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Many thanks to Mike @ BamfordRose. Your buttons are truly masterpieces!
Also thanks to AMBits for providing me the black airbag at an incredible price. (They CAN ship over seas so long as the impactor is removed - you can use your existing one.)
The roadster has two rear trim pieces @ each rear "shelf" behind each seat. �� (The coupe has one long one I believe.)
Got it. I'm contemplating whether to laminate that part. In my view, if I go that route I'll have to laminate all the other silver/iridium parts in the rest of the interior.
Got it. I'm contemplating whether to laminate that part. In my view, if I go that route I'll have to laminate all the other silver/iridium parts in the rest of the interior.
Anxiously waiting the final picks.
I tend to agree, all or nothing. 👍 It's been three months (in part dealing with AMBits on the return/exchange of the carbon v12 hood that arrived damaged from the courier - AMBits was awesome by the way) and I'm so ready. Car is currently in the paint booth.
(And if you noticed that my speedster humps are gone, that's because I'm getting those skinned in real carbon fiber as well.)
So please forgive me if this is rude, but did you begin this transformation: a) with a firm concept in mind but no budget? b) with both a budget and a concept? c) with a firm budget but only a loose concept? d) with no real budget and no real concept?
I'm intrigued by what you've done so I'm just kind of wondering how free-wheeling the process has been.
So please forgive me if this is rude, but did you begin this transformation: a) with a firm concept in mind but no budget? b) with both a budget and a concept? c) with a firm budget but only a loose concept? d) with no real budget and no real concept?
I'm intrigued by what you've done so I'm just kind of wondering how free-wheeling the process has been.
Not a rude question at all. I have a stock example of the car that I'm not touching, this is my second one that my wife decided she no longer likes to drive. Rather than sell it, I decided to go a little nuts with it. It's been mostly stream of consciousness, but with some direction. I have no budget. At first, I simply wanted a v12 carbon look upgrade from AMBits, but as my google searches dug deeper and deeper, I came across so many new mods and concepts that I just incorporated (like the wireless smartphone mirroring, Oracle light mods or even the 24ct gold plated parts I saw from a buddy in my Lambo club). With the carbon skinning, it was just going to be the side strakes, rear view mirrors and door handles, but as I started directing my shop to take the parts off, I said to myself, "Why not the door sills, window sills, door pulls/handles, window switches, memory seat switches, entire lower, middle and upper consoles, speedometer housing, ac vents, ash tray, speedster humps, e-brake handle or steering wheel?" Lol After a few hours, the car looked like I had left it in a bad area of south central:
Then I thought to myself how cool would it be to have AMBits put together a glass key retrofit package (I was the first customer), shadow the installer and post a detailed 'how to' for others that wish to loose the Volvo key fob. (I expect to get that installed and post the thread within the next month.)
Of course, I then needed the interior to match the exterior so I'm having every piece of leather replaced with the same quality leather but with gold stitching (took me 3 weeks to learn thread sizes and material types and to call around afterwards to order various samples to match the thread to the 24 ct gold plated parts). Suffice it to say, I'm a detailed oriented dude.
My car is now done paining and next week it will be in the upholsterer's hands for a week to get the leather installed.
After that, it will be sent via flatbed to Orange County for the oracle light install (with custom switches), entertainment system install (w/ rear/front/rear view mirror cameras), glass key install (which I will shadow and take pics and notes for the AM community), painting of the brake calipers to yellow, lowering spring install, and a black satin wrap.
It's been fun, but I'm ready to end this phase of the project. Just too damn busy with other things in my life. Next phase is a Velocity AP treatment. 👍
Will do. I just realize how low the sills look to the floor and I haven't even installed the H&R springs yet...
1. Yes the sills look low, however its maybe just an illusion due to the angle of the pics. Yes the HR springs will drop it 1" as has been reported in threads. IF you need the space then go with the VAP 3/4" drops and supposedly better ride. I have a DB9 and haven't even touched the car since it was purchased so cannot help on that.
2. Looks gread-----Those wheels you posted on the other thread would look really great. That style for sure. NOT the ones you posted earlier in this thread IMHO. TOO many spokes in that one. Less is best IMO.
3. In My "A Special Homecoming" thread, there is the Jag Key Fob alternative to the Volvo one, just for those people who don't want the expense of the Crystal Key. But cant wait to see that write up.
4. I will be trying my hand at the CF overlays that are done to our interior pieces. Seems like something doable. Getting some cheap pieces from AMbits to work on and try out. But I ran into the issue of adding CF to the car, just cause it was added in other places. I think there is a point where once you have a certain number of visible parts in CF, you just say why not do all of them to match.
MAKE sure the final sanding is polished out without Holograms and pig-tails from the sanders left on the paint. Also have them give you measure ments of ALL the panels showing you (MArk them down on a diagram) how thick the paint is. They should have a Paint Depth Gauge there, so do that so you now for the future and your detailer can gauge how he wants to polish it. There will STILL LIKELY be gloss levels to be achieved after the paint process. I have never seen a paint shop detail perfectly and have flawless paint. None. So just some hints. With your several higher end cars, it might be a financial savings to learn the Paint Correction process yourself to not only enjoy them more, but learn the nuances of whats correct and whats not. But.....some people don't have the time due to making the type of money they do. I can get recommendations in Cali for you if you like, for a responsible person. Kevin Brown is near that area and would likely be the best you could get ever. Just FYI
1. Yes the sills look low, however its maybe just an illusion due to the angle of the pics. Yes the HR springs will drop it 1" as has been reported in threads. IF you need the space then go with the VAP 3/4" drops and supposedly better ride. I have a DB9 and haven't even touched the car since it was purchased so cannot help on that.
2. Looks gread-----Those wheels you posted on the other thread would look really great. That style for sure. NOT the ones you posted earlier in this thread IMHO. TOO many spokes in that one. Less is best IMO.
3. In My "A Special Homecoming" thread, there is the Jag Key Fob alternative to the Volvo one, just for those people who don't want the expense of the Crystal Key. But cant wait to see that write up.
4. I will be trying my hand at the CF overlays that are done to our interior pieces. Seems like something doable. Getting some cheap pieces from AMbits to work on and try out. But I ran into the issue of adding CF to the car, just cause it was added in other places. I think there is a point where once you have a certain number of visible parts in CF, you just say why not do all of them to match.
MAKE sure the final sanding is polished out without Holograms and pig-tails from the sanders left on the paint. Also have them give you measure ments of ALL the panels showing you (MArk them down on a diagram) how thick the paint is. They should have a Paint Depth Gauge there, so do that so you now for the future and your detailer can gauge how he wants to polish it. There will STILL LIKELY be gloss levels to be achieved after the paint process. I have never seen a paint shop detail perfectly and have flawless paint. None. So just some hints. With your several higher end cars, it might be a financial savings to learn the Paint Correction process yourself to not only enjoy them more, but learn the nuances of whats correct and whats not. But.....some people don't have the time due to making the type of money they do. I can get recommendations in Cali for you if you like, for a responsible person. Kevin Brown is near that area and would likely be the best you could get ever. Just FYI
Thank you for the SOLID advice. The car is at Harrys Auto Collision in Los Angeles. Despite their name, it's a top notch facility - and more importantly - a certified Aston Martin/Bentley/Lambo repair facility. All of the techs working on my car flew to the UK for training.
10-21-2016, 10:13 AM
At first, I simply wanted a v12 carbon look upgrade from AMBits, but as my google searches dug deeper and deeper, I came across so many new mods and concepts that I just incorporated (like the wireless smartphone mirroring, Oracle light mods or even the 24ct gold plated parts I saw from a buddy in my Lambo club). With the carbon skinning, it was just going to be the side strakes, rear view mirrors and door handles, but as I started directing my shop to take the parts off, I said to myself, "Why not the door sills, window sills, door pulls/handles, window switches, memory seat switches, entire lower, middle and upper consoles, speedometer housing, ac vents, ash tray, speedster humps, e-brake handle or steering wheel?" Lol After a few hours, the car looked like I had left it in a bad area of south central: 
