Nearly a year ago i picked up this Toyota 1989 MK1 MR2 and when i got it the plan was a quick restoration and recommission, since we are nearly a year further down the line i think i can say that was a failure.
You might have seen some of it peeking out of corners in my garage build thread mainly.
I do have a thread of the work done over on another forum but someone recently suggested i put it on here as well so here you go.
This first post will cover the work done up to this point so will be a bit quickfire.
Jump back to easter 2019 when we headed up into the lakes and collected her
A quick wash
We had a very hot easter weekend so it didn’t take long before i had started stripping the car down for a good checking over.
There was plenty of rust speckling the car all over from the sills to the roof.
All in all it would have been fairly easy to patch up and get an MOT but i wanted to truly save this car and bring it back to like new condition.
More stripping commences.
Of the car.
The engine came out using a tried and tested method of giving any nearby watching HSE a palpitation.
And onto the stand
The arches were clearly full of filler so I attacked them with a knotted wire wheel.
There is solid steel underneath all the filler its just been welded over the original rusty arch hence copious amounts of filler to try and get the shape back.
The filler also went considerably further back than i expected.
The previous owner assures me he wasnt the one to crash it so it must have been quite early in its life.
Best option for me here was to remove the full quarter since I have spares.
The chassis was bolted onto the frame and a wooden box erected around it.
The underside got stripped down
Cleaning back all the undersealer starts to show some of the worse areas.
These cars rot from inside out. So if there is rust on the outside then there is even more inside.
The first few rotten sections got cut out
And new sections made
Welded in
I had a bit of a look around at the front of the chassis leg after uncovering some holes
Removed the outer panel to show the extent of the rot.
And into the rear of the chassis leg
Where lots got chopped out
I gently caressed some new steel into the correct shape with my favourite hitting stick.
Some more massaging with a large hammer over a wooden buck and the strengthener was remade too
Welded together
And welded in
The inner sections I remade as I chopped the rotten ones out then got the welder waved over them.
The outer sill only needed a small repair before welding back in
[imghttps://drive.google.com/uc?id=1-RxkBGGXl1BxGbM8JXAp6yAv-sj2Qp8Z[/img]
Suspension arm mount welded back on.
That’s just about where I got to before the whole garage construction project took over, not to mention engine work on another car and other general maintenance.
So the wooden stand gets taken back down.
And the car was unceremoniously shoved into a corner of the new building
So now we are in the new garage. It's not finished but it is close enough for me to work in and I have a bit of a deadline approaching.
Back up onto the rollers
Since I'm planning on taking the car down to the restoration show in a few weeks time providing we aren't all dead from Corona virus.
I felt I should get a little more done before putting it on display.
The inner arch was next on the list
I wanted to try and make it in one piece but that was beyond both my skills and equipment.
So corner piece
And next piece
There will still need to be another infill piece where it joins to the arch but ill sort that once i have the arch shape done.
The pieces got welded together
And welded in place
Next up is the inner arch lip, I got a long piece of 0.9mm plate folded at 90deg by the steel shop.
And get cracking with the shrinker/stretcher to get the profile right. Followed by a dolly
Lots of fettling and we have something that is certainly looking like it would fit so after checking it against the new outer arch i tacked it into place.
I'm sure it will need to come off again so i'm not welding it fully in till i have the rest of it all done and lined up with the replacement outer panel.
As you can see there are a few areas that need more pieces around the arch but they should be fairly easy to make from here and weld onto the new arch.
You might have seen some of it peeking out of corners in my garage build thread mainly.
I do have a thread of the work done over on another forum but someone recently suggested i put it on here as well so here you go.
This first post will cover the work done up to this point so will be a bit quickfire.
Jump back to easter 2019 when we headed up into the lakes and collected her
A quick wash
We had a very hot easter weekend so it didn’t take long before i had started stripping the car down for a good checking over.
There was plenty of rust speckling the car all over from the sills to the roof.
All in all it would have been fairly easy to patch up and get an MOT but i wanted to truly save this car and bring it back to like new condition.
More stripping commences.
Of the car.
The engine came out using a tried and tested method of giving any nearby watching HSE a palpitation.
And onto the stand
The arches were clearly full of filler so I attacked them with a knotted wire wheel.
There is solid steel underneath all the filler its just been welded over the original rusty arch hence copious amounts of filler to try and get the shape back.
The filler also went considerably further back than i expected.
The previous owner assures me he wasnt the one to crash it so it must have been quite early in its life.
Best option for me here was to remove the full quarter since I have spares.
The chassis was bolted onto the frame and a wooden box erected around it.
The underside got stripped down
Cleaning back all the undersealer starts to show some of the worse areas.
These cars rot from inside out. So if there is rust on the outside then there is even more inside.
The first few rotten sections got cut out
And new sections made
Welded in
I had a bit of a look around at the front of the chassis leg after uncovering some holes
Removed the outer panel to show the extent of the rot.
And into the rear of the chassis leg
Where lots got chopped out
I gently caressed some new steel into the correct shape with my favourite hitting stick.
Some more massaging with a large hammer over a wooden buck and the strengthener was remade too
Welded together
And welded in
The inner sections I remade as I chopped the rotten ones out then got the welder waved over them.
The outer sill only needed a small repair before welding back in
[imghttps://drive.google.com/uc?id=1-RxkBGGXl1BxGbM8JXAp6yAv-sj2Qp8Z[/img]
Suspension arm mount welded back on.
That’s just about where I got to before the whole garage construction project took over, not to mention engine work on another car and other general maintenance.
So the wooden stand gets taken back down.
And the car was unceremoniously shoved into a corner of the new building
So now we are in the new garage. It's not finished but it is close enough for me to work in and I have a bit of a deadline approaching.
Back up onto the rollers
Since I'm planning on taking the car down to the restoration show in a few weeks time providing we aren't all dead from Corona virus.
I felt I should get a little more done before putting it on display.
The inner arch was next on the list
I wanted to try and make it in one piece but that was beyond both my skills and equipment.
So corner piece
And next piece
There will still need to be another infill piece where it joins to the arch but ill sort that once i have the arch shape done.
The pieces got welded together
And welded in place
Next up is the inner arch lip, I got a long piece of 0.9mm plate folded at 90deg by the steel shop.
And get cracking with the shrinker/stretcher to get the profile right. Followed by a dolly
Lots of fettling and we have something that is certainly looking like it would fit so after checking it against the new outer arch i tacked it into place.
I'm sure it will need to come off again so i'm not welding it fully in till i have the rest of it all done and lined up with the replacement outer panel.
As you can see there are a few areas that need more pieces around the arch but they should be fairly easy to make from here and weld onto the new arch.
