37 replies to this topic

[MR J]

Hi all,

Thought it was about time I started a Projects Thread about my own car. It is (as the title suggests) a 94 Sprite. It's been off the road for nearly three years now following an accident and consiquently being wrote off. I bought it back from the insurance and have been working on and off (mainly off, got three kids under 4) since then to get it back on the road.

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The damage to the car was quite minimal, just a small bump to the offside rear corner, but it had also got the corner of the bootlid. There was no damage to the boot floor.

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Started off by sourcing a new rear panel, got a good second hand rear panel from an accident damaged Mini at Mini Classics near Doncaster and then bagan to cut away the damaged section on my car. I quickly realised that the car had been in a previous similar accident and the whole area i was cutting out was full of filler.

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After welding in the new panel the project was laid up for 18 months while we moved house and had another baby

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Last year I started work on the car again. I managed to get the rear end painted, which I did myself in cellulose. Still got the bootlid to do yet though.

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Then it was time to move to the front. Although it had not sustained any damage in the accident it still required some work. Both sides of the screen bottom were rotten and it had had the offside wing replaced at some time in the past which had not been primered before painting and consiquentley had a poor paint finish, plus it was also rusty around the indicator repeater.

Got to work and replaced the rotten nearside windscreen scuttle before the project was put on hold again whilst we had another baby

Finally last week I was able to get back in the garage, and got the offside windscreen scuttle welded in and am now in the process of filling and shaping ready for painting. (I hate this part)

Hopefully next week I'll be able to throw some paint at it.

[Down&Out]

good luck!

[MR J]

Got a little bit more done, scuttle panel filled, wing stripped.





Need to get garage cleared of pushchairs and stuff ready for priming

[mk1leg]

Hi..MJ very nice job of chopping in rear panel and front scuttle, and you better not get primer on those pushchairs..............Haha..............

[MR J]

Hi..MJ very nice job of chopping in rear panel and front scuttle, and you better not get primer on those pushchairs..............Haha..............

been in and cleared some space in the garage today. Pushchairs now in shed!!!

[MR J]

Been in the garage this weekend, got the front end all masked and done in primer. Had a few blemishes to rub down and fill.

Hopefully get some top coat on tomorrow when I get up (writing this at work, 12 hour night shift) Will post some pics tomorrow

Anyone in Doncaster area any good at fitting windscreens?

[Bungle]

you will get there in the end

[MR J]

you will get there in the end

Cheers, plan is to get it back on the road, then start work on my fiesta brake conversion and fitting my new Rover 200 half leather seats.

[MR J]

had a day in the garage today







Not bad for a Netto compressor and spray gun

Will get bonnet and bootlid done tomorrow hopefully.

[MR J]

got some more done today. bootlid and bonnet painted.







still got bonnet to fit, that's it for this week though. got to go to work and got other stuff to do

[whyter]

ur doing a fine job on it....Was it a mig welder u used to weld the seems ? How many coats of primer & final coats of paint did u put on? did u have the garage at a certain temp while spraying?Will u take a picture of the compresor & spray gun? Sorry about all the questions ,,,fitting the windscreen is easy & will be a doddle for u considering the work uve done on it already...u must be in the business? If not ur in the WRONG business!!

[minidunc]

You've got to be a professional sprayer. That's a great finish!

[MR J]

ur doing a fine job on it....Was it a mig welder u used to weld the seems ? How many coats of primer & final coats of paint did u put on? did u have the garage at a certain temp while spraying?Will u take a picture of the compresor & spray gun? Sorry about all the questions ,,,fitting the windscreen is easy & will be a doddle for u considering the work uve done on it already...u must be in the business? If not ur in the WRONG business!!

Thanks for the compliment

Yes it is a snap-on mig welder i use. Bought off ebay quite cheaply. Drilled holes along the seams and filled them with weld to get the spot weld look, then ground the tops of the welds flush.

Had about four coats of primer, rubbed down between coats with 800 grit wet and dry. Then had two good top coats of colour. All paint is cellulose.

Heated the garage before, during and after painting with a propane gas super ser heater. Takes about an hour or so to get the garage nice and warm. Don't have a specific temp, just when it felt warm enough!

will post you a pic of my gear later (at work at the moment) Compressor was £60, spray gun (including hose, tyre inflator, air blower and parafin spray gun) £20!!! from Netto. Got a seperator from Thorite though to catch any oil or moisture from the compressor which was £25 i think.

I'm sure I will be able to get the windows back in, just need to take a deep breath and go for it! need to do a search to find out the best method first though.

No, I'm not in the business, I work at a power station, I know who pays the better money!!

[MR J]

You've got to be a professional sprayer. That's a great finish!

cheers!

It does look good in the photos i admit, close up it's not perfect. Nothing a wet sand and polish shouldn't cure though.

[MR J]

As promised a few pics of my stuff.



Netto Tooltech compressor with oil and moisture seperator.



Ebay bargain Snap-on mig (had to do a 500 mile round trip to pick it up though)



Netto Tooltech spray gun.



Garage heater.



Another ebay bargain, 1.5 litres of flame red paint £15 delivered.