My S14 Reshell/rufurb/rebuild. Major project so will take a long time.

[Petrol]

with the wire brushing after welding. The effort that’s going into this is impressive to say the least and thought I would mention it “just in case” I would rather post a suggestion than feel you may have overlooked something

HYDRATE 80 sounds good stuff, whilst I didn’t really need to use it on my s14a as everything was “mega” prepped before primer, I wish I had known about it when I tidied up my S13 That said, I researched quite a few products before I started the S14 refurb and was not aware of the BH range of products when I did the S13.

DYNAX S50 is a rust prevention/treatment wax (Bilt Hambers version of wax oil, only better looking at the tests Petrol did on his s14a) and not a rust removal treatment. All box sections ect will be given a good coat of it once the shell has been fully painted. It will be the last thing I do to it before I start to bolt bits back on.

Quote:…..


“All box sections ect will be given a good coat of it once the shell has been fully painted. It will be the last thing I do to it before I start to bolt bits back on”

I get lots of PM’s about spraying Dynax when refurbing…. It seems my efforts were not in vain Box section wax is the last thing to apply

Keep up the good work and feel free to drop me a PM anytime

[spice_weazle]

with the wire brushing after welding. The effort that’s going into this is impressive to say the least and thought I would mention it “just in case” I would rather post a suggestion than feel you may have overlooked something

HYDRATE 80 sounds good stuff, whilst I didn’t really need to use it on my s14a as everything was “mega” prepped before primer, I wish I had known about it when I tidied up my S13 That said, I researched quite a few products before I started the S14 refurb and was not aware of the BH range of products when I did the S13.




Quote:…..


“All box sections ect will be given a good coat of it once the shell has been fully painted. It will be the last thing I do to it before I start to bolt bits back on”

I get lots of PM’s about spraying Dynax when refurbing…. It seems my efforts were not in vain Box section wax is the last thing to apply

Keep up the good work and feel free to drop me a PM anytime

I appreciate your suggestion about wire brushing the welds. I would rather people give me thier ideas/advice than not because as Ive said I may miss things or people have a better ideas or solutions to what I have.

I recon I will take you up on your offer of some advice soon. Your are the man when it comes to refurbs and your knowledge and experiance is invaluable. At the moment Im trying to get the rear part welded back up before the 22nd April because then I wont be able to work on it for 2 months due to my wrist but that is when I will be trying to sort some problem/Ideas I have.

[spice_weazle]

Ive got the new inner sill piece treated and painted now.









I also rechecked the fittment of the rear arch piece and the piece that blanks off the end of the sill. They needed a little tweaking because they were made to suit te original sill piece but even though all my measurements are good there was a little difference on the flange on the new sill piece. All that was needed was a little sanding on two edges to get a good fit.

These pics are pre tweaking.





Tomorrow Ill be cleaning the paint off where the welds will be in readiness for the pieces to be welded in on tuesday(hopefully).

I need to get the B pillar foot welded on before the 22nd.

[crouchy]

This is looking real good dude. i have a hole in the inner sil of mine where the plate for the subframe plates bolts up. can i cut it out and weld it without having to cut off the whole of the outer sill?

[spice_weazle]

This is looking real good dude. i have a hole in the inner sil of mine where the plate for the subframe plates bolts up. can i cut it out and weld it without having to cut off the whole of the outer sill?

You should be able to, just remember it needs to be pretty stiff/strong there so Id use 1.6mm or even may be 2mm steel for the plate if you are going to be cutting out the strengthening piece for the subby mount. My new section of inner sill is made of 1.2mm steel(if just plating over I would use slightly thicker metal to give a little extra strength, Ive got a way with using 1.2 because my new section has been integrated into the original sill making it as strong as if it were still the original) but the new strengthening piece is 2mm.

Ive checked out your project thread(good work by the way) but cant find any pics of the hole, if you could pm a pic Ill should be able to give you a better idea of what I think. My s14 has had both sides plated over to get it through its MOT and thats what most people do from what Ive seen.

At the end of the day its how far you want to go and how rust free you want the shell to be. Im going OTT but Im lucky that I can do it myself and I also want to remove as much rust as I can. I recon Ill be removing at least 99% of the rust from mine but there is no way you remove 100% without dipping IMO.

Like say if you could pm me a pic or two of the area I will be able to give you a better Idea.

[crouchy]

Thanks mate, when ive got a day of from uni ill go to my workshop and get some snaps of her, as my outer sills are rust free i dont want to chop them up if i can help it

[spice_weazle]

Latest update.

Ive got the the lower part of the arch welded up now so Im well on track for getting the B pillar foot welded up before my op.

Heres some pics.

Firt to be welded on was the end piece to the sill.





Then the lower part of the arch was welded in place.

Tacked in place.





Welded up.





Then the welds where cleaned up a little.





and then treated.





Tomorrow Ill be making a start on the B pillar foot.

[spice_weazle]

Latest update.

I have now welded up the B pillar foot and painted it with some Electrox primer inside and out. It is now very solid again. That is one major job done, even though the other side will no doubt need doing, but Im starting to see light at the end of the tunnel as far as the derusting goes. There is still a long way to go but I recon Im about half way through through the 'essential' fabrication side of things. Then I can start to look at welding in the cage and other mods to the chassis before the whole lot gets wire brushed, blasted and treated.

Here's some pics of the latest work done.

Locating the new piece.



Tacking it in place.



All welded up.



I then cleamed the welds a little.





The welds were then wire brushed and treated with HYDRATE 80.



I sprayed the bottom lip with etch weld instead of treating it because it will be welded on there when the new sill is put on.

It was then painted with ELECTROX primer.











Thats it now really for the next month or so due to my operation on thursday. I may start to look at the base of the A pillar over the next few days but not a lot will get done now until my wrist is all sorted.

[baker_001]

Looking good as ever Rich Hope the op goes well for you mate

[Petrol]

Good luck with op

Hope my fave thread is back soon

[sprout]

Wish you a speedy recovery - latest pics look fantastic

[spice_weazle]

Looking good as ever Rich Hope the op goes well for you mate

Good luck with op

Hope my fave thread is back soon

Wish you a speedy recovery - latest pics look fantastic

Cheers for the comments guys. Im going to miss working on it TBH but at least Ill have some time to do some research on the interweb ect and hopefully get some questions I have answered and also time to think about the way things are going to progress.

Baker :- Hows your new car? Any plans for it?

[baker_001]

Baker :- Hows your new car? Any plans for it?

It's getting there slowly - discovered a bent track rod end the other day so that and alignment is the next task

I'm going to be selling the green one soon, and after that's done I'll stick up a project thread for the blue one It won't be a patch on yours though

[cleanhands]

Best of luck with the op, Rich. Hope it all goes well.

[muddle84]

best of luck with the op mate! hope it all goes well

[spice_weazle]

It's getting there slowly - discovered a bent track rod end the other day so that and alignment is the next task

I'm going to be selling the green one soon, and after that's done I'll stick up a project thread for the blue one It won't be a patch on yours though

Im looking foward to seeing what you have in store for it...

Best of luck with the op, Rich. Hope it all goes well.

best of luck with the op mate! hope it all goes well

Cheers fellas Its a minor op really but its a quite a long recovery period and it doesnt help that Im crapping myself because I dont like hospitals and defo dont like the feeling of stuff being done to me. The worst part is that I will be awake for it.


I have made a start on the bottom of the A pillar today(I couldnt resist doing a little bit) but left my phone at work so pics. TBH I thought it would be easier than the B pillar but I now think its going to be even harder to get in and clean the rust up. I think Im going to cut some 'windows', one on the inner sill right at the end and one on the external floor just behind the sill lip on the front arch near the front wing bolt holes, to give me better access. Ill put some pics up tomorrow showing what Ive cut off so far and what Im thinking of doing. There will defo be no more work on it now though for a while cos I need to spend my breaks sorting the piles of car bits and tools I have around my work area otherwise half of it will be gone by the time I go back to work.

[spice_weazle]

Here is a few pics of yesterdays work.

First of all I cut away part of the A pillar base behind the sill. To me its looks like its prob for side impact strenght as it doesnt go high enough the A pilar for strength up the pillar.

Firstly I drilled the spot welds after deciding where to cut.




Then came out the angle grinder and chissel.



This is what came off and also the rust on it.(It will be welded back in place once derusting of the area is completed)





and what is behind it.



Here is the rust around the pillar base but its not on the inner sill or the A pillar it self. Its in the section just foward of the A pillar, the rear part of the front arch that leads onto the outer floor. There is a 'chamber' there that can be partly accessed by a big hole in the foot well that was cover by the sound proofing.





Im going to be cutting a hole in the outer floor to give me access to clean it up.




Its quite a big piece but easy enough to patch up. Im also going to cut a window in the inner sill to allow me to clean up the rust behind the pillar.(In the bottom right of this pic you can just see the enterance in the foot well to the 'chamber' Im on about above.)




Again easy to patch and it will be hidden by what ever trim I decide to put in. There is as much rust as the rear part behind the sill but its just a pain to get too.

So thats it now for a while but work will start again ASAP.

[Petrol]

No one likes hospitals or indeed any type of "stuff being done" At the end of the day though it's for the best and only minor. My work used to involve editing surgeon training videos and some of the them were pretty intense - the spinal stuff was . I don’t think you have too much to worry about

When you are doing your research, drop me a PM if you have any Q’s about products or techniques and I will do my best to help you. In the meantime I need to read the whole of your thread very thoroughly to take on board exactly what you have done and where you’re at

[sprout]

See if you can borrow a psp/ipod/similar portable device - most hospital places will let you watch or listen to something to keep you occupied. My dad did this, mini movie player and watched blackadder for an hour whilst they "worked" on his hand. You'll be fine though

[spice_weazle]

See if you can borrow a psp/ipod/similar portable device - most hospital places will let you watch or listen to something to keep you occupied. My dad did this, mini movie player and watched blackadder for an hour whilst they "worked" on his hand. You'll be fine though

Good advice. Never thought of doing that and I recon it would defo help take my mind off things.