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Jayare's Clubman Estate Rebuild & Conversion


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#1 jayare

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Posted 13 November 2009 - 08:56 PM

Well - I've made a start on it today - I suspect it will take some time to complete!

Briefly, I have owned my Clubman Estate for 13 years. I bought it for £100 in 1996 in need of a couple of patches and a new brake master cylinder, but started its first rebuild. The bodywork and paint were completed about a year after I bought it but I didn't get it finished until about 5 1/2 years ago. It has been in daily use since then as my only car, so it's in need of some TLC now - 5 winters worth of salt and about 56,000 miles have taken their toll!

In all honesty it's not that bad - there are quite a few scabs around the body, particularly at the front and I know it needs a pair of sills and some repairs to the driver's floor pan, so when the MoT ran out in August, I took it off the road. Today I have started the strip-down.

This pic is about 18 months or so ago, I think:

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Started today looking like this:

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And ended up looking like this:

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Sorry about the rubbish photo - my phone does a reasonable job when there's plenty of light but when it's dark the flash isn't up to much!

Tomorrow I'm going to be packing up all the bit's I've removed today and labelling everything - I didn't do that last time and it was a pain in the rear trying to find all the little bits (and it cost an arm and a leg for the missing bits too!).

Luckily all 24 trim panels came out OK, although the dash liners will need sorting out (new backing). The carpets are also in good shape and will be fine with a good brush and vacuum. I'll need to replace some of the sound-deadening felt as some of the glue I used was a bit too good!

I also took a video of it starting for the first time since August (fired up first time after a little charge of the battery!) as the 1380 A-series has to go to fund buying the panels and getting them welded on. I'm keeping it in a running state for a little longer too so any potential purchaser can hear it running, although I want it back to a bare shell by Christmas so I can have a look at getting the Allspeed subframe fitted up while I'm off over the Christmas/New Year break.

I'm going to be keeping a fixed steel front end on it with as little of the inner wings removed as possible - probably not the easiest way to go, but I'm not a fan of GRP or removable fronts on road cars. I'm also going to be putting the bulkhead back to standard as it currently has a turbo box in there - when I first started the first rebuild I had planned to go turbo but ended up using the N/A 1380 instead.

The plan is to use an X18XE1 engine from a Vectra or Astra (will buy a whole car and strip - that way I know I'll have all the bits I need!) in the Allspeed subframe. I want to try using the lower manifold from an X16XE Corsa which I've already got with a fabricated plenum chamber and single throttle body. Hopefully this will mean I can use a standard dual circuit brake master cylinder (no servo).

I'm going to be keeping 10" wheels so will either use a Corsa 1.5TD wide ratio gearbox or may look at making a hybrid CR box with the 3.55FD from the Corsa 'box if possible. I'm also going to have a go at converting the 'box to cable change to avoid having to modify the lower bulkhead and so I don't have the pig ugly plastic gearchange and rod going right through where my CD player currently lives. I have seen a couple of Vectra C F17 boxes on eBay which look like they are cable change, so this should be possible - need to get hold of a Vauxhall EPC to check parts diagrams!

I'll add updates as and when I get more done on the car,

JR

#2 baggy33minis

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Posted 17 November 2009 - 11:37 PM

Good to see you have made a start.I really like clubby estates.I have rebuilt several but not got round to doing one for myself yet.

My vaux clubby runs pretty good now but not had much time on it lately.
I have an x16xe sat here with all the bits if you need anything,i wimped out and went for the 8 valve.

#3 jayare

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Posted 18 November 2009 - 05:47 PM

I'll bear it in mind - I have been doing some more research on the X18XE1 and although the block is pretty much the same as the 1.6, the head is quite a bit different, so I don't think much of the 1.6 stuff will fit the 1.8, unfortunately!

It feels good to have made a start at last - going to get some more stripping done this weekend!

JR

#4 jayare

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Posted 20 November 2009 - 08:46 PM

More stripping done today - removed rear & side glass, rear doors, lights, bumpers, etc., wheelarches, front bumper, grille and one of the front indicator units. Good news is the rear doors are still pretty much perfect :) and the indicator unit I removed came off in one piece and with all the studs intact - good job too as they are around 60 quid a piece!

Rear door bottom - both look the same. Black gunk is the waxoyl which has done it's job well!

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I do need to get a new rear number plate mounting panel as the bottom inch or so of the old one had disintegtrated and also the number plate lamps mounting studs broke, but nothing else to surprise me yet.

There is some awkward to repair rust on the O/S rear quarter which was expected as the paint had bubbled quite badly there:

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So now it looks like this:

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Tomorrow I want to get the rest of the front end trim stripped off, windscreen and wipers out and possibly doors off if all goes well. I want to try to keep the engine able to be run for potential buyers - the engine & gearbox will be appearing in the classifieds very soon!

JR

#5 jayare

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Posted 22 November 2009 - 12:36 AM

More stripping down today - got front end stripped of lights, etc. The other indicator unit also came out in one piece with all studs intact, so I'm happy about that!

Stripped front end:
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Also removed windscreen, dash rails, dash trim, heater and took glass and electric window mechanism out of the drivers door. Getting the wiring out of the door was a bit of a mission - christ knows how I had the patience to get it all in there!:)

Car now looks like this:
Posted Image

JR

#6 EatSleepJDM

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Posted 26 November 2009 - 08:16 PM

keep up the good work mate! :geek:

#7 jayare

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Posted 26 November 2009 - 11:17 PM

Cheers! Plan is to finish stripping the body this weekend and then engine the week after - just have to borrow my mate's engine crane!

JR

#8 jayare

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Posted 30 November 2009 - 08:29 PM

No pictures for this update - hardly worthy of any!

Got the doors stripped and removed at the weekend. I really can't work out how I had the patience to get all the wiring in there though! Not looking forward to putting that bit back together - I may have to think up some way of making that bit easier!

Plenty of other stuff to do before then though.

I did find a bit of rot on the drivers A post which I wasn't expecting, but if that's the only surprise it has in store for me I'll be amazed!

Going to make a start on getting the engine out this weekend but I've got to work on Saturday morning so time might be a bit tight to get it right out.

JR

#9 jayare

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Posted 06 December 2009 - 07:45 PM

Well despite having to work Saturday, I've managed to get the engine out - started about 10 this morning and it was out by 3 this afternoon despite the LCB Y-piece doing its best to try to stop me! I've also got the front wiring loom out, removed the master cylinders and loosened the front subframe ready to drop it out and start trimming the inner wings to fit the Allspeed subframe. I need to get a pair of Minispares red-spot springs and then I have everything I need to build the subframe up - may have to make use of the Minispares online discount over the next week!

Anyway - pictures!

Engine ready to come out:

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and the hole that's now left!:

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I've got part of a bulkhead panel which I'm going to use to put the bulkhead back to standard and get rid of the turbo box - it's plenty big enough:

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Progress might be a bit slow over the next few weeks - it's the works Christmas do next weekend and I'm working on the Sunday after that. The good news is that I'm off work from Christmas Eve until the 8th of January so should get a fair bit done then.

JR

#10 jayare

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Posted 10 December 2009 - 11:41 PM

No progress on the Mini but I've ordered a pair of red spot cones and a few other bits and bobs I need to get the Allspeed subframe built up and ready to fit. Collecting them from Minispares on Saturday after ordering them on the website to get the VAT free offer they have on at the moment.

Also got my mitts on a Vauxhall EPC off eBay for £6.99 total which works great - it comes with Sun Virtualbox which runs an XP virtual machine on Vista (as the Vauxhall software will only run on XP). If anyone else needs one the seller's ID is 'vauxhallpartsandspares'. It has allowed me to confirm that F17 gearboxes with cable shifts do exist and also that the only part that's different is the selector top cover, so I'm going to pop into the local Vauxhall dealership to see how much the part is - may work out cheaper than getting one gearbox to get the right ratios and another for the cable shift mechanism.

JR

#11 olds_kool_lews

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Posted 10 December 2009 - 11:45 PM

alright mate, i got your old rio shell, the 1 without front end! bought it from ebay awhile back, still aint done alot with it yet, welded up the bulk head though, and cleaned some of the rough areas/straightened the boot floor out! nice project u got there! would love a clubby estate! keep up the good work! :)

#12 jayare

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Posted 11 December 2009 - 12:22 AM

Cheers - long way to go yet though!

JR

#13 jayare

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Posted 27 December 2009 - 05:44 PM

After doing the family bit over Christmas I got a chance to get out into the garage today. Did a bit of tidying to give me room to work and got the Allspeed subframe up onto the workmate ready to put it all together. I also made up a wooden beam to fit the subframe onto that attaches to my trolley jack - I can see it going in and out quite a bit until I get the inner wings cut correctly and that should make it a bit easier!

So I then decided to clean up and check the top arms which came on the frame - unfortunately one had a bent damper pin - no problem (I thought) - I have some spares so tried to get the bent pin out but it's not budging. Tried Mr Hot on it and bashed the carp out of it but it's well stuck! The other one had a seized bearing which had knackered the pin so that needs a rebuild. I'm having trouble getting the bearing cages out so need to borrow a dremel type thing.

All told I've managed to get next to nothing to show for having spent over 6 hours out there!

One thing I did notice was there doesn't appear to be anything in the top of the towers to locate the springs in the middle - is this normal?? This picture shows what I mean:
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Hopefully some better progress tomorrow!

I'm off work until the 11th January and I really want the subframe fitted by then!

JR

#14 alexcrosse

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Posted 28 December 2009 - 05:10 PM

ive not nothing to locate the springs either! so its a normal allspeed thing. I thought it was a bit strange, dont no if it will effect anything though.

but its normal! >_< atleast i no yours is like it too now!

#15 jayare

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Posted 28 December 2009 - 11:35 PM

Glad it's not just my frame then! I think I may look at adding something to centre the spring as there's quite a bit of room for it to move around as it is.

JR




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