Some slow progress, will clean it up this weekend. ~ 9kg removed in underseal, redundant brackets and general dirt! Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr
Many hours spent to get the remaining sealant/rust/paint off the floor, can start welding next week I think. Pushed outside for a good blow down: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Then back in the garage to have the remaining paint removed: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Some of the nastier pieces: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Left me with this: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Be nice to start adding bits back after 3 weeks of removing them! Cheers Pete
Completed a good portion of the stitch welding now, utter pain with the cavity wax, despite a hot air gun and blow torch for hours, it still comes flowing when you start to weld...! Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Penetration shots: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Ground down some of the less beautiful welds, and dressed all others so they're smooth. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Then started on the interior, not much to do here, only a few seams (previously did all the others when cage was fitted): Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Got to flip it back over to do the other side, then make some repair panels for the crusty chassis leg, and sills. I've also got a load of laser cut plates coming to weld in over redundant holes, saves me cutting individual shapes out. My plan is to etch prime the underside, I'm not done with the fabrication, but I can weld through the etch, and should offer some rust protection whilst it's bare metal. All for now! Cheers Pete
Last week or so has been spent cutting out rust, welding in new steel, and plugging holes. Not very exciting, I'll be glad when it's finished. Started with some laser cut bits: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr These were to cover various different holes, some factory, others done by myself over the years of bolting many different things to the floor! Welded both inside and out so there's no path for water to enter, etch primed before welding, which isn't as clean as welding to fresh steel, but hopefully provides some corrosion protection: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr After that a good wire brush down, panel wipe, and spray with etch prime: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr The panel on the right of the picture above, is the OSR floorpan. I twatted a barrier at Oulton Park a good few years back, the 'bodyshop' who repaired it at the time, decided the bent floor was best left and undersealed over... chassis leg had subsequently rusted as had the floorpan. The rear towing eye mounts here, so I've replaced both the floor and chassis leg with Zintec, and will buy a bolt on towing eye. Additional work, but I want the chassis to be as rust free and solid as possible. Fuel Pump wiring hole plated over too as the pumps will be mounted on the tank. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr And finally the spare wheel well, several rust scabs that i'll be cutting out and welding fresh steel in, I need to decide if I use a steel panel or a carbon fibre one. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Fairly boring update, next one might have shiney bits in it... maybe. Cheers Pete
So, been a while since I updated this, boot floor is now almost done, just needs a plate putting in place, but the hole is useful for access currently. Chopped the rust out and welded fresh steel in (the laser cut plates): Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Then once I'd done that half a dozen times, it was looking a little better: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr The towing eye to chassis leg was all replaced, rather than re-make the steel U-clamp I opted for a JDM/racecar strap, so made a mount: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Then a lick of etch prime, and welded the remainder of the rear panel back on: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr After that I needed to set the rotisserie bob on level: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Decided a while back I wanted to put some pukka sill stands in, makes working on the underside much easier. Something like this: So, some CDS ordered for the female recievers mounted in the sills, I can also make the stands out of this, will order some bar at some point to make the pins from. Decided to use the roll cage feet. Not FIA/MSA approved I know, but this is by far the strongest/neatest solution. It's a pain to drill straight, but taking time (about 3 hours) and lots of measurements gave a good result: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Outside (small hole is from the side skirt): Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Poking through: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr I've left them a little long, as I'm going to make a side skirt incorporating the arches/floor. I'll take 0.5' as a result! Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Have to make some 3mm plates, plate the tube, then weld it all up. Oh and do it another 3 times... Cheers Pete
Very neat job. Does the tube have a slightly larger internal diameter than the outer dia of the ones in the stands? If they are a snug fit you will only be able to use the stands on a perfectly flat surface.
It will do (I've not built the stands yet).. be a 19/20mm pin depending what I can get my hands on, which is a snug fit. Should really only jack and work on a flat surface, but the sill stands are no different to axle stands in this respect. Usually when supported one stand is slightly loose (combination of my garage floor not being 100% flat, axle stands being slightly different heights, and chassis not being 100% level). Cheers Pete
Finished the off-side sill mounts now, there's 3' difference total between them, and a 1.5mm height difference. Only noticeable on a perfectly flat surface (assuming I can make the sill stands exactly the same height!) Anyway, first job was to panel wipe the parts and etch prime inside the sill: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr I made a blank for the end of the female part, so no crud can get in: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Slot her in the hole: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Then weld it up: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr And etch prime: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr The interior section will be welded when I flip the car over: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr And some measuring to check my handy work: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Height difference from sill face to underside of receiver is 1.5mm front to rear Then check the car is level front to rear: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr And with a piece of L-section sitting on the top of both sill receivers: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr That'll do pig! Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr I've left them long currently, as I've not made the side skirts yet, I expect to chop 40mm or so off them. Just got to do the other side now, and make sure the heights are consistent. Cheers Pete
Thanks chaps! So, sill receivers are all complete, taken a fair old while, but should make working on the car easier, I'll build the stands in due course. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Tubes capped off internally, and then etchprimed: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Then etch prime the inner sill, plate, and everything else: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Then time for welding: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Whilst working on the rear of the car, the grinder caught the arch... which I duly found out was actually filler. Long story short, I'd tacked the arches together before sending it to the bodyshop (post Oulton) and asked them to finish tubbing them off an tidy it up. That got interpreted to stick filler in all the gaps and paint it. No pictures of that as it looked utter gash, suffice to say its a long old job, but if it's worth doing, DIY! Offside rear: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Nearside rear before etch prime: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr I finished off last night by removing some crusty sections of the sill, and straightening it out. As its going to have a false floor, Ill have to extend the jacking points through this so I dont have to take the floor off for jacks/ramps. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Also picked up a few bits for the update, EPAS column and some new rear brakes, nowt too exciting yet! Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Cheers Pete
Underside now in primer Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Cheers Pete
So, the last few weeks I've not spent much time on the car, but have now finished removing the old harness mounting points, and fitting new ones. Why? Well the old harness pickup points, weren't in line with the new manufacturers instructions (Schroth), and I wanted to lower the passenger seat rails and generally tidy things up. So, better to do it on it's side when access is easy! First up some measuring, and drawing out what I could achieve with my current driving position: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr I'm slightly out of Schroth's guidelines on the lap and crotch (by 2' and 3' respectively), but this is the best I can do with the space (short of cutting the tunnel up). My measurement error is probably that much anyway! Ordered some ready made FIA spec plates 7/16th for the lap, ended up making my own for the crotch, as the floor is to thin, I made this plate larger than the sum of two individuals (6-point harness so 2 crotch points), also boxed the inner lap belt mounts in. Usual process, bit of cardboard, cut the steel, tack together, etch prime the rear, weld it up, then paint: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr And you can see all 8 points here: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr That's about it for now, I've been tinkering with a few other bits, like getting some 2008 Seat Ibiza rear brakes to fit a 1991 Polo: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr And the new fuel tank: Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr More on those, next time! Cheers Pete
Cut a hole for the ATL Cell, I'll add some steel angle to mount the aluminium box to, and then figure out the in-tank pump setup at a later date. Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Untitled by Peter Strange, on Flickr Onto the exhaust, handbrake cables, and under-body next ;D Cheers Pete
