Vince's XM...213k and slowing....

KP · Post by KP » 11 Aug 2010, 10:23

eye steve

PMPL

Kev, those be activa roads me thinks

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 11 Aug 2010, 12:22

It depends what you call Activa roads, if wizzing round many blind bends is your thing then yes

Thats the trouble with all these big hedges, if they weren't there then it would be ideal Activa territory, much like from what I've seen up your way, lots of big fences instead!

vince · Post by **vince** » 11 Aug 2010, 20:15

i have managed to find a little country backroad diversion from Paignton to Brixham...nice suspension working road with a mean humpback bridge but plenty blind bends

Id love the tank thingy Kev but my missus and kids would rather spend hours at the beach

KP · Post by KP » 12 Aug 2010, 07:44

No fences near me on my good route

lots of short trimmed hedges

But roads being english are too poor to get the activa/swift round at speed before they skitter.

vince · Post by **vince** » 22 Aug 2010, 15:58

Well the sun is shining today and im not going anywhere near the car

Ive managed to screw up my spoiler trying to re paint a bit where the paint was worn so until thats re painted professionally then i cant be fussed with it

I reckon that will lighten me of around £150

Oh well at least the starting problem has been put to bed and there are no more knocks and rattles now that the arm bushes and drop links have been done

Just a set of tyres to get next and the spoiler re painted. Then get the front fogs re wired up, the heater fixed, the dash bulbs replaced....replacement side rubbing strips for the front doors a new leather interior put in and ill be about done

Dont think i'll be making any more shows this year

My assistant manager at work decided to leave so yours truly will be doing two people's jobs until his replacement starts in 6 weeks

Never mind....there's still that 14 million to one chance that ill win the lottery on wednesday

vince · Post by **vince** » 05 Sep 2010, 07:08

At last.....The new seats are back home

Through a message given to Jim i am now the owner of a full set of beige leather seats from a MK1

Thanks Jim for the tip off.

After getting home last night at 7pm from picking them up i cleaned them up with Autoglym leather cleaner and they are in very good condition...the drivers seat has a few stubborn creases but no damage and cleaned up very well.

The best bit by far is i will now have a drivers seat arm rest

I miss that from having one in my old peugeot 406 exclusive.

Today will be spent running errands no doubt but also i plan to swap over most if not all of the seats. Ive never done the front seats before so that will be a learning curve...hope they are easy enough

Once they are in i will need to dye my door cards over to plain black so that the interior is then colour coded beige and black throughout.

I coudnt find any photos of a beige leather Xantia interior anywhere on the net so i will take some of mine when its in

DickieG · Post by **DickieG** » 05 Sep 2010, 08:33

vince wrote:I coudnt find any photos of a beige leather Xantia interior anywhere on the net so i will take some of mine when its in

Here's one from my blog Vince, originally the interior was black leather but I changed the seats and door cards, normally the carpet would also be beige (and by now rather discoloured/aged) so having a black carpet is rather helpful.

Are your new seats electric? Fitting the rear ones will only take you 1/2 hour. What's the issue with door cards?

vince · Post by **vince** » 05 Sep 2010, 18:07

Hi Richard,

The issue with door cards is that the guy didnt have any, so im stuck with the VSX ones. As a solution i have found a company who do DIY velour dye diesigned for auto interiors. Its £10 a can and a doddle apparently to use. If i dye the velour sections of my door cards black then the whole interior will be a mix of beige and black.....

I just put the front seats in and oh my god.....you know when you dont have exactly the right tool for the job...the front seat runner front bolt by the centre console requires a long reach screwdriver with a torx bit. I had the torx bit but not the long driver so those bolts had to be done holding the seat cushion back with my chin whilst using a manual screwdriver at an angle so that the bit kept falling back out of the bolt.

I greased the bolts up a bit to ease refitting but it still took everything out of me just doing those 2 seats so im leaving the rears for another day. Ive done rears before and your right they are easy enough.

As the saying goes....never again

until next time

vince · Post by **vince** » 05 Sep 2010, 21:29

Hi Mike, yes manual seats.

Although im no longer a fan of VW's at least my passat seats had just one bolt you removed, the seats then slid out backwards out of their runners and whipping out the front seats literally took about 10 minutes for both.

What Citroen could have done is notched the front corner of the seat frame so you can get a straight access to the bolt. Its designed i think for a torx allen key set up....something with a 90 degree bend

vince · Post by **vince** » 05 Sep 2010, 21:31

DickieG wrote:
vince wrote:I coudnt find any photos of a beige leather Xantia interior anywhere on the net so i will take some of mine when its in
Here's one from my blog Vince, originally the interior was black leather but I changed the seats and door cards, normally the carpet would also be beige (and by now rather discoloured/aged) so having a black carpet is rather helpful.

Are your new seats electric? Fitting the rear ones will only take you 1/2 hour. What's the issue with door cards?

Richard my seats are a darker beige than the ones you have in your pic, also they do not have the pronounced side bolsters which i presume are the MK2 versions? I agree though on the dark carpets....a beige one doesnt stand a chance does it

DickieG · Post by **DickieG** » 05 Sep 2010, 22:11

vince wrote:Richard my seats are a darker beige than the ones you have in your pic, also they do not have the pronounced side bolsters which i presume are the MK2 versions? I agree though on the dark carpets....a beige one doesnt stand a chance does it

TBH the seats in that photo do look a little on the light side from what they really do look like, beige carpets don't normally stand a chance but somehow the one's in my forthcoming BMW are still like new so I can only presume the accountant I'm buying it from and all of his passengers have only worn slippers in the car

I'm not sure how long they will stay like that after I and Barney start to use it

vince · Post by **vince** » 06 Sep 2010, 21:07

There must be a product available like scotchguard for car carpets? That would come in handy for you id have thought....

vince · Post by **vince** » 06 Sep 2010, 21:10

Well gang, rain on my back be damned....the seats are all in

They look great in my opinion

but now the door cards need dying very soon...it looks kind of daft with VSX checked door cards beige seats and a black floor carpet

Leather...Im loving it

Deanxm · Post by **Deanxm** » 06 Sep 2010, 21:13

Where's the piccies vince?

D

XantiaMan · Post by **XantiaMan** » 07 Sep 2010, 08:20

vince wrote:There must be a product available like scotchguard for car carpets? That would come in handy for you id have thought....

Supagard used to have a scotch protection available as a package on new cars, i used to apply it.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Supagard-Interior ... 500wt_1154