Got the majority of this inner wing stripped back now.

 

Once I've done inside the turret, (most likely tomorrow) I'll get some of the black stuff on there, then move on to the other side. 🙂

Nothing doing at work today. 🙂

Finishing up the turret.

 

Black stuff went on.

 

 

Made a start on the other side.

I need a new wire wheel to continue now - that was the third one I've spent up!

The metalwork is that clean it's almost a shame to paint it...…………….you ever think of lacquering the bare metal to show off your work 😁

On 01/08/2019 at 09:50, Jim1500 said:

The metalwork is that clean it's almost a shame to paint it...…………….you ever think of lacquering the bare metal to show off your work 😁

I'd like to do that on a car at some point - it'll not be this one though. One day!

 

New wire wheel acquired Saturday afternoon, then put straight to work on the passenger side inner wing.

 

Cleaned and treated on this afternoon.

 

Having a look around the engine bay (really not looking forward to bare metalling this 😞 ) I noticed a bit of car pox in the front cross member.

 

Cut out the pox, and cleaned up the strengthener behind it.

 

Welded in a piece of fresh metal to fill the hole.

 

Cleaned back as best as I could until my finger sander comes back from a mate.

 

Back to the joy of paint/rust/crud removal next. 🙂

No actual work done on the car today, but during a bit of a tidy up I got shut of a load of crispy metal removed over the last few months. All the biggest bits are long gone, but theres still a reasonable amount of scrap metal gone to the weighing in skip.

 

Also a new gallon of thinners was bought this afternoon so I can clean all the filth out of the engine bay in preparation for the last bout of wire wheel action.

I managed to grab a bit of time for this on the way home today, and got stuck in to the engine bay. Its pretty fiddly, but a lot less unpleasant than the underside was.

 

Hopefully I'll have it all stripped in a couple of weeks, then I can start getting some paint and seam sealer on there.

Got another go at this earlier.

 

 

Just the relatively straightforward part between the turret and the bulkhead to strip, and I can get this side treated. 🙂

A bit more done this afternoon.

 

Next session should see this side cleaned + treated.

Vauxhall didnt put this much effort in to making it

On 11/08/2019 at 21:21, kiran_182 said:

Vauxhall didnt put this much effort in to making it

It certainly wouldn't have taken them as much time as it's gonna take me!  🙂

 

Not going to be getting any time on this for a week or so now, but managed to grab a wee bit this afternoon. Driver's side inner wing got a couple of coats of Hydrate 80.

 

Then made a start on removing paint and rust from the front crossmember.

 

The slam panel + front valance strengthener panel will be next on the list, followed by the passenger side inner wing. Not a huge amount of wire wheeling remains. 🙂

A little time was made for more wire wheel action this afternoon - thanks to not having to do overtime today. 🙂

Nothing spectacular, just chipping away at the frontal parts of the car.

 

 

More progress to come in the not too distant future. (hopefully)

A few more bits done in available time slots. Nearside headlight area 

 

Front and back of front valance strengthener.

 

 

Theres just the underside of the slam panel to do before the frontal stuff gets treated.

Got a bit more done over the last couple of days - finished up stripping the underside of the slam panel (seen here before cleaning the orange dust off prior to treating with the Hydrate 80)

 

Underside of slam panel cleaned + treated.

 

Top side of slam panel also treated.

 

I'll get the rest of the front bits treated next time. Because the front valance still needs to be welded on, the strengthener must have weld through primer on the parts which will take the plug welds. The rest of it will be treated with Hydrate 80.
 

All remaining bare metal now treated.

 

Started preparing the front valance for going on, first stripping it back to bare metal.

 

Then giving it a couple of coats of electrox primer.

 

It was a bit too hot for comfort in the shed today, so may not be back for a while. It'll give me a bit of time to think of a way to attach the front end of the rollover jig once the front valance goes on.
 

Top class work...………………….how are you going to keep yourself busy when this is finished, something a bit easier like dragging a car out of a lake and doing a concourse resto?😁

Sadly (unless another heap lands in my lap 🙂 ) I'll be doing my kitchen, which I've been threatening to do since 2007!

14 hours ago, sleag40 said:

Sadly (unless another heap lands in my lap 🙂 ) I'll be doing my kitchen, which I've been threatening to do since 2007!

 

That sounds a bit drastic...………………….I'd scour the classifieds lol

I did something I never thought I would today - I actually took it along to a car show! The show in question had three things going for it that many shows do not. 1, it was free to enter, 2, no need to pre-book, and 3, it was less than a mile from my doorstep - the show was a part of the Northwich festival, and due to the above reasons, I thought why not,?

 

 

I went on my own, and a space was found next to a car club group. Many pleasant comments + chinwaggings took place over the course of the day, and there was some nice motors to gawp at too. (there was a lot more there than I was expecting) I might make it a regular thing weather permitting! 🙂
 

I snaffled a bit of time this evening to make a start on the passenger side of the engine bay - once the shed had cooler down a bit. The battery tray was hit first. 

 

There was still plenty of time left, so I just carried on until hunger got the better of me. (about an hour!) 

 

Not sure If I'm gonna finish the engine bay or stick the front valance on next, stay tuned!

A few short sessions during the week sees this side mostly stripped now. 

 

I have a decent amount of time to get this finished off tomorrow - and it'll probably take most of the day as this side is by far the fiddliest area of the whole car. Major milestone imminent! 🙂

Finished stripping this side on Saturday - seen here just before the underside of the battery tray was done. 

 

Ready to clean and treat. 

 

 

Treated on Sunday evening. 

Today I took the front end off the spit and propped it up on large axle stands in preparation for welding the front valance on. Quick trial fit. 

 

Painted both sides of the front valance strengthener plug weld areas with weld through primer, then removed the rollover spit upright to make the job of welding it on easier. 

 

Should hopefully be welding the valance on some time this week. 🙂
 

Most of the available time this afternoon (not a lot!) was spent getting the valance in the correct position relative to the wings. It was then plug welded on. 

 

Next time I'll get that tidied up, then efforts will be made to get it reattached to the spit. 🙂

Got the front valance tidied up a bit this afternoon. 

 

No time for this for a couple of days now, but a selection of bits of metal have been rounded up to enable the spit to be attached next time.

Somehow I've mislaid the box section I intended to use, but I did find some larger diameter stuff. Unfortunately it didn't fit, but after a bit of adjustment, it became a perfectly sized solution. 

 

After a load of faffing about measuring and drilling holes, its back on there again. 

 

I've ordered up some epoxy mastic to coat the underside - a quick measure up + calculation suggests that the amount ordered should be enough. 

 

The lower section of the bulkhead was then treated with Hydrate 80.

 

With that done, I spent the rest of the day excersising my other cars. 🙂
 

You may have noticed that one part of the engine bay has not received much attention yet - this afternoon that has changed! 

 

There's no rust on the upper part of the bulkhead, so the plan is to clean it back to the e-coat with thinners, then it can be epoxy primed with the rest of the engine bay at some point in the future.