Operation Orange - 1980 Sprint restoration

[SprintMWU773V]

My shell went off for a clean and e-coat this week. Thanks to Stewart for his transportation services and help removing the undercarriage! I'd already removed all the doors, bonnet and bootlid prior to shipping which saved quite a lot of time once we got there. I have chosen not to strip and coat the bootlid or bonnet following advice from MikeyB. The doors however will get done however.

I had a brief tour whilst I was st SPL, saw the tanks where things get cleaned off and had a good nose at everything else that was in for treatment as well. I few Escorts spied as well as a couple of Jensen's, one of which was very frilly. It's a slightly odd place and certainly not one to deal with if you think your pride and joy will be treated like a priceless Ming vase. However there isn't anyone else who can provide such a service and certainly in my case my shell though rust free has sustained some handling damage over the years already and this can easily be sorted out once it goes to paint.













The shell will now be away for 3-4 weeks. The good news is that I don't expect to find any structural rust so it should hopefully go straight into the paintshop from here.

[straylight]

that pic of the sprint shell on the forklift, undercarriage left behind, is fantastic !

thanks for the update

stu

[SprintMWU773V]

I like it too. We were lucky that it just fell off, I thought it might have been more problematic. At first the rear suspension didn;t come off then I realised I had left the trailing arm bolts in to prevent falling down and hitting me whilst we undid the shock top mounts. To anyone considering doing something like this then having the wheels on does make it much easier. SPL won't store them for you though so you need to make sure you can store them or find someone nice who will store them for you for a bit!

[covcourier]

Your welcome!!

[Dyna]

The shell will now be away for 3-4 weeks. The good news is that I don't expect to find any structural rust so it should hopefully go straight into the paintshop from here.

I would get it home first. While dipping can be fantastic every single seam seal is gone afterwards. You will need to seam seal the body very carefully to avoid future rust problems in the seams. I'm not really the body expert but hubby has seen and talk quite a bit about the seam rust you can get after a dip.

Cheers Dyna

PS: PM me and I can see if we can write something up about seam sealing

[SprintMWU773V]

Yes it will require seam sealing and also replacement anti drum pads on the floors. Paint shop wil do all that for me which is good!

[SprintMWU773V]

SPL contacted me today to let me know the shell is ready for collection following dipping and e-coating. They sent me a few photos of the process showing the cleansed shell and then the same shell e-coated. The doors have ben treated separately and hopefully should be at SLP somewhere also ready. The bonnet and boot lid were not treated as advice was they go floppy when all the goo gets dissolved.

Here the shell is locked into a frame to enable it to be lowered into the cleaning tanks.




Then the shell is e-coated at a separate facility




Should now into painting in a week or so when the shell can be collected.

[Mad Mart]

Looks fantastic Mark.

The code is HAE for Brooklands!

[SprintMWU773V]

Alas it has to be Vermillion, painter wants it Yellow but I won't let him!

[SprintMWU773V]

It's a PPG industries standard e-coat paint. The difference is that it is now carried out at a different site. I know sometimes the paint was a different colour.

[SprintMWU773V]

I went to pick up my shell from SPL this morning. It was waiting for me in the shed when I arrived at 8:30. Interestingly I was the 3rd person to collect already with an MGB just gone and a Metro 6R4 just being loaded onto a trailer.



Overall I'm pleased with the e-coat coverage and it certainly sems to have got everywhere it needs to.





After inspection and the dreaded payment the shell was quickly loaded onto the trailer (thanks again Stewart and John). I was able to keep it on the pallet which helped unloading at the other end. We covered the shell in case we caught a shower on the way back North. The doors were also ready and they were loaded into the back of the van and secured.





The shell is now residing at PF Autos in Tunstall who hopefully will be carrying out the paintwork. He's a regular commercial bodyshop but also works on a number of classic cars of all shapes and sizes. In there today was an MGA, some kind of Ferrari, a Bentley with the best paint I had ever seen, a Jag XK140 to name but a few. He's worked on quite a few Triumph's in the past but not a Dolomite. I think he was genuinely surprised with what I turned up with. When I said it was like a new shell I don;t think he realised just how like new it actually is. You can view some of his projects here - http://www.pfautos.com/



Paul and his team will now trial fit the bonnet, boot lid and doors to get an idea of how much prep in needs. The e-coat really highlights any imperfections in the panels. one of the doors is particularly ripply whereas the others are pretty good. The bonnet and bootlid will need to be bare metalled separately as they were not dipped at SPL.

Hopefully I should know more next week!

[SprintMWU773V]

Called into the bodyshop today as Paul at PF Autos had rung to say he's trial fitted the panels and marked up all the imperfections and would I like to come and see? As it's not far I hopped in the car and went off.

The shell has now been transferred to some sturdy wheeled stands and has indeed had the doors, bootlid and bonnet attached. The bonnet and bootlid are still in the factory grey primer.



Paul has gone over the shell and has marked any damage or dents. There are quite a few, mainly due to the fact the shell was stored for so long and moved around quite a bit over the years. Paul was particularly concerned about the door gaps. Essentially the shell is as factory which means the shut lines are pretty rubbish, fine in 1980, perhaps not so fine now.







Quite a bit of work will need to take place in order to get the panels lining up to Paul's high standards. Though it's a pain you have to keep reminding yourself that these cars were not precision made a cars are today. He reckons for example than the O/S B Pillar is about 4mm out! Now seems like a good opportunity to iron out some of the poor build, more expense but hopefully worth it in the end.

Also a couple of people have asked me what the e-coat coverage is like underneath such as in the wheel arches, well here it is.

[Carledo]

Those door gaps look perfect when compared with the unmolested factory originals on my car! Is there such a thing as being too perfect??? Steve

[SprintMWU773V]

I thought they were OK, the worst one is between the driver and passenger door, it's miles out. I've already said I don't want it too perfect. If nothing else it'll cost me a fortune, it's not an e-type!

[SprintMWU773V]

If I decide to go down that route, and actually I don't have to, it will require the shell being put on a jig, undo the B Post, move it and then weld it back on. It's quite a big job. Whether I go this far largely depends on the final quotation! Really the panels needed to be hanging to assess the shell and determine how much metal work was required as well as the level of finish required in both visiible and non-visible areas. I should find out later today so fingers crossed.