Hillman Avenger Turbo

[lebowski]

Apr 11, 2020 21:33:54 GMT stealthstylz said:

Look better on there than they did on my Saxo lol. Glad they've gone onto something cool.

Polished and orange centre would look cool. Diamond cut spokes would look great too, there was a really good defined edge on the spokes when I blasted them shouldn't take much doing.

Yeah I'm pleased with how they look.
I did think about orange but thought maybe it'll be too much.

Was that black one powder coated? The finish seemed very tough. Gave my fingers a good beating cleaning up the rim.

[stealthstylz]

I can't remember, they were black when I bought them.

[stealthstylz]

[lebowski]

That looks good, but

[lebowski]

I'm still undecided on wheel colour. I'm probably leaning towards gold I think. I gave one of the wheels a quick and nasty sprayjob in gold just to see what it looks like (so excuse the poor finish - I didn't do any prep).

IMG_20200413_141039 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

IMG_20200413_141012 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

IMG_20200413_141151 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

IMG_20200413_141123 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

I think the black also looks good but it probably needs the diamond cut face, otherwise the detail gets lost I think.

[stealthstylz]

Gold looks ace

[mylittletony]

Both colours look good tbh, although depending on what vibe you want from the finished car. Gold is a bit more racey, diamond cut black is smarter and in that image compliments the window trims.

Either way you're on to a winner, they're a great fit for the car

[MiataMark]

Has to be Gold, the black just gets lost (orange would work as well I think).

[georgeb]

The orange has appeal, as per the stealthstylz post above.

[forkliftfred]

My vote is for the gold.

[Darkspeed]

Nay for Orange - Yay for Gold - not a fan of colour coded wheels - says the bloke who had White 14x7 Performance cross spokes on his G31 a few sets of those wheels came from Ginetta as they used them on the G32 in 14 x 6 and sold them as options on the G26 range of cars in 14x7 all 4x108 PCD



The only downside with the 14 wass the limited tyre options.

[Brigsy]

Just caught up with this, great project. My auntie used to have an avenger when i was a kid, brought back memories from my youth!

[lebowski]

With the lockdown boredom I decided to do some bodywork on the Avenger. Whoever did the magnificent paintjob prior to my ownership painted the door shuts with no prep and a paintbrush. I decided to redo the door shuts and also do the sills which have been previously replaced but sat in primer for about 12 years.

You may remember that I have recently-ish repainted the engine bay.  I will be using that same paint for the rest of the car, but it will be done on a rolling basis, so it'll look terrible in the meantime until the whole car is done.  I don't have indoor premises to store the car while a full respray is done so it'll be done bit by bit.

I took the doors off and rubbed down the paint. There were a few spots of slight rust which I ground back and have since treated with Hydrate 80, along with all the other bare metal.

IMG_20200424_163357 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

Thankfully the (Zintec) sills have faired incredibly well and are totally rust free, so I just took the primer off, and my Dad helped me out with filling some surface imperfections.

IMG_20200424_163404 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

IMG_20200425_162352 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

Whilst the doors were off we also started repairing the rusty bottoms.  The first one I did is actually the best door, but it still had a few rust holes at the front and back.

IMG_20200425_162348 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

I cut a strip off the bottom and started making a replacement panel.

IMG_20200425_182452 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

IMG_20200425_182512 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

This was tacked on on the front side of the door and then crimped on tightly using grips.

IMG_20200426_162611 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

The rest of panel was welded a couple of zaps at a time, and then a wet cloth was used to cool the weld and hopefully avoid distortion.  This was obviously fairly tedious over such a long length.

IMG_20200426_171821 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

Once ground down, it looks like this.  Obviously it will still need a skim of filler to get the shape right after grinding.  I will paint the doors at the same time as the shuts and sills.  All 4 need the same work.

IMG_20200426_173056 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

[jjeffries]

Great stuff. John

[07lilredwagon]

really nice work, there.

I too would put a vote in for the gold wheels.

JP

[outrage]

I'd prefer the black wheels.

[lebowski]

I must admit, the black wheels are growing on me.

Front door today.

IMG_20200427_145107 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

IMG_20200427_151821 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

IMG_20200427_170147 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

IMG_20200427_170157 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

[lebowski]

Front door repaired.

IMG_20200428_145408 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

IMG_20200428_151511 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

I also rubbed down both doors ready for filler and paint, then hung them on the car to check the panel gaps.

IMG_20200430_161146 by Chris Witkowski, on Flickr

[homersimpson]

Looking very good on the door repair, nice work :-)

[lebowski]

Thanks. I have seen your thread about the door repairs too.

I've also stopped using the damp rag to cool the welds. I think it distorts more. Seems best if I just do a single zap and let it air cool naturally, although I think some level of slight distortion is inevitable.