Vtecmec's 4th Gen

[Vtecmec]

Post 31 - Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011


I've just found a couple of more pics on my camera, it's just before and after shots of a bit of underseal being removed, it does not look like much, but it took me four hours alone. And my arms ached for a few days afterwards.

Before.....



And after......

[Vtecmec]

A bit of progress…….

I’ve now gotten down to the last of the nasty looking brackets; these are off the handbrake and brakelines.





And after a going over with a chisel, ready to drop in acid.



Some random shots of the rollbar mounts after they’ve been in the acid.



After leaving the floor for so long, all the gel had dried out completely, gone hard and fused with the cling film covering. Really nasty. It took plenty of work with a wire brush and some more gel to soften it up.



I had to do this several more times before hitting it with the jetwash to leave it like this.









And after the first coat of paint.















And I also got round to painting the fuel filler pipe.



The inner arch, or lack of.







Making some cuts to the rotten arch area.





More pieces removed.



This piece, I can clean and reuse.



But the other’s as thin as paper, so I’ve fabbed a replacement.



Another piece being folded.



On a whim, I decided to change the colour of the brakes.





I’ve picked up a few new parts which are to be fitted or used soon.







And these maybe not so soon.

[Merlin]

Thats some great work How far through job are you?

[Vtecmec]

Not as far as I'd like.

I move house again soon so I've really got to speed things up, I've got ten weeks max

[mercutio]

looks a lot of work there fella

[Froidas]

Well, I don't want you to feel bad, but next time better use dremel with a wire brush. Much much much easier, than sand paper or that wire hand brush You can more or less easily reach shinny metal, witch is almost impossible with your tools, I think. You can remove paint, rust or even that OEM rubber under the arches. Were are different softness of them. Some for dremel, some for this (I don't know how it's called in english):
http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/yello ... utting.jpg

[Vtecmec]

I think you misunderstand my methods. I use a drill and a and wire wheel (better than a dremmel) to remove most of the rust, then gel to remove it from the pits and crevices, the hand brush is used to work in the gel (several applications), as the speed of a power tool at this point creates heat that unwantingly dries it out.

I have thought about, but do not fancy using the grinder that you've linked two inches from my face whilst on my back in a confined space.

Thanks for the comments.

[Vtecmec]

I sourced another fuel tank, but it still had quite a bit of rust on the top, but the seam was sound, so I took it to a local guy who does soda blasting, it’s like shot blasting but gentler, it came back zinc painted and in really nice condition.


I also gave him the large heat shield from under the car.

Sorry, I have no before pics as I managed to do a commando roll whilst my garage camera was in my pocket.
2 coats of Hammerite later.



And some nice stonechip.

Finally painted the rear struts. I plan on swapping these out eventually, so didn’t bother stripping them down.

Some bloody gypsies nicked some of my suspension bits for their scrap metal value, so I found a local Lude being broken and got this. I didn’t actually want the trailing arm or the strut, but the guy couldn’t loosen the bolts off, so I got the whole thing.

I’ve just stripped it down for derusting.

Rollbar mounts now painted.

More soon……

[mercutio]

great work matey

[Vtecmec]

I’ve got a bit more done, I’ve applied a second coat of paint to the floor and then some seam sealer for good measure.





To be honest the seam sealer is probably overkill, as the epoxy mastic paint covers well and has sealed all the seams anyhow.

I gave it a week to cure before spraying a rubberised stone-chip everywhere.



This is after a first coat, I’ve literally just got in putting the second coat on, but my camera batteries have gone dead so no pics right now!

Some pads added to the tank for cushioning.



I’ve noticed that when fitted it collects water on the top, which eventually causes it to rot. Both tanks I have had have started to rot in this place; you can see the pitting scars of this on the tank.



I thought it would be a good idea to paint the top with waxy dynax UB. I’m not a fan of the stuff aesthetically, but it’s hidden away so I can live with it.


I finished the rest of the fuel stuff off with new pipes and clips.




Now on to the welding next week……..