DiddlyDonker's FR PD170

[DiddlyDonker]

Went for a drive along the Welsh mountainous roads the other day so I thought I'd snap a photo!

Recently fitted my face lift climate control unit, need to plastidip the fascias to get them matching and change the LEDs from red to white then I'll post some pics. Looks a lot better than standard and for £30 I couldn't say no!

 

[KebabWarrior81]

Looking good there fella

 

[DiddlyDonker]

Looking good there fella

Cheers pal

 

[Daniel M]

Coming along really well mate. Love the white smd's, wouldn't have a clue myself lol

 

[DiddlyDonker]

Coming along really well mate. Love the white smd's, wouldn't have a clue myself lol

Thanks , if you know how to solder it's really simple.

 

[patty101]

Car looking nice mate You got a big car history for you age :O

 

[DiddlyDonker]

Car looking nice mate You got a big car history for you age :O

I do, I just cant make my mind up

 

[DiddlyDonker]

So got round to fitting my FL climate control unit and getting the LEDs converted to white the other day. Looks a lot better just need to paint the plastics in satin black so everything is matching and the interior should be looking a whole lot better! The only problem is the FL climate control unit is almost impossible to see during the day when in sunlight as it is extremely poorly illuminated, something to do with the pre FL wiring I suppose? Something to consider if you plan on buying one for your pre FL. Also it does tend to rattle quite a bit when accelerating which can be quite annoying. Again probably the fitting of the pre FL, I don't know. Anyway here are some pics:

During the day (Very difficult to see the lights):

White LEDs:

Decided to have done what I had with the pre FL unit, the 'Lo' in blue and 'Hi' in red:

And altogether:

 

[MATTCR]

that looks awesome bud

 

[DiddlyDonker]

that looks awesome bud

Thanks mate, just need to get round to spraying it all. Have other things on my mind at the moment though, 4 round things to be exact

 

[MATTCR]

haha i'll go check out that thread and see where you're up to with them

 

[DiddlyDonker]

look what arrived today!



Had them fitted earlier for the cost of 3 hours labour, but I had to work this afternoon and evening so can't pick the car up until tomorrow. Can't wait!

I'll post some pictures when I get the car back.

 

[KebabWarrior81]

look what arrived today!



Had them fitted earlier for the cost of 3 hours labour, but I had to work this afternoon and evening so can't pick the car up until tomorrow. Can't wait!

I'll post some pictures when I get the car back.

Niiiice interested to see the pics mate

 

[DiddlyDonker]

Got the car back today and I can safely say, I'm more than happy with the results!

Should have taken before and after pictures really, but didn't think at the time:

40mm H&R Lowering springs fill the arches perfectly!

Oh ye, I also got a new set of alloys. Not to everyones taste I can imagine, but as money is tight at the moment and the fact they were only £175 including four tyres I couldnt say no

A lot of thanks to MATTCR for helping me out with the wheels and kindly giving me his set of tapered bolts, and to Daniel M for the advice on the lowering springs. Cheers guys!

Need to get the wheels aligned at some point but I've read you should let the springs settle. How long is the usual wait time?

Thanks for looking!

 

[KebabWarrior81]

Got the car back today and I can safely say, I'm more than happy with the results!

Should have taken before and after pictures really, but didn't think at the time:

40mm H&R Lowering springs fill the arches perfectly!

Oh ye, I also got a new set of alloys. Not to everyones taste I can imagine, but as money is tight at the moment and the fact they were only £175 including four tyres I couldnt say no

A lot of thanks to MATTCR for helping me out with the wheels and kindly giving me his set of tapered bolts, and to Daniel M for the advice on the lowering springs. Cheers guys!

Need to get the wheels aligned at some point but I've read you should let the springs settle. How long is the usual wait time?

Thanks for looking!

Looks spot on mate, going to leave mine a week before hunter aligned with a fast road setup

What size are your new wheels?

 

[DiddlyDonker]

Looks spot on mate, going to leave mine a week before hunter aligned with a fast road setup

What size are your new wheels?

Thanks pal. Week the usual wait before they should be aligned?

18" the wheels, better than the chunky tyre 17" IMO

 

[MATTCR]

Them wheels look ace mate, lot better than I thought they would

 

[KebabWarrior81]

Thanks pal. Week the usual wait before they should be aligned?

18" the wheels, better than the chunky tyre 17" IMO

Regards settling time it depends how many miles you do I guess. But regardless I'd say leave it a few days before any alignment mate.

My circumstances have now changed with the hunter!

Markrich is very kindly helping to do the rears tomorrow.(I've never done them before but he knows what he's doing) then the fronts are booked in next week. Have booked in for the alignment on the following Wednesday.

So the rears will have settled easily by then.

Mark knows how to do the front but when he did his (two years newer than mine) his fronts were seized and couldn't budge the bolts so doubt mine will be any different. Plus don't want to stress him out trying to be honest as that's not fair.

I'm ruining 18's like yourself with 225/40R18 tyres so hopefully it will sit as good as yours once done.

Sad I know but just measured the gap on mine and the tyre to arch at the rears is approx 65mm and 55mm on the front!

Obviously I don't know what yours is but either way it's a darn sight better than how my Cupra looks

 

[DiddlyDonker]

Them wheels look ace mate, lot better than I thought they would

Thanks mate, I agree, they look a lot better than I was expecting also!

 

[DiddlyDonker]

Regards settling time it depends how many miles you do I guess. But regardless I'd say leave it a few days before any alignment mate.

My circumstances have now changed with the hunter!

Markrich is very kindly helping to do the rears tomorrow.(I've never done them before but he knows what he's doing) then the fronts are booked in next week. Have booked in for the alignment on the following Wednesday.

So the rears will have settled easily by then.

Mark knows how to do the front but when he did his (two years newer than mine) his fronts were seized and couldn't budge the bolts so doubt mine will be any different. Plus don't want to stress him out trying to be honest as that's not fair.

I'm ruining 18's like yourself with 225/40R18 tyres so hopefully it will sit as good as yours once done.

Sad I know but just measured the gap on mine and the tyre to arch at the rears is approx 65mm and 55mm on the front!

Obviously I don't know what yours is but either way it's a darn sight better than how my Cupra looks

The only reason I lowered the car was because (as you may have seen in a thread I made elsewhere) my rear coil spring had corroded and fallen apart. I tried to replace it myself with a standard replacement part but the bolts were all seized in place and I just ended up rounding out my sockets .

If they weren't so badly seized I'd have either not lowered the car or, like yourself, fitted the rears myself and took only the fronts to the garage. But as they were seized I thought why pay roughly £100 for one spring when, due to the age of the car, the others are probably not far from failing and instead get all four done and get it lowered! Glad I chose that option now.

Ye 18" with 225/40R18 tyres on mine too.

Before I got it lowered I measured my arch gap by slotting my iPhone horizontally between the tyre and wheel arch. Before lowering I was able to fit the phone between them with enough room for another 1/4 of the phone. Now only half the phone will just about fit ... iPhones, they really do have more than one purpose