VX220 Turbo 2005

I scoured the internet for a company to do the work but settled on a guy who had rave review called Ross who was well known to the forum. He kindly picked up my seats and door cards and drove off with them, a week later I had these back in my car. Absolutely stunning seats, half leather half alcantara with blue contrasting stitching. Door cards done in blue alcantara 

The exposed metal of the interior although shows how focused these cars are also makes for a perfect reverberation chamber! So I fitted a carpet set to the interior to make it a bit more liveable. Additionally I added a layer of alcantara to the inside of the roof, the extra lining works wonders for insulating but also makes the interior again look so comfortable

I thought I could get away with just doing the seats and doors, but I ended up getting the steering wheel completely retrimmed too. As well as getting matching black leather and blue stitch gaiters for the handbrake and gear stick. I added a Momo Air gear knob which matches the steering wheel as well as getting a carbon fibre sleeve that goes over the gear stick just to tidy it up, small things make all the difference

A common mod for the VX is that the gearbox breather is just a small nipple on the side right next to the rear nearside tyre! So any overflow and oil goes on the tyre, not good. So added a home made mod of a pipe and filter to allow it to still breath but not spray the oil over the car

The car came with an older unit, possibly the OEM unit! For some reason no sound was coming from the tweeters (an option for the turbo) and the rear speakers were pretty much useless. The rear speakers sit in a shallow recess behind the seats so not many options, in the end I picked this little lot up and got it installed

The expansion tanks on these cars are exposed to UV rays under the grille of the rear clam so they are prone to cracking. One way to prevent this is a cover, I picked up a carbon fibre one from the forum. I also plastidipped the coolant cap as well as the oil cap blue. Additionally carbon wrapped the coilpack cover and put in new rocker cover bolts

I noticed that the radiator was leaking. The plastic ends on the OEM rad are known for leaking, and if they go, it can be catastrophic. So ordered a Coolex rad and Elise Parts Hoses, along with a tonne of service parts, a Type116 front tow post, Elise Parts rear tow eye. Took the front clam off and spent all day replacing everything.

There is a common chat that goes around the VX community around the rear toe links. Those owners tracking regularly have had theirs done, as its said OEM ones are prone to fail. I dont track the car so ummed and urred but in the end relented and invested my hard earned into a set of uprated toe links from Elise Parts and got them fitted

Headlights were allowing some water in so decided to have a go at resealing them. Taking them off the car is a doddle, finally an easy job on the car! I then got the lens off of the casing and set about painstakingly removing the residue. I used butyl tape to reseal and they are back on the car

Removed the dashboard as the alcantara had faded badly in the sunshine. Bought some black dye and set about colouring it back, much improved and very happy that it all bolted back in place without any bother!

The notorious battery replacement. The old one had been in there 5 years and was going dead within a couple of weeks of a recharge so went for a Yuasa replacement, with slightly more cranking amps than I needed but also with a handle on top and it slightly narrower than OEM for ease of install and removal!

The VX220 comes with a cut out shape at the back, like it was meant to have a diffuser there but they forgot to add it from the factory! I invested in a diffuser from Ultimate Carbon, made of Aluminium, and bolted it on, it looks great!

I want a black and blue theme on the car, so these smoked side repeaters were a great option, with the added bonus of being sequential LEDs too!