[Car_Restoration] Dimma Restoration

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Some of you may know the car but my plans are to strip to shell,repair,refurb or replace what needs doing which will include a respray,retrim engine rebuild.

 

I recieved the car on the 10/11/12 and straight away set apon stripping the car.

 

 

Quick strip down or rear and i found a small hole in boot floor nothing major also rear bumper mounts broken and bumper cracked.

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

The side skirts are cracked not too bad to repair

 

 

 

This will take a bit of investigating worse case kit will have to come off.

 

Underseats very clean no rust

 

Few hrs work most of back end stripped.

 

Next strip rest of interior out and engine out then see what panels need replacing at front im sure front panel and inner arches need some work.

[dandanger 12]

i did see this on ebay

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Hoping at weekend to have engine out then will have a better idea what im up against still undecided what colour the car will go but in not sure it will stay red. The boot lid is beyond saving so on look out for another bootlid

[speno 239 2 Cars]

Is that the one from Scotland ?

how much did you get it for if you dont mind , Im after a dimma

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Yep one from scotland payed little more than i wanted but had to have a dimma

[speno 239 2 Cars]

I was Interested in that when the chap had it for sale on here , just a long way to travel to go and have a look

Getting rare now tho so to find a decent one is hard

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

I know what you mean im looking forward to getting stuck in with it and bring it back to its former glory.

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Small update removed bumper which exposed what i predicted that headlight panel rotton also inspected inner wings at first these looked ok but on closer inspection I belive there maybe filler on these covering things up.

I will find this out when i get the grinder in there to clean up surfaces, on the headlight panel was a lovely repair with fiberglass which i just peeled off to expose a hole. The next job is to remove engine and the front wings and remove headlight panel and clean everthing up to see what repairs need to be done.

 

None of this has shocked me due to the car being 24yrs old really enjoying pulling it apart and looking forward to saving the old girl but on what I have found today im starting to think it maybe worth removing the rear dimma quarter panels to see what they are hiding. Has anyone removed a dimma kit if so whats the best way?.

 

Once everything cleaned up on front will get a new headlight panel and fit not sure if the quad lights will be staying due to the poor fit so maybe on the look out for some normal lights and indicators with mounting parts.

 

 

Hole in headlight panel

What was used to repair hole

This side made up mostly with fiberglass.

From pictures the inner arches dont look to bad but i feel all will be revealed once the grinder goes over them i'm hoping i'm wrong.

[dave205 19]

Im just starting a very similair project to yours, its amazing the bodges you find when you start looking ! My rear bumper was attached with plaster board fixings....

 

If you want to sell your headlamps, let me know.

[Vili 18]

I fear there won't be much left behind the rear quarters. I suggest that you try to find a new shell for your dimma kit.

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

From the inside the rear quarters are showing no rust i know this does not mean much but if its gone round arch could just weld section in and refit kit im not gonna condem the old girl yet.

 

 

[speno 239 2 Cars]

Think i dodged a bullet there , have they just skimmed filler over that inner wing ?

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Think so wont know til i get grinder in there not to worried will just have to get creative with some metal work and welder plenty of carboard templates im feeling. As for rear arches thats unknown but will prob cut out and weld new in for piece of mind.

[speno 239 2 Cars]

Its all good fun tho, Im a twat for restoring cars and then never using them .Most of the fun is being creative i find

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Yep the feeling knowing i saved it

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Another creative night with some investigation work on rot passenger side inner wing not to bad prob need small plate on front near headlight panel now onto drivers side this is a different story started to scrape flaking rust spot to uncover alot of filler once i started chipping away filler it uncovered that the inner wing is rotten also found sheet of metal sandwiched between layers of filler.

In next few days will attack it with wire wheel on grinder to see where the gd metal is then will mock up template and fab up a new panel to weld up,the round recese in the inner wing does it need to be there or can it be flat.

Had a look round door shuts at lifting filler these dont look to bad but think to be safe im gonna remove quarters and fit new arches and whilst kit off will fit new sills will post pics up soon.

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

I'm guessing you have had a good look back over this forum for posts by Mike Bullock and gwanyerselsun (or however it was spelt!) to see the history of this car before you bought it?

 

Still looks like you are cracking on with it It would be good to try and save that rear panel as they often determine a real Dimma from a copy in the UK. If the panels are original, I would try and save those too ideally as opposed to put replicas on. Just my 2 pence worth!

 

Oh and Dimma register updated: http://pscuk.net/threads/58144-Dimma-Register?p=659178#post659178

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Gonna be as carefull as i can when i remove fit as its all going back on yeah i brought it fro russell and have been talking to mike via pm was informed by them it was a solid car but thats not the case but it will be once im finished with it.

Prob wait til payday and may order front panel and sill and rear arches then wont have to pay out much for a while as ut will only be repair work done by me so can save at same time.

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Here are the pictures of the drivers side inner wing just got to hit with the wire wheel to find the good metal then can cut it out.

 

 

Then had a play with some paper to make a rough template for the inner wing seem to work ok so will get some cardboard and make full size one

 

[dcc 855]

as far as i know, the genuine dimmas were all accident repairs. but looking like you will be doing a Good job!

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

I think you ought to check what's the bodywork like behind the rear arches, until it's too late.

 

P.S. Don't set fire to your templates .

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Im ordering headlight panel,sills and rear arches over next few weeks to make a start on repairs going to focus on front end first then tackle difficult job of removing dimma quarters. I belive its not worth taking risk under kit as i want it to last and bring it back to glory.

Edited November 17, 2012 by Juttie205

[Liquid_106 97 1 Cars]

Would it be better to do the rear arches first, then you'd know how big the job was and if the shell was too far gone before you did all that work to the front. Or is it a case of you're keeping the shell, regardless of what state it's in?

[Juttie205 123 2 Cars]

Im keeping it reguardless can allways repair too many shells get scrapped for welding work i have felt up in rear arch and it feels solid but wont know till kit off.