[project] Oh S#it, My Project Topic!

[davepug205 7]

Well, i took my 1.6 gti off the road for a bit of Restoration, after renting a new garage which is bigger and has lighting i

could see it was time to do it properly so started stripping the car to sort the bodywork.(i got carried away)

 

My attention will be mostly the bodywork, brakes, handling and performance lol while keeping the standard look both inside and out so heres a few pics of my garage and what Ive done so far.

 

before i started

my new garage

home made axle stands( thats the lowest setting)

rust!

more rust!!

what is that hole for? French

 

RUST!! The floor was soaking when i lifted the carpet, someone had siliconed a paint tin lid over that hole in pic 6 which is where the problem started i think.

Its also had a dink on the passenger side with a bit of under seal and a new wing!! looks OK tho.

 

My next step is sandblasting or wire wheel on a drill to remove the rust i haven't deiced what root to take yet.

your opinions welcome

My thoughts are to take the rust off myself to bare metal and clean the whole shell with thinners or something to remove all the dirt and crap, then patch prime the bare metal with red oxide just to protect it until it goes in for spraying. so in the end the sprayer with have a nice clean shell to start on

 

Then paint, red oxide primer( u-pol), high build primer ?? then original Peugeot white, although it will be left to someone who knows what there doing

 

The hardest bit was removing that rear bumper every bolt rounded or snapped, but apart from that so far so good. It took me a while to trust my axle stands going under the car, but not aslong as it took me to get the car on em.!!

Ive been looking at plastic die for my dash and body trim, has anyone used this before? forever black

 

Theres alot of very useful threads and people on here that hopefully can drag me out the sewer!!

 

So can anyone recommend a bodyshop to take out the work, needs to be fairly close as Ive got to trailer it there now!!!

 

will keep you updated,

 

thanks Dave

[Dave G 0]

looks good, apart from the rust but thats only tempory.

[Redtop 14 2 Cars]

You'll be there an awful long time with a wire wheel taking that rust off. You could get the floor and underside sandblasted, but no matter how much you blow it out you'll never get all the sand out and the 1st trigger of the paint gun you'll probably find some sand! You can't sandblast the body pannels themselves so you'll have to sand them down with a sander anyhow.

Another option you have is the spl group where you get the car acid dipped,

or rub it all down by hand

or soda blast it.

I've had experience of all of the above bar the soda blasting which I am getting a mini done with at the start of the year, so will let you know how that goes, but ive heard good reports about it from rally prep people I know that have had a few mk2 escorts done. They said that they get whole body panels done with it and it doesn't damage them like sandblasting would.

We had a car done by spl and we won't be back! Very good job with the e-coat, but it was dear and we spent more time taking dents out of brand new panels that were put on the car specially for getting the process done! They were as rough as! with it.

I would of thought you should use self etch primer 1st then a high build primer??

Im no paint expert so a bodyshop persons opinion/view would be good to have on your project Dave. Im just going on my personal experience.

You will have alot of work cut out for yourself, so all the best with it

[davepug205 7]

does anyone know about or owned my car in the past reg on first photo??

 

just a few more pics

 

 

 

 

306 gti-6 rear beam (wider track , thicker torsion and antirollbars)

Need to drill two holes for mounting (not my car)

How it will look on standed wheels (not my car) will also be running rose jointed wishbones, adjustable top mounts and 309 roll bar and driveshafts.

Ive yet to sort the suspension, either bilstein coilovers or diy my spax that were on it.

 

WIRES!!! their in a big pile on the floor and hopefully looks worse that it is, ill be picking a few brains on this as im useless with wires, especialy when it comes to the gti-6 loom

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Nice little long term project there, Intresting option onthe rear beam

[davepug205 7]

Cheers redtop ive been looking into dipping and its still an option, im just at the stage now where i need to decide were to stop!!

 

Miles i did think the same but thought the rear beam was cheap and i wanted rear disks.

 

309 beams are getting on a bit, to have one rebuilt and buy stiffer torsion and antiroll bars it would cost alot, i do have one but the main tube has ovaled on one side. ill give this ago and see what happens, if not 309

[welshpug 1,657]

aaah I've seen that on ebay some time ago, it took ages to sell IIRC.

 

edit; the silver one you said wasn't yours DOH!

 

I always thought that the 306 was simply just too wide to fit as the wheels would be outside the arch limiting how low the back can go before slicing the tread ?

 

one good heavy landing/compression and there'd be some quite crumpled metal and possibly deflated runner obviously worst case but....

Edited December 29, 2007 by welshpug

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

I always found that even with the 309 beam fitted the wheels kept hitting the body work and ripping the plastic off the back end

But the beam will need solid mount's fitting at the very least or you'll end up with the 306 rear steer, They are around £200.00 from Skip Brown's

[davepug205 7]

I drilled the holes this morning

 

I managed to get the mounts lined up quite well, they just need a little trim on one side to fit flush.

 

What i was hoping to do was use the solid rear mounts from a 205 at the rear and weld up the fronts from the 306 to try and get rid of that rear steer the 306s have.

Ill post some pics up soon, hopefully its going to go well if not ill be on the look out for a 309 one.

[All Praise The GTI 3]

i recognise that picture, did you get the beam from the isle of dogs in london? i won it ages ago of the bay but then never took it as the guy lied to me and told me would be a straight swap! was cheap tho

[davepug205 7]

no pic was just for an example.

 

I bought the beam of ebay about a year ago came with blue back plates, the guy had a 205 dark grey i think in Leicester, anyone on hear?

[Jrod 7]

If I was you I'd of just used the discs from the 306 beam and put them onto your 205 one.

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

those images are huge, please re-read our rules and guidelines!

[davepug205 7]

those images are huge, please re-read our rules and guidelines!

 

sorry cybernck i am completely useless when it comes to computers, the pics dont look that big on the screen so im presuming its something to do with the pixels or something?

 

Can anyone tell me how to make them smaller, it took me ages to get them up first time sorry if that sounds stupid to people in the know

 

p.s. I took the pics on my fone if that helps.

[cybernck 402 1 Cars]

i was ironic mate...

 

they are way too small as they're thumbnails and you didn't link them to the main images, like this:

 

 

[url=http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z129/davepug205/205005.jpg]
[img=http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z129/davepug205/th_205005.jpg][/url]

 

i will fix it for you soon, but remember to link them for the new images you post.

 

i could also setup an album for your images in our Projects Gallery, as it looks like a nice project .

[davepug205 7]

 

cheers, will try to link the next ones and show update soon

[Banjo 1]

What ever you do with the rust don't wire brush in a drill it, all that does is polish it, get a sanding disc in a grinder and do it properly back to shiney metal, have a search on google for 'POR 15' they do some brilliant products that actualy work Good luck!

[davepug205 7]

What ever you do with the rust don't wire brush in a drill it, all that does is polish it, get a sanding disc in a grinder and do it properly back to shiney metal, have a search on google for 'POR 15' they do some brilliant products that actualy work Good luck!

 

Cheers banjo just what im after, will be ordering soon

[davepug205 7]

Well just a bit of an update really.

 

After realizing what Ive actually done and how long its going to take me to put back together Ive had a long hard think about what I'm going to do.

My main concern at the moment is getting the shell prepped ready for painting. I think once its painted it wont look as bad and i mite be more positive about the finished result. Ive done alot of research on different prepping methods and how i go about painting, Ive opted for POR15 as they seen to be good quality and the main site is very user friendlyPOR 15. ( THANKS BANJO) Although not cheap after using marine clean, etching acid, por 15 primer then high build thats before top coat laquer etc I wont it right and done properly.

Ive just got myself a 150 ltr 3hp blue point compressor which should be good enough for the job, Ive also got a sand blasting gun and a few grinding bits etc Ive now decided against the sand on my other thread and opted for the aluminum oxide.so that is my next job.

 

Ive removed the front wings as i wonted to see whats behind just to reassure myself everything was OK regards rust etc, looks like I'm buying new ones now as they were a nightmare to prise off, in the end i heated the putty up that much the paint bubbled on the wing

 

Its now on its side ready for blasting underneath which was very eventful, just me and a mate a few blocks of wood and a mattress, Although the shells light once stripped its very awkward to maneuver I had the back end and theres not much to hold on to ( back end of the CAR!! come on! i know what your thinking ) Anyway i but the mattress on the wall to protect the roof of the car.

UNGERNEATH

UNDERNEATH

INSIDE

 

Hope Ive finally got the hang of this picture uploading

 

I will keep you updated, any comments and suggestions welcome

[stuart_knight6 0]

Have you thought about buying a new shell, there is one on ebay at the moment. Might owrk out less stressful and cheaper, but don't let that deter you as I am restoring a MK2 Escort that Fred Flinstone would be proud of so have been through the hole preperation process.

 

I had my shell sandblasted, there was a LOT of sand in the shell, but a few hours with an airline and it is all blown out. I do have benefit of having the car mounted on a spit though so I can rotate it 360 degrees and work on teh underneath.

 

Keep up the good work, and label everything as it comes off.

[dale205mills 39 7 Cars]

People like you are what keeps us all working on are cars, il be starting on mine when i get a bigger garage soon

 

 

[davepug205 7]

cheers guys and yes ive seen that shell its very tempting

 

would be alot easier to, but not as much fun

[stuart_knight6 0]

cheers guys and yes ive seen that shell its very tempting

 

would be alot easier to, but not as much fun

 

I can guarantee you that on more than one ocassion you will wish you had bought that shell

 

All the best with it, and nothing like being able to say that you built it either...If you need any advice etc on fitting bits and pieces then send me a PM, although you look like you are more than capable from looking at the pics.

[Redtop 14 2 Cars]

Remember I said earlier in this thread about soda blasting [using baking soda and water]? I got my mini shell done on Monday and it is a very good job. If I were to do it again though, i'd get underneath sandblasted [with an industrial one to lift rust better] and then the panels done by soda blasting as it doesn't damage them like sand does. They just need a light rub with 120 grit and they'll be ready for painting. But it being a mini it needs 2 new sills 2 a panels and a rear valance, before I paint it.

Here's my results and I definately recommend it

[davepug205 7]

Well its definitely a slow process

 

Just a little update really,

Ive spent a good amount of time scraping, blasting, cutting and swearing! But Ive now had the time to think about where to stop when it comes to the bodywork. The problem is 'STOP' is still in the distance somewhere so theres plenty more scraping and swearing to do

 

Ive decided to take the front panel off as i knew it had a light bump in the past, That light bump had not only bent the front panel but bent the inner arch, jacking point and cill so they come off aswell

forgot to say it now on its side aswell for those who've bin on the beer

Ive also removed the piece you bond the wing to as that was bent aswell

I only removed part of the cill as i didn't wont to get involved with the seam near the rear arch, hopefully it will be easy to

join the cill as it is.

 

Ive also done a bit of adjusting to the back to get rear beam to fit I keep saying adjusting it doesn't sound as bad

 

 

Its just trial fitted at the mo, I need to strengthen a few points but I should be able to swap between beams without much hassle as I'm leaving the original holes aswell

 

Ive also bought the paint from FROST some rust preventive paint, etching primer, metal ready and seam sealer, not cheap but worth it so it just the panels and welding slowing me down.

 

Will keep you posted things should move more quickly in the next month or so

 

comments or suggestions welcome