goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,880
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Oct 25, 2013 20:45:40 GMT
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I've practically had the week off work, not planned just the way it worked out, so I've hit the garage hard all week and made some good progress. With the rear welding done, I needed to protect it from the elements before all my hard work was undone. So the boot got some primer, tiger seal and then a couple of coats of satin black. Also visible in that photo is the fuel tank re-installed with cleaned up fuel sender, cleaned internal fuel filter and fresh paint to stop it dissolving any further! Next up I got some very attractive yellow primer on the wheel arches and sills and pulled her outside so I could spin her round and start on the front. I know primers not an ultimate protective layer but for a car kept in a dry garage it should be enough for now till it's filler and paint time Ok so back in the garage, and first job windscreen out. I'm glad I'd done this before with the rear window as it makes the process of removing the windscreen much less scary! As you can see I'm someone who prescribes to the work tidy ethic And what did we reveal.... Both right corners just needed a bit of surface rust dealing with, and a couple of pinholes welding over. Here's the lower right as an example. The left side was less promising. The top left had looked fine with the window in but with the window out, there was the tell take sign of filler. So wire wheel on the grinder and we find some sieve like metal. But that was dealt with, with a small patch and a little drama. So lower left. This was an utter pain in the . I had to remove most of the interior, the drivers door, the door window seal (which I'm really not looking forward to refitting) and the chrome trim (to which half of the screws sheered off). Grrrrr And this rusty mess is what I found. So yeah the A pillar was rusted away or cracked probably 3/4 of the way round. Safe. I had to make it out of 5 separate little patches, first rebuilding the middle layer, then the back edge and finally the outer edge, but on the whole it went pretty smoothly and now I have an A pillar again As you can see the yellow primer has been in action again, since the photos I've now primered all of the window frame. Now I'm about to go out and brush paint some of the body colour, I've got left over from the partial respray earlier in the year, around the parts of the window frame that will be covered by the rubber seal. That should mean I can put the window back in over the weekend and then it's subframe time On a side note I'm starting to realise where I fell down when buying this car (aside from the usual buying with heart not head!). I did check over the whole car with a magnet before buying it and only a couple of areas failed the test. Obviously since then it seems most of the car is made of filler... I think whats happened is that it's been fibreglassed from behind, then only a small skim of filler used on top. So theres a wafer thin metal sieve in there near the surface for the magnet to stick to grrrrrr. Oh well the worst of the welding should be done now I wonder what secrets the subframe will be hiding!
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Oct 25, 2013 22:59:00 GMT
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Koos
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Oct 25, 2013 23:04:04 GMT
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That A pillar, wow. Just think how much better it will handle when the chassis is a little stiffer than an al dente noodle.
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1987 Alfa Milano/75 1979 Alfetta Mille Miglia 1976 Alfetta GT race car 1970 Lancia Fulvia 1.3 Rallye S 1968 Fiat 850 spider
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That's some pretty severe rust, seems the worst stuff you come across is always hidden with filler and paint!
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DMS
Part of things
Posts: 57
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Can it be that the body has changed shape while driving around with such a rusted a-pillar? Did you check alignment of the sill with the front window?
It is probably fine. Great and fast work being done here. Can you imagine you having an accident and roll-over with that a-pillar?! Brrr.....
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,552
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Oct 28, 2013 12:09:38 GMT
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That is looking very nice! Both your trunk and the repairs made. You sure are making good progress! That A pilar was scarily thin/cracked...
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goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,880
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Oct 28, 2013 21:36:12 GMT
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That should be all the rust dealt with Mark Gotta sort the wonky-ness and the front wheel arch shape, both may require some welding. Nmretro, yes I'm hoping it's gonna feel better than ever once I get it back on the road. It felt that much better once I'd done the front arches in the spring, so considering how much more new metal is in there now it should be a whole new car! I think the reason all the rust is well hidden is that it's been subject to a professional bodge job sometime in the past The shaping on the filler was very good and the paint itself is definitely 2k and has all the hallmarks of a professional spray job. dms, I'm fairly sure the main body is pretty straight really. If it's twisted it wont be down to that A pillar but will be down to the fact that most of the floors and all of the sills have been replaced at some stage Over the weekend a couple of friends popped by and we got the door back on and windscreen back in. All went comparatively smoothly, the head lining isn't as neat as I'd hoped round the top of the window frame and refitting the window seal took me hours! but it's not so bad. With that sorted there was nothing for it but to get that subframe off. That was where I got to over the weekend. I've spent a couple of hours this evening pottering around with a tape measure, and I think I've come to a conclusion. First up, the subframe itself and the subframe mounts in the body are all rust free. They have been previously repaired though. I got the body lifted up and messed with chocks till I got the crease down the side of the body at an equal height each side, then set about taking lots of other measurements. The sills, headlights, roofline, etc all appear to be level. So the good news straight off is the front of the body doesn't appear to be twisted. I did find one issue with that body, that is that the rear subframe mounting points are not equally recessed, the left mount sits 75mm about the sill level and the right sits 85mm above the sill line. So thats not right, but would cause the car to ride low of the right whereas in fact it rides low on the left. ? Then I set about doing the same with the subframe. It took me a few tries to work out where the level should be. If I put axel stands under the front and rear mounts, so fixing them at an equal height to the floor, but then the right hand wheel hung lower to the floor. Further measurements and trial and error and I have come to the conclusion that the left rear outrigger on the subframe has been repaired incorrectly, making it sit 20mm lower than it should, resulting in the left wheel sitting higher than it should. If I set that left rear mount 20mm then any other measurement I can take appears to be equal left to right, and both wheels hang equally low. So two problems there, I'm gonna do some more measuring to be sure I'm fixing the right problems!
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,552
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Hm, I wish I was able to spend a full week on the car. Boy would progress be good! You sure seem to have made the best of your time. Nice work on the measurements Sherlock!
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DMS
Part of things
Posts: 57
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Oct 29, 2013 10:02:37 GMT
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Nice job on the measuring. It's good you take your time. Looking forward to the next update!
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goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,880
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Oct 29, 2013 23:22:03 GMT
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It was a double edged sword to have all that time last week. Obviously lots got done on the car, but I only had that whole week without other plans because I had a weeks worth of work postponed and it may end up cancelled Did a bit more poking around and measuring tonight. I'm now confident there is a problem with the subframe, in that the left rear arm is out of line, it needs lifting 18mm. I also dug deeper into the subframe mounting boxes and I think they are the original mounts with repair patches. Most restorations now tend to replace the boxes with new seam welded thicker gauge steel boxes, rather than repair the original spot welded folded boxes. As at least one of my boxes has to come out, so I think I'd be silly not to replace both now. Oh well, the welding never ends! haha.
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,552
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Once you dig in.... there's really no telling where you'll end as far as rust is concerned. I too had to cut much more from the car then I ever expected! But no doubt you'll get it done, and done right!
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Oct 30, 2013 11:39:53 GMT
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also actually a good thing, a positive diagnosis on the wonky wheel arch gaps
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meltdown
South West
Isn't letting old age get the better of him, still making the same bad decisions with vehicles.
Posts: 687
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Oct 30, 2013 13:55:42 GMT
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wow, that is all
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Powered by biscuits
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,615
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Oct 31, 2013 12:23:20 GMT
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Ouch, sorry to hear your fears confirmed that it was not sitting right due to poor repairs, much more frustrating than 'simple' rust. A-pillar certainly did not look healthy, though they are admittedly delicate to start with. And I remember those tiny drip-rail mounting screws all too well from my Beta.
Since you had your dash/windscreen out I wondered if your demist/dash vent ducting might have been any different from fathers very early example. We realised his dash vents were largely useless at delivering fresh air since they only get their air via the ends of the demist ducts and the heater box under the dash. Frustrating on long drives upon otherwise perfect days (I have been spoiled by my old Hondas ventilation). It got us seriously considering drilling some holes in the firewall directly in front of these vents to add more direct ducting from the plenum box under the bonnet intake vent. Though the difficulty of drilling the required holes in the angled surface stopped such thoughts for the moment.
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Oct 31, 2013 18:43:22 GMT
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Was the screen pillar actually moving about Golden LanciaRust? Could that have been the source of mystery knock? PS what is it with you and rusty cars...MX5, RX7, Lancia... I have a really rusty Landy you can buy next
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Koos
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goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,880
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Oct 31, 2013 20:44:06 GMT
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Darren, I agree. A positive and obvious problem when I pulled the subfame was a welcome sight as it means hopefully it'll be fixed when it goes back together. I'd have been much more worried if I couldn't find a problem. 79cord, the heater and air ventilation system had some noticeable changes between the 1st and 2nd series Fulvias. I haven't got the dash vents your fathers car has, they were replaced by a central vent above the fuse box with a direction grill thing on it and improved ducting. I never had any complaint's about the ventilation system aside from the heater didn't seem that hot. But that was compared to my Mazda heaters which create air hotter than the surface of the sun! Mark, I don't think the A pillar was the mystery noise. I'm fairly sure I traced it back to that front wheel bearing, but having had the subframe off I can also now see that the front ARB mounts are well past their best and could be noisy. Another thing for the list! Maybe one day I'll buy a car that doesn't need lots of welding.... but probably not I like old italian cars and old Mazdas, and they only come is rust I should have changed my name to rednrust when I sold the gold rx7
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yes
Kinda New
Posts: 3
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goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,880
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Wow that's a great deal for someone, thank you for the heads up.
I think Ill leave it for someone else more in need though. I wouldn't mind the bonnet and maybe the engine, but I really haven't got room to take the whole lot off his hands. My motorbike is having to live outside for this week to give me room to pull the sub frame as it is!
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goldnrust
West Midlands
Minimalist
Posts: 1,880
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Made a bit of progress on the car today Earlier in the week, I'd started to cut away at the metalwork surrounding the subframe mounts. Once I'd taken a section of inner arch out of each side it was pretty obvious that my measurements were correct and the mounting boxes were welded in out of level. Here the left.... And the right, welded in a good 10mm further up into the car. It's most obvious looking at the gap between the captive nut on top of the mount and the inner sill. It all looks pretty grotty in there, so both sides are gonna be pulled apart and dealt with. On wednesday night I popped in to my dads work to get some steel. I wish I had a metal guillotine, pillar drill and metal folder of my own! Makes fabricating bits like this so easy. This morning I welded up the flat pack boxes I'd cut out wednesday, I think it's fairly easy which side is new Vs old. I've transferred the captive nut over in this shot, seemed little point in remaking that as the old one was fine. While I was at the factory I got on the lathe and turned down the bronze bushes I'd been sent for my steering idler arm. Feels so much better with new bushes, smooth with no play. I also topped up the oil and adjusted the steering box when I got home. Unfortunately I mislaid the lower oil seal for the steering idler so can't put it all back together properly yet, but it should all be nice and smooth and feel much better than it did before when I do I managed to grab a quick hour in the garage yesterday, as it was too late to do loud metal work, I got on with starting the engine bay paint. I've done all of the hard to reach areas that had ot be done before the subframe goes back on, the rest can wait (till I buy some more paint!) I love satin black engine bays. When I get round to it I'm going to paint the cam cover body colour and then polish the lancia text. Back to today, I offered the new mounting box up to the body, made sure it fitted then tidied up the sill area a bit. The good news is that it all looks ok in there. The floors/underside of the sills aren't pretty, but they do appear to have been replaced with the old metal cut out and new welded in, so will do for now No filler !! While I waited for the primer to dry I decided to be brave and get cutting on the subframe. with 3 sides cut it was nice and easy to give it the small tweak it needed to lift that rear arm by 18mm at it's far end. Then I welded up the cut I'd made. It all went smoothly. Sorry I've only got a finished picture. At which point a friend called and asked for some help changing a gearbox, so I downed tools and thats where she stands for now. I'm hoping that by the time next weekend comes round I'll have got that mounting box welded in and the other side too and be ready to put the subframe back on.
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duncanmartin
Club Retro Rides Member
Out of retro ownership
Posts: 1,320
Club RR Member Number: 70
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Wow. The quantity and the quality of your work never ceases to amaze! Keep going, and it'll be back on the road in no time.
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