn Find restoration we found an old 1974 Mercedes 230.6 in a shed covered in a vine and spider webs. The challenge was to take the car from the spiders and using only NDG Nano products bring the car to roadworthy levels in 1 day.

First was to drag the car from the abyss and have a look at what it will take.

The Chosen treatments were.

NDG Mega Gloss Car Wash (scented in Old Leather)
NDG Clay Bar
NDG IPA
NDG Genesis Compound
NDG Instant detailer
NDG Hyperseal
NDG Vinyl & Leather treatments
NDG Long life Tire Shine
Shield 120

The end results

At the 24hour mark the finished product rolled out onto the streets to go for Registration/Title testing. It passed first go and a street cruise was a mandatory conclusion.

Before

After

First Event invitation

There are many cars that could have been asked to attend a photoshoot for the reopening of a long ago closed Drive-in. The Mercedes balanced the mix of predominately US classics.

July 22, 2017March 4, 2018

Bling my Lawn Mower

Bling my Mower Challenge

Without sounding a bit Top Gear we are handed these challenges and don’t get a lot of say in what they will be but Bling my Mower is the only way to say this. In all honesty we were thinking something classic as this is what we were told and, our minds went automatically to pre-80’s something but none of us were thinking, LAWN MOWER.

Ok here we go.

This is a 4 year old Honda Mower that has seen it share of lawn hours and it’s share of neglect from the day it was bought. We are going to “Nano the Hell out of it“, just because we can. Our job is to take it from it’s current condition and make it look new, and remain looking new.

What is needed:

Deep clean with NDG Bio crystal Magic
Hyperseal treatment
Time & effort

The results

Well we were all surprised with what we achieved. It really looks new and in fact the owner walked past it thinking it was a new mower that someone else owned. Not such a stupid idea after-all but we are all thinking that a washing machine will come along soon enough.

Here are the photo results:

Before After

July 22, 2017March 7, 2018

How to improve on perfection

55 Chevy Hyperseal.

We are committed to developing our products to suit the Classic show cars maintenance which is a world of the least amount of times you need to touch, wash and or wax a car the better.

This is where NDG’s Hyperseal and Mega Gloss Wash come into a league of their own. We carried out a training day for the owner of a Classic and Muscle car renovation and High end spray painting business who also built and owns this superb example of a 55 Chevy coupe.

The end result on the Chevy training day was a long lasting super glassy finish, just the way you want it to be. It looked superb in the late day sun and one of those moments where a picture cannot capture what you are seeing. We did try and some of the pics are below the video.

Training

After the normal preparation processes we trained the staff of High Gloss Spray Painting how to apply our products to show cars and specialty paint jobs; Mega Gloss Car Wash is a long lasting wash coating that lasts a month on normal use road cars. Show cars several months if not more and has excellent anti static properties to repel electrically charged dust particles. It also has good anti micro scratch properties (when someone leans on the paintwork it usually leaves micro scratches). Hyperseal Mega Gloss and UV polish which is applied and finished like a normal polish and lasts 12 months on a normal use road car. For show cars 3 years can be achieved. Hyperseal has excellent UV resistance properties and can resist some heavy handling scratches. But the big feature for show cars is that it has a glass like gloss finish.

Show Car

Here is a story of the car winning awards at the Summernats in Canberra.
NDG will be supporting this Chevy show car when it attends events.

Some more news on the Chevy.

After the win in Tamworth in May where the car was trailered on an open trailer for 4.5hours, Bill says that he “was surprised that there was no effort in getting the car prepared for the show after the drive”.

We are sure that there will be more news on this car.

Another win for the Chevy with Hyperseal finish.

July 20, 2017July 22, 2017

Ford XY Wedding Day

An Australian classic muscle car is getting ready for a wedding but it was looking a bit dull.

We were asked to give it the once over with NDG’s Champion, Hyperseal.

After looking at the car and doing a few tests it was decided not to Compound polish the paintwork as the car had been resprayed and not done that well. Plus, the pin-stripes had just been installed so the risk of damaging the paintwork and stripes was too high to do a full compound polish so we decided to DA polished the safe areas with NDG Genesis Compound and clay-bar’d the rest of the bodywork using NDG Mega Gloss Wash as the lubricant.

Even with these challenges we achieved the desired results.

The weather had been great so far, but, had been forecast to turn cold and rainy during the day. Just as we were about to Hyperseal the car the weather turned cold and rainy.

It was a good demonstration to show that Hyperseal is not affected by cold or inclement weather so we just carried on applying the coating.

On finishing the car the owner got the classic car owner fever with wanting to do more to the car as it was looking great. The rear spoiler needed some TLC so it was removed for restoration which gave us the opportunity to do some more work on the trunk lid.

We had a ball working on this iconic piece of Aussie motoring and, we loved the way the car came out with it’s rich burgundy colour shinning and contrasting against the big Australian sky.

Yes the wedding went ahead without a hitch.

NDG Hyperseal is a great Champion all-rounder Specialty surface coating for cars with superior UV resistance and 1 to 3 years service.

NDG Hyperseal is available here