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LE 53 Restoration project #1252259
22/08/2011 20:14
22/08/2011 20:14
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,252
Windsor/ Reading
knight7660 Offline OP
Competition Level
knight7660  Offline OP
Competition Level

Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,252
Windsor/ Reading
Well where do i start coffee


It all started when speaking to Countrycruising (Joe at FCSS) about full restorations and if it was worth doing as a project and the answer was yes of course they are worth it.
First off i started looking for a unit to rent so i could do the restoration work in, i already had one up at FCSS but that was for another project which is still not finished but it wasn’t big enough for a coupe as well, after much hassling with the landlord he built another unit big enough for what was needed.

click to enlarge

So storage sorted now to decide on which coupe model to restore, after much thinking i decided on restoring an LE due to I’ve always liked the leather and the titanium coloured bits, after much searching i didnt find one within my budget but kept the feelers out just incase.

Shortly after starting the search i was deployed to Afghanistan for a 6 month operational tour and so i left Joe to carry on the searching until one day while at a main base i managed to get on the net and had an email from a forum member saying he had an LE which needed alot of love so a deal was struck and Joe had it collected.

The problem with blind buys is as we all know it could go wrong in a big way which is always the gamble and for my LE almost did go wrong in a big way but more about that later

So here are some pics sorry there not the best



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Well as the owner said it is in need of alot of work and true to the word it did need it.

So the engine needed replacing due to snapped cambelt

Full glass out respray

Full undersealing and any rust treating

Drivers seat refurbing and the rest of the interior needs a major deep clean and loads of other jobs which il include along the way.

It took about 3 days to strip the shell all the way down in September last year then was sent down to FCSS paint guy where there was a huge problem when the rub down was started. He said there was loads of filler on the offside rear which we could see the was a small repair before we sent it down, but this turned out to be a side swipe and it had been just fill completely with filler and sprayed over. I was abit pissed at this time because it was a big problem.

After thinking long and hard the nod was give and it was repaired. I was then asked if i wanted to get rid of the rear wing vent things and i decided to keep them because i haven’t seen any other coupes with them plus it would of been alot more work again for the paint guy. That decided it was now the long wait for it to be sprayed, it took this long because Joe kept going down there and pointing out issues that needed to be sorted before it went to paint (thanks Joe).

In December the paint guy decided to have a new booth installed over Xmas so that was another delay but i was assured the paint finish would be alot better with the new booth so i was more than happy to wait as you do.

so heres some of the pics of the rebuild which we did in about 4 days plus other stuff going on at the same time.

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And heres some 98% done just needs some minor things sorting out and a major detailing session

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and before anybody mentions the plus wheels are on there because my LE rims arnt finished yet and the tractor tires are to stop the misses from kerbing them when they were on the VIS smile

Last edited by knight7660; 26/08/2011 22:55.

LE53 (452BHp & 389ftlb's with Quaife)
Wine red VIS FOOFY
Audi RS4 B7
Re: LE 53 Restoration project [Re: knight7660] #1252276
22/08/2011 20:56
22/08/2011 20:56
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,252
Windsor/ Reading
knight7660 Offline OP
Competition Level
knight7660  Offline OP
Competition Level

Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,252
Windsor/ Reading
pics will be added very soon

im having problems with the pics again if anybody can help me please do smile

Last edited by knight7660; 26/08/2011 22:24.

LE53 (452BHp & 389ftlb's with Quaife)
Wine red VIS FOOFY
Audi RS4 B7
Re: LE 53 Restoration project [Re: knight7660] #1253984
26/08/2011 22:56
26/08/2011 22:56
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,252
Windsor/ Reading
knight7660 Offline OP
Competition Level
knight7660  Offline OP
Competition Level

Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,252
Windsor/ Reading
pic heavy


LE53 (452BHp & 389ftlb's with Quaife)
Wine red VIS FOOFY
Audi RS4 B7

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