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

[spice_weazle]

Just a small update for today but no pics as left phone at work.

Ive cut out the rusty bits at the ends of the front cross member and treated them so they are pretty much ready to have the new metal welded on.

Ive also cut the rusty area out at the turret top and treated it in prep for the patch to be welded in.

I will hopefully get these welded in tomorrow and then I can hope fully get prepped fot welding the new arch in which Im hoping to do on friday cos Im of work and plan to spend the morning on the car.

[spice_weazle]

Heres today update.

Firstly the pics from yesterday.

Heres the ends of the front cross member cleaned up and treated ready for the patches to be welded on.





Then the piece at the top of the turret was cut out and treated ect.




Todays work.

Firstly I welded in the patch at the top of the turret.



and treated the area, again with HYDRATE 80.



I then wire brushed the areas that are going to be covered/over lapped by the new arch to make sure there will be no rust sandwiched between the old and new metal.





Then the whole area treated with... you've guessed it HYDRATE 80.


HYDRATE 80 wet,





and dry.





Thats it for today.

Oh I forgot that I finished welding up the area where the brake pipe bracket was in the drivers side arch so that side is finished fabrication wise.

[ex-ctr]

good work but a rusty shell, i must have been lucky with mine

[spice_weazle]

good work but a rusty shell, i must have been lucky with mine

Ive seen a lot worse and travelled a long way to see shells younger than this with BIG holes in and the owners thought that were not rusty and wanting IMO silly money for them, which I wouldnt of minded paying if the the shells were as clean as described. The most comman phrase I heard was ''I thought you wanted a project so why dont you just weld it up''

The majority of the rust on this shell is only surface rust...........Up until now. It may be a different story when I move onto the sills.

[ex-ctr]

Ive seen a lot worse and travelled a long way to see shells younger than this with BIG holes in and the owners thought that were not rusty.

The majority of the rust is only surface rust...........Up until now. It may be a different story when I move onto the sills.

the worst area on mine where rear arches to sill area, the arch was perforated like a tea bag, only found this through having it soda blasted

[spice_weazle]

Mine has gone there too. My current road car too but that has been ''repaired already''. The sills and the rear arches is where Ill be moving onto after Ive finished in the engine bay.

[smurf200sx]

Just read through this thread To say I'm now slightly concerned about my own car is an understatement!!!!

Well impressed so far bud and will be keeping an eye on your progress

[Aj82]

Excellent work so far mate.
Judging by the amount of patches so far you should have space framed it! lol.

Top job, well done!


Cheers Aj

[Mr G]

Just finished reading this. Man, what an absolute marathon task!!! Hat's off to you for going to this much detail. I'm amazed to see that you don't seem to be losing enthusiasm when you encounter yet another rusty section!!

I suppose this is the shittest and most time consuming part of the whole job. Get all this done and it will be relatively straight forward afterwards.

Keep it up!!

[spice_weazle]

Just read through this thread To say I'm now slightly concerned about my own car is an understatement!!!!

Well impressed so far bud and will be keeping an eye on your progress

So far Id say the areas to keep an eye on are the turret tops at the front and where the the brakepipe brackets were in the arches.

Excellent work so far mate.
Judging by the amount of patches so far you should have space framed it! lol.

Top job, well done!


Cheers Aj

Wait until I start replacing the sills.

Just finished reading this. Man, what an absolute marathon task!!! Hat's off to you for going to this much detail. I'm amazed to see that you don't seem to be losing enthusiasm when you encounter yet another rusty section!!

I suppose this is the shittest and most time consuming part of the whole job. Get all this done and it will be relatively straight forward afterwards.

Keep it up!!

Some days I do think ''I cant be arsed to do any today'' but once I start I just get on with it. TBH I enjoy this part of owning a car nearly as much as driving it. I just think a head to hopefully what Ill have at the end of it... It prob helps by me doing it small bits at a time i.e. an hour first thing then half an hour at lunch and another half hour in the afternoon.

once the shells done Im hoping to do a Petrol kind of refurb on all the components off my current car before they go onto the new shell.


Thank for all the kind words and encouragement.

[spice_weazle]

Todays update.

I got the main part of the passenger side arch welded in today... It finally feels like Im getting some where now.

Heres the the pics.(Sorry for the poor quality)













All that needs doing now is to weld in a piece to join the arch to the turret top and weld in the plates on the cross member and that is the engine bay done fabrication wise. Although Im still tempted to weld up some of the holes in the firewall if I can work out which ones I dont need anymore.

[spice_weazle]

Just a small update for today.

I got the patches welded onto the ends of the front cross member.





I also made up the piece that will be welded on to the top of the arch and the turret on the passenger side. Welding that in place is the first job for tomorrow.

[smurf200sx]

Really impressed with the tubs One question though, what are you planning to do with the fuse/relay box? Wire tuck?

[spice_weazle]

Really impressed with the tubs One question though, what are you planning to do with the fuse/relay box? Wire tuck?

Im planning on moving the fuse box into the cabin and do a 'mild' wire tuck to tidy things up a little.

[Mitch]

Just read the whole thread. Excellent work my good man

I particularly like the finish on your arch tubbing job, something I need to do to my 180 but I think I'll take your advice and make them up before cutting the shell.

[spice_weazle]

Just read the whole thread. Excellent work my good man

I particularly like the finish on your arch tubbing job, something I need to do to my 180 but I think I'll take your advice and make them up before cutting the shell.

making the tubs before cutting will defo be the easier option I recon though its not too hard to do it the other way round.

[spice_weazle]

Todays little update.

I got the top piece to the tub/turret welded in.



I also put tsome DEOX-GEL on the seam at the rear of the turret to remove the small amount of rust there.

Here it is all covered up in cling film to prevent it drying out.



Hopefully the rust will be gone tomorrow so I can then finish seam welding the top of the turret.

Thats it for today.

[Mitch]

making the tubs before cutting will defo be the easier option I recon though its not too hard to do it the other way round.

Do you have a drawing with dimensions I could copy/adapt to save me time? Don't mind swapping for a few beer tokens (or actual beer )

[spice_weazle]

Do you have a drawing with dimensions I could copy/adapt to save me time? Don't mind swapping for a few beer tokens (or actual beer )

All I have is templates made of card, Im sure I still have them, they are only rough but you are welcome to use them. Ill check today and get back to you later.

[spice_weazle]

Do you have a drawing with dimensions I could copy/adapt to save me time? Don't mind swapping for a few beer tokens (or actual beer )

Ive had a look today at work and I have some thin metal templates for the tubs. You are welcome to use them by all means. PM me if your interested in them and Ill try and sort something out.