Well with the weather being as it is I've taken it on myself to do something that I've been wanting to for the last couple of years but never had the time.
Although the car itself has always been garaged when not in use there were still bits that I wasn't happy with (mainly the under body) and now with a new garage built that has plenty of space, a ramp and all my gear under one roof there was no more delaying the inevitable and so it has started.
I know from past experiences that a restoration project is by no means a quick or easy task but with all the other threads on the go I was feeling left out and inspired.
To begin with I was self convinced that I was only going to tackle the under body and engine bay but as we all know if you're in for a penny you may as well go for the pound so it's now a full blown strip down and overhaul and its going to be getting everything it needs no matter how long it takes.
So far I've been working on it now for about two weeks and it's already a shadow of its former self.
I've already taken over 400 pictures mainly for reference for when it comes to putting it all back together but also so I can look back and see the progress and remind myself of what it looked like many moons ago so ill update this thread as I go for you all to enjoy my pain and probably misery.
Here are a couple of pictures of the garage queen before it all started.
As you can see there's not much to worry about as its not looking too bad underneath (apart from the black Waxoyl) but at least there's no big holes to deal with.
Most of what you can see is only surface corrosion and as long as it's dealt with promptly and correctly isn't going to be a problem.
Well this was day one with the bumpers, side skirts, wheels, arch liners, wings all coming off and I then started on removing the interior
Updates will be coming in patches as ill try and update towards the end of my leave and with working away there will be some long periods of inactivety but once im home ill be cracking on and getting bits done.
At least the interiour floor pan is nice and clean, something im already having trouble with is finding somewhere to store all the bits that come off and putting them somewhere that there not going to be in the way and will also keep clean, oh well everythings getting wrapped up and stored in the garage loft.
Well I can safely say I've never used so much dismantling spray in all my life but I'm sure I would have had 10X more broken nuts and bolts if I had not used any at all.
I've only had two bolts break on me, one of them was the small bracket holding the off side hand brake cable to the trailing arm and the other was one of the rear anti roll bar bush clamp on the off side so these will need drilling and tapping out at a later date.
As it stands the rear sub frame, suspension, diff and all the control arms are now out and ready for cleaning and painting up.
The rear arms will be getting new bushes but as of yet I'm still waiting on my press but that's not a problem as it's not as if I've not got much I can get on with.
I was hopeful that the tank was in better condition than it is but after dropping it down it doesn't look to be in the best condition but I'll have to clean it up and see what it's like under all that dirt before it hit the scrap pile.
What's your plan for removing the underseal? I started stripping mines down at the weekend and doing the same. Not looking forward to tackling the waxoyl, looks like mine was done by a 3 year old it's a mess
What's your plan for removing the underseal? I started stripping mines down at the weekend and doing the same. Not looking forward to tackling the waxoyl, looks like mine was done by a 3 year old it's a mess
I've not attempted removing the waxoyl yet and TBH I'm not looking forward to it.
I'll be taking mine back to bare steel and will most likely use a grinder with a wire wheel attachment but I've got to get it up on the spit first, how ever you tackle it it's going to be a messy and unpleasant job.
Good luck with the project .. you've made a decent start and it will be well worth it when finished !!
As for removing the underseal I really recommend treating yourself to a MBX surface preparation tool . They aren't cheap at about £350 but are really really good at removing the horrible black stuff ! They kind of self clean and don't get gummed up . I used one on the underside of mine before it was blasted as believe it or not blasting just pushes the underseal along like a lump of sticky chewing gum !
I'm still using it for cleaning other bits and bobs up prior to painting !
Good luck with the project .. you've made a decent start and it will be well worth it when finished !!
As for removing the underseal I really recommend treating yourself to a MBX surface preparation tool . They aren't cheap at about £350 but are really really good at removing the horrible black stuff ! They kind of self clean and don't get gummed up . I used one on the underside of mine before it was blasted as believe it or not blasting just pushes the underseal along like a lump of sticky chewing gum !
I'm still using it for cleaning other bits and bobs up prior to painting !
I had a little play with the grinder wire wheel attachment last night as it was playing on my mind and it comes off quite quickly as I got quite a bit off in a matter of seconds so I'll try using this arrangement to begin with.
Like you say there quite pricy but thanks for the advice and if I start to struggle then its another path I can take thanks :smthumbup
Well this is how she sits for now as I'm back off to work
I've had a look up the chassis box section and once again I don't think its looking to bad, this is the worst one and its not really that bad so I'm just glad its coming apart and not just falling apart
probably the worst corrosion on the car as of yet is on the front cross member under the radiator but its still treatable, ill post some more pictures of it once its been stripped back.
I'll continue the stripping down once I'm back and I would like to hope that I will have it completely stripped, up on the spit and the under body stripped back and treated with Rust Bullet.
Looking good , i would probably replace the front lower cross member as if its anything like the one i changed on my old Evo2 it will be a lot worse than it looks at first glance!, due to the design its a real water trap and rust starts deep inside inbetween the seams.
They are cheap enough to buy from mitsi or rosssport etc and not that bad a job to swap over.
Is this possible to do without a ramp? Every time one of these threads come up I have hope that it may be a non mechanic having a go in a normal single car garage. I want to have a go myself and would call myself a home mechanic. I got an impact wrench for Xmas in anticipation for this project.
Good start on the project, will be reading with interest as you go along. Car looks quite tidy to be starting with, unfortunately I'll be needing a fair bit of cutting and welding done on my 5.
Entirely possible in a home garage, I've seen plenty of threads here of people getting the car up on stands and getting to work. It's not as comfortable, but definitely can be done.
The ramp was £2200 delivered once I got the oil an isolator and a couple of other bits.
I could have got a cheaper one but wanted one that doesn't have any supporting posts between the two platforms as it makes it easier for dropping the prop, exhaust etc.
it's only a four foot lift but I'm still able to get underneath and get at everything and it turns things like dropping the oil into a half hour job :smthumbup
Well with the weeks now flown by since my last post I thought id best update the thread.
Not that there's much to report as I've not had a huge amount of time available to get stuck in but I've now got it to a point where it can sit until I tackle the mucky job of stripping off the dreaded Waxoyl.
There were still plenty of bit's to take off on my return but there all stowed away now and we're are ready to go :smthumbup
Its been like Christmas all over again with all the parcels turning up over the last week but there all for a good course.
The other half kindly treated me to a rotisserie last year before all this started and I've managed to get it set up and trialled it over the weekend.
What a pleasure it is to work with and I'm sure it will make working on the underside a breeze.
I've got some broken bolts to remove that I'm going to get out before the pain staking process of removing wax begins
I'm nearly ready to start applying the rust bullet but I would like to know what people found to be the best proses of doing so.
I've almost got it all back to bare steel and once completed I was going to key up the steel to give it a good base to stick too.
Looking at Rustbullets website my best understanding of the proses is as follows.
Apply one coat of Rust Bullet Automotive, give it 2-3 hours curing time then apply the seam sealer followed by the next two coats 3-4 hours apart then leave it over night before finishing it off with the Dinitrol 447 stone guard in the morning.
How have other people done this or does the above sound about right ?
It's about time for an update as there's been a bit of progress in the stripping.
I've been drilling out the broken bolts and tapping them out ready for the new bolts when it all goes back together thankfully they all came out fairly easily and the original threads were in good condition.
The under body is almost done with just the rear arches to finish and the engine bay to do (I can safely say its been the dirtiest me and my garage has ever been)I've still got some of the little nooks and crannies to do which will probably take longer than you could ever anticipate but it will keep me up at night if its not perfect.
I'm going to key up all of the under body in prep for the Rust Bullet to give it a good base to stick too so I'm a little while off painting yet but this is how it stands today.
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