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Bonnet mould having release coats applied, and between coats getting templates made up for the cloth layup. Thinking of doing a 0/90 spread tow for the scoop, and twill for the remainder. 45/45 biax mid layer, and coremat for extra stiffness. Haven’t done weight calcs yet, but should end up much lighter than the grp bonnet, and of course be much stiffer. Haven’t decided on vents as yet, but will make these separately and make them into a feature. Using the plug for my templates, and will be doing an infusion.

It is, even Westfield gave up on offering their old green in the colour matching service they had. From memory, the chemicals used in the pigments for the old greens have been banned from use for years now, amd without them, you can never get a true match.

Very true, though just keep in mind that paint and gel coat do reflect light differently, so some colours don't math quite as well under all lighting. (My Electric Blue looks radically different under electric light compared to daylight, and under daylight, a bright, intense, high summer sun, looks completely different to a weaker winter sun. (Even where colour temps should be similar).

I don't have any paint. Just the original green gelcoat. So matching is much harder. I work in the yacht coating industry and have had a couple of gelcoat repair specialists look, and they both said it would be a very tricky match. Painting the car would be an easy option, but then the original gelcoat would be lost forever.

Me too! Thanks everyone for the explanations.

Yes - I am planning to re-paint the wheels, if/as necessary, depending on the final design choice.

to keep some green in the mix there is the 7UP or Falken Tyres liveries.

Just generally with wraps, it very much depends on your expectations, quality of finish wise. If just looking for a race car finish standard, or "10 yard" finish, where you can't see all the imperfections, then as long as there are no raised sharp edges, you can just go over the top of moderate condition bodywork. But if you're wanting it to look good when stood next to it, surface prep is everything - it basically needs to be almost as flawless as it would be for a paint job, so sanded and filled where necessary etc. Thus if you removed it, it would either need re-wrapping or painting. Not sure how the JPS scheme would go with flared arches, as they would cut through the gold pin stripes on the side of the car? It can look great on a Westfield though!

The V5. (Again, unless on a Q) The V5 is the "law" for that car, what it says on it, goes, as far as emissions are concerned and the MoT. All the other documentation is just to get you to the IVA and V5 stage, so great to have in the cars history, but not vital.

Me too! (the pre-register for the engine, that is.

Narrow chassis windscreen fillet in blue, used but good condition £20

Paint matching is incredibly accurate these days if your existing paint is scanned then that's exactly what your get i can understand you wanting to wrap there's a gulf wrapped car that I keep seeing at mk open days even has mud on the print looks awesome it's done really well seems a popular wrap unless it's the same car.

Must go well then looks great

Had a little bit of pampering done over the past two days. Nothing crazy, just a good once over. There were a few super minor marks from prior to my ownership, and I like my cars to look as good as they go. Mission accomplished. Very happy.

Thank you. That’s the first time I’ve heard of that being done. Every day’s a school day.

It wasn't as bright and sunny as forecast, but we had a good blat round and got my oil warm ready for the annual oil change!

Have a great day @Jim.Mottram 🍺🎂

If you do JPS, be aware that you will have an overwhelming desire to either get your existing wheels refinished to gold or get new gold wheels, so factor that cost into things.

My bonnet has a lot of grills/ducts, so not much room for a logo there. Maybe a stripe or two, but that’s about it.

The dark green gelcoat on my 1993 SEiGHT is beginning to show its age, with a few areas of crazing, scratches, etc. I’m loathed to paint the car, but getting a good colour match with gelcoat repairs I suspect will be next to impossible. So the obvious other option is a wrap. (Which can be taken off in the future if required, with very little chance of any damage to the existing gelcoat.) I could go dark green, and keep it looking original. But that seems a little bit of a waste of the opportunity. I’d like to do something more fun. I’ve been thinking of race liveries. There’s a lovely Gulf car locally, but I’d feel a fraud copying that. Can’t do Martini as I’m not so keen on the main body of the car being white. And liveries that split the car in two horizontally, such as Gold Leaf or Rothmans do not suit my car which has the butterfly wings. Hence at the top of the idea leader board currently is JPS. Wrap the car in gloss black, then add the gold coachlines, wording, logo’s etc. Given the age of my car, and the wings, I’d rather go with more period/classic look, than something too modern. Has anyone got any other ideas? Would love to hear other suggestions or see pictures.

No problem. Firstly I have to say that I wasn’t the builder but I do have all the paperwork. Before IVA, the builder registered the fully rebuilt engine (according to Rimmer Bros from a 1976 Rover Vitesse) with the necessary authority and it was certified as part of the kit (pre-registered). The car was subsequently completed in 2009 from all new parts (no donor car) and upon IVA, registered as a 2009 car with age related plate. Emissions are listed on the V5 as ‘visual check only’.

@harrypotter I would refer you to my FAQ MOT emissions thread. This covers V5c notes Q plates and registration dates. https://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/topic/140737-what-are-the-mot-emissions-for-a-westfieldkit-car/?do=getNewComment

So how can you tell what the situation is with any particular kit car once it’s registered?

Proven date, yes. But supplying the acceptable proof to the DVSA in advance of the IVA can be the tricky part. Many car manufacturers in the past had departments you could contact, with the engine number, and (usually for a fee) they would supply a letter with the info from their records on when that engine was made. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but Burtons used to include a “cheat sheet” in their catalogue, of how to decode engine manufacturing dates from Ford engine numbers, again, this used to be admissible. One thing you do have to be careful of in these discussions, is that people conflate IVA emissions requirements and MoT emissions requirements, when they’re subtly different. But once IVA has set the limit on the car as tested, that’s what you’re working with going forward. (Which is obviously also why Q’s are so beneficial, compared to year reg’s.) if, at IVA, if you cannot prove the engines age in an acceptable way, then it will be tested to current standards, which will then, (unless the car’s on a Q), set the emissions test for the car, going forward.

Hi Martyn. so is it always the date of the engine that determines emissions on a kit car?