Barn Find Laser Green 1.9 Gti.

[Leslie green 109]

Paul the black stuff looks like dirty waxoyl and comes of easy with petrol ,I will be leaving the original rubber type seal where it is sound and over coating it with gravitex which is a hard body coating you can spray with an ordinary filter mask, I used this on the bootfloor already and have used it before but it can be prone to chipping but is easy fixed again. I suspect the stuff you are on about needs a proper air fed mask especially with the paint in it which I don't have .I may brush some tigerseal adhesive over these box sections first to look a little more factory then prime the lot before the gravitex.The original factory stuff has faired quite well after all this time  and removing it all would damage any galvanizing if it was blasted or wirewheeled off which is still doing a decent job of stopping rust.

Edited April 7, 2018 by Leslie green

[Leslie green 109]

Got a few small bits sorted out but progress has been very slow .Bulkhead had rotten through at the flange and the sound deadening inside appeared to be melted so exhaust must be very close .Got a few plates made up then seam welded the flange to keep water out .Then I fixed the drivers side headlight panel which needed a plate and the passenger headlight panel needed a bit of straightening where it had been bent before . I also straightened out the sill flanges at the jacking points where they had been bent with trolley jacks in the past.

I removed the dash and manged to break the 2 pieces at the front where its bolted into where the wiper sits ,never even saw then til later ,couldn't figure out how to get it removed and car was on its side so was in and out climbing in an 8 inch gap under the car and lost patience and ripped it out .

 

20180523_125613 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20180523_132933 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20180524_152748 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20180607_122540 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20180607_150557 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20180608_141403 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20180608_142419 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20180608_151019 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2018 by Leslie green

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

for the effort required why don't you take the engine loom out mate and all the plastics etc- you are going to end up with paint over everything.

 

I started repairing mine like this but it just ends up being more effort+ you will be able to check everything like the looms etc

 

 

 

[Leslie green 109]

Paul you are off course right ! I didn't intend a full resto and didn't want one but I am going further and further in as time goes on , I've damaged that much paint now and stripped that much off a respray is whats needed. Worried if I strip it to a bare shell it will never get back together again as I've an xr2 stripped bare this last 5 years or more !

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

yeah but - I mean an XR2.. pah I can understand you not finishing it!

 

 

[Leslie green 109]

I'm running out of excuses for not getting anything finished lol, I need to stop buying stuff !!!

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

any more progress with this Leslie?

 

[Leslie green 109]

On 8/3/2018 at 5:44 PM, Telf said:

any more progress with this Leslie?

 

Not much Paul , took most of the bits of the engine bay , pushed the loom through the bulkhead and took the drivers wing off without wrecking it ,Its had a replacement at a time as it wasn't very well bonded on luckily but still had the peugeot sticker on the back and no rust .The passenger side is original to the car and won't be anywhere near as easy to remove.

 

20180726_135836 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20180726_140715 by Leslie, on Flickr

Edited August 8, 2018 by Leslie green

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

still progressing that's the main thing!

 

[Leslie green 109]

Struggling to get things moving again as was working on something else which is dragging on and on and has run into problems  but bought a nice Auto bonnet which turned out to be quite local to me , always something I liked the look off . Welded some new plates for new castors on the jig as it was near impossible to move with the old ones.

Is the front screen just a rubber and its just the rear screen is bonded in , I know the Gti rubber is very hard to find as it has a raised bit for the sunroof so id rather not cut it to remove the glass ???

 

20191104_183831 by Leslie, on Flickr

Edited November 7, 2019 by Leslie green

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Yep the front is just a rubber and the rear is bonded. 

[Leslie green 109]

Thanks Paul ,

Pulled this out of the shed where it has been sitting for several years as I wanted another project out ,  Hope to get something done with it soon thinking of building the engine and just sticking it back together and maybe getting it tested then pull it apart for paint if I can get a decent quote at a later date  . The engine has been apart for so long probably half the parts are missing now and its so long since i screwed it apart no idea where stuff goes lol As you can see some birds nested in the drivers inner wing last year , at least someone got some use out of it ! Rained the whole time it was out typical !

 

20211209_130945 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20211209_130956 by Leslie, on Flickr

Edited December 9, 2021 by Leslie green

[Robbiedundy 58 4 Cars]

Looking forward to seeing some progress, I need to follow your plan of just getting it tested also or it will never hit the road 

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Looks like you have done a lot of the hard work. I'd give it a really good jetwash while its outside and then clean up and paint the rest of the underside and then put it back together. The paint on top can be done whenever.

[Leslie green 109]

Thanks lads well got the garage tidied just enough to get this upright so I could work on it, It does need a good powerwash but the headlining would have got soaked on its side and windows are down. 

Made a start on getting the passenger wing off , this was still factory sealed and it took several hrs with a hot sharpened up steel rule to get it removed and it came off with minimal damage but what a pain it was.  I have removed most of the bolts and clips in the engine bay today and taken the heater box and the dash loom out . I had planned to replace the headlight panels but have spent a while straightening them up and they should do ok . One side needs the wing mounting clip holes welding up but otherwise look ok bar a few dents. The passenger door has got a very large dent that extends right down to the sill nearly and can be popped in and out , not sure it can be repaired or not . The drivers door has rust in the bottom and several smaller dents too .

    I want to get it stripped and cleaned up a bit and take it to a painter see what they say ,good  doors seem surprisingly scarse and it's an expense getting them over here to Norn Iron .

If the respray quotes are too scary not sure what to do lol

 

20220601_160321 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20220601_155114 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

20220613_173458 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

 

Edited June 13, 2022 by Leslie green

[Tom Fenton 1,541]

Respray is a lump of money BUT, the cars are now worth enough when done and shiny that at least its money you can get back if you ever sell it, rather than spending more having it painted than the car is worth. Only you can decide to stump up or not!

[Reebmit 51 4 Cars]

I totally agree with Tom, paint underside and then put back together. As said topside can be done anytime with minimal removal of parts later on. Cars that have sub standard paint still fetch good money.. 

[Leslie green 109]

The problem with not painting it is the bonnet is an auto one and sorrento green and the paint has peeled of on one side down to the metal , the replacement front bumper valence is white and the rear valance is red its going to look like a polo harlequin , Plus both doors have quite a few substantial dents , i could just stick the old bonnet on and get the 2 valences painted at a minimum to make it look half presentable but the front end had had a rough respray in the past and is a bit matt with no metallic sparkle at all.

   As for the respray I just want to get a rough quide locally as he is booked for months anyway and I'm prepared to spend a few grand on the paint so I can get a few jobs done while waiting and find some better doors , I may have found some just waiting on word back . 

So much would need doing anyway ,the axle would probably need rebuilt , engine is in bits etc wont be on the road for some time.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Leslie green

[DamirGTI 342]

Ditto !

 

Majority of the OE paintwork on the shell still looks solid ... optionally pull out the dents as much/better as you can and might consider buying an small "touch up" spray gun along with air compressor , mix some paint per OE paint code and paint just the areas needed in segments .. blend with the clear and it'll be good .

 

D

Edited June 14, 2022 by DamirGTI

[Leslie green 109]

That's the better side to be fair ,it looks quite good , driver door has been painted and by looks filled to fix a dent on swage line but yes a front end respray would make a world of difference , I tend to keep my cars for a very long time and sooner or later id want it done right a car I could be proud off. The guy is not the only painter about but does seem to be painting a lot of classics now and has a proper oven though my xr2 wasn't oven painted and the finish is like glass and was top quality , shame he no longer paints ! Sure I'm in for a shock as that was done by a family member.

Edited June 14, 2022 by Leslie green

[DamirGTI 342]

Of course , freshly properly painted car always look appealing , no doubt about it . 

 

On the end it's about what you want to do with it and how "high are you're standards" ! ... can you paint with the spray gun ? if so can save yourself a lot of money , proper paint job always did and always will cost money ... especially now/lately as the prices of the paint and painting material has gone up , as well as hours of labor .

 

Also , perhaps you might consider vinyl wrap some parts (possibly the bonnet) to save on painting cost ..

 

D

 

 

[Telf 224 2 Cars]

Leslie,

 

I'd just do the bottom  and rebuild it. 

 

I'm not sure id spend the money and time worrying about every detail in it.

 

 

[Leslie green 109]

Damir I don't think the wrap would be much cheaper if done professionally , a girl in out street got her car wrapped and it was about £2500 , I have access to a compressor but never painted other than aerosols with disappointing results !  With the serious health dangers of 2 pack paint Id rather not start and if I did id need an airfed mask to be safe which would really mean id need 2 compressors to run it and the gun. I know people get away with a filter mask but they are really doing themselves no favours .

Paul not wanting to go as far as you did but want something half decent to hold onto ,something useable and presentable.

 

After a long search I found 2 better doors on facebook ,mine are both bowed in , they both have minor issues as you would expect being near 30 years old , one looks like it has been attacked with a screwdriver to steal the car punching a hole in it and the other has a little rust patch that turned out to be minor rot , otherwise they are quite straight but when you look at any used panel in the sun it has about 20 minor car park dents youonly see in certain lights   I got the hole pulled back out and a tack with the welder and it will hopefully be fine . Have removed any parts left on the doors including the fetching stickers.  One door had a part number sticker from 2002 inside so must have been a genuine replacement at some stage. 

I did see a brand new door on ebay but it was in central London and my courier wanted a lot of money and wasn't really keen to go that far down and into the congestion charge area .

If you are going to fit the kit rivets to base model doors would you fit them after it's painted ? but have the holes drilled beforehand as you wouldn't want to be drilling after .

 

IMG_20220621_113733 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220621_113746 by Leslie, on Flickr

 

IMG_20220621_120116 by Leslie, on Flickr

Edited June 21, 2022 by Leslie green

[Leslie green 109]

Found some rough looking surface rust inside and under the concrete sealer peugeot used in the arches , water has got in under it over the years . looks like the only thing that seals the lower arch joint here is /was sealer as the 2 panels don't quite meet but leave a little gap.I'm thinking of welding the 2 skins together outside this to seal the lower arch.

I have also contacted a painter who paints classic cars today and painting everything is going to be too expensive , I'm thinking on limiting to exterior and enginebay to lower the cost but using very high quality materials (Novel for classic car) rather than paint it all with much cheaper materials as both work out about the same price.

 

 

IMG_20220622_184243 by Leslie, on Flickr

[Leslie green 109]

Was having a problem getting the headlining down , had it released all the way round but it was stuck solid at the front half , the sunroof has never opened so today I made an effort to get it moving , this proved tricky enough , The seal had stuck to the glass and even when freed it didn't want to go and was taking the plastic runners with it , no rust anywhere up there I can see so that's a bonus .

     There are 4 tiny  headlining screws holding the plastic pieces the headlining is glued too , you can see the front 2 with sunroof back but to get the rear 2 the glass needs to go past its stop. I had the trims already off and took the 2 end stops for the glass out (no not open the boot or the glass is toast !) If only it was that easy then the handle needs removing to get back the last inch as it hits the roof skin, the tiny screws were both siezed in and snapped . Its off now anyway lol !

    Stripped the wiring from the boot too , the cable plugs are a tight fit to remove and took ages then I flattened out some of the careless jacking type dents in the floorpan .

 

IMG_20220624_163053 by Leslie, on Flickr

Edited June 24, 2022 by Leslie green