Progress is happening, slowly but surely. Update time.
Managed to pick up a cheap second hand workbench for the unit, only an eBay workbench but somewhere to do small jobs for now, we intent to build a proper welding bench at some point.
Spent some evenings down at the unit after work helping
Ray Singh with one of his mini projects and with my friend Spencer working on the spitfire.
Took this picture and it made me smile, workshop of broken dreams but our happy place.
I'll break the updates down into both cars:
SpitfireAfter getting the engine out we started to strip it down to take a look.. very rusty thermostat..
Combined with the milkshake we drained from the sump starting to think its far more than condensation...
Pulled the head off.. I'll let the pictures do the talking...
Explains a lot.. id imagine it came off the road many years ago due to head gasket failure and never got sorted.
Good news is no scoring or real major damage, all fixable.
We want to put some sort of cleaner or rust neutraliser into the coolant passages and let it sit for a while so gotta work that one out.
In other good news, the engine number starts with FM so it means it's a 1500 engine, not a 1300 like we'd first thought.
Managed to take advantage of the Rimmerbros sale before the NEC show and collected a decent amount of parts for the engine and brakes etc.
Started to tidy up the crusty bulkhead, it was all solid just a lot of surface rust and crud.
Perfectionists look away now.. We agreed we are not spending tons of money and time on this car, but we want to get it up and running and enjoy it, perfection is not the goal.
Everything removed from the bulkhead and wire brushed down.
Followed by a coat of Red hammertite, yes its a bodge, but it's better than nothing, adds a layer of protection and wont be seen from the outside when it's got the bonnet closed. I did debate black hammerite but had a tin of red lying around.
Again, the idea with this car is rough and ready, used and abused. Maybe one day if we make some memories with it and keep it, it'll get a full on resto with all the care it deserves.
That's it for now on the Spitfire, trying to find time for me and Spencer to get down and work on it together, hopefully some more time over Christmas.
Next on the list is to wheel it outside, degrease and pressure wash the engine bay.
We are hoping to have the engine back in and running by new years. It may happen it may not.
MX5As for the Mazda, i slightly neglected it as was excited by the arrival of the Spitfire but yesterday i popped down and made some progress.
What i should've done is finished putting the rear end back together, what i decided to do was strip the front down, so i could make a list of what i need to order to hopefully get some good black friday deals next weekend.
Pulled the front bumper and both wings off to see what lurked behind. This picture is great, with the lights up the car looks scared and confused "Why have you done this to me"
So behind the arches? Half a football pitch...
As for the actual condition? Good.. very good. I found zero rot on the rear only surface and was hoping the same for the front, nearly... One tiny patch that needs cutting out and repairing but overall very pleased with it. It's a 34 year old car that's known to rust. I think I bought the right car.
Other than that bit of rot its all surface.
I took the crash bar and the mounting plates off as they have a habit of going behind there also.. again very happy, only surface nothing bad.
So, all the surface has been treated with Neutrarust converter.
Once this has done its thing ill brush on some red oxide primer. Then either underseal or just blue hammerite. It shouldn't need a great deal of protection as it lasted that many years without it.
The rot itself is from the mounds of moist dirt and curse word sat at the bottom of the wing no doubt.
If funds allow i will get the wings and front bumper to a bodyshop for somebody to sort the imperfections and paint them prior to going back on.
Next steps are to pull the engine, remove all suspension and front subframe and essentially repeat what i did at the rear, all new bushes, a clean up and a lick of paint.
I'm struggling with motivation as its been off the road for too long and i just want to drive and enjoy it. But it'll get there and worth doing what I'm doing, again far from a perfect restoration but it will be good enough.
In an ideal world id throw money at all new parts and build my dream Mk1 and everything would be perfect, it's not realistic. My logic is everything I'm doing is protecting/improving it over what it was prior to me doing it.
Put the lights back down so it could sleep and left it like this yesterday evening.
Until next time, if anyone is still reading.
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