The final hurrah – S13, 25K miles, 1 owner from new, full refurb

[Jonny Wilkinson]

I have some on photobucket but I can't access it from work. I'll post up some pics tonight if I get chance. Basically, after cleaning the groove out with d-oxy gel then "drying" it with a wire wheel, I ran 3 beads along the groove. One deep one down the middle then two side by side on top of it then sanded it flat with a flap wheel.

There are some pictures here of my practices and stuff but some of it is a bit disorganised...

http://s218.photobucket.com/user/jzw...?sort=3&page=1

[Petrol]

It's OK Jonny, I have enough info from your description

Another paint run today, few brackets



Front caliper



Bumper had a few scratches and I've de-badged it



Before the final paint job of 1K basecoat and 2K clear coat, it's best to have everything the same colour to prevent the risk of shading. A couple of coats of 2K solid does the trick and gives something to flat back

[Petrol]

Cleaned up the wiring loom and masked up



Engine bay is being degreased with panel wipe. I'm also taking detailed pics of where every part goes like this foam insulator along the bulkhead, it makes things easier come assembly time



A few minor problems along the inner wing / chassis leg






Classic example of rust behind the paint on a spot weld - When the bare metal shell is spot welded together, rust is immediately formed on the spot welds due to the heat. To resolve the problem, the shell is dipped to remove the rust before e-coat is applied. This was fairly new technology when these cars were manufactured and I'm pretty sure it wasn't quite perfected.



This bead of seam sealer isn't applied with a caulking gun. It comes on a roll and is just positioned over the seam before paint



Pity they missed the seam completely! I could fit a card between the seam and the bead



I'm hoping to crack on with the engine bay weather permitting

[Petrol]

Wire brushed the seam sealer and most of the rust off



Then started shot blasting, in some cases I split the seams open





A lamp helps when blasting even in good light







Crossmember







Primed

[Jonny Wilkinson]

Great work Pete. Did you find there was corrosion in the hole in the passenger inner wing where the main wiring loom goes through...the one with the oval rubber grommet the size of your hand ?

[Petrol]

Great work Pete. Did you find there was corrosion in the hole in the passenger inner wing where the main wiring loom goes through...the one with the oval rubber grommet the size of your hand ?

Yes Jonny, the hole was getting a bit bigger



This seam was more of a concern though. It was wet in here and pretty badly corroded



Ended up splitting the other side as well



It's sorted now



I checked the NS and its fine.

IC bolt was seized into the retainer so I partially drilled it



Whilst holding it at the back with some mole grips



Then I writhed on it with a socket and sheared the head off the bolt



Bodywork was undamaged



Wish it would stop raining

[Petrol]

.

[alanjuggler]

that has helped me a tremendous amount in figuring out repairing mine - cheers Pete - can you do me a favour and draw up a paper template of the wiring oval grommet on the passenger side?

[ianlea73]

Hi Pete, I've read through this thread again as I've just picked up my 3rd S13 & 5th Sbody. Mine has been garaged since '06 & I want to do a strip down & rebuild.
I can't see any info on the shot blaster you used & also how do you use that deox stuff as I notice you use cling film on everything?!

[Petrol]

that has helped me a tremendous amount in figuring out repairing mine - cheers Pete - can you do me a favour and draw up a paper template of the wiring oval grommet on the passenger side?

No Prob. This OK? If so PM me your addy and I will post it







If you need any more pics, give us a shout

Hi Pete, I've read through this thread again as I've just picked up my 3rd S13 & 5th Sbody. Mine has been garaged since '06 & I want to do a strip down & rebuild.
I can't see any info on the shot blaster you used & also how do you use that deox stuff as I notice you use cling film on everything?!

I'll get some pics up of the blaster and the deox method

[shikari chaos]

^ sweet cause I was going to ask that exact question too.
Love the thoroughness of your work dude

[alanjuggler]

absolutely perfect chap, just hold onto it and I'll bob up soon

[Evilchap]

Hi Pete

How long did it take you to get the engine bay to this stage?

[Petrol]

absolutely perfect chap, just hold onto it and I'll bob up soon

No prob, do you want the spot welder at the same time? If so I need to dig it out from the back of the shed

Hi Pete

How long did it take you to get the engine bay to this stage?

I don't go at things like a mad lad anymore Ben

A day (8 hours) to strip the pipework, loom, rad etc etc out
A day to lift the engine and gearbox out, remove brake and clutch pipes etc
A day to remove the front subby, steering rack and front suspension.

Going at it flat out, you could probably do it in half that time.

Some pics from the weekend, here you can see the blast gun and the dustbin I keep the glass bead in. The blast media needs to be kept dry.



I also have a big sheet down to make it easier to sweep up. Before it goes back in the dustbin, I run it through a fine kitchen sieve to get rid of any big bits of rust, paint or underseal which would block the gun.

Front wing blasted







OS chassis leg



Turret, all of the spot welds had rust behind







Battery tray



Then primed it all with Electrox



I've got some stuff with the gel / cling film combo going on at the moment, will post up details with the results

[alanjuggler]

yeah, if I could borrow the spot welder at the same time that would be marvellous, let me know when you're ready - I'm not in a particular rush at the mo, going to try and source a bonnet now

[ianlea73]

Thanks for the info above mate.
What size compressor are you using to run that?

[Petrol]

yeah, if I could borrow the spot welder at the same time that would be marvellous, let me know when you're ready - I'm not in a particular rush at the mo, going to try and source a bonnet now

I'll dig it out tomorrow

Thanks for the info above mate.
What size compressor are you using to run that?

No prob. It doesn't say on the compressor ID plate what size it is but it's a twin cylinder jobbie. Decent old skool quality thing -



Deox gel is useful for removing rust on parts that can't be immersed using Deox C. This section of the shell, where the inner wing meets the chassis leg is a good example.



I wire brushed and gave it a quick shot blast to get rid of the bulk of the rust but there's carbon still in there (I posted about carbon earlier in the thread)



Rust in a split seam



Gel applied....



Also into the seam



To prevent the gel drying out, it's covered with cling film



After a couple of days the corrosion / carbon is dissolved which discolours the gel





After washing off with water



I dry everything out including the seams with compressed air






At this stage, the gel could be re applied to get rid of any remaining rust but having done this on a few cars now, it's more than likely that a final shot blast will get rid of whats left

[ianlea73]

That sir is a perfect tutorial.
I appreciate the time you took to do that & with picks for us dummies too
Do you then etch prime it?

[Neelie]

jesus christ OCD much i'd love to restore my car to this level ha.
never gonna happen. hats off to you dear sir!

[Petrol]

That sir is a perfect tutorial.
I appreciate the time you took to do that & with picks for us dummies too
Do you then etch prime it?

Your welcome I prime underbody and engine bay areas with Electrox zinc as it has better rust prevention properties than etch

jesus christ OCD much i'd love to restore my car to this level ha.
never gonna happen. hats off to you dear sir!

For the more recent members on here, I restored my S14a 9 years ago - how time flies. I want to get this one as close to that as I can









Long way to go though, it looks a bit sorry for itself at the moment



All this glass bead is gonna want some cleaning off