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New adventure begins in France!


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Greetings all. Now almost a month in to my strip down (with some time off for a holiday at Lake Annecy), and it's going fairly well. I'm certainly grovelling at some points, but that's to be expected from a novice. So far, only three broken bolts/screws, and I drilled them out and re-tapped immediately to save the hassle later. Pics are below showing progress.

I've sent the PI system off to the UK to be rebuilt, and have contacted a gearbox specialist who's going to do the box and differential when I get to them.

I'm a bit stuck on one thing, however, and would like the collective wisdom of the forum (although I don't imagine it will be much different from the numerous threads I've read on this; apparently I'm not the only one): I can't get the windscreen frame out. All the fasteners are released, and the under-dash brackets are loose and movable by hand. I ran a plastic putty knife under the front of the seal (the exterior part), but cannot get it underneath the interior seal. The frame seems to be stuck to the padded upper dash, and while I'm wiggling the hell out of it every day, it doesn't seem to want to release. Am I going to have to sacrifice the upper dash by running a metal knife under the seal? I can't make progress on the interior until I get the frame out.

One other question: I'm going to have some perfectly serviceable parts that I won't be re-using, as I'll be upgrading (fuel pump and filter, PRV; rad, etc.). Should I list them here (this thread) for re-sale once I've cleaned them up and taken some pics? Or is there someplace better to list them?

Thanks for reading and replying. I imagine this thing is going to be somewhat more difficult to put back together than it is to take apart...

Best to everyone, Blair 

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I had this problem on the o/s of the windscreen. N/s was totally free but the o/s was seized solid. I had to cut the bracket with an angle grinder and open it up. The spigot was totally rusted to the bracket.

Good luck,

Tim

Edited by Tim T
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Try soaking with penetrating oil for a few days and heat just bear in mind it will destroy the paint. Or as said cut the brackets, repair later or replace.

Andy 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Greetings everyone from Burgundy where, after eight months of drought, it is finally raining – cats and dogs! My project is continuing apace, and I’m close to ready to remove the bodyshell from the chassis. I continue to find only good news as far as the body goes – may that apply equally to the chassis once I see it from above!

I do, however, need to seek some of the forum’s collective wisdom. When I removed the wings, I found the bodyshell treated everywhere with a thick layer of stonechip, or undercoating, or whatever you want to call it – inside and out (see a couple of pics below; sorry for the strange orientations). Even the inside of the wings were treated with this. It is very tough stuff: it took a chisel and hammer for me to remove any of it. I am thankful for it, as it has forestalled rust, but as I move forward I wonder whether this needs to all be removed to check the underlying health of the metal. Also, while there was next to no body filler, there is a layer on the rear deck that ranges from 1/16 to 1/4 inch thick. What do you think? Does this all need to come off, and the bodyshell taken down to bare metal inside and out? If so, what is the best method to achieve this? One friend suggested sandblasting, but another said that was too aggressive – fine for the chassis, but too rough for the bodyshell.

I would appreciate your thoughts and ideas as, again, this is all new to me.

Best to all,

Blair

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Hi Blair

Nice progress. 

The underseal does look thick in places as though its been topped up from time to time.

Two possibilities in terms its either solid underneath or its hiding rot I'd suggest going in from the edges of the seams on the sills/wheel arches etc and see how it looks if there's rust and rot I'd be tempted to remove the lot which will be a very long and messy pig of a job with a blowlamp, scraper, chisels and lots of white spirit or petrol. After that find a good blaster used to doing car shells and the shell can be blasted. I had mine done a while ago no issues along with the chassis and the edges of all the panels to save time. 

Suppose at the end of the day its how far do you want to go it may not look pretty but soild.

Andy  

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21 hours ago, PodOne said:

Hi Blair

Nice progress. 

The underseal does look thick in places as though its been topped up from time to time.

Two possibilities in terms its either solid underneath or its hiding rot I'd suggest going in from the edges of the seams on the sills/wheel arches etc and see how it looks if there's rust and rot I'd be tempted to remove the lot which will be a very long and messy pig of a job with a blowlamp, scraper, chisels and lots of white spirit or petrol. After that find a good blaster used to doing car shells and the shell can be blasted. I had mine done a while ago no issues along with the chassis and the edges of all the panels to save time. 

Suppose at the end of the day its how far do you want to go it may not look pretty but soild.

Andy  

Hi Andy, and thanks for your advice. I did as you suggested, and here are a few pics after chiselling and wire-wheeling the undercoat away. One is where the driver's side sill joins the bulkhead, the other where the front floor joins the wheel arch. The wheel arch had some surface rust under the coating, but it went with almost no effort from the wire wheel - extremely shallow. You can see what it looked like in the last two pics on the right where the arch starts to rise. I left it for comparison. There is also a bit of what looks like sprayed concrete in a few places. Bizarre.

Additionally, I have found a few companies here in France that do chemical stripping, and I've asked for estimates. If I can avoid the "pig of a job," I'd certainly prefer to.

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Hi Blair 

Looks like you may have a relatively good rust free example as mine was rotten in all the areas you have uncovered I'd just look a a few more areas at the rear round the rear inner valance/boot floor and the tops of the rear wings where they meet the rear deck. 

If your determined to remove the underseal anyway then I would personally not have the shell dipped. I spent a lot of time thinking about the pro/cons which are widely discussed on many car forums and after good advice on here from Stuart decided against it as I did not want the chemicals leaching out years down the line and destroying the new paint as its almost impossible to wash it out of the seams plus how do you get paint back in there. Your seams look good so far so why disturb them? I'd be tempted to simply clean the underseal off and then decide if blasting the shell is required. If it is the it will leave the seams almost intact which can be resealed for another 5o years and you can put on a nicer finish if you want.

Keep the pics coming as its a nice read and happy scraping!

Andy 

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Another big step forward today, as the bodyshell came off - fairly easily as well! I was thrilled with the state of the chassis; I'll weld on reinforcing plates and then it can go straight to the sandblaster/powder coater. Even the T-shirts had rock-hard metal! Luck...

I have also found a company that will clean my bodyshell and panels with a softer version of blasting using walnut shells and water rather than air. Progress!

Best to everyone,

Blair

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chassis.JPG

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10 minutes ago, BlairP said:

Another big step forward today, as the bodyshell came off - fairly easily as well! I was thrilled with the state of the chassis; I'll weld on reinforcing plates and then it can go straight to the sandblaster/powder coater. Even the T-shirts had rock-hard metal! Luck...

I have also found a company that will clean my bodyshell and panels with a softer version of blasting using walnut shells and water rather than air. Progress!

Best to everyone,

Blair

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Hi Blair!

I am not keen on power coating on to bear steel as any in perfection in the power coat will let water in and you get the spread of rust underneath. If it starts it spreads very quickly! But if you are going to strip the finish  off the chassis. Go for hot dip galvanising as done by Medway Galvanising then powder coat. The hot dip will get into all the seams as well. You will not get any rusting then. I have m/s items done this way and they live outside for the last 20+ years and they are still rust free. Their powder coating is UV light resistance and does not bleach and then fall off?

Bruce. 

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+1 For hot-dip galvanising.

I spent my working life as a steelwork designer for the Petrochemical industry and any items that were exposed to harsh conditions had hot-dip galvanising specified as a finish when possible. This stuff was often on a rig in the middle of the North Sea and after 10 years was still serviceable.

George 

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- 1 

hot dipping was ruled out a while back as it distorted the 6 chassis.  May be years later things have changed.  I went for blasting and hot zinc spray ,30 years ago and still fine.

ROY

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Or you could blast and coat with two coats of POR15 Chassis black as soon as you get the chassis.

Use a good brush and the finish is as good as powder coat and as hard as nails then spray the box sections inside with Dinatrol or similar should out live you.

Andy  

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I used a two pack chassis paint (epoxymastic).

It is easy to apply with a brush and survives real abuse (hardly marked by jacking with a trolley jack without the rubber pad!)

Tim

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On 10/8/2020 at 10:44 PM, PodOne said:

Or you could blast and coat with two coats of POR15 Chassis black as soon as you get the chassis.

Use a good brush and the finish is as good as powder coat and as hard as nails then spray the box sections inside with Dinatrol or similar should out live you.

Andy  

 

18 hours ago, Tim D. said:

I used a two pack chassis paint (epoxymastic).

It is easy to apply with a brush and survives real abuse (hardly marked by jacking with a trolley jack without the rubber pad!)

Tim

Are both of these products applied top bare metal? No need for a pre-paint treatment? Thanks so much for the ideas!

Blair

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11 minutes ago, BlairP said:

 

Are both of these products applied top bare metal? No need for a pre-paint treatment? Thanks so much for the ideas!

Blair

Hi Blair 

For the POR15 they suggest there metal prep but I didn't bother as after blasting that provided a good key for the paint which was applied within a couple of hours of it being done. The paint is quite thin and runs well into the seams, apply the second coat as recommended. Just buy a few brushes as its not worth trying to clean them and keep the lid/tin lip clean or you won't get the lid back off as any moisture in the air will cure it and stick it stuck. In fact pour out what you want first.

Good stuff which I've used on a few projects. Two litres will do the chassis and you won't have all the mess/faff associated with spraying it.

Just my opinion of course!

Andy   

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I did the epoxymastic on red oxide primer. 

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On 10/10/2020 at 9:56 AM, PodOne said:

Hi Blair 

For the POR15 they suggest there metal prep but I didn't bother as after blasting that provided a good key for the paint which was applied within a couple of hours of it being done. The paint is quite thin and runs well into the seams, apply the second coat as recommended. Just buy a few brushes as its not worth trying to clean them and keep the lid/tin lip clean or you won't get the lid back off as any moisture in the air will cure it and stick it stuck. In fact pour out what you want first.

Good stuff which I've used on a few projects. Two litres will do the chassis and you won't have all the mess/faff associated with spraying it.

Just my opinion of course!

Andy   

 

On 10/10/2020 at 6:19 PM, Tim D. said:

I did the epoxymastic on red oxide primer. 

Thanks gentlemen. Another question regarding these products: I assume that these coatings can equally be used for non-heat-exposed parts like suspension wishbones and linkages, servo cover, radiator shield, etc? Am I correct?

Blair

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Hi Blair 

Yes I've used POR on all of the parts you list after having them blasted.

Andy

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Sure

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2 minutes ago, BlairP said:

One last question on this topic: I want to paint the suspension springs red, but I imagine this paint is too brittle to use on parts that flex. Can you recommend one that would work? Thanks again.

Blair

I have had good results with having springs powder coated.

Paul

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48 minutes ago, Paul J said:

I have had good results with having springs powder coated.

Paul

I wouldnt as it will chip and allow water under it which you wont see until theres nothing left below a perfect shape of powder coat. Better off with 2K paint.

Stuart.

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Just use normal metal paint on springs if you have to. I powder coated my springs on my spitfire and elan and while it didn't flake due to flexing it did get damaged where the spring touches the seat and then water got in. If you are really wanting bling just chrome them (like they did on Lotus Racing F1 Cars in the 60s and 70s)

Cheers

tim

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