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The adventure begins....building my 420R


mdork

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After 9 months from deposit date, my 420R and all associated bits are finally in my garage and ready to build. It was rather special to have my family and my dad on hand during delivery. Special thanks to Bruce @ Beachman Racing for his help throughout the ordering process and of course for getting the kit safely to my house (and for responding to my inevitable questions during the build). Also a big thanks to some new friends in the Avants group for helping unload and lending me a pallet jack.

 

I will be adding some pictures along the way and of course asking for help when I get stuck or do something dumb. For the Seattle-area crew....if you want to re-live the build process...send me a message and I'd be happy to have visitors to drink stuff and cheer me on. I'll be building the car with my dad and two kids so expecting to take my time and enjoy the process. Shooting to be on the road by September to enjoy some blats in the sunshine. Here's a first pic of the payload...

IMG_3458.jpeg

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First (dumb) question. I know the IVA trim for the suspension/body openings are required in the UK but are folks in the US installing? What's the risk/downside? The paint isn't totally perfect on the edges so might make sense to add but curious what the prevailing wisdom is...

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2 hours ago, mdork said:

First (dumb) question. I know the IVA trim for the suspension/body openings are required in the UK but are folks in the US installing? What's the risk/downside? The paint isn't totally perfect on the edges so might make sense to add but curious what the prevailing wisdom is...

 

I did for grins, using a very small edge trim around the entire perimeter of both the upper and lower openings.  Totally not needed, not often done from what I can tell, but it was COVID and I was looking for anything to make the build take longer.

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2 hours ago, mdork said:

First (dumb) question. I know the IVA trim for the suspension/body openings are required in the UK but are folks in the US installing? What's the risk/downside? The paint isn't totally perfect on the edges so might make sense to add but curious what the prevailing wisdom is...

 

If you're going to do it, do it now without components in place. Makes it much easier

 

I did it on mine and just think it makes for a cleaner look. No other reason reallyl

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Im thinking I’ll do it just because the paint work is iffy on the edges. Except I can’t find the trim in the box that says it’s in there. All part of the adventure :)

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2 hours ago, mdork said:

Im thinking I’ll do it just because the paint work is iffy on the edges. Except I can’t find the trim in the box that says it’s in there. All part of the adventure :)

 

While it's not going to be identical, replacement on amazon is pretty damn close, cheap and can be primed. 

 

I've ordered OEM and honestly used the amazon instead. 

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12 hours ago, Vovchandr said:

 

While it's not going to be identical, replacement on amazon is pretty damn close, cheap and can be primed. 

 

I've ordered OEM and honestly used the amazon instead. 

Any chance you have a link to what you used? Tried searching and failed. 

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3 minutes ago, mdork said:

Any chance you have a link to what you used? Tried searching and failed. 

 

Course.


I used this

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KBXBS96/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I see it's no longer prime, but principle is the same. Had double sided tape on the one edge.

 

It was a bear to be put in situ and some corners are just very hard to tape to stick on. I've used heat gun in areas and my vinyl tools to help make it work. Some corners still don't stick well and I'm debating going back over and dabbing some superglue in areas to keep it nice. 

 

This looks identical and is primable

 

https://www.amazon.com/ESUPPORT-Moulding-Rubber-Scratch-Protector/dp/B07Z79NQ6N/ref=sr_1_30?dchild=1&keywords=car%2Bdoor%2Bedge%2Btrim%2Bprotector&qid=1621011038&s=automotive&sr=1-30&th=1

 

Whichever you pick be careful with dimensions. They will all differ a little by a few mm. You certainly don't want something too large accidently. 

 

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For those cannot get it to stick locations, some 3M primer 94 applied carefully with a small paint brush will and allowed to dry will get results. Works brilliantly with edges when doing vinyl wrapping. 
 

caution, use tiny amounts on paint brush you don’t want runs of any sort on paint. 

 

 

48976521-9964-4F44-BAE8-716E320FCF4C.jpeg

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6 minutes ago, Renottse said:

For those cannot get it to stick locations, some 3M primer 94 applied carefully with a small paint brush will and allowed to dry will get results. Works brilliantly with edges when doing vinyl wrapping. 
 

caution, use tiny amounts on paint brush you don’t want runs of any sort on paint. 

 

 

48976521-9964-4F44-BAE8-716E320FCF4C.jpeg

 

That sounds like great advice. I'll try it on next vinyl project on edges

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Thanks for the links. Decided to just get started in the name of progress as I had my dad on hand for the day and the IVA trim can wait (or will skip).

 

Got off to a slow start today and generally things were much more difficult than expected. The front upper wishbones were a huge challenge and for a bit made me wonder if they would actually fit in the brackets. Upper bolt for the bilsteins was also a bear but we made it work. I had seen reports of the lower wishbones being difficult due to minimal clearance for the washers but was actually really simple for me. The biggest frustration of the day was trying to fit the universal joint onto the steering rack. The rack just didn't have enough clearance for the M8 bolt and in the process of trying to get it to fit we managed to mangle the bolt so will have to sort a replacement and try a new strategy. It fits fine on the steer rod...just not enough gap in the steering rack for the bolt to clear. From build blogs it appears I'm not the only one to struggle but still a bit frustrating. Really surprised that things don't "just fit" given how many years they've had to sort the tolerances and perfect the design. 

 

Nevertheless... happy to have made progress and a fun day in the garage with my pops. 

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Congrats! I just dropped mine off this morning for Bruce to give it a PBC. I'd be happy to help out with whatever you need.

 

I dremeled the steering u-joint bolt hole for a little more room to clear the rod. If you're surprised that didn't fit nicely on the first try, you've got a few more surprises in store :)

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Thanks Yogi - will take you up on that I'm sure. Another interesting discovery on the u-joint is that the build manual calls for an M8x40mm bolt whereas Pack A inventory lists the u-joint bolt as an M8x35mm. Grades are different as well. Decided to go with the higher grade 40mm just because. 

 

I have most of the front suspension in...making progress...the dreaded headlamp assemblies are up next.

 

Good luck with the PBC!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm looking forward to seeing another green one in the neighborhood sometime! I really need to learn the acronyms like IVA and PBC lol!
Cheers and good luck!
 

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