Rexanne - Gold s2 restoration project

[captainbizzaro]

I remember doing bushes on various Landrovers, not a job I\'m looking forward too at all.:2Mad

[Steve-A]

Yeh, its not much fun

In better news, my new V5 just arrived for my mx5! With correct engine number! So I\'ll get her MOTed next week and up for sale, then I can start buying shiny things for Rexanne!

[Will66]

Bushes are a pain, I did a lot of work on an old Land Rover when I was 16 and I hated doing bushes.

[captainbizzaro]

Yeah it\'s those front radius arms that I found the worst on an old Landrover 90 I had,
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 anyway I digress-look forward to seeing parcels with shiny goodies in. I too am waiting on some funds arriving next week then am going shopping. Good times.:Santa

[syebba]

You\'re weldings got better steve.
 
Amazing job you\'re doing along with cliff/ian/capitano/peters track fb,makes for interesting reading.
ta stu..

[Steve-A]

Cheers Stu I can see a noticeable improvement myself.

I also cut and shut Ian\'s sump earlier this week to clear his new subframe, and I was pleased with ow that came out. It\'s definitely becoming more natural.

[Steve-A]

Not much chance to play this week, as I\'ve been working and got more boring crap to do. Any spare time I have has been ploughed into getting the mx5 ready for an MOT and looking her best to be sold. But I\'m hoping to get some progress over the weekend!

[CHC (RIP)]

Not much chance to play this week, as I\'ve been working and got more boring crap to do. Any spare time I have has been ploughed into getting the mx5 ready for an MOT and looking her best to be sold. But I\'m hoping to get some progress over the weekend!

No worries there Steve, get the MX sorted for sale and then you could purchase the S3 from Fife? - looks good for £650.
Playing with Rexanne can wait a few days.

[CHC (RIP)]

Cheers Stu I can see a noticeable improvement myself.
 
I also cut and shut Ian\'s sump earlier this week to clear his new subframe, and I was pleased with ow that came out. It\'s definitely becoming more natural.
 

Welding has come on a treat Steve - been practising?

[Steve-A]

Haha, not sure about the s3 from Fife, the price is right, and I do need to buy something to drive day to day while I finish Rexanne........but also kinda wanted something that did better mpg than the 13b does!

I have been practicing yes The sump does kinda flatter my skills though as its just that tiny bit thicker than the FB bodywork and so that bit easier to work with!

[Steve-A]

Worked hard on Rexanne today  

Started by grinding back the welds, that I was unable to do last week because my grinder had broken.



The next up was to put the last piece in to finish rear seat area.



Next I decided to put the outer sill section on, so that it could hold the shape of the wing together while I cut out sections of the inner arch.



Got the curve this time



This side of the car has suffered worse further up the inner arch. This how it looked when I had wire brushed it back.



I gave it all a good prodding, and only found a couple of pin holes. I filled those with weld, and then started working on the template to cap that hole. You can also see that I had to cut some of the arch lip back to get access to this and because it was basically only make of rust.  



Then made up the metal and welded it in.



Only got the lower end cap to do, which is gonna be awkward as hell, and then to rebuild the arch lip, then its onto the rear of this wheel arch, and then done with welding for a bit!

Think its gonna be 1 or 1.5 days of welding left on the rear of the car, and I\'m gonna get some more done tomorrow. Feels amazing to kinda see this basic metal work stage of the project nearing its finish.

Will be on to paint after that, my favourite :Hammer:Hammer

[CHC (RIP)]

Bootiful, really bootiful mate.  By the time you finish the car, it will weigh a bit heavier I think.

[rossonza]

Exactly why it will need boost! ;-)

Very good job Steve

[Steve-A]

Bootiful, really bootiful mate.  By the time you finish the car, it will weigh a bit heavier I think.

Yeh They do say rust is lighter than carbon :rollin

Exactly why it will need boost! ;-)

No boost yet Ross, not for a while. Ian\'s lent me a book all about Webers, with lots of IDA info in there. Bit of porting as well and that should equal out the power to weight!

Was working hard on Rexanne again today. There was this strange yellow thing in the sky, I have a vague memory of seeing it some time last year, but whatever it was it made it more pleasant to be outside!



I started the day by welding in the cap that covers the end of the sill. It was rather awkward but I got it done. I also thought to leave a kinda channel at the bottom corner so it doesn\'t collect water and crap, and went round and cut the same channel into the other side (not that you can see either in the photo)



Then I rebuild the section of arch lip I\'d had to cut off.



And Wooooooo!!!!:cool:cool Thats the metal work on that sill/suspension mount/floor done!

There was one area left to tackle, the rear of the wheel arch. The drivers side had taken me an hour or so and only needed one small patch. So I was confident....haha.

A good wire brushing revealed...





A million holes. And it was all so thin, that when I cut out and tired to put a small patch over some of the holes the welder just blew through, even on the lowest setting.

So I got brutal.





I\'ve started making the card templates etc, but then decided I wanted to be inside and warm and with coffee seeing as it was getting dark, so left it there for today.

Bit of a bugger that I\'d not realised how knackered that corner was before. The arch lip the whole way round is pretty shot on this side, but it will either be rolled or covered in an over arch so I\'m not worried in that sense, but that lower section will need to be intact whatever I do with the arches.

Hopefully 1 or 2 more good solid days working on it and I can put the welder down for a bit.

[CHC (RIP)]

So the glory was short lived - I think they call this "Murphy\'s Law" (or is it Sods Law), either way a real bummer .  Are you sure you weren\'t getting withdrawal symptoms and dug in a bit too deep on purpose?