C63 507 Edition Wide arch project

[LeeJV]

Collection day From Detail Driven,
I'm finally collecting the car from the detailers today, as its now had its Expel Ultimate Plus PPF and full Modesta Ceramic coating... have some small sneaky pics of the work pre collection today....To say I'm a little excited is an understatement!!



Some of you remember that earlier in the thread I specced a set of KW V3 Inox coilovers, but due to the amount of time it was taking to get them and I was initially happy to stick with OEM shocks and springs, well, I was told by some more experienced members that these would be needed, and it turns out that they were right. As the rear tyres are now so much wider its changed the profile height by about 5.5mm, This has now made the chassis unbalanced as its now more front biased, This explains why the car turns in so fast and needs more input from the steering to counter balance it.. So I will be having the KW's fitted.. just not sure how long delivery will take due to possible Covid restrictions..

I have also received the new OEM Black/Chrome bonnet badge and matching Wheel centre caps, I just have to separate the Works ones from the clips and mount the new ones to the backing Clips and refit.

 

[SmartAmg]

Collection day From Detail Driven,
I'm finally collecting the car from the detailers today, as its now had its Expel Ultimate Plus PPF and full Modesta Ceramic coating... have some small sneaky pics of the work pre collection today....To say I'm a little excited is an understatement!!

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Some of you remember that earlier in the thread I specced a set of KW V3 Inox coilovers, but due to the amount of time it was taking to get them and I was initially happy to stick with OEM shocks and springs, well, I was told by some more experienced members that these would be needed, and it turns out that they were right. As the rear tyres are now so much wider its changed the profile height by about 5.5mm, This has now made the chassis unbalanced as its now more front biased, This explains why the car turns in so fast and needs more input from the steering to counter balance it.. So I will be having the KW's fitted.. just not sure how long delivery will take due to possible Covid restrictions..

I have also received the new OEM Black/Chrome bonnet badge and matching Wheel centre caps, I just have to separate the Works ones from the clips and mount the new ones to the backing Clips and refit.

Have to say, Lee, that's one Magnificent motor!!!

 

[LeeJV]

Thanks buddy, I know this has taken some time to do, and I keep saying "I still have some bits to do" its seems as if I will always have more to do as the project keeps evolving, these finer details have taken longer than the build itself.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Stunning

 

[AMV]

Eagerly awaiting.

 

[DRBC43AMG]

Sounds a nice project. Any photos of the work in progress and rear arches? Very tempting idea doing this

 

[Petrol Pete]

Sounds a nice project. Any photos of the work in progress and rear arches? Very tempting idea doing this

Lot's of them . Go to the first posts and read from there, it's a good read !

 

[LeeJV]

Collection today was so worth the wait....
When I picked the car up from GBG I was over the moon with the quality, Now its been detailed and paint corrected by a pro its taken the finish to another level!!! It won't matter how many shots I get of this car with my crappy camera, none of the pics will do it any justice.. The Colours just explode in the sun, The Modesta Coating adds even more of a candy finish to the paint, like nothing I have ever seen before.
After my initial shock I then started to probe Darren ( the detailer) about how much clearcoat I have on the car, he said that a standard new car has approx. 150mircons of clearcoat, the standard amount from most bodyshops is about 3/400, My car was getting average readings of 850/1000 microns!!!! That's enough for about 10 full body paint corrections with plenty of clearcoat left.

We then spoke in in more detail about the paint colour as he had so many enquiry's from his previous customers about it, 1 of them owns a Lambo Huracan and wanted to know if I would sell the car to add to his car collection... you should have seen the look on my wife's face..

I won't add my pics yet as they just don't show anything, so will post the pics taken by the Detailer instead.

Thanks again for all your interest guys, I'll be back soon with some worthy pics

 

[SmartAmg]

Looking forward to the pics of the finished car, Lee, what about a walk round Video? Is that possible?

 

[Teego]

Lee, after all the time and £££££ you've invested in the car, I'd be inclined to get a professional photographer to record it now for posterity. Big pix, detail pix, underbody pix, moody landscape pix etc etc.

 

[LeeJV]

Sorry for the late response guys..
I've not taken any real pics, I haven't even fitted the bonnet or wheel badges yet as I can't wash the car for 4 weeks!!! Yes, 4 WEEKS!! this is because Modesta has to cure and Gas off for that amount of time before any Chemicals can be used for washing.
I Had the wheels re coated with Kamikaze and they need to cure for 7 days too, So I'lll have to wait untill then so I can wash them down before working on them.

As for Pics and Vids, The Detailer has his own studio and has taken very High Quality detailed pics and a Video, I'll post theose up when he sends them over.
Thanks again for the interest Guys

 

[DRBC43AMG]

I've taken the time to read all this thread from the beginning, including the links. This is a fantastic project and hats off to the owner who "dared" going down this route. Congratulations!

I'm seriously looking around for a C204 coupe to go along with my W202 C43 in the stable. Your thread is an inspiration to get this dream realized as I love the sound of the M113 with secondary and resonator delete or the roar of the M156 engines. I'm now in the old git class after having clocked over 71 so it's probably going to be the last driver's vehicle I'll own and I want some of that sledgehammer medicine while I can still enjoy it.

 

[LeeJV]

I've taken the time to read all this thread from the beginning, including the links. This is a fantastic project and hats off to the owner who "dared" going down this route. Congratulations!

I'm seriously looking around for a C204 coupe to go along with my W202 C43 in the stable. Your thread is an inspiration to get this dream realized as I love the sound of the M113 with secondary and resonator delete or the roar of the M156 engines. I'm now in the old git class after having clocked over 71 so it's probably going to be the last driver's vehicle I'll own and I want some of that sledgehammer medicine while I can still enjoy it.

Glad you enjoyed the Read bud, I too wanted one of these for years, It took several sanity checks to convince me I was doing the right thing with the mods, I know the saying "Never mess with OEM" well I very nearly jumped ship.. right up till they cut it up, after that point there was no going back.

 

[LeeJV]

Thanks for replies guys..

I had some free time today.. and needed a distraction, so I went against my original plan of adding the new badges after its first wash.

1st was the bonnet.. well this was very simple, just popped the old one out via its clips on the underside and replaced the new one.. really was a simple as that so I didn't have to touch any paintwork anyway..


Wheels next.
I didn't want to take them off and risk scratching them while dirty, so I used a suction cup to pull them out, removed the Works badges from the backing clips. wiped them down with IPA then replaced them with these, they have a foil backed adhesive to ensure a better bond for hi temp applications, and should be fully bonded by the time it has its first wheel wash in a week.


I'm very happy with the quality and the look of these items, my only little niggle is that despite my searching for months I couldn't find a 3 pointed star to fit the centre caps so gave these a whirl, TBH, Now they are on the wheels they look far better than I thought and are an exact match to the bonnet.

What's Next?? Kw V3's I've not ordered these yet as still unsure if I should just for the DDC option or not, most of my driving is just cruising with odd blast through the twisty's so it may be better to have the best of both worlds.

 

[LeeJV]

Finally Got around to fitting the Radiator Block Off Plate today to help with Cooling , Courtesy of @sirius9 .
Fitting is very simple, Simply remove the intake panel, clean the top of the radiator with some APC, and wipe down with some IPA to ensure all residues are removed. Peel the backing tape from the adhesive strip supplied and fit into place.
Fitting is very simple and looks like an OEM part. Overall good quality and price. Highly recommend this product.

 

[bob6600]

Looks awesome Lee!

 

[LeeJV]

Cheers Bob

Mercules has now been dropped back to the detailers for its coating check and First wash.. I was really looking forward to doing it Myself just so I could see how well the coating works when chemicals are thrown at it.
I went out to the car this morning to find Bird Bombs down one side.. grabbed a spray bottle with filtered water and an MF to clear it off, but the cloth wasn't even needed.. it literally fell off the panel with water!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Cheers Bob

Mercules has now been dropped back to the detailers for its coating check and First wash.. I was really looking forward to doing it Myself just so I could see how well the coating works when chemicals are thrown at it.
I went out to the car this morning to find Bird Bombs down one side.. grabbed a spray bottle with filtered water and an MF to clear it off, but the cloth wasn't even needed.. it literally fell off the panel with water!

Remind me, what’s the coating?

 

[W1ghty]

Just finished reading this , what an absolute project that was ! Thanks for taking the time to photo and write up the project , much appreciated .
You have a set of “cojones” to take it all on buddy . I have trouble deciding if I need new wheel centres that are under £10

 

[LeeJV]

Remind me, what’s the coating?

its Modesta BCO4 hard coating with BCO5 top coating.