A new challenger 'The Beast from the East'

[rotarypower]

To be honest now that I've cut the metal out it doesn't seem any more horrible than any other rust patch.

Other than the fact that the plate is on two levels, guess we'll see when I try and put it back in! Still waiting for the bloody welder to turn up, but with bank holiday now I doubt i'll see it till tues-wed.
In the meantime I have plenty more metal to cut out.

[danny]

Yes, everything recognizable. My FB was in a bad shape like this here. For weeks I spent grinding and welding. The backrest of the rear seat is the least problem. The cover can be easily removed. The most difficult part are the sills, there you have three plates in a row. They will all be rotten. Good luck, and don't be discouraged.

[ian65]

good work bud, lots of 1st gens were scrapped due to heavy rust in the upper radius arm mounts 10-15 years ago when the cars were cheap but if you approach it methodically like you are doing it isn't too daunting. It's the loading from the rear suspension that cracked the underseal / stonechip letting in water that then rusted the mounts out.... a decent repair will be good for the lifetime of the car.

[rotarypower]

Cheers guys.

Just been working on stripping it down completely at the read, its not going back together until every last bit of rust has been taken care of & the whole back end is epoxy coated then stone chipped.

The lower arm mounts are proving to be a real ball ache. I can't get them off, literally had a jack under the spanner & its almost lifting the car up!
Might have to be an angle grinder job.

[KiwiDave]

I got a guy to do mine after I could not remove even one bolt. Every last one had to be cut out in the end.

[rotarypower]

Well today was a very disheartening days work.

I was fairly optimistic that the rust wouldn't be 'too bad' but after letting loose with the wire wheel today, I've been disabused.

The current goal is to get the entire rear end back to bare metal & then a coat of Electrox zinc rich primer to protect it while I carry out the repairs. I hate working on rusty, dirty and flakey metal, so I'd rather just get it all out the way now & then have a nice clean surface to work to.

First though I had to get rid of the lower trailing arms, I did my best to get them out using normal means, but it wasn't happening. Angle grinder it is then.


I carried on the strip down of the rear end, almost got everything now. Handbrake cables look quite nice.

Fuel tank spider is also out, these fuel lines are seriously shot. Lots of rust.


Also attempting to depin my number plate lights resulted in this. That will need replacing so I just cut them off for the moment, I'll splice in new wires later.


The lower bumper / valance / trim panel needs work, it was coming away at the left, had some holes in it & generally needs sorting out.
Since its just held on with a few spot welds and some tacks at the top I decided it was easier to remove it completely.





With it removed from the car I can do a much better job on it, as well as removing all the rust from the back side.
It also gives me better access to other areas that need attention.



What you're seeing here represents probably half a days solid work, wire wheeling, grinding etc the rear bumper area back to pretty much bare metal.
There are areas that need repairs, but its not too bad.
Lots of box sections to trap water and salt though.



Finally I blasted it out with compressed air, hit it with brake cleaner & gave it a coat of electrox. Will dress it back in areas that need welding of course.


Finally I started on grinding back the wheel well on the nearside. This is where it got depressing, only got two photos, but they tell a thousand words.



Not only is the sill completely rotten, but some previous owner filled them with tons of goopy filler, you can make it out in the photo. I also started grinding back the rust along the back edge of the rear arches & that's pretty pad as well, not sure if the best approach is to cut off the outer or the inner.
I'd rather not cut out any body panels until I have replacements, I spoke to the chap who does the panels but he won't be doing them until after lockdown.

[Hobbawobba]

Nice progress again aye! Gotta keep telling yourself it'll be worth it once it's done aye

[DKWW2000]

Admire your hard work, every bit you do will make it last that much longer

[danny]

seen everything before, just the same as if it was mine. I hope you are, or know a good bodyworker, you will need it. I made all the panels myself. Lots of work on it.

[rotarypower]

Hahaha, cheers!

I used to be fairly decent at sheet metal, had to do it solidly for 3 months on my apprenticeship made some quite nice bits.
But that was in a proper workshop with guilotine, sheet metal brake, nibbler, rollers, swagers, you name it. I have none of those things at home.

Welder is finally here & I got it set up and had a crack at some test welds, unfortunately there are no base setting sheets with it so I'm flying blind, which as novice is pretty tricky. Going to do LOTS of practice first.

Also got some 0.9mm Zintec sheet to start repairing the rear valance, start with the easy stuff / low hanging fruit!