192 replies to this topic

[IronmanG]

Heads up mate. You're not the first and won't be the last.

[panky]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh bugger.

[KTS]

oh no - that's a real kick in the whotsits...

 

on the plus side, Mrs Carthorse sounds like she could be a keeper 

[carthorse]

oh no - that's a real kick in the whotsits...

 

on the plus side, Mrs Carthorse sounds like she could be a keeper 

She is a long suffering car widow. From the Triumph Spitfire That needed its carbs rebuilding almost every time I parked it outside her parents house for more than an hour to the memorable time just after the birth of child #2 when she sent me out to replace my home brew mx5 turbo with ‘something practical with 4 seats’ and I came back with a rusty Cooper SPi  she’s taken it all in her stride ✌️

[carthorse]

OK, so when we left the action i was seriously considering cutting Percy into small enough bits to shave with for the next 40 years and taking up crocheting as means of spending my spare time. After the plan was hatched to expensively rectify my little mistake I realised I might as well get back in the garage and get the shell as ready for painting as I can manage before it goes for stripping. When it gets back time will be of the essence to get it into primer before it starts to rust again ......

Since the front subframe is going to be solid mounted I knocked up some reinforcing plates for the toe board on welded them on. 

Theres no picture of the welding, lets just say its functional but not aesthetically pleasing 

With that job ticked off the list I started to cast a critical eye over some of my previous 'repairs'. To be frank some of my early attempts at welding would have Stevie Wonder wincing ...... like this for example on the nearside windscreen frame and dash top rail:

 

I'd like to blame my old Clarke Mig welder that this blobfest was created with, but it really was a case of operator incompetence. So after a tickle with the new super-duper Sealey welder that had appeared about 4 pages ago and some judicious flap wheel and die-grinder action the were left with this: 

 

Still not perfect but much better and the welds actually had some penetration rather than just sitting on the top of the panels. So as time and enthusiasm allows over the Christmas holidays I've worked my way haphazardly around the shell tidying up areas like this and adding a few extra welds here and there. 

I've even started to root through some of the boxes of dusty mislabeled parts digging out and shot blasting some bits ready for paint. Here's the first batch masquerading as faux garage christmas baubles 

 

Hope everyone had a good Crimbo and here's to hoping for some real progress in 2022!

[Homersimpson]

Before sending off for chemical stripping have you tried using the thinners that came with the primer on it?  This should disolve it, perhaps put it on a rag and cover that with polythene.

 

Personally i've never been a fan of chemical stripping as i've seen a few cars over the years where the chemical has leached out the seams after a while and caused hideous rust.

 

If you have to do it I would go for media blasting using someone who does this on cars reguarly and uses something that won't rust if it gets into the box sections as you won't necessarily get it all out again.

[carthorse]

Before sending off for chemical stripping have you tried using the thinners that came with the primer on it?  This should disolve it, perhaps put it on a rag and cover that with polythene.

 

Personally i've never been a fan of chemical stripping as i've seen a few cars over the years where the chemical has leached out the seams after a while and caused hideous rust.

 

If you have to do it I would go for media blasting using someone who does this on cars reguarly and uses something that won't rust if it gets into the box sections as you won't necessarily get it all out again.

I really did have a good go at taking it all off with thinners but it would have taken forever to get it all out of all the nooks and crannies under the load bed and heelboard and made a hell of a mess and I just couldn’t face it to be honest. Also the shell still has a deep layer of paint and filler on the roof and the last however many years of restoration have left a patch work of many different primers , e-coat and overspray over different bits of the shell. Taking it all back to bare metal will hopefully save a shed load of time and my sanity. 
I hear what you’re saying about chemical dipping, and after looking at all the options it’s going to Enviro-strip in Tamworth who basically ‘cook’ the paint etc off as far as I can tell and seem to come pretty highly recommended so hopefully there will be no issues

[Homersimpson]

 

Before sending off for chemical stripping have you tried using the thinners that came with the primer on it?  This should disolve it, perhaps put it on a rag and cover that with polythene.

 

Personally i've never been a fan of chemical stripping as i've seen a few cars over the years where the chemical has leached out the seams after a while and caused hideous rust.

 

If you have to do it I would go for media blasting using someone who does this on cars reguarly and uses something that won't rust if it gets into the box sections as you won't necessarily get it all out again.

I really did have a good go at taking it all off with thinners but it would have taken forever to get it all out of all the nooks and crannies under the load bed and heelboard and made a hell of a mess and I just couldn’t face it to be honest. Also the shell still has a deep layer of paint and filler on the roof and the last however many years of restoration have left a patch work of many different primers , e-coat and overspray over different bits of the shell. Taking it all back to bare metal will hopefully save a shed load of time and my sanity. 
I hear what you’re saying about chemical dipping, and after looking at all the options it’s going to Enviro-strip in Tamworth who basically ‘cook’ the paint etc off as far as I can tell and seem to come pretty highly recommended so hopefully there will be no issues

 

In fairness i've heard some good things about Enviro-Strip in Tamworth from a semi professional restorer who used them for a few cars so hopefully all should be good, are you going to get them to prime it before you get it back or are you going to prime it?

 

If your going to do it then I can recommend this primer https://www.ebay.co....tm/262501398242 and this is enough to do an entire MK2 Jag inside and out so would be plenty for a mini.

[carthorse]

Well after a couple of scheduling oops (one mine, one theirs) Percy has now shuffled off to his date with a large oven and some paint stripper at Envirostrip

 

 

When he comes back hopefully no more horrors will have been revealed under the last bits of original paint! 

 

[carthorse]

Naked Percy is back in the house ! (Well the garage anyway 😀)

 

 

 
This was so worth it. Every speck of paint has been eradicated, although if I’d done this 12 pages ago Percy would probably have come back in a couple of carrier bags ……. 🤣

I was pretty worried that the roof would be hiding some horrors under all the filler and paint but apart from a slightly frilly section at the edge all was good. 
 

 

Of course these little holes turned into bigger ones as soon as Captain Spatula Fingers here started trying to fill them in with the welder, but I got there in the end. 
 

 

The only other holes were on the inner side of the passenger door under the window channel. 
 

 

After a rinse and repeat with the welder……. 

 

 

 All was solid again. I think finally say that after almost after almost 5 years of pain it’s time for the welder to become a retirement home for spiders in the corner of the garage! 

[KTS]

It may have been two steps backward, but that is certainly one very big step forward.

[Verderad]

It’s a good feeling to put the welder away. Even better when the paint goes on.
All the best.

[bpirie1000]

It is a mini... welders are drawn to them.. top work and top effort for not rushing in..

[Homersimpson]

Welders are always useful, I finished welding the body on my MK2 Jag project in 2020 but i'm still using it on the car to remove rusty bolts when rebuilding the running gear and to repair the heater that has rusted out.

 

Then of course there is the next project.......

[carthorse]

Right, big update time..... be prepared for more disaster, controversial choices and hopeful some progress   Of course Percy got delivered home just before I had to start a pretty intense period of having to earn a living (apparently everyone wanted to fly of on holiday all of a sudden  )

So conscious of the need to get the acres of bare steel protected asap Percy went straight back on the rollover jig and was treated to a coat of epoxy primer (this time being very sure to mix in the hardener exactly as per the instructions )

I had time to get some seam sealer on which I quickly discovered is fantastic for covering up not so neat welds before work got in the way and progress stalled for awhile.

 

I'd decided ages ago to coat the underside and loadbed in Upol Raptor coat so a kit and applicator gun was purchased and I started to mask up the shell in preparation for spraying the undersides.

This is the next self inflicted rookie painters error. To my horror I noticed that if I repositioned the low tack masking tape it was pulling great splotches of primer straight of the shell       

I had been around the shell with some panel wipe and a rag before spraying the primer but my first timers paint prep had obviously been insufficient. I spent a horrible afternoon in the garage sticking tape to the shell in various places and then seeing how much paint peeled off, and the answer was quite a lot. To say i was a trifle demoralised is like saying Boris likes an after work drink or two 

 

This latest debacle prompted a bit of a rethink about the whole project really. In no particular order here's some of the jumbled thoughts that bounced around my frontal lobe:

1/ Being realistic I realised that I was just too far down the rabbit hole to give up despite how tempting that subscription to 'Knitting as a Hobby' magazine was looking.

2/ Theres was also no way that Percy was ever going to be a show winner unless I started again and redid 80% of the bodywork to a better standard

3/ I couldn't afford to have a professional step in and do the paintwork

4/ I couldn't face the ridicule from a professional looking at what a mess I'd made of it so far

5/ What was needed was a sensible pragmatic approach to getting something akin to a working vehicle again before oil ran out

6/ A non-perfect finish would mean I wouldn't be afraid to drive Percy or leave him in the pub car park overnight sometimes

6/ that I really needed to stop procastinating and just get on with things

7/ i needed some  proper degreaser 

 

There are no pictures of me going over the shell with a orbital sander till the primer stopped flaking off or the degreasing and recoating  of the undersides. I was too depressed to take pictures.......

then this happened and I cheered up a bit 

 

 

The finish is just what I was after, and tough as nails just as advertised 

 

 

 

Ok, you wouldn't use it on a concours restoration, but It was just what I wanted. Flushed with this minor win I did the loadbed and tailgate as well 

 

In the background of this last picture the eagle eyed may spot the plan for the rest of the paintwork but that's for another post.....