852 replies to this topic

[JonnyAlpha]

Managed a bit of work on Saturday, trying to get the rear underside painted up to fit the Subby but still had a bit of tidying and welding to complete.

 

Needed to grind off all of the old pipe and cable clips like these:

 

This is the battery cable clip that runs nearly the full length of the car, wanted it off as it was in the way of the seam i needed to weld for the RH half floor that I fitted and its a rust trap:

 

 

Once I cut the main piece off I lifted the areas between the spot welds:

 

 

Then I carefully cut off the mid pieces:

 

 

Leaving these bits:

 

 

Which twisted or ground off:

 

 

These last bits were cleaned up with a Flap Disc (no pic).

 

Then having taken some advice on the Mig Welding Forum on how to improve my upside down welding I started to weld and did some of the best upside down welding so far:

 

 

 

 

Next I need to remove the exhaust and clean up the Tunnel. 

[JonnyAlpha]

Well after completing some task I managed a couple fo hours in the garage tonight.

 

In order to clean up the underside of the tunnel and get the back end painted I had to remove the Exhaust (should have done it ages ago to be honest)

 

Geeze what a task that turned out to be, I had a read of the Haynes Manual and realised I needed to remove the Manifold Bracket, what the Haynes manual did not say was how blooming hard it would be to get at the nut and bolt holding the union together!!!!

 

Using a mix of an old and new socket set (luckily I had an extra long socket) I managed to get onto the nut but because of the location I could only undo about 2mm at a time!!!

Finally after what seemed an age it came of, wrapped knuckles, ripped Latex Glove and oily fingers UUGGGHH as a result.

 

Here is the tunnel before I started to clean it, looks worse than it is, it will take some cleaning and de-rusting with Deox Gel but i'll get the better of it.

 

 

Problem is to clean it up is going take a whole day and then it needs painting straight away, I think i'll clean it up as best I can with a Twisted Knot etc of an evening and then finally use the Deox in the morning when I have a whole day to get the paint on as well.

 

 

Good news though, whilst in Cornwall I picked up the Rear Seat base that my son has finished re-upholstering:

 

 

Sorry about the background (spare bedroom) the seat is not quite finished as it still needs fixing to the back, not sure what Glue to use or whether to use Staples in the small piece of board that runs along the front edge?

 

He's done a cracking job I think for a first.

 

[Ben_O]

Does he do upholstering? 

[Hendred]

The seat looks really really good, well done to your son especially as it was his first go.

[JonnyAlpha]

Does he do upholstering? 

He's a Royal Naval Survival Equipment Specialist so textile sewing is one of the requirements of the job but he has never done upholstery before. He is seeing how it goes and may set it up as a small business.

 

You can find him on Instagram @williamharveyupholstery (I think) 

[JonnyAlpha]

The seat looks really really good, well done to your son especially as it was his first go.

Thank's Hendred, I'll pass on your praise.

[Coxie]

You have 4 days to go before the beaulieu deadline.
Best get some late ones in.

[JonnyAlpha]

You have 4 days to go before the beaulieu deadline.
Best get some late ones in.

Coxie;

 

Was thinking of messaging you today funnily enough, looks like it's not gonna make it :-( need to identify another similar event in August probably.

Sorry mucker :-(

[Coxie]

I'm cutting it fine too bud.  image.jpg   74.85K   4 downloads
Your getting there though, keep it up mate.

[JonnyAlpha]

I'm cutting it fine too bud.image.jpg
Your getting there though, keep it up mate.

Going in or out?

 

Did you get to Beaulieu?

[JonnyAlpha]

Well, as I ended up not going to Beaulieu I managed to get some work done this weekend.

The target for the weekend was to get the underside welding finished and Epoxy'd.

 

Don't have a lot of pics but here's Friday evenings welding:

 

 

 

Upside down as well, can you see the rust under the Etch Primer!!! That'll have to come off.

 

 

Drilled some plug weld holes in my closing panels:

 

 

Then I started to dress down the welds, the brown stuff is from my Flap Disc and the Weld Soot:

 

 

On Saturday Afternoon I ended up having to do some more welding as I found a metre run that I had missed from when I put the RH floor in, here is the flange that needed welding, no pics of the finished article I'm afraid.

 

 

Then today (Sunday) it was time to tackle the mamouth task of cleaning up the floor and get one coat of Epoxy on as soon as it was finished:

 

 

A lot of rust in the tunnel at the rear.

 

Here's a pic after an hour or so with a Twisted Knot and an Abracs Fleece Disc:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Could have done with this out of the way but hey ho:

 

 

Under the tunnel I noticed some rivets that I kept trying to avoid when I was cleaning up, I realised that these were holding in the Ash Tray in the rear!!

 

 

No smokers in this car so I drilled them out and welded up the holes:

 

Had to do some areas with Deox Gel and hopefully got all the rust out :-(

 

Anyway by 8pm I was knackered but finished (one coat of Epoxy).

 

 

That orange spot is a fault in the camera not the paint!!

 

Next on the agenda:

 

1. Seam Seal.

2. Paint inside sills (wish I could have done that with the last lot of paint but did not have enough time).

3. Top Coat Inner Sill and Inside Sills

4. Weld on Sills and clean up.

5. Gravitex.

6. Top Coat.

7. Build and fit Subframe.

 

Rolling Chassis

 

That's about 6 days work!!

 

 

 

[Coxie]

Yeah , made it to beaulieu and back without a hitch.
Runs really well now

[JonnyAlpha]

Yeah , made it to beaulieu and back without a hitch.
Runs really well now

Better without missing teeth on the flywheel I guess, wish I had made it :-(

[JonnyAlpha]

This evening I thought I'd have a crack at the Seam Sealing.

 

I bought this stuff a while ago, either recommended on here or the Mig Welding Forum, It's pretty good stuff, Polyurethane Automotive overpaintable sealant:

 

 

That's my COSHH area behind

 

It has a ring pull on the bottom to keep it fresh, you pull this off and cut off the plastic top before sticking it in the caulk gun.

 

 

Did under the Door Steps first, smoothed and worked it in with a wet finger at first, this works ok, as does a finger dipped in Cellulose Thinners, seems even smoother. Only problem with Celly Thinners is that it melts my disposable gloves !!

 

 

Just spotted an area I forgot to paint under the Door Step Flange where the Sill will Spot Weld onto.

 

And at the rear of the floor where it meets the Heel Board, I thought I had wiped off the excess?

 

 

And the Heelboard area:

 

 

Under the Arches:

 

 

I also managed to do some areas where I had butt or lap welded to seal any imperfections but ran out of time, had to take the wife out to Dinner

 

 

And a better view of the flange at the base of the Inner Wheel Arch:

 

 

And the front of the Floor Pans:

 

 

I'll finish the Seam Sealing tomorrow night probably but then I wont be back at it for at least a week as I'll be in Hosi for day surgery tomorrow then off sick for two weeks :-( 

 

Routine Op - Gall Bladder (in case you were wondering).

 

Anyway two weeks rest will do me good, got a Uni assignment looming and need to update my Raspberry Pi / Robotics Project!!

 

At least I am starting to put things together and not cut bits off (until I crack on with the front end that is), light is appearing at the end of what's been a very long, dark tunnel.

 

 

 

[Ben_O]

great job with the sealing.

 

Do you plan to brush over with more sealer once that has cured for more protection?

 

Ben