4376R restoration

[4129R]

4376R is the 6th in my collection to be stripped down. #5 is in the paint shop, and #7 is waiting patiently to be stripped for respray.

Well............... if I had started with 4376R, it would have been my only project. Everything that can rust, has rusted badly, except it seems the chassis itself. I will be taking the shell off the chassis soon, so all there will be revealed.

Whoever had been repairing 4376R over the years really should take up something else, stamp collecting, line dancing, archaeology, or even stay on the X-Box indoors. Your talents lie elsewhere. Everything I pull apart has been bodged badly. Luckily so far nothing I am keeping is beyond repair, but the whole exhaust system was more hole than metal, ditto the RH petrol tank.

A rear anti-roll bar had been fitted, the rear wheel arches had been flared which made it look stupid on standard wheels and tyres, and as well as the snow-plough front spoiler, there were 10 x 9mm hollow nose bullets under the drivers seat. Maybe the PO shot the bad mechanic.

Getting the doors off was a "challenge". Even though I have taken 5 pairs of rusted hinges before, this one was the worst.

I drilled the bars and drilled one bottom pair of nuts, and I had to drill through the fibre glass wings to punch the top 1/2" bar out of the top bobbin set into the shell. One top bobbin I had to drill offset an 8mm hole to give clearance for the stub to be punched out from above, even after spraying WD 40 through the wing hole, putting two mole grips on the bar, and moving it backwards and forwards 100 times a quarter turn before cutting the top bar.

Cutting the top 1/2" bar where the door meets the shell is extremely easy with an 18v De Walt reciprocating saw. I counted to 26 before the bar was cut through completely.

Now to start stripping the front radiator, pipes and the inside. It takes me about 6 weekends to strip the car, and it is the hardest part. Much cutting and drilling of rusted bits is needed, many bolts shear off, so getting new bolts in where the old have sheared is another challenge. My 18v De Walt angle grinder even fits in the doors to cut badly rusted door handle nuts off. That was a very good purchase, from eBay as usual.

French GP qualifying soon. I hope the race will be more exciting than Monaco and Canada which were processions.

Alex in sunny Norfolk.

[4129R]

The corrosion is so widespread that I cannot even get the top hose undone where it joins the front pipe above the steering rack.

I think I can get the bodyshell off the chassis with that hose still in place, but if I were not taking the whole f'ing car apart, it would be a bit drastic to have to take the body off the chassis to change the top front rubber hose !

[BDA]

Alex, that sounds like a real challenge! I'm confident you're up to it!

[4129R]

As this is the 6th rusty one I have pulled apart, I have developed a whole host of techniques to repair the debris.

Biggest challenges so far on this car,

1) door hinges,

2) 1 bolt holding the seat belt to the chassis tunnel. I bashed a 19mm single hex metric impact socket on to the bolt, and used a 3ft extension bar, and the club hammer head to stop the seat belt metal connector from rotating. 

3) door handles. The nut on the stud at the pointy end was rusted beyond recognition but I managed to get the De Walt angle grinder into the door to grind the stud off the chrome handle.

4) all exhaust studs shearing off. I removed the engine with the manifold and downpipe still attached, and I am changing the federal head for a Weber head.

5) Seats. I had to drill out all 4 bolts holding the runners in place from under the car, as the seats were rusted in place so I could not get the seats to slide to get to those 1/2" bolts.

6) Wiper boxes. I grind the 3/4 nuts until they break. It leaves a flat on part of the wiper drive thread, but not really noticeable when the new chrome sleeve is fitted.

7) Exhaust. I had to cut the whole system up in situ as it was rusted together as one very rusty lump.

Door locks. Getting the nut undone without the key barrel rotating and making the hole in the door bigger is a challenge. Luckily I can get a spanner on the two flats on the barrel just enough to stop rotation until the nut is loose. I had to grind out a metric spanner to fit this big nut.

9) Door channel rubbers. I had to chip them out bit by bit to get to drill out the pop rivets to get the window channel out of the door shell.

10) Gear change rod in the back of the gearbox. 2 roll pins were used, 1 inside the other. I had to partially remove the gearbox to get room to drift out the pins from above. That round chassis bar was in the way.

11) The three 1/4UNF bolts holding the chassis closure plate to the chassis by the steering rack. At least 1 always shears. I have to carefully drill out the broken bolt and re-tap the hole to any new thread.

The strip down continues this weekend with removing the brake master, the steering column, and separating the shell from the chassis. I shudder to think how hard it is going to be to get the steering rack nuts and bolts undone. Luckily changing to RHD, it does not matter if they all shear off, with SJS supplying new rack clamps if needed.

My wife thinks I am totally mad. She has a point.   

[BDA]

Your wife is a saint for putting up with all the rough language you surely are using.

You are maniacally driven (but in for good cause). You may eventually want to consider therapy when you're finished.

Best of luck with all your projects!

[4129R]

She cannot understand how I can get excited when a set of rachet spanners, a coil of 1/4" copper tube, hundreds of nuts bolts and washers, and metal plates and tubes arrive in the post c/o eBay.

Buying all the stuff on eBay means I don't have to go shopping wasting time driving and parking and getting parking tickets. The stuff come to me, most post free, from all over the place, for very cheap prices.

e.g. 4mm ally plate for the chassis closer plate x 5, 2" steel tube for the fuel filler x 1 metre, 1/4" compression brass gas fittings for the fuel pipe T piece. 1/4" brass gas compression elbow to be Araldited to the thermostat water tube overflow pipe (3 have rusted very badly, the long pipe is fine, but the small pipe to the overflow tank is history.)

Another challenge, fitting 1/4" UNF bolts to the bottom of the radiator, where it secures through the bodyshell, the bolts shear off easily.

[BDA]

I love my ratcheting box-end wrenches (spanners)! ebay is a great source for almost anything!

You should be able to braze some 1/4-20 threaded rod on the bottom of the radiator. I went to a radiator shop to have my radiator checked out, boiled, etc. and he suggested I let him design and build a new one that would be more efficient. It was easy to believe the original radiator was not nearly as efficient at it could be so I said yes. To make a long story just a little longer, he brazed threaded rod on the bottom to match the original. I later replaced that radiator with a new aluminum one which I love.

[4129R]

During the strip for chassis and shell separation the bolt acting as the swivel pin for the hand brake reaction lever just sheared off.

Luckily I am converting to RHD so I need to change to the other hole in the chassis, so just the bolt to replace.

I will post photos of how to separate the shell from the chassis on your own using 4 ratchet straps and 8ft of 4 x 2.

Now I have to strip the suspension for complete rebuild of brakes and everything.

With the chassis off you can get to the 4 x long 1/4" bolts hold the steering rack much easier. All 4 came off without shearing, but 1 needed a lot of heat before I could hammer it back into the chassis, protecting the threads with nuts. I managed to separate the clamps using a hammer, a chisel, and a mole grip. They cleaned up well and a 6.5mm drill cleared the holes for future use.

This time I am rebuilding 1 side at a time so I don't bolt it all together wrong.

No rust yet found on the chassis, but at lease 2 more nests found in the chassis with plenty of bedding material, and grain for food.

This car must have been out in a field for many years.