Barronmr's Swap/restoration thread... finally.

[Barronmr]

Well finally,

Years in the planning, gathering idea's and acquiring parts. And I've finally started work on the car so I thought I better start a thread.

I'm going for a totally stripped tintop shell, refreshed coilover suspension with poly's etc... and a v6 engine.
In its first form it will be n/a with heads ported, ally fly, standalone and as much modification that can be done without going into force induction prices. Once I'm happy with the chassis then I'll consider a SC or TC. But essentially I want to keep the car easy to drive fast, so no sudden lumps of torque. Maybe that puts turbo's out.

pics so far:
Sometime after it arrived.
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/103.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/104.jpg
Trailer attacked door
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/105.jpg
Surface rust. Unfortunately, only the start.
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/106.jpg
Engine going out, went to good use its now a 4agte.
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/107.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/Barronmr/P050608_1858.jpg
Partially stripped interior
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/108.jpg
Ground control coilovers, a bit of an unknown but I'm going to pair these with koni shocker's.
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/109.jpg
Will be linked, if I still own unit on startup.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/Barronmr/P201108_105401.jpg

And now for the bad stuff...
Front end
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/Barronmr/P191108_2133.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/110.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/111.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/112.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/113.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/114.jpg

And the around the front arb, same both sides.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/Barronmr/P191108_2148.jpg

More pics to come. :hidesbehi

[GaryA]

Gulp ! thats a lotta work there , loving the engine support :thumbsup:

[adamh]

to echo what he said and get stuck in :thumbsup: , remember to check the front arb mounts good and proper with a hammer :mrgreen: . you would never know they were a problem unless you put some serious weight onto them / drag racing maybe lol.
good luck man, seriously, i wish i had another project like that it was soo much fun.

[Paul Woods]

I hate to say this but those front chassis leg areas above the ARB mount look absolutely shot to me,this is a very important part of the car and its also the hardest to restore.

Coupled to that the fact you will spend months and a small fortune doing this work id seriously consider taking all the parts off this shell and buying a more solid one to put the bits onto,it will save you a ton of work and money.

Thats probably not what you want to hear and i wish you every success restoring that...but those front legs would be the end of the car for me.

[Barronmr]

I hate to say this but those front chassis leg areas above the ARB mount look absolutely shot to me,this is a very important part of the car and its also the hardest to restore.

Coupled to that the fact you will spend months and a small fortune doing this work id seriously consider taking all the parts off this shell and buying a more solid one to put the bits onto,it will save you a ton of work and money.

Thats probably not what you want to hear and i wish you every success restoring that...but those front legs would be the end of the car for me.

I had feared as much. I noticed the front chassis legs when putting it on the trailer to move to garage and immediately thought it might be terminal.

How difficult are we talking? After looking at it very briefly, me and my mate, with our limited experience were planning on cutting out the rust and welding in some box section with a plate skin to restore the original shape. :hidesbehi

If I have to scrap this car I fear I may fall out with mk1's... :eek2:

[bburn13]

:icon_eek: Jesus Luke,
you`ve got your hands full there mate.

Dave

[Goldy]

I would have thought you'd be more likely to fall out with it if you try to restore that! There's a helluva lot of work there... you'd be better off spending a few hundred quid on a car thats got a good shell and a shagged engine?

[bburn13]

:thk: Or Heres a thought :thk:

Swap your V6 for a car with a great shell
Cut the roof off yours
keep the clutch and gear box etc

and achieve perfection

Dave

[Paff]

Sorry to say thats beyond in my eyes as well.

Completly agree with Paul. Now I have rust I have to sort on my V6 but nowhere near that stage and even thats gonna take some effort. buy a better sunroof model and weld the roof up to make a tintop, will be less effort.

However, if you do go for it, good on you. Hope it goes well.

[Paul Woods]

Just to be clear its the areas around the steering arm on the chassis in this pic...

http://www.woodsport.org/forum/images/recovered/2005/04/52.jpg

.... that is the main concern,the rest of the car is pretty bad but you will find when you attack this area with a hammer that it will totally disintegrate.Also the rot will extend right through the leg... this area is key to both lower track control arm mounting point and the ARB mount,when they go this badly here it really is time to take a step back and think about buying a solid shell.

Shells with not as much rot in the "key areas" are not expensive,there are still some pretty mint shells out there,granted they are getting rare but the odd £200 mk1 with a blown engine and solid shell can still be found.

Try attacking that area with a hammer,see how bad it really is,i might be wrong....it might be just the outer bit thats gone,but you really have got your work cut out there mate.My workmate anth scrapped his mk1 a few months ago because it had gone in exactly the same place and was deemed too far gone,oh theres a thought! he bought a fairly solid mica blue that he still has,its partially stripped but its a damn good base for a project.Im sure a few beers will buy it,it doesn't need a great deal of work shell wise,sills and floors are all solid and its perfect in the important places,let me know and i will have a word with him.

[Barronmr]

Just to be clear its the areas around the steering arm on the chassis in this pic...
Correct.

Unfortunately, I really can't afford to buy anything else until the new year now.

I'll get the susp off today and give it a good bash with a hammer.
I'm guessing it'll be the mounting points I should pay particular attention to?

If this shell is too far gone, I may start looking for a busted/cheap mk3.

[OlberJ]

My workmate anth

Awww, he's naming his tools now. And after his best buddy too. How cute lol

[Barronmr]

Ok dokie, here goes with the hammer results. Mk1 owners look away...

Passenger side didn't look as bad, all the mounting point are solid inc. arb mounts. It looks like its the thinner plate metal that's fully rust, the thick lower part that everything bolts into is very solid.
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/132.jpg

Drivers side is the worst, but again its the thinner stuff thats rust and the lower part wouldn't budge with hammer blows.
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/Barronmr/P231108_1636.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l79/Barronmr/P231108_163601.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/133.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/134.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/135.jpg
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/136.jpg

Let me know what you think, if its just minorly fubar I may continue but majorly busted will sink this mk1. The rest of the shell is pretty good, inc arches. And the rear wall is out. :)
http://www.twobrutal.co.uk/forum/images/recovered/2008/11/137.jpg

[Paul Woods]

for me,that is too far gone to bother rescuing,and ive restored a lot of them!

Its not impossible to fix but it will take a huge effort to get rid of that rot completely,id honestly try and find a better shell mate.

[Barronmr]

for me,that is too far gone to bother rescuing,and ive restored a lot of them!

Its not impossible to fix but it will take a huge effort to get rid of that rot completely,id honestly try and find a better shell mate.

Ok thanks for that. I've got until Jan to decide whether to throw in the towel or not, in that time I may aswell have a go at fixing it.

So I'll give it a go at least, hopefully I can save another mk1 from scrap. Any advice welcome. :hidesbehi

[cmuxx]

Just a small question, Will the tops of the suspension struts have to be braced with that much of the rear boot stiffness taken out?

[Paul Woods]

luke ,anth says he will donate his solid shell for free to help you out,all you need to do is come collect it.

[Barronmr]

luke ,anth says he will donate his solid shell for free to help you out,all you need to do is come collect it.

That would be brilliant, thanks. :thumbsup:

I should be able to figure out some cheap transport. Will the shell go on a car transporter trailer safe enough?

[OlberJ]

Aye mate, as long as it's strapped down it's exact same as a car on a trailer.

Safer, seein as it has no wheels to roll away on lol

[Paul Woods]

yeah we can get it on a trailer one way or another,its quite a solid shell you lucky boy :)

[Barronmr]

yeah we can get it on a trailer one way or another,its quite a solid shell you lucky boy :)

Brilliant, I promise to put it to good twobrutal use. :twisted:

I'll organise collection this week hopefully, can't wait to get cracking at this project now. :thumbsup:

[Paul Woods]

No probs,anth needs to get a few parts removed from the shell (still trying to recoup his initial outlay) but its otherwise good to go.... it has suspension and stuff missing but we will find a way to get it loaded.

Just keep us informed when you might be coming.