MadaboutKitcars

Exactly! And I'm telling all your wives and partners!
Yours faithfully,
Mrs Oxford1360.

A rainy Sunday down at The Glade

So, it's raining and the TV is full of a little old lady who has done the same job for 60 years. What is there for a man to do?

I had planned to leave the suspension turrets and lower wishbone pickups in place when I blasted, but for the sake of 14 bolts, I couldn't stop myself.



Now she is as naked as the day she was born. Since the age of 13 I've found a bare chassis captivating. Some things don't change.

A new chassis coating

Why spend money on a chassis coating when you can mix a handful of soil with some old engine oil? Just coat the chassis, and 40 years later the original paint will still be there. The engine cross-member is like new.



This is by far the crappiest job I've done so far.

Looks like it'll 'do a trip'

Thieving b*stard(s)

There are some positives to having your workshop in a remote area, but the a negative is that thieving b*stards can visit in the night and steal your tool chest.

It could have been worse; whoever it was didn't notice my brand new sandblaster under the bench. And, my new engine, gearbox and diff were left.

All items of value have now been brought home, a large(r) shackle has been fitted, and CCTV is now in operation.

No thieving little sh*t is going to spoil my fun.

On the upside, the stubborn bolt that I have been feeding with WD40 all week finally came out with a few blows from the hammer that they didn't take. So, not a bad day in the end.

Sorry to hear that.

I had a tool box stolen once it was the those 'odds & ends' you pick up over the years that I missed the most.

Hope the rest of your build is trouble free, Paul.

Thanks, Paul.
It's things like circlip pliers, brake hose clamps and ball joint splitters that are annoying to lose. Spanners and sockets are easy to replace.

Ooh, bad luck, but like you say, at least your 'blaster engine and box weren't taken. Are you insured?

No Friday progress due to the tool situation, but I've been busy building a blast cabinet. Details can be seen in separate thread.

Sad to note your tool loss. I've had a similar problem with remote workshop and morons nicking odd bits off another project vehicle.

Nothing you can do except to 'suck it up' as our colonial cousins might say..

Rubbish job

It was a bit of a bad coincidence that my tools went walkabout at the same time that I was having to face-up to one of the less enjoyable tasks that is part of "The Joy of Sammio".

I apologise for the incredibly boring picture below but I need proof that I am making progress. The chassis is now degreased and I really can blast it next Friday if the weather is dry.

My cross member is grease free. I am not sure why it was cross and I refuse to answer how it got covered in grease.



I feel that I know this chassis better than I knew some of my ex-girlfriends.

Makes the £100 ive paid to have my chassis blasted look well worth it! picking it up in the morning fingers crossed its as good as it looked covered in oil!

You did the right thing. I had the opportunity to have it blasted and primed for £120. There are moments when I think I was mad to decide to do it all myself, but I do secretly enjoy it.

There has to be a Times best seller coming out of this 'Forum'..

Although I enjoyed blasting my chassis myself I have to say it was time consuming and dirty work using the diy kit. At the end of every session I looked like Elizabeth Taylor made up as Cleopatra - even though I wore a face shield, overalls and dust mask the black residue from the grit still got into my eyes, ears, nose, pockets, underwear etc. It also got into the rafters of my garage and even though I got up there and vacuumed it still rains grit every time the wind blows. For that reason alone I'd probably have it done professionally if I ever did another one, but I'm glad I've had the experience of taking a dead chassis and making it good again.

Thoroughly de-bushed

More boring photos for you guys, but morale boosting ones for me. As the weather is not playing ball, I stripped the swing spring in readiness for cleaning and a coat of something, and I have de-bushed the suspension. A full polybush set will be going in once the components have been blasted and painted.



Special tool no. B0110CKS made from a 4" vice, two box sections and a bit of steel tube.



Thoroughly de-bushed.



Items ready for blasting and painting.


I told you that they were boring. It's your fault for reading on.

Despite the element of tedium attached to these specific tasks, I am loving every minute of the project.

All the time consuming prep work will be worth it in the end. These donor cars are all at least forty years old and are mostly overdue a thorough refresh. Once done though, your car will be as reliable as a modern car while having ten times the charm. Just driving my moon buggy in and out of the garage makes me feel like a proper hero. On the road it's going to feel like I'm the reincarnation of Fangio, even if I'm holding everyone up behnd me.

Keep up the good work.

Nothing boring about build photos and your "special tool" photo might help others.

I'm sure once those parts have been through the "rabbit hutch" they will look great.

Whilst I've tried to avoid this sort of work by starting with a semi-restored donor...

I have to admit I love the way you (& others) are bringing cars back from the dead.

Good luck, Paul.

Any progress to report over the last few weeks?

Funny you should ask

Thanks for asking Mr T. I was just transferring pics from my phone when I read your post.

The last few weeks have been a bit frustrating - weather and jobs that need doing around the house. However, I've managed some blasting, electro cleaning (efficient and highly recommended), and wire brushing. I've also bought a few more parts to add to the stock cupboard.

Today I sorted out my compressor, piping the air in the workshop, and my spray guns.

The pics below cheer me up no end as I have some primed parts.

I'm using Rustoleum and it goes on a treat.



The good thing is that all the bearings and bushes to be used are new, so once everything has been primed and top-coated, it should be a case of big boy's meccano to get it back to a rolling chassis. I like that idea.

Looking very nice indeed.

Just to prove that I am doing something other than watching Team GB racking up the medals, here's a pic from this morning. Remaining suspension items blasted and treated prior to priming.



I should have the chassis finished and primed by next weekend. Blasting with a DIY 20 gallon pressurized blaster is like colouring in the chassis with a marker pen. It's great for components, but chassis and bulkhead are taking the p*ss.

Colour arrived this week........

Blasting is time consuming but satisfying work and well worth all the effort.

So, what colour arrived this week?

I wanted a "traditional" and "retro" green that is lighter than the traditional group that is considered BRG. I also wanted to have everything the same colour - chassis, suspension, engine, box, brake calipers, body....the lot. So, I needed to be able to match with a high temperature caliper and engine paint. I settled on BS381C-217.....enamel. The reason for this is...........

If you read about the early privateer race teams, they would paint their cars with whatever paint they could get hold of - quite often "borrowed" from agricultural and railway companies. I once read about a small team that used a green that LMS used on its buildings. "Sea Green" was used by a few railway companies on their buildings.

It's not going to be everybody's cup of tea, but I like it.

I might contrast it with a cream rocker cover and a cream nose band, but I'll worry about that later.

This is a rough approximation, but it will depend on your monitor settings -



Current plan is tan 1950s seats.

All good fun.

Actually, it's not real enamel, it's Rustoleum Alkythane 7500 that is good on steel and GRP. It has some flex in it.
This is it -
http://www.promain.co.uk/product/Rustoleum_7500_Alkythane_id3110

That'll look great, I think the eau de nil would work too. I like the idea of a subtly contrasting nose cone...