phil88 - mk2 16v

[jv]

[phil88]

thanks jv 

hiya, bit about me. ive just turned 19 and studying graphic design at nottingham trent. I live in blackburn and thats where the car is. so the only times i get to work on the car is in my holidays. I got the car given from a friend at work, the car had been stuck in her garage for about five years, she belived that the head gasket had gone. and it wasnt starting. when i got the car i had no knowledge about the working of cars at all. but im a pretty pratical person so im learning as i go along. Also cause im a student i dont have much cash so its very much a diy project.

Got the car in the christmas holidays, took some flicks.











so its easter now, because the car is off the road ive decided to strip it all down see how bad all the rust is. more pictures on the way...

[phil88]

first problem i had was one of the cooling hoses was spilt so got myself a newen, put coolent in



checked for air locks but the system didnt seem to be working, next thing to check was the water pump and the thermostat



that seemed to be ok, changed my thermostat just to be on the safe side, old one was rusty



engine with the pump out... will need a good clean one day



put it all back together but didnt really seem to solve it, the fans wernt coming warm so looked at the pipes to the heater matrix, looked like there was an air lock in the top bit. to solve this I undid the little pipe that crosses the flow and return hoses and squeezed the water though. thats seems to have solved the problem.

[phil88]

with the engine working ive decided to strip all the car, and look for all the rust. there are a couple of indications that there is some rust knocking about.

looks like the worst bit


more rust


starting stripping


back seats out


lights out, that poylstyrene box, is it part of the immobiliser?


back in its garage

[phil88]

right slowly getting up to date...

drivers side door didnt look too clever so i thought ill see whats lerking underneath



got a wire brush on a drill and rubbed it all back



looks like the previous owner had a knock on the edge, bending the panel in, they fixed it with a load of filler, the only problem is that they didnt do anything behind and the rust has eaten its way in from behind



im going to cut out the rust and weld a new piece of metal in

[phil88]

reete, as theres nowt to do ill post some more

bumper off


glass out, was actually scarely easy


more pictures of the inside, with a bit of a clean up it should be pretty good. the previous owners had stuck carpet down so that will need scraping off





The next bit of rust. been patched with with some fibre glass resin, but the rust hadnt been treated, or painted so it had been left to continue



will need some welding here



the worst bit ive found is this bottom corner, its all soft so looks like ill need to fabricate a new corner



bit of rust seems to be coming though, ill have a proper look somtime



boot off



rear arch is all rusty and soft too,







looks like im gona have to get pretty good at welding and fabrication

[phil88]

my new toy 



went down to a local sheet metal workshop and got some bits of sheet steel for the rust patches



cut out all the rust from that back section



also been sorting out the door, cut the worst of it out





made a little plate up for the back



got some rust treatment on it overnight so i might start welding it tomorrow

[phil88]

did my first bit of welding today 



was really hard to do the inner bit, ive had to build it all up, but because it was thin it kept blowing though so took a while, and its not too pretty too.



was going to pick up an angle grinder today but they didnt have the one i wanted in stock. so ive had to use a file today on the welds



the inside of the door



Ive also welded up some of the rust pits that were coming though the front of the door



To make sure the metal insert fit properly i made a card template



the door panel was quite weak so ive created a bracket to support the panel and the new piece of metal



welded in



then ive welded the plate in



hopefully ill have it ground down tomorrow and starting to fill the door

[phil88]

went to B+Q today got myself an angle grinder, at £14 was a bargin and it came with two disks 



I also welded in the back plate that i made the other day, not the cleanest of welds but i think im getting the hang of it and nothing the angle grinder wont sort out 



ground down the bottom of it, forgot to take a picture of it when I had finished it so ill get one tomorrow



when i had done that i started on the door, its come out really well



tomorrow im going to weld any pits up and hopefully start using filler on the door, thanks for looking. Phil

[phil88]

filled the door today, still need bit more filler. sort that out tomorrow