The plastic weather sheets were stuck to the doors with some incredibly sticky putty type stuff. Seems to be a factory thing as the car in the Haynes manual sports the same look.

Before

After

Boring stuff, but its something else that was ready to go back on. 

Had a go at the drivers side front inner wing, there wasn't a lot more I could do now until the engine/running gear come out. This was a good excuse to go and play with my Polos.

Not bad at all!

Passenger side pretty good too!

Edited 17 October, 20169 yr by sleag40

Opened the bonnet, and started out with this.

Took me a short while to work out that the wiper motor needs to be removed before the mechanism will come out. 

After unpicking the loom, then removing the rubber shrouds from all the bulkhead stuff, I was left with this.

The rubber of the covers had become a bit brittle, and was a pig to remove without tearing it.

 

The heater/ventilation stuff came out next.

The pile of parts to clean and/or paint was getting bigger. 

Just needed to disconnect the fuel lines, speedo cable and clutch cable, then I could  whip the engine and box/boat anchor out. 

There is normally someone around on the farm where my unit is, but not on the day the engine came out! Everything was done on my back.  The exhaust took a while to remove without damaging it, but was a lot easier than it could have been. To my surprise, the 6 downpipe to manifold bolts just wound straight out - I thought it was gonna be a proper pain in the posterior! I'd borrowed a mate's engine crane, just in case the ramp wasn't an option, and armed with my trusty old seat belts (veterans of many similar operations) I got stuck in.

It was a bit awkward on my own, trying to be in two places at once, but a little improvisation saw the job done with ease. Behold - the mighty lump!

I now had a load more paint, seam sealer and muck to remove! Yay!

The rocker cover gasket has been royally pissing out oil for a long time by the looks of things. The rear end of the engine, and all of the gearbox is absolutely plastered with engine oil and crap. I scraped some of it off, and it had preserved the bellhousing beautifully - it would clean up really nicely!

The engine would get a good clean and paint, and a load of new gaskets and seals - just needed to motivate myself for a proper cleaning session!

Proper filth!

Crud removed from gearbox - this would be going back on the car with no work done as it was in rude health.

Carried on with a bit more stripping down.

Had a bit of a tidy up after that - the place had become a bit of a dump!

Got the front doors off next, and removed the locking/handle/door catch mechanisms. I would have been screwed without the trusty hinge pin removal tool borrowed off my mate Dave!

All front suspension/steering gubbins were removed in one piece. Just the brake lines and servo still to come out of here now.

I cracked off all the nuts and bolts while it was all still attached to the car, so it wouldn't be too much trouble to strip it all down.

I got the front suspension stripped pretty quickly - after struggling to make a spring compressor, I ended up doing it "gypsy" style. (Undoing the lower wisbone pivot bolt, withdrawing the pivot bolt at arms length, and boioioing!) I was hoping that this would give me time to find the correct tool, as there is absolutely no way it can be assembled without one.

All the ball joints were pressed out/unbolted pretty quickly, but the rubber bushes - it took two hours of cutting and hammering to get just one out without damaging the wishbone!

Theres 9 more to remove!

The upper wishbone bushes were pretty easy to remove with threaded bar and washers, but the lower wishbone ones, especially the rear bushes, could only be removed by sawing into the outer shells and smashing them out.

Brake lines and servo came out next, was cold as a penguin's chuff! (End of November now)

I then took a wire wheel to the Swan neck areas of the chassis. Both sides of the passenger side were spot on.

The driver's side wasn't so good.

It looked perfect until hit with the wire wheel, this part of the chassis is known for rotting from the inside out. Any water in the engine bay drains down through the chassis on these cars - it was actually designed that way! Not the best idea methinks.

Made myself busy with some more stripping now that theres nothing in the way any more.

Then got started bare metalling the engine bay.

 

Strippy strip strip

[

Got the inner wings and front chassis rails finished up.

After a good few hours, just the front valance and front panel left to do.

I vacuumed the unit floor when I'd done for the day - Henry was stuffed to the gills!

The fiddly bits of the front end.

Just the back of the front valance was left up front now, but I needed a break from the noise and dust of this work!

I was looking forward to getting some paint on there at some point!

 

Quiet stuff next - rear suspension, axle and rear prop shaft came out in one piece, the only hardship was working out how the handbrake cables were freed from the brake backplates. The manual indicated that the clip was outside the backplate, when it was in fact inside it. 

The car now looks a bit like its floating.

Had another bit of a tidy up.

Stripped the rear end down next, the remaining bushes from the rear anti roll bar and panhard rod came off first, closely followed by the brake lines. Incredibly, the brake pipe unions just wound right out, as did the bleed nipples on the brakes. I took a wire brush to the axle, just to see the state of it, and it looked like it would clean up nicely.

The trailing arm bushes were removed too - a LOT easier than the lower front wishbone ones! :P 

Edited 17 October, 20169 yr by sleag40

. I dipped my toe in on the engine side of things next, by removing the clutch and flywheel. It was pretty oily back there!

The clutch friction plate was not far off some of the rivets, but I had another one to go in. I cleaned the masses of shite off the lower flywheel cover, then had to go to work.

 

Not having finished stripping the front end was bugging me, so I sorted it out!

It took longer than anticipated, but got it done. Very awkward to do those bits!

 

Good news! I got some sandblasted pieces back.

Bad news! The offside spring seat on the rear axle had a little bit of rot that needed repairing -

The other side still had its original paint on it in the same area. (?)

The area was tidied up with a power file.

And a piece of metal was shaped to fit the hole.

It would be buzzed in at a later date.

More sandblasting was done

Painted suspension pieces.

Behold the blackness up close -

The whole "trying to avoid damaging paint" gig started here!

Got some more bits painted  -

Springs were awkward, but perseverance was rewarded.

ARBs were awkward etc....

Shocks were easy 

Cross member had to be suspended by the bump stop holes to enable it all to be painted in one hit.

The pile of stuff to be painted black is now a bit smaller than the "done" pile. 

 

Edited 17 October, 20169 yr by sleag40

More undercarriage re-furbery next. Steering rack was cleaned, and the arms painted.

Brake servo was a bit rusty, but cleaned up well

Brake lines off the rear axle still had most of the factory paint on them, until I wasted it off!

Cleaning the prop shaft off was the biggest, but easiest job of the day.

The air cleaner was next for the treatment.

It's amazing how some rusty old bits clean up so well when others don't.

Got a few bits painted in the kitchen - the stink of paint was around for a while! Too cold to paint stuff at the unit now. (December)

 

Edited 18 October, 20169 yr by sleag40

Started cleaning off the back axle, as you can imagine,it was well rusty!

My mate Sam from the unit next door then kindly welded in the piece I made for the spring seat.

I ground it back, then continued the paint/rust removal so it too could be painted black.

My mate John made a start on replacing what I'd cut out of the nearside rear arch/sill end/wheel tub. He wasn't able to stay for long, progress was made!

The nearside arch/wheel tub/sill end was now tacked into place - just needed welding in on the next session.

I spent a bit of time cutting out the poxy bits of the offside rear arch when he'd gone.. This side looked a lot worse than the other before cutting, but underneath the outer lip it was in much better condition than the nearside. A repair was needed to the inner arch on the nearside, but I'd get away with just the outer lip on this.

Kicked off a short session (January 13th 2016) by removing the steering column from the bulkhead. It's held to the bulkhead with a shear bolt - the easiest way to remove it was to cut a slot in the head and wind it out with a comedy massive screwdriver.

Nothing in the way of painting the engine bay now. (Apart from the weather!)

Finished up with a bit more grot chopping - this time it's the offside A pillar. I cut it back a bit higher before a repair piece was knocked up, I just ran out of time.

The drivers side just after the rest of the grot was cut out.

Driver's side repaired and ground back

Same with the passenger side

A-pillar and offside front chassis leg still to do, but the back end was done. 

I spotted a couple of bits that the main welder bloke missed, but I was pretty pleased with whats done so far. The missed bits could always be addressed next time. On this day (January 17th) I removed the back doors, and stripped out the locking mechanisms and check straps. It was far too cold to stay all day - so I didn't!

The next day, my polyurethane bushes arrived. I just hoped they're easier to fit than the old ones were to remove.

I had a funny feeling that new swear words would  be created. 

The day after that, the rear axle was painted at work - its 23 degrees all year round there. :)

Pretty awkward to carry about indoors, but worth it to avoid waiting for warmer weather!

Weldage now complete! 

Pox in offside chassis rail now gone -

Piece of new metal let into the bottom of offside a-pillar -

The missed bits from the last session were sorted out too. 

The new suspension bushes were fitted next - seemingly only doable with three hands, a vice, and a bearing press! I just couldn't do it on my own, so Sam and Liam from neighbouring units supplied the extra hand required - it was then really easy!

Panhard rod

Rear trailing arms

Cross member braces

Upper wishbones

Bottom arms

Rear ARB 

Sadly , no new swear words were created!

Back to the noisy stuff again - cleaned the paint and sealant off the nearside sill.

Then of course, the offside.

Next, I cleaned back the front floor sections as far as the jacking points.

Noisy, but strangely satisfying!