bit of an update on this, MOT was due on the 22nd of December, failed on a few things, but nothing too bad
Basically it needed some welding, a hole in the floor and a couple of patches on the sills... pretty much down to being lowered... one of the holes isnt even rusty, it looks like something has just punched a hole in it
a inner CV boot(what a pain in the arse that was!)
failed on a couple of wishbone bushings, i decided to replace both front arms and both ball joints while i was at it.
corroded brake lines, weren't too bad so sanded the rust off and gave them a coat of red oxide paint
thats about it really, i had to take the headlight tint film off and swap the rear lights for some standard ones because of the red indicators though
first on the list was some welding, I got a TIG welder in the summer but hadn't got around to setting it up and learning how to use it. so after a little while practising on some old metal i set about welding the hole up in the floor... bear in mind this is my first time ever using a welder, i watched some youtube videos to get an idea then just set about having a go with it.
it was a bit awkward as i had to make it up of 4 little plates to follow the shape of the floor, i tried bending one piece to shape but it didnt work too well... oh well more practise for me!
Heres the rust, its one of those rubber bungs thats in the floors of mk3s, its gone rusty around the hole and fallen out, i could put most of my arm into the hole!
and all welded up, was pretty good practice as it was thin metal but didnt need to be too neat, welds were a bit messy but it held well and looks fine once ground flat and undersealed
that led me to my next problem! not MOT related....
after welding up the hole in the floor i noticed the footwells were filling up with water pretty quickly! so i ripped the interior out and put it inside to dry out.
I sat in the car whilst a friend sprayed it with a hose to find the leak... turned out it was coming in through the bonnet release cable bung under the scuttle panel, a bit of silicone sealant later and thats sorted
Interesting though, it seems that before the water was draining out of the hole in the floor, once welded it just puddled up in the back, bit of a rubbish picture but there was about an inch of water!
another un MOT related problem i had, one day the power steering pump just fell off, two of the bolts had sheared and the other two had fallen out... bit annoying but some new bolts and a new belt later and its all back on
i did the 2nd bit of welding today, this is the nearside rear of the sill, the rail was folded up from hitting a speedbump and i think that had caused a hole to open up
bent the rail back into place and cleaned all the metal up
I ran out of gas so didnt get as many welds on as i would of liked, its held very firmly in place, i just wanted to make it a bit neater. I was getting the hang of doing some short seam welds though
its in for its MOT retest tomorrow so im hoping to weld a patch over the last little hole and then it should be all good
all in incuding the cost of the MOT its only cost me about £100... thats with the two new lower arms, both ball joints and CV boot kit
