The Cal-look Lounge

Hi All,
Its been long enough now so no more lurking!  :D

Ive been into VW's since I was a sprog and my 1st car was a '72 1200 which I basically ragged to death and (static) lowered excessively!
Been without any car for the past 20 odd years but now back in the UK and bought the family (me really) a car.

Meet Ruby (as shes Ruby red) a 1300cc UK spec 1967 car.
As its the family car the plan is to get it into a reliable daily driver with modernish safety bits ie all round inertia seat belts, refurb all braking, steering and clutch parts so that the driving experience is as close to a 'modern' as possible. That way my partner might actually drive it once in while rather than waste money on buying another car which in London we really don't need!!
Shes currently been converted (badly) into 12V and has the chrome eyebrows and window highlights which I want to throw away but partner and daughter love!

Overall plan is to gradually turn her into a road burner but keep it stock height and look but with killer performance.
My crazy idea is a 1300 DP turbo...

Cheers,
Marc

Basic work completed so far:
Rebuilt windscreen wipers/motor (12V) - the garage that did the 12V conversion just used a voltage dropper (meh)
New ball-joints and extended adjustment camber/castor adjusters.
Gearbox oil change
New rear drums and slaves
New indicator stalk inc 12V flasher relay and some rewiring as again the garage didnt swap the 6V relay and actually left the high beam flashers disconnected!
New vacuum only stock style distributor and pointless ignition http://www.simonbbc.com/electronic_ignition_kits/by_distributor_model/bosch_distributor_009_and_034_powerspark_electronic_ignition_kit (http://www.simonbbc.com/electronic_ignition_kits/by_distributor_model/bosch_distributor_009_and_034_powerspark_electronic_ignition_kit) So far really impressed with this. Starting is much improved and engine revs out much better.

Work left before I get tuning!!
Fit new front drums, slaves and a new dual circuit master.
Make an Empi camber compensator AND Z bar work together.
Fit beam joint stiffeners.
Choose and fit new shocks.
Fit my rebuilt steering box. Waiting for it to be finished off by Type3Tim from the Samba  ;D! https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=660446&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=trw+steering+box&start=0 (https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=660446&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=trw+steering+box&start=0)
Fit urethane anti roll bar mounts.
Four wheel alignment.

ENJOY and then
 

Nice '67, and nice plans. I think I'd be tempted to go for discs on the front with a turbo motor, especially if you want the wife to drive it! If you've got to get new drums, wheel cylinders and shoes, you're probably not far off a dropped spindles and disc kit.

I like that, Nice looking clean original 67 i also like the idea of a warmed up little motor, However i would consider upgrade to disks at the front. With regards to the eyebrows i would loose them, tell the good lady they fell off somewhere  ;)

And the bumpers...
Richie shows just how cool a '67 can look with his latest cab: http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,25367.msg340566.html#msg340566

Cheers for the comments Gents.
Im totally with you on the disks and will certainly install the CSP wide5 disc conv. when the motor is ready to go.
With a young child and living in London my 'garage' is non existent and time not my own so the new motor is going to be some time...

Glass, if the eyebrows 'fell off' I think my Mrs would make something of mine fall off.....

Not completely sure about lowering it either at the mo. Sacrilege I know on the Cal Look forum but Im thinking about the handling and ability to negotiate the mean pot holey streets where I live!
Showed my partner the wheels I like (Cosmics) and got a very negative response...
https://www.vwheritage.com/ac601025bp-wheel-ssp-cosmic-tuv-black-polished-5-205-5-5x15-et2 (https://www.vwheritage.com/ac601025bp-wheel-ssp-cosmic-tuv-black-polished-5-205-5-5x15-et2)
Thinking 155 at front at 165 at rear....

Marc

The car passed the MOT on Saturday.
Haven't owned a car for at least 20 years, took it back to the place that I used to use and the guy remembered me!!

Just had 4x inertia diagonal seat belts installed so the sprog will now go in the back.
Front brakes and new (rebuilt) steering box to go and I'll see what my partner thinks about driving an old Beetle!

Marc

[quoteNot completely sure about lowering it either at the mo. Sacrilege I know on the Cal Look forum but Im thinking about the handling and ability to negotiate the mean pot holey streets where I live][/quote]

think we both might get thrown off the forum now :) but i kind of agree with you on this one or may be fit adjusters but just use them to lower the front slightly not fully, or go the dropped spindle route but then you got the hassle of making the front track wider, may get away with it if you keep stock steels on it.

GOT IT!!
AS the old expression goes "the only certain things in life are death and taxes" and good old HMRC got me with import duty! Boooo hisss
Anyway its a work of art and I cant wait to fit it.

Cheers Tim!

Latest update.
Still bringing her up to a decent standard..
Was supposed to have 3 days off work but ended up being 2 so will have to carry on working on Saturday. Shame as I was hoping to make it to my 1st VW show in 20 years! (http://grill-n-chill.co.uk).

Anyway fitted the new drums, slave cylinders and shoes. A PO had painted the inside of the backing plate inc springs!
Fitted the new dual circuit master but could only hook up the rear line as the front ones wouldnt fit.
Also started to unhook the old (new Varga) box and found that the inner tie rod ends, the ones that bolt to the pitman arm, were super tight which would also add to the supper heavy steering! Annoying as rubbers look OK so I gues theyve just dried out. New ones on order.
Lastly and most annoying was to find that at somestage the beam was off and the PO didnt manage to bolt down one of the top bolts fully and sheared OFF the other.
New or replacement beam will therefore have to be sought..
grrr

Oh and notice the swiss cheese effect on the head as a PO tried (in vain) to do 'something' with the petrol feed which failed so the current feed comes out where a LH drive cars master cylinder would be!!

That's an "interesting" set of holes in the top of the framehead! I'd get that plated up as soon as possible, certainly before the next MOT.
A previous owner of my car had cut the framehead open with a giant x shape so only the bottom plate of the framehead was holding the beam on! If someone rocked the car by the gutters the beam stayed still...
While you're elding up the top of the framehead, put a large nut over that snapped stud and fill it with weld. The heat will help to unfreeze it and you'll be able to get a spanner on it. Might take a few goes, and obviously the end of the stud should be clean, but it might save the beam. If not, drill it out and re-tap it.

Cheers Neil.
No welding yet. Whilst it looks bad the hole(s) arent actually too bad. Im more worried about the beam not being fully supported so have ordered a set of removal tools and will drill out the bad bit of bolt.
Also got new inner tie rods, steering damper and top beam rubber mounts/bolts so fingers crossed will have a nice solid friend end.

Gah.
Seems that the PO heard Neils advice, they had actually welded the square washer ONTO what was left of the snapped bolt AND neither side of the body to beam mounts had the rubber under the body...
[attachment=2]
Good news is that the 'new' box is lovely! The actual new TRW box was super tight and notchy.
[attachment=1]
Still not completely happy with the steering as the tie rods were super tight, even with the drop link disconnected from the steering box I could hardly move the tie rods by hand!
Next is the brakes as the new drums seem to be rubbing on the shoe retaining springs

New German quality drums ordered.
Also compared quality of new 'repop' shoes [attachment=1]to the old 'repops' [attachment=2]and the quality seems to have detoriated. Doesnt seem that anybody offers new performance shoes but did find EBC offer a set of shoes. These are now ordered so hopefully they are nearer to OEM quality.

Heres pics of findings.
I reckon the drums are machined poorly where the rear bearing cage sits therefore brings the drum 'closer' to the backing plate.
So with that and the bad shoes Im getting friction in all the wrong places!!!

Quick update.
No pictures as I just wanted to get my brakes back in action.
German sourced drums were WAY better quality. Machining seemed much better quality as did the actual casting, for instance I hadn't noticed but on one of the Brazilian(?) drums one of the cutouts that allows you to tap out the bearing races wasn't even there!
Can also recommend the EBC shoes over other pattern parts as the friction material seemed much better quality and more 'even' and the way it was glued to the shoe was more consistent that the other units with no friction material overhanging the shoe itself.

Needless to say there was now obviously much more clearance looking through the adjuster hole and there was absolutely no 'scraping' noises when the drum was rotated!
Cant waiit to bed them in, re-adjust and then PIN the brakes!!

Nice car :)

You always have that kind of surprises when buying a car. What I've learnt with time and successive cars I've bought, is to check everything and every single bolts and parts after purchase. That's how I discovered some people were okay with mounting an engine with only half the bolts, some others were okay with driving everyday with the front spindles bolts un-locked, and others who were wondering why front wheels were locking hard immediately when braking when they've mounted contact rain tires with the rotation backwards...

Thankfully it will soon be as you want it to be!

More 'fun' found today.
Rear left wheel has been 'squeaking' for some time but I put it down to the drums not being adjusted correctly. Rear brakes were done by a garage, not me, as I didnt have a breaker bar/torque wrench to set the hub nuts correctly.
Surprise surprise but the hub nut doesnt look like it was seated correctly before it was torqued and the split pin inserted.
Will let you know what the garage say about it!!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tzoQ5hFz6M2INxau1

All good.
Garage took the car back in and sorted the hubs. Apparently both werent fully up to torque.
Ride is nice and silent now.

Normal service resumed...

Quick update:
Seems the garage didn't tighten them up enough and some miles later the noise was back!
Ended up tightening it the old fashioned way using a breaker bar, me as 'calibrated' ballast and a set of scales!!
All good now...

Next job was a touch of cosmetics as I replaced a cheap chrome headlight rim and removed the eyebrows (much to the annoyance of my wife and daughter)..

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PtGB3GtLjCjNQgNW7

no washer under the nut too so it may have been the nut was bottoming out on the thread but not clamping the drum.....

on the heavy steering, one thing i found helped was a stock steering wheel too (if you have a smaller one) going from a small wheel back to stock felt like i had power steering.... well, comparatively

nice build!!

Cheers Andy,
I cant find a record of a washer for the rear nut in the Bentley or any of the veedub shops. Do you know of any reference to it?

Already got a stock steering wheel!  ;D
Im positive that its the joints as when I changed the box it was SOOO stiff to move the steering rods using my hands.

sorry my brains a little hazy, alot of the nuts i've seen have been flanged nuts (washer built in, if you will)

it could be that the nut is bottoming out on the thread and not fully clamping the drum, if you have that movement, the nut should be hand loose once the pin is out, if its still tight then its bottoming on the threads.... hope that helps

Following on from the 'Beam Saga' I finally got the time to take the front end out and drop it on the floor.
Unfortunately drilling out the previously stuck and then welded bolt didnt go so well!!
[attachment=1]
I simply couldn't get through the existing bolt/weld even with titanium coated drillbits and bolt remover tools (the ones that are LH threaded). Heat didnt help either.
Compared to the good one on the other side.
[attachment=2]

So looked high and low and luckily fleabay came up trumps and I found this at a cheap price within 75miles of home.
[attachment=1]

Was described as refurbished but the seller didnt know what had been done to it as it came from a previous project he inherited.
Looks OK and better than my existing beam but I already have new end grease seals and my 'ends' already had new ball joints and extended camber/caster adjusters fitted so will swap those in before I get back onto the road.

Only bummer seems to be that the refurbisher ground off the steering box retaining 'nubs'
[attachment=2]

Am I OK to just bolt it up anyway as the clamp exerts a shed ton of clamping force or is that an absolute 'no no'?
I dont have easy access to a welder apart from getting one of those mobile welding vans to come round to my street.

Thoughts?

Those nubs are just to align the box at correct angle, most in not all aftermarket beams don't have them. You'll be fine without, it'll just take time to align correctly.

Cheers Baz.

Managed to get the 'new' beam fitted including fitting the 'German quality' rubbers below and on top of the beam (which was the point of this WHOLE escapade) which made me very happy.
One side trailing arms and drum fitted so just the other side to go and then onto fitting all new:
tie rod ends (mayle)
shocks (sachs)
shock rubber top things
steering damper (sachs)

Compared the action of the old shocks which were also sachs to the new. Surprisingly the rebound felt exactly the same but the old shocks had ZERO compression damping.
Cant wait to feel the ride now with all new rubber in the right places and the dampers damping!!

Still got work to do but finally got the beam installed WITH the rubbers under the beam!! (pretty much the main reason I started this whole front end business!!)
[attachment=1]
And after ordering all new tierod ends I STILL have one thats incorrect.... ahhhhhh

Still, nearly done!!
oh and the tank is now a wobbly fit... Wonder if the front end has been changed and they fitted it without the front end being supported correctly? (sigh)

WOW.
Got to say that all this crap was worth it. The ride is now pretty much like a modern! The new rubber axle mounts and shock tops seems to have made all the difference.
Loudest thing in the interior is now the squeaky seats and glovebox.
Steering also feels great with all new Meyle tie-rod ends, rebuilt steering box and all bar one new ball joints.
Just need to get an alignment done. I would love to do it myself with string etc but I literally know no-one with a flat garage and or any flat parking areas...
Then will refit the stock anti-roll bar but with the urethane mounts so that there is no 'wasted' motion. Considering the a-r bar doesn't touch the chassis this shouldn't add any NVH issues

Next thing is going to be the rear shocks and rear body to chassis rubbers...

Got an alignment today and super pleased with the numbers and the feeling.
[attachment=1]

Went at stock settings for now and was super pleased with the numbers at the rear being spot bollock on.
That shows that at least the car a) hasnt been messed with (at the rear) and b) is straight!!!

If anybody wants to get their stuff checked/adjusted in S.London drop me a PM and I'll give you the deets.

Phew..
Major chassis work now almost all done!!
[attachment=1]
Thats a stock anti-roll bar with urethane bushes and stainless steel mounts.
Pretty much all differential forces (I mean when the wheels are being moved in different directions ie a corner) are now transmitted to the opposite wheel. There is some 'give' in the mounts but they are like solid compared to the original rubber which had tons of wasted motion so now the stock AR bar can do its job as designed.
At my local government approved testing ground (the nearest roundabout) I was able to throw it in and out and confirm continuous lateral loads (going round and round) with what felt like nice controlled roll characteristics whilst gradually increasing speed until both myself and the test officer (local pisshead and his dog watching and laughing) considered my speed to be at the limit of adhesion/rear tuck under and I returned to the test centre (home).

Only thing left is the LH rear body to chassis rubber pad. One on the RH side was torqued down to "ridiculous" and the rubber was flat as a pancake and hard as nails.

WOW.
Rear shocks and one of the two body to pan rubbers done.

LOVING driving it right now.
Effectively the chassis is now 'brand new' (as stock) and the loudest thing in the car are the squeaky seats!!!

Now the next thing is disk brakes, lowered spindles and BRM's...

That?s great news! Did you go for new stock shocks or? I found stock ones ride nicely before but I?m going for billet pro tech ones this time around

Andy,
All 4 were stock Sachs shocks. The rears were these -
https://www.vwheritage.com/113513031g-standard-gas-filled-shock-absorber-to-fit-front-or-rear-vw-spare
Gas filled stockers.

When I start the engine work I may well end up swapping these out for aftermarkets but right now Im enjoying the stock ride.
A 51yr old car riding/driving like it rolled off the production line is great!!

BRM's ON!!!

SSP 5"s with 175/65 and 205/65 R15s
[attachment=1]
[attachment=2]

Love the new look, non raked stance is the new raked stance

Starting to gather bits for the engine build...

Part 1: 1300cc DP heads[attachment=1]

Finally got my Flat4 Empi replica steering wheel fitted.

Also if you look to the right you can see the retrosound 6.5" replacement speaker installed.
Have the retro head unit with DAB/BT/FM/AM to go into the dash but waiting for the remote mount kit. Specced it with Sapphire type knobs so to 'most' people it will look stock (not you crazy folk though)  :D ;D[attachment=1]

Great choice on the steeringwheel  8)
How is the engine build comming along?

Yannick

Thanks Yannick.

Engine is coming along... slowly....  ::) ;D

Got the stereo in.
One of these:
https://www.retrocarstuff.com/shop/classic-car-stereo/retrosound-dab-san-diego

Added knobs to 'try' to make it Sapphire like..
Most family Ive shown so far seem to be fooled and ask if it will even do FM..  ;D

Got most of an engine today.
Here it is in the back of the car being transported home.

Dual relief case 'looks' OK after visual inspection. Had been fitted with what look like slip in 87's.
PO said he was sold it as a race motor but he was very conned as it had a stock cam & stock heads. Only go faster bits were the 87's and dual 34ICT's

Do you happen to know the reference for the EBC shoes you used? how do you like them?

Hi Alex,
Sorry cant find the order.
I recall that they were definitely better made than previous ones Id used which is good for brakes.

Overall they are still drums (all round) and they brake as I'd expect ie hard pedal as there is no servo but they are dependable and I haven't had any brake fade yet after heavy motorway driving. Dealing with moronic S.E. UK drivers in modern shitboxes who think that leaving any stopping distance gap between you and the person in front demands that they fill it immediately means plenty of high speed stops!

Thanks, I'll keep them in mind next time I redo the brakes

Reconditioned key barrel.
Should have been NOS but good ole RoyalMail lost the frigging thing....

[attachment=1]

Awesome! Did you have someone do it, or did you get it apart yourself?

Used these guys Andrew:
https://www.customandcommercial.com/about-us/lock-shop/

But they are UK based. There are similar places in the states I think.

Bought this to recondition my drivers side lock (RH) and also have a NOS passenger (LH) lock and handle (actually a drivers side set but from Europe)
Aim is to then repin all the locks (apart from engine lid) to same key and be able to unlock from either RH or LH side of the car  ;)

Nice! I'm lucky enough for my ignition and doors to match, but the ignition barrel is a little sticky, so I wouldn't mind having it redone at some point.

Finally fitted my Hurst copy.
(Only took a global pandemic)[attachment=1][attachment=2]

I'm working on a uk right hand drive 66 with the red interior that looks to be the same ruby red as your paint.
bin stood in a garage/barn for 30 years.

Sweet.
Get your build thread going :-)

Looking good!

More K Keys.....

Got a rekeying kit of wafers from Dave @ http://www.dubkeys.com/
Which was great but when it first arrived the wafers were too big.
Who (apart from Dave) knew that there are 2x sizes of wafer in VW locks? And that K locksets come in both flavours?
Mine were the rarer 12mm where most are 13.5mm long.
[attachment=1][attachment=2][attachment=3][attachment=4]

This afternoon I'll get my daughter to help and we'll take off the original drivers handle and lock and then do another rebuild and rekey but swap sides so that I can get 'key' access on the passenger door too!!
Lastly will be the ignition barrel and Ill be back to ONE key using a correct K type
 :) ;D :D

The sweet smell of success (and brake cleaner)....

[attachment=1]

ONE Key to rule them all:
Drivers
Passenger
Engine Lid
Ignition

Now to get a spare cut......  ::) :'(

STF Engine build...

As per this
http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,31476.0.html (http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,31476.0.html)
thread/question I'm now stuck into my piston lightening quest.

As I have no 'machine shop tools' I improvised and went FleaBay shopping
[attachment=1]
And bought a pillar drill slider and X Y vice thing.

A milling bit and 1/2 a piston
[attachment=2]
Tested the theory

And then I gave it a go on the final test piston
[attachment=3]

Considering I couldn't clean out all the chippings for complete accuracy my test removed 6g of material.
I think I should be able to remove somewhere close to the 16g necessary to match the other 2 pistons.

Result!!

nice to see you're still chipping away at it (geddit?).

Can I ask, re: the DAB radio, what did you do for an aerial? Did it come with a DAB specific one?

I did  ;D :D

Ive got a standard aerial and just bought the adaptor from the company. It acts like a 'Y' lead so normal aerial goes in, normal lead comes out into the radio and there is an extra little wire which you connect to the DAB input.

now you made me jelaous! My 67 has been sitting for a year now, and I have a bunch of stuff on the shelf for it!
How hard was the rekeying? It's one of those things that I have to do some day

Not too hard but it helps to get the wafer kit and all the necessary bits ahead of time.
You really dont want to have to stop in the middle of doing it!!
If those springs go 'ping' it can be a job to track them down again.

nice project brewsy, the 1285cc has alot of potential ( testet it alot 250HP and 293NM up to 1,8 bar). it's strong (thick wall cylinders, small bore, big valves in compare to bore and stroke, has alot of cooling area, low rotating mass and that all in stock, +strong con rods) only sideeffect is the piston rings are not optimal for that what the basic engine can do but thats only a problem if you use the potential rpm range that engine have (6500++rpm peak hp)
i would not lightening stuff just ballancing. dual valve springs , cromo push rods and if you wand lighter lifters ( i use scat so kinda stock weight) the other thing is, it is off boost a lame duck ( around 100nm of torque) so i would use a not too big turbo

questions:
-what is your goal in HP, torque, rpm
- efi, carbs so what you wanne use as manifold
- intercooled
-what fuel you wanne use
-which transmission

Thanks although its still 'idea' talk at the moment.


Goal is 200BHP+. RPM = lots!!
The reason I want to lighten everything is to maximise revs. I know that shortens the life of the motor but this will entirely be for my fun! And ive already thought and spoken to others about using a steel 'girdle' to keep the bottom end together.
EFI for sure. No clue exactly why but I like the look and features of the Australian Haltech ECU's so fancy giving it a go
Manifolds right now I like the look of the ones that currently have the 3 positions for the injectors. Would make it easier to use low injectors for normal running and then add (or switch) to the high set for high RPM.
In the UK were pretty much limited to petrol from the pumps at the garages although were moving to E10 fuels soon
Transmission will probably be whatever is in the car to start with. As there wont be a lot of torque I wouldn't expect to kill it immediately so will see what happens when I get it built.

Exhaust was blowing too much to ignore so this weekend (a national holiday in the UK) instead of sitting in the sun I hid in the garage.

[attachment=1]
That was the exhaust and then as youd expect it turned out the leak/rust was in BOTH of the heat exchangers. MEH
So that led to
[attachment=2]
Which was a first for me with the car actually getting IN to my garage since Ive been renting it!!  :D

So of course once up in the air the list of 'to do's instantly grew  :'(
[attachment=3]
Oil seal has obviously gone

[attachment=4]
WHY would the previous owner put so much grease on the input shaft

[attachment=1]
Reckon the gearbox mounts need replacing...

[attachment=2]
BOTH gaiters knackered.

Rear brake flexible hose ends looked corroded.
Heater cable screw things snapped.

And the Suez boat thing means there are no 180mm old style clutches in the UK!!
Ive got a NEW style 180mm clutch brand new if anyone wants to do a swap??

Fitted these today
[attachment=1]

Koni classic red shock absorbers
p/n: 80-1787

As I'm looking for more 'control' over the front wheels than a sporty ride I set them to softest.
Will have to take the scales to my garage but was amazed at the difference in wheel weight, with my calibrated arms, comparing my BRM reps. with a 175/50 tyre to a stock steel with 155!!
Fingers crossed when they settle in I get a nice ride back!!

It's been 5-6 days now since I fitted these Konis on the front.
They seem to have made a world of difference so far. Trips have only been on local London roads so no high speeds but plenty of speed bumps!
 
There is definitely more 'control' and I can now hit some known humps at a higher speed.
I suppose the biggest compliment is that my wife also said the ride is better.

Roll on the gearbox mounts, torsion tube donuts and z bar rubbers.
Will then fit the rear Konis and then finally the camber compensator!!

Changed transmission mounts to Wolfsburg West heavier duty 'rubber' mounts:
Old...
[attachment=1]
[attachment=2]

New...
[attachment=3]
[attachment=4]

Also changed torsion bar 'donuts':
[attachment=1]
[attachment=2]
[attachment=3]
[attachment=4]

Looks like the first time in 55 years!!

And also the Z-Bar rubber mountings:
[attachment=1]
[attachment=2]

Nice work! All those little rubber bits really do add up to make a better car all the way around!

Cheers Andrew.
Managed to get some more bits done..

[attachment=1]
New clutch cable, Bowden tube AND rubber end cap to stop crap going back into the freshly greased tube.
Not wanting to jinx myself but refitting the clutch cable over the hook, on a RHD pedal set, wasn't toooo much of a pain

[attachment=2]
Treated the old girl to some OLD rear lights as the NEW replacements were shite quality and as you can see dulled right down and faded in the UV. These are Swedish Hella units and have a larger reflector area than UK spec lights

[attachment=3]
Boring but necessary details. Drilled the heat exchanger shaft and used a washer and split pin to hold the bracketry on and also drilled the rear tinware to hook up the return springs. Will have good heating system just in time for summer!  :o

More boring but necessary, new heater cables and rubber bungs:
[attachment=1]

Standard flexible hoses:
[attachment=2]

MMMMM Shiny - Koni's allround now:
[attachment=3]

Quick update but nothing exciting.
Windscreen smashed due to shite driving by a young BMW owner thinking that the motorway was a set for the latest Fast&Furious movie!!
Undertook me in the emergency lane (illegal in the UK) and threw up gravel that smashed the screen
[attachment=1]
[attachment=2]
[attachment=3]

All normal screens are out of stock at the moment (pretty certain thats cos of Brexshit)
Sourced a locally made screen that is heated
[attachment=4]

BUT not happy a you can see the 'common' silver strip at the top and bottom of the screen (rubber doesnt cover it from view) AND it doesnt fit properly and is leaving massive gap at the bottom right and left corners!

[attachment=1]
[attachment=2]

SO it looks like I'll be replacing it AGAIN as soon a I can  :'(