cars arrived!

[grinder]

right then this is the rough guide to what i did :

for the inside sections

1 - remove everything
2 - work out how much i needed to cover ( using one piece )
3 - say that was a 15mm gap
4 - cut a strip of metal 35mm wide - 15mm up the side of the box section , 15mm to cover the hole , 15mm to get to solid metal
5 - tack weld one corner
6 - get a ball pein hammer ( got a ball on one end )
7 - knock up to an inch away from the weld to get it to shape
8 - tack this down
9 - knock it flat a bit more - tack it
10 - do this so the metal is held every inch or so with a tack of weld
11 - this should be shaped to the shape of the car now
12 - the thing about hitting it aswell - (1) it shapes it (2) you know your weld is holding
13 - once its all in place and in shape
14 - WELD IT ALL UP THE BEST YOU CAN
15 - take out angle grinder - grind the weld flat
16 - weld up any bits you missed
17 - not the cut more metal to cover any more holes - this can be welded onto your new metal
18 - it then got 2 coats of hammerite to stop it going rusty
19 - do the rest of the car

the odds are you wont get perfect square holes , so if its and odd shape - weld a plate that covers the most and then put plates to cover the rest

i will have a play in paint shop to TRY and show you what i mean

i will be back

[grinder]

right then

1 - black = rusty hole
2 - blue = plates

see attached pic :

this is how i did mine - it should give you an idea

[prisspringle]

yer that seems easy enough, just hope the sills are ok i never got the chance to prod the car, to busy eating and drinking this afternoon. So its gonna have to be done on boxing day unless i can find the time tomorrow....

cheers for the pics.

i think we need a sticky for how to solve rust on rx7 trouble spots?

chris

[grinder]

More points to add

1 - you WILL NOT do it over a weekend - so dont even think about it
2 - it will annoy the hell out of you and make you want to give up and cry
3 - you will hold your head in your hands and blame the world when you cant get a plate to weld on
4 - you will sit and think about selling it half way thru
5 - you will get your head / hands / ears burnt by blobs of weld
6 - you will end up cut and bleeding trying to cut the metal
7 - people will want to talk to you when you are midst welding
8 - you will realise you are out of your depth - but you will continue
9 - you will learn how to bend your body in impossible positions
10 - you will get welding flash and see that shiney spot for hours
11 - you will weld a plate on and then touch it to see if its cold ( trust me - it isnt ! )12 - you will leave 4 miles of welding wire on the drive as you keep cutting it to get the welder to arc up
13 - the seats take 14 times longer to put back in than they took to come out

BUT

once its done you can stand proud and FIRMLY say that you did it , no one else , just you - and its the best feeling in the world matey - trust me - i have been there

Stu

[prisspringle]

rite, theres good news and bad news, the cars got some rust which is big news! the passenger side is the worst which is a suprice, theres already a hole next to and including the jacking point at the front, that looks like the worst point on the whole car but the floor on the inside is fine i never looked under the ECU gaurd tho but theres no wind noise and its dry so i didn\'t think it would be so bad. also the back arch needs work where its rusted through the arch and the body work but that looks a simple cut back and plate in job and doesn\'t look like it will get into the car anytime soon.

the drivers side is fairly solid apart from the bottom and outerside of the sill so that will need cuting out and sheeting back up, atleast i can cut it out in one block and use it to get the right shape, the jacking point is pretty good on this side as well the worse bit is behind the arch liner i couldn\'t see quite how back cos of the liner but its hopefuly not to bad

but on the good side i\'m gonna fix it up, i think me and sarah wanna sort it out and bring it back to looking like it should. :burnout

just need to try the engine tomorrow aslong as the only problem is only a missing battery.

chris

[gsb876]

Looks like you got your work cut out there Chris  

I guess one of the problems of buying a car without viewing is the fact that the previous owner will NOT tell you everything as then you wont buy it  :yes  So they just tell you the minor details and then you get a suprise when it arrives  :3Confused

Good luck chap

Gurj

ps- dont let Grinder nick anything off you when you\'re not looking  :Thumbs-up

[prisspringle]

indeed! the one bit of rust he did tell me about is a hole! unless the drive down on the back of a truck some how make it incredably rusty... still for 77 quid i\'m happy not like i cant invite grinder around and sell half the car to him :wiggle.

rite to ebay for some goodies to make the car better.

chris

[grinder]

the rust doesnt sound too bad then matey !!

speak to a chap called GRIZZLY NOW - he is breaking a S5 vert .. but he doesnt want to break it over months - you may get all the bits you need for yours - he is a TOP bloke - tell him i sent you to him

Stu / Grinder

[prisspringle]

i\'d pm him if i could, still no membership yet, i\'m not totaly sure on the parts i need yet, when i try the engine tomorrow i\'ll try to make a list. i\'ll plug in the dash as well to make sure theres power to everything, a few wires have been cut that i think are needed. has any one fitted a stick on number plate to the top of the bumper, i dont like the look of the std plate and how its fitted.

chris

[grinder]

my mate had one stuck on and it was OK

have a look thru the for sale section , you will find an email addy for him

[Moonwrap]

btw whats the small pipe that runs along side the passenger side exhaust? i guess its to do with emmisions?

chris

Hi :wave

Here\'s my understanding of the small pipe...

Air is pumped down to cool the thermal reactor.  The thermal reactor can glow white hot, so a device is needed to carry the very hot air that it has heated up safely away from under the car.  This is your small pipe

The rear end section of the pipe commonly gets very rusty and technically it wouldn\'t fail an MOT, as long as it\'s not hanging off dangerously.  However you\'ll find many MOT stations who will ask you what it is!

Even new the end pipe from Mazda is about £29.00.  I can give you the part number if you need it?

Hope it helps

Lynn

[prisspringle]

thats what i had thought, it sounds like it had a small hole in the pipe on the mot print out so i\'ll have to sort that out as well. i still havent tryed the engine the battery thats in my other car  wont come out spent an hour trying to get the single bolt out! i would of drilled it out but it isn\'t my car just borrowed so i\'ll have to buy one and hope everything is ok.

when i start on the rust would it be a good idea to do a how to type guide with pictures and a write up and make it a sticky for everyone else to use?

chris

[grinder]

i wouldnt worry about a write up to be honest matey - you will have enough to worry about just doing that !!

if you want i could come over for a couple of hours to give you a hand ? - not sure when it could be - but the offer is there for you

Stu

[prisspringle]

fair enough just thought it would be handy for new members ect, still might tho.

that would be great if you could i still need to sort a welder and grinder out.i\'m gonna start on the rear arch to practice  1st since it in a bad way as it is, its eather been kicked at last night or its got worse by its self!

chris

[prisspringle]

i just had an idea! when ever your free would you let me borrow your battery and check the car over for me, whould be the best way to find out if anything is wrong that i wouldn\'t know of?

chris