MK1 Racer (ALL BROKEN PHOTOBUCKET PICS FIXED) - Painted and out of the bodyshop....

Thanks

Infinity, I was going to reply on your thread earlier but got sidetracked!

Yeah, going well (ish!). I have had a couple of not so good wkends on the car, just getting a bit fed up with the constant cutting and grinding. Time consuming stuff that does not seem to be very glamourous - hence no pics!

I started with the holesaw and had some minor problems, just niggly bits, but was not impressed when I weighed the cut outs. Weighed all the brackets too, and I obviously have not saved what I thought I had.

I'm sure most on here have had wkends like that too, just can't be bothered going out to the garage, even though you know you have to!

Hopefully get some other stuff done this wkend and more pics also.

 

I find that until the dash goes back in, I don't feel much progress. Then it snowballs...

Weight-wise, I reckoned on mine, calculating bits that were already out (weighed on a previous car) and extra bits taken out, that there's about 7-10kgs of brackets to be had (exlcuding tar and underseal). I left the scuttle.

Sound ballpark?

 

I am going to weigh all the stuff ona better set of scales if I get a chance - I got more like 3-4 kgs worth of the brackets. I will stick upa pic this mkend to show you which ones I have weighed. Got pretty much all of them bar from that one you took of from underneath which you said was a pain...

Either the scales I used are off, or I have missed some...

 

I have these pics that I did from the past few wkends followed by today's work...

A bit of lightening...



3.5 kg in all of the little now unused brackets and bits of metal I don't need on the car.

You can see here all the bits I have taken the spot weld drill to...



Seatbelt plate hidden within C-pillar (I holesawed the C-pillars bit too...Not that it makes feck all difference )



and then these heavy now defunct plates drop out...



Iirc those plates are rear seatbelt mounts in C-pillar, rear bench (seat) mount, rear boot lock plate thingy and something else I can't remember!

All credit to Chris E for pointing out those hidden mounts - would never have noticed or thought to look for them myself.

The rest of the bits are all brakets for dash, unused engine bay, scuttle and seat brackets. Removed the OE seat rails and supports also as will be using proper tubular seat rails for the bucket seats.

 

The cage is a 6 point bolt in cage and although I am not 100% happy with the location of the front legs, they may have to do. It is welded in on the A pillars and B pillars and I don't fancy cutting it out for a new one.

However, I have found what I have seen on a few other mk1 builds. Rot between the floor and sill. I was dreading this and trying to put it off for ages but decided to do something with it today.

Marty & Craig came round and we talked over a few options. The bottom line was there was no point in messing around and just to do it properly. The area had been fixed (badly) at some point in the car's life and it did not help being right under the cage mount either...





Only small hole I know, but not good either way and I plan on keeping the car for a long time so it needed sorted. I flipped the car on its side again and found more holes I forgot about.











The previous repair had just sandwiched the rust/rot - one plate welded on top and one on the bottom! Not good.

I also cut out another slightly rotten bit where one of the o/e seatrails used to be. The spotwelded areas had rusted and there were holes around them.



Going to weld them tomorrow.

 

most mk1's have issues in that area. it's that recessed area of floor and sill that is used for the std jackpoint. unfortunatley most garage monkeys use it with lifts etc which the edge is not designed to take. it ends up crushing and overtime rusting out. we use a long standing phrase of 'jack it on the doughnut ya doughnut!' when a mk1 gets jacked up! i have considered getting stickers made for the sill saying this!

anything repair like that i would always seam weld. it you ever leave the slightest gap you will find water and other crap gets into it!

 

I don't know if we helped any with advice, the banter was quite fierce though!

Good to see you got the area cut out and good luck patching it up. As you say, its worth doing it right, you can have a passenger seat round Knockhill in the VR to keep you going until the Mk1 is back round it.

 

Nice update there Ali - plenty of stuff out of the car there

I think it's the lower rear seatbelt inertia reel mount. 3rd and 4th from left.

 

Bloody rust eh Still, that is better than most Mk1 resto candidates I've seen!! Looking forward to seeing the cage finished up

 

Nah, it was helpful. Sometimes its good to get a 2nd opinion and it's a bit clearer to see the next step.

Good to see you eventually registered here! Sure people on here would like to see a few pics of the VR

 

Ye finally got registered on here. Posted some up in a build thread. Decided we will have to start making plans for the 08 ring trip. Get busy with that welder

 

Good to see you got that out alright Ali, hell its not as bad as i thought it would be. Crack on with the welding i need the welder back to finish up the bottom of the MK2 !

 

Last wkend was rather depressing, hence no pics. I had a poke around with the screwdriver and found a few more rotten bits that I would have liked!

The areas around the paddock stand holes looked grotty and I could see more more of the brown stuff from the hole I previously cut. I am not going to put them back in - reckon its just another opportunity for rust + more time to do.



The screwdriver went right through the inner sill in two places and I needed to get to them from the other side. There were also another few areas on the outside that looked a bit suspect so I made the decision to cut out the sill...

The rear arches have to come off for when it gets blasted and they sit on top of the bit of sill I cut out, so they came off first.







Thought these pics might be of use to folk deciding how to attach their berg kits. Pop rivets then filler, which is how they wil be going back on too. Remember Mike asking at some point...

Glad I took them off too, a fair rust trap behind them



and I have this to fix too...



It is not actually too bad inside the sill and might have gotten away without doing it, but seeing as I am planning on keeping it for a long time I thought it was best to do it properly.



I have two new sills I picked up this morning so hopefully the new one on tomorrow.

Put the new plate in for the floor the other day too.



Hopefully have the rust repairs under control soon and get it off to the blasters, getting fed up with all this grinding and cutting!

A random pic after the duststorm from the filler!



All a pretty steep learning curve for me tbh, but getting there - slowly!

 

Looking great man, your doing a cracking job and although its a steep learning curve, fair play to you for taking it on. Will be all worth it when we're in convoy to the ring later this year

 

Can't wait!

 

Nice dedication to rust repair! Going to be awesome

 

H8SV8S - Thanks. Want to do it properly, don't want any coming back in a few years time. I just hope I don't crash it when its built!

Hopefully today's pics are a little more interesting as most of yesterday was spent umming an ahhing over what to cut and what not to!

Anyway, glad I decided to do the sills after all, as I found a few other areas of rot festering away in there...

First I removed the remaining bit outer sill 'skin' from the three skin sandwich of the inner, outer and floor panels.

Before...



After...





That was done with the ever faithfull grinder and chisel combo as spotweld drill was too time consuming.

After a bit more investigation with the grinder and wire wheel, I found this...



Glad I found it as it is right at the begining of rear chassis leg area. Toying with the idea of leaving the sill(s) area(s) open when it goes for blasting and see what I am left with here before repairing. Sound like a plan?

Then I got on with attending with the front areas I had cut out. Dremmel was very handy here for tidying edges up...



Plates measured and cut, and cut again, and again





Hopefully get them welded in soon. I then got on with the rear arch rust...





It was a pretty awkward shape so I decided to try making a template pieces from cardboard...







Will wait and see how sucessfull this is!

Quick tidy and off 4 a beer before bed..



Might not seem like a lot, but after a fair few wkends of head scratching, it feels like I am getting somewhere now.

Cheers

 

I think i might come down and give you a hand with all that welding if you have the panels ready.

Looking good though "there is light at the end of the tunnel"!

 

Please do!

I'd like to see Ali's Golf at the 'Ring this year.

Mine's going, it looks like the ex-Badger Jetta could be there, and possibly the Ibiza Pickle - so let's all make a big effort guys. You know it makes sense

 

hmm i know how it feels mate. finally finished patching my mates shell and finally going to get started on the cage 4 weeks later than planned.

give me a shout if your needed some parts ally. i've got a few bit's kicking about.

p.s. chris, add 2 ber cup style mk1's to that ring trip. christ knows how we'll get there but we will. im even thinking about making mine road legal but the half tank will make fuel stops come about rather quickly!