Scottishmech
Active Member
Thinks its a case of its so wet here and the fact the Welsh just seem to neglect there motors haha
So I've left the update a bit too long again!
Since the last update...
Checked the tailgate fitted after having the rear crossmember off - seemed like a good idea. It only fitted straight in without even needing the locks adjusting! Chuffed there. Tailgate was a little worse for wear still then though.
Test fit of the whole floor. I'm making this from a kit of one and a bit disco floors as I may have mentioned. First clecoed in the two parts after trimming both to length.
Next I started tacking the floor sections together...
Full welded them together off the car followed by tedious grinding smooth on both sides.
Time for another test fit and while it was all aligned in the car I plug welded the floor (now one piece) to the z sections and the crossmembers leaving me with one piece that was all still only attached with clecos/intergrips.
More in a mo.
Rich
Since the last update...
Checked the tailgate fitted after having the rear crossmember off - seemed like a good idea. It only fitted straight in without even needing the locks adjusting! Chuffed there. Tailgate was a little worse for wear still then though.
Test fit of the whole floor. I'm making this from a kit of one and a bit disco floors as I may have mentioned. First clecoed in the two parts after trimming both to length.
Next I started tacking the floor sections together...
Full welded them together off the car followed by tedious grinding smooth on both sides.
Time for another test fit and while it was all aligned in the car I plug welded the floor (now one piece) to the z sections and the crossmembers leaving me with one piece that was all still only attached with clecos/intergrips.
More in a mo.
Rich
Once the floor was all welded together I set out on a mammoth sanding session over what felt like weeks of evenings to get all the black coating off the floor and get the whole thing prepped for paint. Then covered it all back up again with several coats of RustBuster zinc rich primer and then SikaGard Stonechip. Joints were seam sealed with UPol Grey Stripe and the really observant will notice that I've added some M8 Weld Nuts in the four corners of the loadspace on spreader plates for tie down eyes/a drawer system.
Around this time I took a week off work to make a big jump forward, but just needed to quickly MOT the Peugeot (Kirsty's car but actually our only car since I sold the BMW as I have this and a Volvo which are both off the road). 306's were galvanise dipped in the factory and I've been telling people for years they're great as they don't rust much at all.
That was the location of the bump stop on the N/S rear, and the repair was 6 layers of steel thick. There was also a hole in the back corner and a 6 inch section of the chassis rail under the drivers seat. Apparently they do rust, but only from the inside out so once you find it it's a hell of a mess to repair! I'll point out I noticed all this before putting it in for a test rather than the tester finding this.
Anyway, that was my week off gone. Back to working evenings and weekends! Got the floor welded in.
Unfortunately here my photos dry up again for a bit and there's a gap. I joined the dots of tack welds all around the edges and then spent an eternity grinding it all back smooth. Next I chopped up the O/S rear wheel arch that I repaired last year and removed a step from it that shouldn't have been there. I would have left it as was but the step in the arch behind the seatbelt mount and infront of the door pillar was leaving the door seal too low down to meet the door, so it had to be fixed. After finishing that and spending yet more time with the belt sander and the die grinder annoying the neighbours I've now finally got it painted, seam sealed and last night it looked like this.
The primer is from RustBuster. It's an epoxy paint which is non porous so I won't bother top coating it where it's not on show. Underneath I topcoated tonight with SikaGard Stonechip in the wheel arch and under the floor. Before it goes on the road it will also get a thorough coat of cavity wax/wax oil as well anywhere I'm not going to see. I don't want to go that far yet as I can guarantee I'd get wax somewhere I haven't painted yet and then have to faff about getting it off again!
Tonight, after getting the stone chip on, I got carried away and fitted the fuel tank, the rear airbags and the wheels and got it on the ground for the first time in months. I have a photo of an airbag in place, but nothing of it being on the ground. Perhaps I'll remember to take one tomorrow but probably not!
I've got my old laptop out tonight after tea and installed EAS Unlock Suite and RoverGauge on it as the one I normally use for these jobs is at my mothers with the P38. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to plug all the electrics in around the car and persuade the ECU to talk to the computer. Perhaps I'll even be able to start it up for the first time since around October last year when I took the fuel tank out! Wish me luck.
More hopefully sooner than the last gap.
Rich
Around this time I took a week off work to make a big jump forward, but just needed to quickly MOT the Peugeot (Kirsty's car but actually our only car since I sold the BMW as I have this and a Volvo which are both off the road). 306's were galvanise dipped in the factory and I've been telling people for years they're great as they don't rust much at all.
That was the location of the bump stop on the N/S rear, and the repair was 6 layers of steel thick. There was also a hole in the back corner and a 6 inch section of the chassis rail under the drivers seat. Apparently they do rust, but only from the inside out so once you find it it's a hell of a mess to repair! I'll point out I noticed all this before putting it in for a test rather than the tester finding this.
Anyway, that was my week off gone. Back to working evenings and weekends! Got the floor welded in.
Unfortunately here my photos dry up again for a bit and there's a gap. I joined the dots of tack welds all around the edges and then spent an eternity grinding it all back smooth. Next I chopped up the O/S rear wheel arch that I repaired last year and removed a step from it that shouldn't have been there. I would have left it as was but the step in the arch behind the seatbelt mount and infront of the door pillar was leaving the door seal too low down to meet the door, so it had to be fixed. After finishing that and spending yet more time with the belt sander and the die grinder annoying the neighbours I've now finally got it painted, seam sealed and last night it looked like this.
The primer is from RustBuster. It's an epoxy paint which is non porous so I won't bother top coating it where it's not on show. Underneath I topcoated tonight with SikaGard Stonechip in the wheel arch and under the floor. Before it goes on the road it will also get a thorough coat of cavity wax/wax oil as well anywhere I'm not going to see. I don't want to go that far yet as I can guarantee I'd get wax somewhere I haven't painted yet and then have to faff about getting it off again!
Tonight, after getting the stone chip on, I got carried away and fitted the fuel tank, the rear airbags and the wheels and got it on the ground for the first time in months. I have a photo of an airbag in place, but nothing of it being on the ground. Perhaps I'll remember to take one tomorrow but probably not!
I've got my old laptop out tonight after tea and installed EAS Unlock Suite and RoverGauge on it as the one I normally use for these jobs is at my mothers with the P38. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to plug all the electrics in around the car and persuade the ECU to talk to the computer. Perhaps I'll even be able to start it up for the first time since around October last year when I took the fuel tank out! Wish me luck.
More hopefully sooner than the last gap.
Rich
Thanks for the message.
I've fancied a classic for years, but didn't really know about the LSE until I started looking to buy one. I was looking for a late car with max spec so it had to be a Vogue SE or LSE and extra wheelbase seems like a good idea as I fancy doing a bit of travelling in the car. With the seats folded down, the footwell filled in up to the level of the seat backs and the drawer system I plan to build in the boot I'm hoping that I should be able to have a pretty much flat bed platform in the back which would be a squeeze in a standard length classic.
Rich
Henry_b
Think outside, no box required.
Little update then...
Since the last update I've done a bit more work. Mostly on the tailgate and a little on more assembly. The tailgate is hopefully going off for paint this week and should be back within a few weeks. I'm really looking forward to being able to turn the car around and having good access to crack on with cutting the rot out of the other side of the car!
So, Tailgate. I can't remember what I've posted about this so far to be honest. Bottom line was it was in a bit of a state! The upper section of the skin had some significant rust holes and riveted on plates to mount the number plate lamps. The lower section of the skin also had rust and was more than a little wavy. Attacking it with a strip and prep disc covered my entire garage in filler dust and revealed many many layers of paint and filler and primer and paint and filler etc. There were at least three different colours of filler and even more of primer. One of the dents in the lower skin was well over an inch deep.
A friend of mine has been helping me with the metal work on this as he has a lot more experience with this than I. I started by cutting myself a couple of access holes in the inside and basking the worst of the dents out of the lower skin. Jim then gas welded in a patch into the upper skin to repair the rust and riveted repairs. We had a go at trying to shrink some of the dents out of the lower skin but there was limited access to the back of the skin where we needed it and it was still going to need at least a half inch of filler. Eventually we decided that it would be better to just replace the whole lower skin with a new one from Froggats. The upper skin has better access and we were able to planish most of the wrinkles out of that acceptably well. Here's a shot of the new lower skin just fitted.
And then one of my trying to smooth the wrinkles out a little more.
That's sort of where I've left it. The painter came over yesterday evening to assess the job and basically said that there wasn't much point making it better than that really as it will still need a little filler regardless and it's good enough to probably need less than 1/16" anywhere now anyway.
Today I've had a little time this afternoon to do some more on the car. I started working on cutting out rot in the N/S/R corner and trying to adjust the alignment of the side panel and the rear crossmember. I need to drop the crossmember about 5mm in relation to the pillar but I have a bit more to do to manage that. I'm planning to get the alignment of those right before I do anymore on the inner quarter which will be next on the list.
The inner quarter is available from GDIProducts on eBay, and I think I'm going to replace the whole thing. The current one is holed at the bottom, around the wheel arch and just below the window (note the massive pitted patch which has reacted to the rust converter I applied). It's definitely patchable, but I think will be quicker to replace the whole panel.
After I messed about with that, Kirsty suggested I should refit the quarter panel on the other side so I've tried out my new pressure pot wax-oil gun. Better than using a shultz type can but I think I need to get the hang of the adjustments better as it's really good without the long pipes attached but only ok with. Reconnected the lights and the filler flap, which both still seem to be working. Connected the filler neck up so no more petrol smell and got the panel on. Finally I decided to throw the tailgate on just to see it looking like a car without missing panels again!
Mega happy. Ok the alignment isn't great but the quarter isn't attached properly by the door and the tailgate is held shut with a bungee so no surprises there! Can't wait for the tailgate to be painted and properly attached!
Don't make noise on the car on Sundays so more work on Monday now.
Rich
Since the last update I've done a bit more work. Mostly on the tailgate and a little on more assembly. The tailgate is hopefully going off for paint this week and should be back within a few weeks. I'm really looking forward to being able to turn the car around and having good access to crack on with cutting the rot out of the other side of the car!
So, Tailgate. I can't remember what I've posted about this so far to be honest. Bottom line was it was in a bit of a state! The upper section of the skin had some significant rust holes and riveted on plates to mount the number plate lamps. The lower section of the skin also had rust and was more than a little wavy. Attacking it with a strip and prep disc covered my entire garage in filler dust and revealed many many layers of paint and filler and primer and paint and filler etc. There were at least three different colours of filler and even more of primer. One of the dents in the lower skin was well over an inch deep.
A friend of mine has been helping me with the metal work on this as he has a lot more experience with this than I. I started by cutting myself a couple of access holes in the inside and basking the worst of the dents out of the lower skin. Jim then gas welded in a patch into the upper skin to repair the rust and riveted repairs. We had a go at trying to shrink some of the dents out of the lower skin but there was limited access to the back of the skin where we needed it and it was still going to need at least a half inch of filler. Eventually we decided that it would be better to just replace the whole lower skin with a new one from Froggats. The upper skin has better access and we were able to planish most of the wrinkles out of that acceptably well. Here's a shot of the new lower skin just fitted.
And then one of my trying to smooth the wrinkles out a little more.
That's sort of where I've left it. The painter came over yesterday evening to assess the job and basically said that there wasn't much point making it better than that really as it will still need a little filler regardless and it's good enough to probably need less than 1/16" anywhere now anyway.
Today I've had a little time this afternoon to do some more on the car. I started working on cutting out rot in the N/S/R corner and trying to adjust the alignment of the side panel and the rear crossmember. I need to drop the crossmember about 5mm in relation to the pillar but I have a bit more to do to manage that. I'm planning to get the alignment of those right before I do anymore on the inner quarter which will be next on the list.
The inner quarter is available from GDIProducts on eBay, and I think I'm going to replace the whole thing. The current one is holed at the bottom, around the wheel arch and just below the window (note the massive pitted patch which has reacted to the rust converter I applied). It's definitely patchable, but I think will be quicker to replace the whole panel.
After I messed about with that, Kirsty suggested I should refit the quarter panel on the other side so I've tried out my new pressure pot wax-oil gun. Better than using a shultz type can but I think I need to get the hang of the adjustments better as it's really good without the long pipes attached but only ok with. Reconnected the lights and the filler flap, which both still seem to be working. Connected the filler neck up so no more petrol smell and got the panel on. Finally I decided to throw the tailgate on just to see it looking like a car without missing panels again!
Mega happy. Ok the alignment isn't great but the quarter isn't attached properly by the door and the tailgate is held shut with a bungee so no surprises there! Can't wait for the tailgate to be painted and properly attached!
Don't make noise on the car on Sundays so more work on Monday now.
Rich
Got a little more done on Monday...
had the pillar for the tailgate a tad too low relative to the rear crossmember on the nearside (circa 5mm) so adjusted that and tidied some of my welds up around that area. Also replaced the inner skin of that pillar and secured it to the crossmember. Apologies for the photos being after covering with leftover weld through that I had already mixed, I forgot to take any until I had finished for the day.
Nothing for a few days as I’m off to family’s to do some woodworking this weekend. Hopefully more progress next week in the evenings.
Rich
had the pillar for the tailgate a tad too low relative to the rear crossmember on the nearside (circa 5mm) so adjusted that and tidied some of my welds up around that area. Also replaced the inner skin of that pillar and secured it to the crossmember. Apologies for the photos being after covering with leftover weld through that I had already mixed, I forgot to take any until I had finished for the day.
Nothing for a few days as I’m off to family’s to do some woodworking this weekend. Hopefully more progress next week in the evenings.
Rich
Trio of Triumphs
Member
Fascinating to see the photos you have uploaded. Maybe I’ll get around to uploading some of mine now! Did you get the EAS sorted? How about the seat ECU? I by-passed my seat ECU for a while with some toggle switches and long lengths of wire. Bought a replacement ECU cheap off eBay and now only the rear lift motor doesn’t respond. I tried replacing chips on my old seat ECU but that is harder than it looks. I might remove the electronics and connect the plugs directly to the relays to make a reliable, if forgetful, box.
I have just put up a post about fault readers, would be interested to know which systems you can access on yours, if you have a mo’.
I had a crack at the EAS and the Seat ECU but haven't won yet on either of them to be honest.
The EAS I'm not concerned about - I've dealt with every possible EAS issue on a P38 so there's nothing new there but I haven't got around to resolving it yet. I have a feeling that either the ECU is dead or there is a wiring issue/a bypass fitted from when it was on springs.
The seat ECU is a little more frustrating. I replaced the components which normally fail but there's still no life in it so I expect that either the tracks are corroded too badly or I have cooked a component when assembling. I think I need to take it apart again and actually go over it properly with a continuity tester to make sure the tracks are all connecting, and if they are then I'll replace the components again! If not then either I'll look at repairing the board or buy a better condition one.
Thanks for the message by the way and do get some pictures of yours up. I find it a great motivation boost personally to see other people's projects.
Richard
scottonthefen
Well-Known Member
Brave and heroic things going on in this thread. Sub'd. 
Ok, clearly I've left it a bit too long again!
Since the last update a fair bit has happened. Mostly I have been distracted by a caravan, bicycles and the dog I think, but there has been car progress too!
I clearly neglected to mention in my last update (although I hinted I was going to try in the previous) but I got the engine running with the new fuel lines and it all seems happy. That was helpful. Don't have any photos as it's hard to show an engine starting in a picture. I have a video but its very boring.
Here's some pics of other distractions as a distraction from the fact I've been crap at photographs again...
Caravan woodwork...
Kirsty's new bike...
My new bike...
Now for the actual subject! Tailgate came back from being painted. Looks awesome. Really happy.
So happy in fact I ended up having an hour and a half lunch break to stick the logos on and fit the lights. Oops. Later that day it was on the car.
That was a massive motivation boost. In truth, the paint match is about as good as could be expected given the fact the rest of the paint is getting on for 30 years old. It's good enough for the plans I have for the car though.
Have you noticed I've managed to squeeze in six photos without actually doing any work on the car myself? Not bad. Suppose I should do some work myself as well though! Well there's not really any photographic evidence, but one thing I have done is turn the car around. I had been waiting for the tailgate before doing this as I didn't want the entire world to know that the car wasn't secure.
Tailgate on I had no excuses left so I balanced my arse on the pile of sound deadening where the drivers seat should be and set too trying to manoeuvre the car out into the street and back in the other way around. I'll point out that, although I didn't take any photographs, I did reconnect the brake lines and bleed the brakes before this.
Turning the car around proved to be that little bit more eventful as the battery was really low and the car kept stalling at idle meaning I'd have to get out, open the bonnet and reconnect the jump pack to restart it. All this going on in a car with no interior, no rear quarter panel, no bumper, half the exhaust in the garage and huge sections of the inner quarter missing. Still, I managed to get the job done and still have a car and a driving licence so it's all good!
Turned around I now have access to the near side quarter panel to weld in the new one I bought. Unfortunately you can't get new inner quarters for post '86 (I think that's when they changed shape) cars so the one I have bought isn't the same as what I had. I could have just swapped to the old shape and I don't think it would have mattered, but I'd have known so I decided to make loads more work by fitting only bits of the new panel where the old one was rusty. Here's some photos...
Obviously there's still quite a bit of work to do to make that disappear but I'll get there. The big difference between the early and late panels is that outwards bump at the back which isn't on the early cars. Making that shape is going to be tricky but I'll get there.
Now the clock's have gone back I'm going to have to charge the lamps more often I think to keep making progress. I will really try to get more photos as well!
Richard
Since the last update a fair bit has happened. Mostly I have been distracted by a caravan, bicycles and the dog I think, but there has been car progress too!
I clearly neglected to mention in my last update (although I hinted I was going to try in the previous) but I got the engine running with the new fuel lines and it all seems happy. That was helpful. Don't have any photos as it's hard to show an engine starting in a picture. I have a video but its very boring.
Here's some pics of other distractions as a distraction from the fact I've been crap at photographs again...
Caravan woodwork...
Kirsty's new bike...
My new bike...
Now for the actual subject! Tailgate came back from being painted. Looks awesome. Really happy.
So happy in fact I ended up having an hour and a half lunch break to stick the logos on and fit the lights. Oops. Later that day it was on the car.
That was a massive motivation boost. In truth, the paint match is about as good as could be expected given the fact the rest of the paint is getting on for 30 years old. It's good enough for the plans I have for the car though.
Have you noticed I've managed to squeeze in six photos without actually doing any work on the car myself? Not bad. Suppose I should do some work myself as well though! Well there's not really any photographic evidence, but one thing I have done is turn the car around. I had been waiting for the tailgate before doing this as I didn't want the entire world to know that the car wasn't secure.
Tailgate on I had no excuses left so I balanced my arse on the pile of sound deadening where the drivers seat should be and set too trying to manoeuvre the car out into the street and back in the other way around. I'll point out that, although I didn't take any photographs, I did reconnect the brake lines and bleed the brakes before this.
Turning the car around proved to be that little bit more eventful as the battery was really low and the car kept stalling at idle meaning I'd have to get out, open the bonnet and reconnect the jump pack to restart it. All this going on in a car with no interior, no rear quarter panel, no bumper, half the exhaust in the garage and huge sections of the inner quarter missing. Still, I managed to get the job done and still have a car and a driving licence so it's all good!
Turned around I now have access to the near side quarter panel to weld in the new one I bought. Unfortunately you can't get new inner quarters for post '86 (I think that's when they changed shape) cars so the one I have bought isn't the same as what I had. I could have just swapped to the old shape and I don't think it would have mattered, but I'd have known so I decided to make loads more work by fitting only bits of the new panel where the old one was rusty. Here's some photos...
Obviously there's still quite a bit of work to do to make that disappear but I'll get there. The big difference between the early and late panels is that outwards bump at the back which isn't on the early cars. Making that shape is going to be tricky but I'll get there.
Now the clock's have gone back I'm going to have to charge the lamps more often I think to keep making progress. I will really try to get more photos as well!
Richard
Got a little more done now. Inner quarter panel has been fully welded all the way around, ground down, planished and then the brackets for the spare wheel have gone back on.
Then got the strip and prep wheel, the propane torch and the scraper out and removed the last of the paint and underseal from the wheel arch before attacking it with the cutting disc.
I was really happy to find this side had been, 'repaired,' less than the other side so I was able to remove less and now know more about how the other side should have gone together. It's not like what I did on the other side isn't going to be strong enough, or even that you would notice the difference, but this side I was actually able to work out roughly how it originally went together!
Two evenings this week saw a patch knocked up for the rear half of that hole so now it looks a little more together...
Still a little welding that needs doing on that patch and another needs making for the top section around to the seat belt mount but any progress counts when there are so few hours of daylight after work. Speaking of which; I apologise for the poor photos but they're all taken in the dark and flash or torch, that's tricky when you're photographing shiny metal.
Thanks for the positive comments and I'll post some more soon.
Rich
Then got the strip and prep wheel, the propane torch and the scraper out and removed the last of the paint and underseal from the wheel arch before attacking it with the cutting disc.
I was really happy to find this side had been, 'repaired,' less than the other side so I was able to remove less and now know more about how the other side should have gone together. It's not like what I did on the other side isn't going to be strong enough, or even that you would notice the difference, but this side I was actually able to work out roughly how it originally went together!
Two evenings this week saw a patch knocked up for the rear half of that hole so now it looks a little more together...
Still a little welding that needs doing on that patch and another needs making for the top section around to the seat belt mount but any progress counts when there are so few hours of daylight after work. Speaking of which; I apologise for the poor photos but they're all taken in the dark and flash or torch, that's tricky when you're photographing shiny metal.
Thanks for the positive comments and I'll post some more soon.
Rich
Hi All,
Long time no update again!
Patched the wheel arch in.
Then the more fiddly bit around the top of the door shut here. No photo of that complete.
Then a big gap in the photos until today. Bit irritating but would only be the same as other sections. Stripped all the rest of the paint off, ground the welds back, primer, seam sealer and more primer. Finally today all my favourite jobs - stone chip and waxoil and then put the panel back on. Even have the back box back in place.
Next stop, back end of the N/S cill needs replacing around the body mount and the front of the wheel arch.
More soon.
Rich
Long time no update again!
Patched the wheel arch in.
Then the more fiddly bit around the top of the door shut here. No photo of that complete.
Then a big gap in the photos until today. Bit irritating but would only be the same as other sections. Stripped all the rest of the paint off, ground the welds back, primer, seam sealer and more primer. Finally today all my favourite jobs - stone chip and waxoil and then put the panel back on. Even have the back box back in place.
Next stop, back end of the N/S cill needs replacing around the body mount and the front of the wheel arch.
More soon.
Rich
