[Ralliart Rous]

After viewing several impressive restoration projects on the MLR recently Ive finally plucked up the courage to start mine !

The plan being a complete underbody restoration, down to bare metal, rustbullet, paint (red, black and white) various parts to be blasted and powder coated, new bolts, bushes and other new bits as needed !!

Managed to bag myself a Bradbury 4 post lift from my mechanic friend who was upgrading to scissor lifts. Should make the whole job easier ! Had to buy and fit an inverter to convert to 3phase but with a lot of help from Sean a fellow Red Mak owner this was soon sorted !

Progress is going to be steady due to work and family commitments , and the fact I want it damn near perfect !

I will post the updates as and when they happen , a few photos below show this afternoons progress. A few parts removed and half a tank of super unleaded drained !

To be honest I was really worried about what may lay beneath - considering its a uk car ! Yes there are areas of surface rust underneath the underseal but the floor pan and sills look pretty decent considering . Hopefully will be getting down to some serious underseal and rust removal soon :smthumbup

 

[Ralliart Rous]

You've got some underseal to get off

Hopefully all well underneath it all

Yes there is a serious amount of the horrible black stuff - everywhere :rotz:

And to add insult to injury I paid to have it put there :handsup:

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Just subscribed to this thread:smthumbup... Jealous of that lift :lol:
Looking forward to the updates

The lift is brilliant, well worth the hasle of moving and installing it , should make the project a little easier I'm thinking :smthumbup

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Managed to have the best part of the day on the evo, mainly wrestling with bolts that had seized solid ... particularly around the rear sub-frame/diff hanger ! :shake:

However we still managed to pretty much finish stripping the rear end, moved on to the front end and made some good progress. :smthumbup

Removed front and rear bumpers put them into storage for a while along with discs, callipers, arch liners, wheels and various bits that are already good enough to go back on !

Shocks and springs have been sent off for blasting and painting, ill see how these turn out before I overload them with all the other bits I want doing !

If you hadn't already noticed that bloody underseal has got everywhere .. check out the bottom of the headlight and side of the radiator. I now hate the stuff with a passion - and that's before I start removing it .

Further update in a week or two.

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Just a update on the progress so far, I've been sneaking a few hours in on the project after work and at weekends removing the underseal. Its been just myself and a paint scraper for company, it seems to be the best way to remove the horrible stuff, wire wheels and discs just seem to either get gummed up or spread it about. A little bit of heat makes the job much easier.

As you will see there are several areas with surface rust but they remain solid, there is no visible rust on the interior of the floor pan, including the boot and rear wheel well so that's a bonus and the sills are solid too :smthumbup

However..... I have problem areas, im not going to pretend they don't exist because they do . The rear chassis legs where the diff hanger mounts

The top layer of metal you can peel off with your fingers

Luckily I know somebody who's a bloody good engineer, fabricator and welder, he's had a look and said he can sort it no problem :smthumbup

Its not terminal and I wont be beaten... I love this car, I've got it damn near perfect on top so I wont stop until its that way underneath !!

A few photos of the progress and the ugly stuff , hopefully I will be able to post progress of the repair work start to finish soon.

 

[Ralliart Rous]

What are you planning to put on the underside ? Paint or rust bullet ?

When it's down to bare metal I shall rust bullet it and then a top coat of red paint . :smthumbup

 

[Ralliart Rous]

why have you just not media blasted this? i plan to do mine this year but will blast the lot

I have thought about it , but it's pretty messy . I'm kind of enjoying doing it by hand at the moment , I suppose it's a Labour of Love ! I shall be using various power tools soon !

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Not sure on the Op's plans but I'll give you the way I did mine. Rust bullet x 3 coats, primer sufacer, seam sealed, top coat. There's also flatting down stages in between those aswell. Hope that helps. :smthumbup

That's the plan.:smthumbup ... Its partly your fault im doing all this !!!

If I can get mine looking remotely like yours I shall be a happy man .. its stunning :smthumbup

And to think you did it all laid on your back on the garage floor Your a hero :smthumbup

Ive been looking at Rust Bullet Clear Shot , Didn't know if I should put that over the top coat of paint as extra protection ?

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Unfortunately not a lot been happening on the Evo front for the past month, work has been silly busy , It hasn't stopped me ordering new parts though :smthumbup

I made the decision a few weeks that if im in for a penny I might as well go in for a pound .... decision made the engines coming out !! Lets go for the full engine bay refurb as well .

Managed to have the best part of today on it and progress has been made. I cant help but think im slowly making the worlds biggest jigsaw puzzle:handsup:

A few pics of todays work ......

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Me doing the same. Enjoyable but hard work.:thumbup:

Yes I've seen your good work :smthumbup

I'm looking forward to the putting it back together stage , I think that's a long way off yet

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Did you find much rust hidden underneath ? Or just what's pictured above

The engine bay isn't too bad but it had started as shown in the photos above , also getting a little scabby on the front cross member . I've not found anything so far that's to troubling . I've seen a lot worse !!

The chassis apart from the one problem are (rear chassis leg) I've been quite pleased with , mainly surface rust .

Things like fuel filler neck and brake backing plates are scrap !

Loads of components need blasting and powder coating , Im not rushing or cutting corners I want it perfect . It's not gonna be quick , it's not gonna be easy , but it will be bloody expensive :handsup: ( don't tell the wife ) :smthumbup

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Thanks for that Tom, I'll check those products out , certainly looks impressive from the photos :smthumbup

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Another update on the project.... I've been struggling to find the time I want/need to spend on the car, so decided to get a little help to push it along a little.

6 hours and just over 500kg of glass media later it looks like this !

Just need to tidy up some of the remaining small areas of the original seam sealer and stone guard that believe it or not blasting struggles to remove.

Would I go down this route again ? Probably not as I've spent hours clearing up the dust and debris :wallbang:

Hopefully further updates will see some serious progress and the car starting to look pretty again :smthumbup

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Looks great, good work...

Will you be using the Brantho Korrux 3-1?? Looks good stuff, although not sure how its applied??

Rich W, I noticed you liked the Brantho Korrux 3-1?!! Is this what you're using??

Pretty certain I'm going to use Rust Bullet automotive , others have used it and recommend it . I'm going for spraying as I'm really after a decent finnish :smthumbup

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Keep up the good work, did you manage to hire all the equipment for blasting easy enough?

It was through a friend of a friend and he did it for me , it's pretty impressive kit and I imagine pretty dangerous in the wrong hands !

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Managed to get the Rust Bullet Automotive sprayed on last week :smthumbup

As others have said its fantastic stuff, its easy to spray and I'm really pleased with the finish . I would certainly recommend it !

We managed to get 3 coats on during the day , following the guidance and timings specified with the product.

Next job is to find a paint match/code for the original factory engine bay colour. I did consider spraying it all the same as the body (R71) but really want to replicate the original .

I've seen contrasting information that the engine bay is the same colour as the panels without a clear top coat ? I didn't think the bodywork paint had a clear top coat ? Hopefully somebody can point me in the right direction ? I do know that the underside of the boot lid is the same dull red.

Meanwhile I'm managing to stockpile a large collection of brand new parts :smthumbup

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Anymore updates dude??

You can't rush perfection Pete :lol:

I'm waiting on my spray man to work his magic , various bits are away being blasted and powder coated and my garage is full of new parts ready to go on :smthumbup

Hopefully in the next week or two some progress will have been made .

I might spray it white while I'm at it .... Far too many red ones about now :lol:

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Not a lot been happening on the Evo front for a while , but we are nearing a update on the project ! I've had various little bits done that bothered me .. Mainly straightening the jacking points that didn't look great. Had enough rust bullet left for a rub down and another coat so it's still sat pretty much as before .

While organising my spare parts department I took the opportunity to take a photo of one of the new seats next to one of the original ones , not much difference in the photo of the fronts of them ....But the photo of the rear of the seats shows a slight difference I think !!

Anyway hoping for a big step forward in the next few weeks .

They look the same !

Oh no they don't !!

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[Ralliart Rous]

Seats look brilliant, its one of the things that really annoys me with mine is the faded seats, is there anything you can do to stop your new ones going the same over time?

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Yes , keep it in the garage !! :lol:

Window tints are the only option I guess :smthumbup

 

[Ralliart Rous]

Steve, I was quoted and I hope you're sitting down. 5 grand for FULL brand new interior :handsup:

As for fading, seat covers matey I guess, rears I guess tinted rear window may help?

I was quoted the best part of £1000 for just the rear seat cover-no foam backing , and that was just for the upright part not the bit you sit your bum on ! :handsup:

Apparently Mitsubishi UK have never sold one .. According to my friendly parts man .