Homer - 1985 FB

[GwarnGwarn]

Hi all,

Finally decided to crawl around ‘Homer’ and start stripping bits off to see how much work needs to be done to get him roadworthy again.

Backstory? You ask?! Bought it (cheeeeeeeaaaap) last October from a gent who’d left it sat for a few years in a yard across from where I work. So rust was the first apparent problem. Then the engine needs a rebuild as he was claiming low compression when it was parked up... although not tested, I don’t wish to gamble given it hasn’t been run in years and hasn’t had a rebuild ever before.

Your advise is needed... badly. Rust and welding is the one thing I don’t have any skills with. Can anyone... in your honest opinion say it’s worth welding up and in your experiences what restoration shops would try and skin me for?

I’ve tried to add the pictures as attachments for your pleasure. Let me know if it’s failed and I’ll try again.
Hopefully you’ll see the chassis rails have a few holes, one is a hole in the OSF wheel arch and another just by the NSR sill, there’s more holes just underneath... behind the windscreen trim is fine and I haven’t lifted the carpets yet to see there.

Thanks in advance folks!

Craig

[richrx]

Your advise is needed... badly. Rust and welding is the one thing I don’t have any skills with. Can anyone... in your honest opinion say it’s worth welding up and in your experiences what restoration shops would try and skin me for?

Hi Craig and welcome!

We all love Fb's around here so are biased regarding if it's worth saving.

What's your end goal? Show car standard? Rough and ready? Cost will ultimately come down to this however...

To point out the obvious that there will be more rust and holes than you can see, and the repairs that you can see will open out alot more once you start striping it back of paint and rust complicating any repairs. There is very little in the way of repair panels ,spare wings or body parts. So most repairs will primarily be done by hand from sheet metal.

In my experience I spoke to some ironmongers/welder fabricators locally who seemed better than bodywork places as often these guys have a passion for cars, they gave me guide costs for welding, but it's not cheap.

Sometimes you can find a good mobile welder on Gumtree, they may come and look to quote.

I've got a project FC that I'll be welding, it's got scary rusty bits on it ... But I'm treating it as a hobby , no rush, and as long as it's solid that's my goal so I'm happy to do it myself. I would estimate a body place to repair it would be 2-3k including paint and that's without renewing anything and only the front third of the car... If I can do it for under 1k I'll be happy.

If I was you I would just be looking to do it myself long term as costs really will be scary( if your personal circumstances allow).

What's your plans for the engine? 12a parts are rarely available for a rebuild.. most go to a 13b which swaps in easy enough and gives more power( a used engine might be budget friendly short term)

It's late and that's just a general ramble. Hopefully helps a little though untill the more experienced can help out.

Rich

[GwarnGwarn]

Hi Rich,

Thank you for your take on it. I'm not overly fussed how it looks at the end as I don't intend on winning awards with it... just something to enjoy a weekend drive in (when the sun plays nice).

I am tempted to learn how to weld sheet metal, during my days at uni (long enough ago) I went through a C&G MIG course, so I can do it to thick mild steel, just nervous with sheet metal. But admittedly, if it's going to cost a few grand, it would delay the project which is going to take me a year or two anyway. Thanks for the Gumtree suggestion too... didn't think of that

I'm torn with the engine, I've seen rebuild kits are more costly for a 12A and I would (dreaming here) like to shoehorn a 13BT in there... but, I haven't given much thought to it. I'm more familiar with 13B's which would make sense (previously had an FC), but who knows, it would boil down to where the rest of the budget goes.

I appreciate your help though and I'll get looking around and see what I can find.

Cheers,
Craig

[richrx]

I'm torn with the engine, I've seen rebuild kits are more costly for a 12A and I would (dreaming here) like to shoehorn a 13BT in there... but, I haven't given much thought to it. I'm more familiar with 13B's which would make sense (previously had an FC), but who knows, it would boil down to where the rest of the budget goes.

I appreciate your help though and I'll get looking around and see what I can find.

Cheers,
Craig

There's a few guides online regarding fitting a 13bt / Rew into an FB (check rx7 club and aus rotary out) But that's probably beyond my limited knowledge. Have a search on here too as you'll need to look at suspension and brake upgrades. But your probably best to write down your plan and required upgrades, you'll find all the info out there and find out the costs too. But it sounds like if your not doing it all yourself you'll need very deep pockets and won't ever see a return on your spend.

If your doing it yourself it's also a big project, it'll still cost, but you'll learn loads and it might be affordable.

Have you followed any restoration Chanel's on YouTube to get an idea of time and efforts involved?

Sounds like it's a great idea and would be alot of fun, but a simple 13b swap with porting will give alot of fun for a fraction of the costs and efforts.

Always remember Bridgeport

Rich

[gt_james]

Bridgeports are good for racing, bad when you actually want to use it below 5500rpm!

[spirit r]

Bridgeports are good for racing, bad when you actually want to use it below 5500rpm!

Not all
Good porting, exhaust, Nikki and timing, fuelsystem helping a lot!
The technical inspector was have a lot of fun last week as i past mot.

[GwarnGwarn]

If your doing it yourself it's also a big project, it'll still cost, but you'll learn loads and it might be affordable.

Have you followed any restoration Chanel's on YouTube to get an idea of time and efforts involved?

I think it’s best I bite the bullet and go on my own. Might be good fun doing the welding right?
I haven’t seen any restoration videos. I’ll do that. Might be handy.

I’ve been looking into Bridgeport’s too. Wanted to get a Weber which I’ve read is useless without anything smaller than a street port

[richrx]

Check out the mig welding forum, retrorides too for forums with projects. SOUP classic motoring on you tube is well worth watching.

I'm sure you can get a Webber to give gains on a standard port 12a if you know what your doing, I don't so can't really comment much. But as James mentioned they are heavily comprised esp in n/a form. Get a ride in a Bridgeport before going that route.

Rich

[richrx]

How much have you stripped off it?

[gt_james]

bridgeport is just a compromise for racing where peripheral ports aren't allowed. A peripheral port makes more power and torque low down and smoother running. My half bridge 12A is not a good set up for road use. If I wanted to build a good road engine I'd just do a large street port, or semi PP.