Let's chuck a couple of these in to set the scene... B) B) B) All summered up? :D

Well, with any luck, that's the last we've seen of the gritters for a good few months, so it was time to put the ST alloys in to their "winter wheel" storage, and time to break out the shiny new polished face ST summer rims B)

Now i know the new wheels will soon have white corrosion streaks across the polished faces as soon as they get stonechipped and moisture creeps under the lacquer... Or will they?

I took the brand spanking new alloys straight over to the bodyshop... They flattenned off the new wheels, and applied many coats of fresh lacquer over the top... My thinking? Stones would have more layers of lacquer to break through to reach the polished surface underneath... Well, it might work!

We shall see...

Winter wheels on....

Summer wheels on....

Forgive the muck on the wheels, the tyres had just been mounted, so they were thick with tyre soap, oily fingerprints etc... plus the car was dirty as i'd used it for work...

They did look absolutely belting in the bright sun in the shop windows that i passed though...I'll give the fresh lacquer another week or so to fully cure before i give them a really detailed polish to remove the slight swirl marks left by the polishing mop...I swear i'll cry if i see a gritter truck now though!

Let's chuck a couple of these in to set the scene... B) B) B) All summered up? :D

Well, with any luck, that's the last we've seen of the gritters for a good few months, so it was time to put the ST alloys in to their "winter wheel" storage, and time to break out the shiny new polished face ST summer rims B)

Now i know the new wheels will soon have white corrosion streaks across the polished faces as soon as they get stonechipped and moisture creeps under the lacquer... Or will they?

I took the brand spanking new alloys straight over to the bodyshop... They flattenned off the new wheels, and applied many coats of fresh lacquer over the top... My thinking? Stones would have more layers of lacquer to break through to reach the polished surface underneath... Well, it might work!

We shall see...

Winter wheels on....

Summer wheels on....

Forgive the muck on the wheels, the tyres had just been mounted, so they were thick with tyre soap, oily fingerprints etc... plus the car was dirty as i'd used it for work...

They did look absolutely belting in the bright sun in the shop windows that i passed though...I'll give the fresh lacquer another week or so to fully cure before i give them a really detailed polish to remove the slight swirl marks left by the polishing mop...I swear i'll cry if i see a gritter truck now though!

Mate I prefer original st wheels personally - But awesome looking car !

Thanks mate! They're still ST wheels, just re-finished B) I know what you mean though, turned faces aren't everybodies "bag"... I think the combo works well with the grey paint though... ;)

Totally loving that estate :)

damn, they look good. you got 2 sets of good wheels there and the estate looks great.

Very nice :)

Cheers fella's! B) Your kind comments are very much appreciated, you lot have inspired me something rotten lately i must admit...You've cost me a few bob, but it's been 100% worth it! Plus, i'm enjoying the car more than ever,that's in no small part to all those on the forum that have given me words of advice and info... You should all pat yourselves on the back!

Now here's where the respect will get chucked out of the window... Bare with me before i post up the piccies

In my own defence here's the positives... Cheaper than caliper paint, less mess, fools others at a glance, they don't stand up to close scrutiny, but from the basis of "at a glance wow factor" I must admit, the following cheesy,chavvy, whatever you want to dub them "mods" have turned out a bit better than i anticipated!

Can anybody spot what i'm jabbering on about?

Rears....

Fronts....

: ) I want calipers like that , where did you get them, how much and where they easy to fit .

I want , I want , I want :)

Are you REALLY sure you want me to post a link leemax? I think i laid out all of £15 for the brake "upgrade" and they took less than 30 minutes to fit...

Well... ok... (the game's up) :D

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250849609290?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Nice caliper covers.

Cheers Clive, like i said mate, cheaper than a lot of caliper paints, no drips on my drive, no rushing to slap the paint on before the paint gets too gloopy to apply, no risk of paint splattering on the wheels when the car moves off,no brush cleaning.

Downsides would be they'll have to be (probably broken off) when the time coes to fit new pads... The pads only went on a couple of months back, so i'll probably get 12 months out of them if they don't fall off first! :D

Cheap and cheerful i say, and a little tongue in cheek i guess... I mean, would i really splash out on a new set of brakes for a 200,000 mile diesel estate car?

Are you REALLY sure you want me to post a link leemax? I think i laid out all of £15 for the brake "upgrade" and they took less than 30 minutes to fit...

LOL, They look the part I will give you that, and are a great idea , I just don't have time to paint my calipers so will have to get some of those I think.

They are universal covers, and do need attacking with a dremel cutting tool a bit to ensure a half decent fit...Once i was happy that the covers were sitting on the caliper ok, i simply cracked open a tube of tiger seal, plopped a few blobs of it on the rear of the covers, and stuck them on each relative caliper... I never even removed the wheels! :D :D :D

I was just careful threading the cover through the opening in the alloys... I then ripped the "lid" off the caliper cover box, folded it over a few times to make an impromptu wedge, and wedged the cardboard against the cover and the inner spoke of the wheel, simply to hold it steady till the tiger seal went off.

I fitted them around dinnertime, removed the wedges around dusk, gave the covers a good tug, and they appeared to be holding fast.

I did around 80 or so miles in the car today (laughing at the idiots queuing up for fuel) and the covers were still on upon my return! Now the brakes have had some heat put through them on the trip, i'm pretty sure the tiger seal is baked on well now, so i reckon the covers will stay put till i remove them for brake pad fitting. ;)

All I can say is !Removed! good find, and yes they do the job, definertly gonna get me self some of them sod it.

Are they very thick mate, I have the zetec s with the 18s on and I only have about 2cm clearence from the caliper to the wheel? Will they fit do you reckon :(

BDC

200,000 on the clock!

Well all I can say is, that motor is a credit to you. I bet if you could "hump it"......

You would :D

Cheers fella's! B) Your kind comments are very much appreciated, you lot have inspired me something rotten lately i must admit...You've cost me a few bob, but it's been 100% worth it! Plus, i'm enjoying the car more than ever,that's in no small part to all those on the forum that have given me words of advice and info... You should all pat yourselves on the back!

Now here's where the respect will get chucked out of the window... Bare with me before i post up the piccies

In my own defence here's the positives... Cheaper than caliper paint, less mess, fools others at a glance, they don't stand up to close scrutiny, but from the basis of "at a glance wow factor" I must admit, the following cheesy,chavvy, whatever you want to dub them "mods" have turned out a bit better than i anticipated!

Can anybody spot what i'm jabbering on about?

Rears....

Fronts....

Check this stuff out Ste..........

Are they very thick mate, I have the zetec s with the 18s on and I only have about 2cm clearence from the caliper to the wheel? Will they fit do you reckon :(

Yup, about the same clearance on my wheels too mate, the covers are probably only 4-5mm thick at the "thickest" part (if you catch my drift?)

I'm pretty sure they'll fit as they are universal, check out the site too as they do them in a variety of colours, i plumped for the black un's as they are the most discreet of the available colours... I kept meaning to do the lettering in silver instead of white, but i forgot! (DOH!)

Nobody should have any issues fitting them just so long as they have a dremel with a cutting bit on it to hand... I was cutting off a couple of mil here, a couple of mil there, then re-test fitting till i was happy that the cover was sitting as square as possible... Keep an eye on the top lip of the covers too before bonding, it gets close to (or can touch) the brake disc if you aren't careful, might be worth whittling a few mil off that section too, just to be sure... ;)

BDC

200,000 on the clock!

Well all I can say is, that motor is a credit to you. I bet if you could "hump it"......

You would :D

Thanks! You do yourself a disservice sir! You don't sound grumpy at all! (and P.S. The cheques in the post for your kind comments) B)

Check this stuff out Ste..........

Woah! What's that stuff? Is it a sort of wax that's applied beforehand? Seals whatever it goes onto making cleaning easier afterwards? I loved the short clip on one of the side links where the water really easily beaded off the wing! So in theory, you could jet wash the car, then jump on a dual carriageway to dry it? B)

Yup, about the same clearance on my wheels too mate, the covers are probably only 4-5mm thick at the "thickest" part (if you catch my drift?)

I'm pretty sure they'll fit as they are universal, check out the site too as they do them in a variety of colours, i plumped for the black un's as they are the most discreet of the available colours... I kept meaning to do the lettering in silver instead of white, but i forgot! (DOH!)

Nobody should have any issues fitting them just so long as they have a dremel with a cutting bit on it to hand... I was cutting off a couple of mil here, a couple of mil there, then re-test fitting till i was happy that the cover was sitting as square as possible... Keep an eye on the top lip of the covers too before bonding, it gets close to (or can touch) the brake disc if you aren't careful, might be worth whittling a few mil off that section too, just to be sure... ;)

Cool thanks a lot mate, I will order some and fit them, I will let you know howi get on. :)

Woah! What's that stuff? Is it a sort of wax that's applied beforehand? Seals whatever it goes onto making cleaning easier afterwards? I loved the short clip on one of the side links where the water really easily beaded off the wing! So in theory, you could jet wash the car, then jump on a dual carriageway to dry it? B)

Google for Armour All Wheel Protectant, check youtube clips. I don't know why they don't sell it in Europe , but you can get it from USA.

be carefull they dont come loose and ruin the alloys tiger seal is the most common but the brake heat can make them fall off with a big blob of tiger seal on the cover it literally unsticks some use glue and various epoxies to stick them....i only say as i looked at them a month or so back and heard stories of them coming off and making a nasty mess of alloys and doing some damage to the cars behind in the process ide say give them a good tug every so often

Cool thanks a lot mate, I will order some and fit them, I will let you know howi get on. :)

No worries bud... You should get on ok with em... The fitting will make much more sense once you have them in your hand and you can see "what's what"... I'd do it when you know you you won't be using the car again that day, it'll give the sealant a bit longer to "go off"...