Soft dash restoration

dunkan · May 11, 2014

I bought a 3.9 soft dash last year and it's soon to be getting a lot of tlc.

Exterior wise the paintwork is in pretty good condition but the bonnet
and tailgate have some issues which need dealing with.

The seats, door cards and dash are in very good condition but the head
lining needs replacing and some of the carpet. Also some minor trim parts.

Underneath is where the bulk of the work is required so in the near future
the body will be lifted off the chassis to properly see whats needed but i've
had it on a ramp and the chassis itself looks in very good condition with
only light surface rust.

Main parts that need replacing are the rear cross member, boot floor, boot
floor support panels, inner & outer sills, a post panels etc

It will also get new brake calipers, discs, brake lines, fuel lines, air bags,
compressor, exhaust, bushes etc

dunkan · May 11, 2014

I've found some genuine 5 spokes to go on it which will be fully refurbished along
with new tyres.

I have a copy set as well which will be sold at some point

The rear window seals were very dry and needed replacing but i got lucky and found a pair
in great condition at a breakers in B'ham

dunkan · May 11, 2014

A few more taken of the underneath

marccleave · May 11, 2014

Excellent photos! Can't wait for more!

Good to see another classic thread in the sea of P38 threads!

blackstrat · May 11, 2014

Yay! Nuther Classic fred! :banana:

dunkan · May 12, 2014

marccleave said:
Excellent photos! Can't wait for more!

Good to see another classic thread in the sea of P38 threads!

blackstrat said:
Yay! Nuther Classic fred!

I'll update with photos as we go, hopefully shouldn't be too long before
it's in the workshop getting stripped

Thanks for the interest guys

dunkan · Aug 16, 2014

Had a few set backs with this project but now its actually underway.

At the moment its getting stripped down ready to have new
sills, cross member and boot floor fitted.

It'll be body off time then and attack the chassis and finish off
the body panels.

Been writing out the parts list and its rapidly growing

dunkan · Aug 16, 2014

A few more photos of the strip down, doors off next.

I'm quite surprised its not as bad as i'd expected, the worst corrosion
is unsurprisingly on the inside of the rear cross member.

ifloochies · Aug 16, 2014

Looks rather good under the skin...
A few years back, kept putting of dealing with the rust issues on mine for so long it ended up being unroadworthy, was far too gone and had to be broken up.

Yours looked great before you started, I can only imagine its gonna be splendid by the time you're done.

3.5 efi · Aug 16, 2014

Looks like you quite like a classic looking round your workshop. What's the chassis like condition wise?

dunkan · Aug 16, 2014

ifloochies said:
Looks rather good under the skin...
A few years back, kept putting of dealing with the rust issues on mine for so long it ended up being unroadworthy, was far too gone and had to be broken up.

Yours looked great before you started, I can only imagine its gonna be splendid by the time you're done.

A lot of classics i've seen don't look too bad till you either get underneath them or start pulling the body panels off

mine did look good and too be honest isn't anywhere near as bad as i thought it would be.

3.5 efi said:
Looks like you quite like a classic looking round your workshop. What's the chassis like condition wise?

The workshop isn't mine i'm afraid but yes its a shrine to the classic RR

Chassis looks in good condition but we'll know for sure once the bodies
off.

The worst corrosion is rear cross member, inner and outer offside sills and inner front wings

3.5 efi · Aug 16, 2014

Usual suspects then. I've seen late soft dashes in a far worse state than that so worth saving.

dunkan · Aug 16, 2014

3.5 efi said:
Usual suspects then. I've seen late soft dashes in a far worse state than that so worth saving.

I'm not sure worth is the right word

it's going to cost a fair bit in
parts alone.

I have seen a few selling for crazy money and they weren't even a soft dash or restored so i guess we'll see.

dunkan · Aug 19, 2014

A few more photos, boot floor is now out and the next job is cutting out
the rear cross member and fitting the new one in.

Making sure the back end is all lined up is the tricky bit.

I'm also going through any silly parts i need, first ones are the finger pulls
in the doors, mine are all cracked with sections around the top missing.

Found a few on ebay etc but thought i'll just try LR and they still sell them
but only in the cream/biege colour so i'll have to paint them.

£4 ish each + vat

Result, 3 on ebay were £30 !!

Some other items in the workshop i thought i'd get photos off

dunkan · Aug 19, 2014

I'm on the hunt for a door card as this part is broken on my
drivers door, if anyone knows of any please let me know, i haven't
found any yet.

The door card can be scrap as long as the piece at the bottom is
in good condition

Cheers

dunkan · Aug 20, 2014

Rear cross member is out along with the rear axle, petrol tank etc

Really happy with the condition of everything so far and only surface corrosion on
chassis which i'm really pleased to see.

The diff oil was drained and just nice clean oil came out, no signs of anything nasty, it'll
get cleaned up, painted then refilled with fresh oil along with new discs, calipers, airbags
and brake lines.

Once the rear cross member is in the back end of the chassis will be cleaned up and
painted and the axle can go back in

The balance weight has come off the rear propshaft so i'm just searching for somewhere local to do that

dunkan · Aug 21, 2014

Rear axle has been stripped cleaned and painted, just awaiting new parts to get rebuilt.

Front axle is also off the car, it's been jetwashed and now being stripped, new swivel
housings are on order as the old ones are scrap, got some Teflon coated ones coming.

It should be rust free and painted ready to be re built by the end of the day.

Again nice clean diff oil has come out of it and the half shaft splines look in
very good condition

stutab · Aug 21, 2014

Looks like you have found a good one there. Like the legs sticking out from under the red RRC. Are you restoring to better than factory with this or building for a purpose?

Keep the Pics coming

Stu

dunkan · Aug 21, 2014

I just fancied having another classic as i've owned a few of them, this
one came up and didn't seem to be too bad so i took a chance on it
and here we are.

Hopefully good classics or restored ones will continue to go up in value
and i'll at least be able to cover my costs if i were to sell it

dunkan · Aug 23, 2014

Spoke to soon regarding the front diff as it needs a re build and one cv joint is scrap
but i'll replace both of them.

Looks like it had a problem and someone just did an oil change hoping it would fix it.

The drive shafts are fine though so that's good news

Had a good result down at the shot blasters though and their doing a large pile of stuff
for a very sensible amount of cash
The rear axle case will get done as well as the pile in the photo along with the Y piece
and manifolds

Soft dash restoration

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