Think they look cool man!

she looks quite rusty- good luck!!

You've got some work ahead of u

Just doing it as you can or have you got a deadline ?

deffo use the wings mate. will tuck the starmags nicely.

yove got a hell of a job on your hands! if your ever spending a weekend on it lemme no and ill come smash out some of the work on it :)

Man!

Awesome if you pull it off, give it a new injection of life :-)

Update...

I've stripped the bay and the dashboard now. Also the bonnet has been removed to allow easier access.

The glass is mostly out (although the windscreen now rests in peace, new one required)

I want to remove the headlining although I'm scared of ripping it, at the same time I'm scared of welding and grinding and burning a hole in it. Decisions decisions

Anyway, here's today's photos

Doesn't look too bad, other than the holes that light shines through..

Looks much worse underneath, and evidence of a double skin repair in the past, probably the cause of the rot..

The section that holds the battery from sliding back had rotted completely through

Chasing the rot back with the grinder and the wire brush on the drill, how far does it go?

Ended up cutting it flush with the edge of the inner wing, you can just about make out the drain hole.

Will have to cut out some of the steering column support too to chase this rot out, as you can see, the column bulkhead is peppered too, so this should be a fun repair.

oddly, the leading edge at the front (where the thick plate that has the bolt on to secure the battery) was just masticked down so once I'd cut either side I could just pull it out!

I didn't expect I'd need to cut that much out, but I can't wait to weld it up, it will be the first welding job I've done, so a baptism of fire for me. The rot has also spread t inside the wheel arch so I will have to panel that in before rebuilding the battery tray.

I'm thinking that all I need to use with the weld is 'weld through primer' to stop it from rusting before paint, anyone got any experience?

Edited 1 April, 201313 yr by runforrestrun

I've been looking at that weld through primer also known as zinc primer too cheapest is off ebay mate 2 cans for about £11 odd quid posted

and you have a PM you know you want them and i dont want alot

the rust isnt looking good on this shell though hopefully you do come through and save it though

good luck mate

Have you used it yet? My worry is protecting the welds so that they don't rust in a few years in places where I can't paint behind them.

I will save it, it's not going anywhere..

I'm guessing you are saving it because the missus bought it for you? if not would you?? keep it up son! be done in no time.

not myself but have read into it a little and people do say good things

do you mean putting it on the back of parts where you will be welding the front if so when you weld it, it will burn off the back of the plate still leaving open weld/metal at the back

the idea is to spray on panels then you can weld directly on the primer it wont stop the arc basically

You should be able to spray it on before you weld and apparently it will fuse into the weld.

Anyway I've got some now and used it today. Also bought seam sealer.

The rot in the front of the last photos had gone all the way thorugh to the inner arch

so cut that all out

made me a plate using my new hammer and dolly set

and welded it in

Next time I will light the area better as it was hard to see what was going on.

This is my first proper welding job so I'm happy with the result although after dressing it will look better, and it does the job.

I need to up my game when it comes to welding sills though, all with practice

I'm guessing you are saving it because the missus bought it for you? if not would you?? keep it up son! be done in no time.

its a challenge mate!

and I can't stand to see a car scrapped..

plus I want it resprayed so wouldn't want to spend loads on a minter anyway, and we didn't!

New toys

You are looking at a pair of pattern sills, crossmember, and genuine rear apron (however this has turned out to be for a bready so no good to me, so will sell this on)

and a clubpolo hi torque starter motor for the 1.6

Glad you got the starter! :)

TShirt for you

So, small update

I had to chop MORE out of the battery tray

as it was rotten (common theme here)

and also a section out from the bulkhead too.. wasn't expecting this

took delivery of my new genuine front panel and pattern slam panel

Repair panel from Paddy

replaced the drain hole on the inner wing

Welded up and zinc primered underneath

Coated in POR 15 prior to a good helping of seam sealer

Also, this happened

Which then made me realised the drivers chassis leg needs the first few inches replacing as its been crashed and water ingress in the folds has caused more rot, nothing I can't handle.. updates to follow

Edited 13 May, 201313 yr by runforrestrun

Love it Jim, you're gonna be well attached to this one !

Yeah dude, for sure. Limiting factor is time and money what with all my silly running marathons and holding down two jobs. As of June I will be working 3 days a week (starting as an ambulance driver which is 12 hour shifts) so will go full throttle over the summer.

There's a lot of work to be done. You'll be pleased to know I've rented a CO2/Argon bottle now so no more crappy little bottles means better welds!

You'll get it done man, you're a positive and enthusiastic guy.

Ah glad you've got a bottle - ill be able to sleep tonight now

Keep it up.

Jim will fix it (Y)

Looking good dude :)

New purchases..

Used PPP Stage 3 subframe

Brand new Seat AFH Timing belt cover

Oh, and I started on that wee hole in the drivers footwell I showed you before now that the battery tray is finished.

Will be following this one closely.

It's interesting to see Mark2s getting the restos and love that Mark1s were getting what seemed like only a few years ago.

Keep it up

Liking the cam cover!!

And subframe ftw :)

I'm wondering if this can actually be saved :(

What I'm worried about is welding it up and getting it strong, then spending lots of money to get it resprayed, and then rust coming through the new paint.

Any ideas? My main worries are the chassis legs in the engine bay, but also the back of the inner wings, where the wing bolts to. I can't really cut these bits out.

Edited 27 May, 201313 yr by runforrestrun

Karl, have you got links to any build threads of old rotters that I can look at for inspiration?

You can do it Jim

Just cut out as much rust as you can and treat the rest as much as you can just use loads of preventative measures like rust treatment then zinc primer etc

I guess its just a case of manning up and doing one job at a time.

Yesterday, this is what I did (which was the reason for the above posts..

Today, I got back to the plan and did some confidence building small jobs.

had a rotten wiper hole, so decided to replace it.

then decided to replace some of the windscreen surround behind it as that had a rotten bit too.

Edited 27 May, 201313 yr by runforrestrun