Guest dee1orean Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Some pics from my intro thread: Planned Mods include: BadBoy Bonnet to be sorted properly Bonnet De-badged area refilled Washerjet holes welded up. obtain some wipers with Jets on the arm. Side repeater holes welded up. LED's in Mirrors Remove door handles and locks. fit solenoids, Poppers etc. Remove Ariel and fill hole Relocate fuel filler neck\ behind hinged rear light. Weld fuel filler hole / or possibly graft in a fuel flap Hinged rear lbootlid. - get rid of the ugly top based hinges. and use arms underneath the lid like most saloon cars. Flush rear bootlid Remove LED strips from rear bumper Redo number plate light. Bonnet strips to be filled So today was the first day at the college I had 4 of the students working on her for about 3hrs, so thought I'd post some pics of the progress: The removal of the front bumper revealed a rather rotton slam panel. After I remove the lights I'l take the panel down to bare metal and decide whether to fabricate some replacement patch panels or to source a new one based on how much solid metal I have left. Removal of the rear bumper exposed a surprisingly solid rear slam panel, the only rot apparent was in the lower corners next to the lights, Patches will be made up for these areas. Before he found out the car was mine one of the little sheites decided to spray one of my rear lights white.... Little Barsteward Some Progress made on the front Bumper, the trim strip aperture will be filled and smoothed... Like wise on the rear bumper and also on the front the Seat Toledo splitter will be smoothed into the original bumper. Bad boy bonnet being sanded\grinded back to the paintwork and filler to be redone Properly! Also in this pic you can see a very rusty spare wheel. I had no idea but when we lifted the carpet out of the boot we found the spare lying in a 3inch deep puddle in the spare wheel well so out came the liquid vac to suck it all up. I was really impressed with the kids today the really got stuck in, especially one lad who usually can be quite disruptive when I asked him how come he told me that his father used to have one and he'd like to own one in the future. More pics to follow, I'll keep this page updated Cheers. Jez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steelcabby Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 proper job mate...that should be done in no time.. gonna save yourself alot of hard work too....lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bertwheelz Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 what your doing there is fantastic!!! top marks, this is the kind of thing that we as adults should be encouraging kids to do!! its the only way out of the anti social behaviour problems our country is plauged with at the mo!!, good for you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dee1orean Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Cheers for the encouragement guys, I have to admit I felt a bit like Chip Foose from overhaulin' having all these workers keep checking in with me to see if they were doing it right or what they should do next.!! at the end of the day though I did have one hell of a headache!! Whilst we were working on it one of the Mechanic Lecturer blokes came in and said he'd be happy to drop the engine out and totally rebuild the engine for me. So does anybody know where I can get a good quality full gasket set from? or what bits and pieces (and Prices!) I'd need for this? Thanx again. Jez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort Cabriolet Club Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Thats one hell of a lot to do but i'm looking forward to all the work being carried out and followed by updates and pics !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 you struck up a brilliant idea mate,plus you can supervise all the work being done. EXCELLENT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest markeyboy Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 wow, getting started didnt take long sounds like you got a good little team working for ya there its a real touch with the engnie too most local car spares should have the gaskets, ebay could also be a good source of parts too keep the pics comming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dee1orean Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Just a quick to post. She lives!!! Got her started today and considering she hasn't run in 3 years she sounded really good, a bit tappity but then these engines always are. Jez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort Cabriolet Club Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Nice one Jez, I recon an engine flush and full service should do then mate !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Real good to hear this mate, keep going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dee1orean Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Another update with a few pics: A couple of the students working on the car: Firstly Stripping the interior: Then Pressure\Steam cleaning it: The seats came up really nice, Almost like new. Ended up chucking the carpet as it seemed beyond saving. Stripped interior: Ended up chucking the underlay|sound deadening too as it was falling apart in my hands. Considering she's sat for 3years with water inside her I'm really impressed by the state of the floor pans. I really expected the carpet to be hiding all kinds of horrors but it's not bad at all. Snapped a few bolts when removing the seats so will have to drill them out and re-thread, But no big deal. And how she looked at the end of the day: The Monster Mini is a previous Student project. So with everything stripped out so far the only major welding areas seem to be: The Front Slam Panel. The two corners at the bottom of the windshield. Both door sills need a couple of patches (will put up pics when doing the work Prob.) And the rear panel by the lights. Still have to remove the RS kit yet to see what horror that's hiding. but I'm feeling optimistic!!! The rest seems to minor surface rust scabbing, which can be sorted by rubbing down and treating. If all goes well (and if I can raise the funds lol) Hoping to have her in paint around the middle of april. Jez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PIP Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 proppa job ....................................................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 The students looks like getting stuck in mate, never seen seats cleaned like that, but looking like good work all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dee1orean Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Hmm. Not had the best week with her. After removing the RS kit the true horror of how shes been treated in the past came to light. After starting to grind what looked like a simple rust scab on the sill . rusty metal layer after rusty metal layer became apparent where she's had many bodged repairs in the past. So I continue digging it all out to discover the bodgiest of bodge techniques ever.... Aluminium bridging mesh and yes, You guessed. P40 Fibreglass filler.... Quality!!! So after digging it all out I'm left with a hole in my sill 6-7 inches long!!!! Anyway, THIS time the repair will be done PROPERLY! I don't have any pics but will take some when I come to do the patching. Basically I'm still at the discovery stage, finding out everything which needs to be done before getting stuck in. Jez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Unfortunatley you get all sort of cowboys then it's up to us to give these cars the time they deserve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort Cabriolet Club Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Its a pain in the backside when you find hidden mysterys like this but no doubt you will crack on and sort it mate, keep us all posted and keep the pics coming fella !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dee1orean Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I was at the stage when I was very close to quitting and just buying a new cab and swapping all the good bits over, I probably could for the amount I'm going to be spending on this one but she was my first cabby, I had a hard top XR3I before her and i just love the look of the MK4. So I'm determined to resurrect her. Anyway Some pics from todays progress: Our workshop, as you can see it can get very busy lol: Front and rear bumpers with their trim lines filled only the first application and still need to be sanded: I used a 50/50 blend of regular polyester filler and fibreglass filler. this mix gives a really strong yet flexible filler which is less prone to cracking ideal for bumpers. I know that part of what gives the XR3i it's look and style are the trim lines and that filling these recesses may seem sacriligeous (sp?) but I have a plan As I've already stated I plan on painting her Kandy Apple Red (may be doing a 50/50 mix of Apple red and brandywine Kandy yet, gives a slightly darker red...). Anyway Kandy needs to be applied over a silver or gold basecoat as it's really transparent. So what I was planning on doing was making stencils of the XR3i logo and Spraying them in Black over the silver base before laying down the Kandy. I'l Also do similar with the trim lines. Then when the Kandy is layed over the top it should look like the logo's and the trim lines are buried in the paintwork. What dya think? Anyway a couple more pics of the side of my car after a good D/Aing!!!: Yay!! this side turned out to have a lot less rust than the other lol!! Perhaps all is not lost. Should have another update at the end of the week. Still hoping to have her ready for the summer and some meets\shows... we'll see. Jez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest charlie74 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 impresive work there m8.. nice reading and seeing the progress,, and i like the idea of the buried logo, will be an awsome car when you finish it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort Cabriolet Club Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 You keeping the RS Alloys mate as they will look good in Gun Metal Grey !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FearNoFoe Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 nice work, good progress! i agree with with the above comment about wheel colour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I like the idea of the XR3I logo , I think that would look real good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dee1orean Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 You keeping the RS Alloys mate as they will look good in Gun Metal Grey !!! Will be keeping the RS Alloys but will most likely be keeping them Black. I think it will give a nice contrast against the Red Paintwork. Was thinking of a white roof too, But I've had no luck finding a mohair roof in white so may have to go with vinyl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort Cabriolet Club Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Oooh, Red, COOL !!! Black alloys would suit that mate !!! Like you said, you can't get white Mohiar but have you conciderd red ??? There are a few pics of Red/Maroon Cabs with red Mohair roofs and they look smart !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dee1orean Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Yeah, to be honest I did think of Maroon\red type roof like the red over silver MK4 spec.ed. has. But as I'm going for Kandy Apple Red, a colour which is used on a lot of American Hot Rods and Custom Cars, I decided to go with a white roof in the style of the classic 50's Chevy's and Cadillacs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escort Cabriolet Club Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 That would look good mate !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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