Project HWL Sprint

[Autonet7]

Managed to get the car up off the ground today and have a look under.



So far found it needs a new o/s chassis leg (why is it always this side on my cars?)



Behind the headlights it's a bit messy, but the front end is coming off anyway so the whole lot will be replaced



Needs a small patch on the front closing part of the sill on the n/s behind the wing




and so far that seems about all welding wise. I was expecting worse. A lot worse Floor are all good


Oh and need to weld a nut to the keyed wheel nuts for which I have no key.



Sounds simple eh? then just need to strip all the paint, strip all the underseal from underside, re-schultz, put 2 new wings and front panel on, new o/s rear door, new bootlid, new vinyl roof, respray, refurb all the wood, rebuild the engine, refurb the wheels, refurb and repaint all the running gear and subframe, new tyres, MOT and tax.............finished. Sound familiar Mart?

[newguy]

If it is anything like your previous build it will be a minter!!

[1300dolly]

the soundproffing on the o/s either falls out or is removed as it drops as it fouls the peddles.

Progress so far looking good, i never noticed the mismatching nuts hwen i was storing it, not that i would have done anything about it though

[Autonet7]

Question Derek, see in the pic above that you have "soundproofing" on the bulkhead wall of the N/S footwell but none on the offside. When I stripped it 969 had none on the offside so I thought that it was missing; checked my auto, none. Stripped a 1500HL in Carlisle at the weekend, none.
It's shown in the parts book but so far Iv'e seen none on a car. Did Frenchie have any?

Guess justyn is right. It wasn't there when I ripped everything out. I guess also when the steering bush is replaced for the first time, it's in the way, so gets pulled out.

[Mad Mart]

Looking very familiar. Think I'll have to finish stripping PFJ at the weekend & get it off to the welders.

[Autonet7]

Likewise. This weekend will drop all the running gear and engine/subframe, finish removing all doors, boot, dash, etc and start to remove the front end.

Got my enthusiasm back now.

[David6214]

Got my enthusiasm back now.

Thank Goodness for that!!!

[Autonet7]

Thank Goodness for that!!!

I know. I nearly gave up and sold the lot. Was getting seriously fed up with the mountianous task ahead............but onwards and upwards.

I want to drive it to this years TDCIR

[xvivalve]

Cheeky buggers think that they are getting £4K on account for this year.

Yep, good old Gordon. Have you checked out his crafty Class IV NI contributions; a rise on income tax in everything but name!

[Lewis]

Best of luck!

So far found it needs a new o/s chassis leg (why is it always this side on my cars?)

Battery's on that side, so I figure if it leaks then there's the chance it can find it's way down into the chassis leg and sit at the bottom, nicely corroding it out

Same thing happened to my dad's Toledo (except on the other side) - battery had gone and you could see where it'd leaked, eventually finding its way into the chassis leg and rusting it out in the same fashion.

[Howard81]

Excellent to see this one being restored - I'll certainly keep an eye on this thread

[2F45T4U]

Thats much better than I thought it was going to be. Early cars FTW

[triple tango]

good theory, Lewis.
It does seem correct that ohv engined cars rot on n/s chassis rail & slants rot the o/s.

[Autonet7]

OK, Frenchie got a facelift today. I got stuck in, made good progress and stripped the front end.

Off came the o/s wing


which revealed some minor corrosion but nothing like what I found on VGX. Easy repair


then the n/s wing


Which revealed a couple of holes. Again easy repair.


Bit more involved is the n/s inner wing reinforcer, but still surprised at how solid this car is.


Then things got serious and Frenchie lost her face



But now sports a brand new (old stock genuine BL) front inner valance, plug welded
so as to preserve the original look. Plug welds ground flush.


Now the fun starts as I offered up the pattern front panel and the fit is s##t to say the least. In fact bloody miles out is more precise.

So I have decided to separate the front upper/nose section of the original panel I removed as this is good and rust free, and graft it to the lower valance section of the pattern panel.

This way, at least the plastic honeycombs will fit and it retains a genuine BL panel where it matters.

All good fun.

[Mad Mart]

WOW!! You did all that today??? That is bloody good progress!

Doesn't look too bad at all.