JGU - 'Nina' 1975 Honeysuckle Dolomite (Pre 1850)

[HQentity]

Blimy oh riley James! Theres not really anything I can say that will do justice to the amount of work you're doing, is there?! Well done, and thank you. I hope you haven't found too many horrors that I created?!

Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

[new to this]

James

where did you get the body dollies your using on your car ,got any better photos of them

Dave

[James467]

James

where did you get the body dollies your using on your car ,got any better photos of them

Dave

I can't remember Dave, I have had them for a while.

[James467]

Rotisserie arrived!! I have assembled it and made some chassis mounts for the car, nothing extravagant the glass, doors, rear axle and subframe have all been removed and the shell itself like this doesn't weigh a lot.





Now this is how you want to be working on the underside of a car!

With it on its side I can tackle the chassis legs and subframe mount as well as stripping all of the old underseal and recoating it.



Both chassis legs are past their best and need replacing.







Front subframe mount is shot as well, the subframe spacers had seized into the bolts, some heat and a puller got them off.



So chassis legs first... out with the spot weld drill, 22mm hole saw to cut the bolt tube and it all came off really easily (compared to laying on your back having rust fall on your face!!! )





Floor itself was pretty good,





Club chassis leg test fit and alignment...



Clean up the floor and paint ready to fit the new chassis leg...





Prep the chassis leg





It is then just plug welded on and seam welded around the front section and bolt tube in the engine bay.





I have obviously checked the subframe bolt holes align and they do! It will be seam sealed then wax injected once painted.

One down, one to go! Having it on the rotisserie probably halved the time that it took me to do this!

[dollyman]

Now you have that bit of kit James, it might be ready for paint at the end of the week?

Tony.

[James467]

Now you have that bit of kit James, it might be ready for paint at the end of the week?

Tony.

Haha, well you say that!

On to the other chassis leg, I knew the floor wasn't as good this side and would probably need some work so wasn't surprised when I found some holes when I removed the old leg.







It was easy enough to cut out and fabricate a repair panel rather than replacing the whole floor here.









A good coat of zinc primer will see this last for a long time to come.



Chassis leg on (zinc primed on the inside as well)



Seam sealed (more functional than good looking I'm afraid!) and done!



I rolled the car out into the sun to get a good look at it, and clean the garage!





There are a couple of little bits left to do, subframe mount, front valance ends and windscreen surround plus a number of little holes to fill in under the car, all of that would probably take me a day. What I am going to do is work from the rear of the car to the front removing all of the old flaking underseal, making everything look good and at the same time seam sealing the rear panel, repair the subframe mount etc... I can then give it all a good coat of Gravitex. Once that is done I'll probably paint the underside either the original red oxide colour or body colour I'm not sure yet but by the end of the week there will be a pause so that I can get on with Richard Hyde's car for him. I'm quite tempted to go for body colour, I think that would look really good set against the fresh suspension, subframe, brake and fuel lines etc...

[Matt Cotton]

Great work James and what a really useful bit of kit that is. I bet you wish you had had it for all the other resto's you have completed!

Body colour for me, or black on the underside and body colour in the wheelarches.

MC

[James467]

Oh god yes Matt!! I have an addition to make to it but I'm keen to crack on with future projects now.

I am thinking body colour but in cellulose over the stonechip, as the cellulose is slightly softer than 2k it will be more resistant to stone chips.

[RSi]

Cracking job James (as usual).

There's going to be no stopping you now with the rotisserie, not that there ever was, they'll just be rolling out quicker .

[Mad Mart]

I'm with Matt, go with body colour underneath.

[James467]

I'm with Matt, go with body colour underneath.

Agreed, body colour it is!

Thanks Murdo, I have other projects that with welding that I wasn't looking forward to, with the rotisserie now I am!

[dollyman]

When you have finished James, just think how much meat you can get on that rotisserie when you have a barbeque

Tony.

[tamtrucks]

very nice james,making a great job on this dolly,,,,nice to see a non-sprint get the works and full treatment

[James467]

When you have finished James, just think how much meat you can get on that rotisserie when you have a barbeque

Tony.

A whole buffalo!

very nice james,making a great job on this dolly,,,,nice to see a non-sprint get the works and full treatment

Thanks, remember, it was the slant engined cars that led to the development of the Sprint!

A quick update, out with the Synstrip and onto the bottom of the car to remove all of the old paint/underseal, it's horrible stuff but does do the job! I pressure washed the bottom to remove and neutralize all remaining stripper, again thank god for the rotisserie! It looks great under there now, rear wheel arches, some small bits that can be attacked with a scraper and drill but it's ready for a couple of small rust repairs, surface rust removal and then paint. I'm convinced body colour now, it's going to look great!



Before...



After!











All of the red coating (apart from the transmission tunnel) has been removed as well just leaving some surface rust. After the wash I blew out the cavities with an air gun and span the shell around at various angles to let all of the water drain out leaving it in the sun to dry!

If anyone is interested every time I work on the car I clock in and out as well as log what I am doing. The time count so far is 74h:58 minutes, I can break that down into individual areas as well, for example it took me 4h:50 to remove the LH front chassis leg, repair the floor and fit a new one. The right hand chassis leg took me 3h:25 because I didn't have to do any floor repairs.

[marshman]

You must have read my mind. I was going to ask if you kept a note of the hours worked on the car.

Its good information for anyone who wonders how much it would cost to get someone to restore their car - I am sure there are some who do not appreciate the work involved. 75 hours so far, just labour costs will be well over £2k let alone parts and other overheads costs (rent, rates, electric, consumables). It is easy to see how the bill for a proper restoration is well into four figures (10's of thousands) if done properly. I also suspect you are a lot quicker than a lot of "restoration specialists" as you know the cars like the back of your hand and seem to have ready access to spare panels and repair sections.

Cracking job, and interesting reading (and pictures). Thanks for taking the time and trouble for the rest of us to "enjoy".

Roger