19?? chrysler sunbeam no 2 (+½ )

last couple of nights i have managed to steal a few hours on the car.

stripped the rest of the clutter from the engine bay




and a fair bit of the cabin





making a small pile of bits





bit rotten and damaged battery tray (hacked ) out




bit of damaged caused by chiseling the spotwelded flanges off.

not great access for a grinder and my home made spot weld drill did not seem to be effective this time, so brute force was used.

there are tears in the inner wing on the top corners and the bottom left of the above pic. nothing a bit of bash bash weld weld can't fix


interestingly the paint on outside of the wing has flaked off at the trauma site.





on closer investigation the epoxy has flaked in chunks but its actually the oem paint and dip coat that has lifted off leaving bare metal.

too late tonight to contemplate the ramifications of this, i will have a think later

although its a bit late now if i decide its a bad thing

the hole i poked through when repairing the valence bottom is now more exposed.




the chassis rail top and the top of the inkwell (below rad) panel are toast

I cant see a easy way of accessing the area for a tidy repair as the d/s rad support is in the way.

it looks to be needing the valance removing - this will not be happening

i foresee an ugly grinding incident causing some of the rad support to relocate itself off the car

unless i can come up with something a bit less drastic



total time spent ( spanner spanner, chisel chisel ) 306 hours


total spend £1712 ( newly discovered box of latex gloves bought in the long distant past so not included, have also found mig neck spring lost misplaced a while ago and some sanding belts that have only been missing for a month engine/box not included yet, still under a tarp )

I'm glad I haven't clocked the hours on the escort

this may be good for spares www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Talbot-Horizon-Complete-Parts-Only-1984-/330675190931?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4cfdc6fc93

wow - dragged back up from page 16

been very busy since jan 11th, but not with the sunbeam

usual seasonal rush at work and my partners mondeo needing a fair amount of remedial work (most of the front suspension, inner+outer rear of sill, complete washer system refurb and a good service) took up most of my time.

then my bosses sons matiz filled its engine to the top of its rocker cover with water and expired. i foolishly put it in my unit to repair in works time.

it was still there outside of office hours - so no space to work on the sunbeam until it was finished

my boss was so impressed that i could fix his boys matiz he bought a pink(!) matiz with mashed valves to keep me busy

this one has been refused entry, so its being repaired in the yard

not so comfy in the day but i get to claim my unit back ;D

as usual inertia is a killer so i have made a concerted effort to get something done this week.

i have not been very successful, but its a start

using my new but still broken mig






i filled in the holes left by my less than sympathetic removal of the battery tray






where i bashed flat the inner wing the epoxy has lifted again.

it seems to be very stiff so when the metal moves the paint stays where it is until the underlying paint lifts off the metal

still not sure what to make of it



as predicted the rad support panel succumbed to a tickle from the angry grinder, allowing further rotary mayhem in the area of the chassis leg/inkwell panel.





inkwell panel filled in





top of chassis leg filled in





the d/s strut top had the telltale pimple showing a eruption of rust between the wingtop and the cup.



cutty cutty



the right hand lump is the chunk of rust. corrosion seems to start at the spot welds and then eat upwards.


doused in weld through primer





weldy weld (twang curse word)




got the puddle weld very wrong and i was treated to a solid twang noise as it cooled and pulled away

thats why the above pic has a hole drilled in the puddle


grindy grindy sploshy jollop








and that's where i'm at.

mon, tue wed 2 hrs a night

thursday pub

friday bit ill ;D

tomorrow is another day



total time spent (.)titting about(.) 312 hours


total spend £1712 ( newly discovered box of latex gloves bought in the long distant past so not included latex gloves all used on the matiz , have not included new mig, 0.6+0.8 mig wire ,tips etc . loads of cutting discs not included yet. new boc contract+bottle not included yet. loads of stuff i haven't thought about not added yet. i must have a chat to my accountant! engine/box not included yet, still under a tarp but now outside the roller shutter ;D )

^What he said! You have PM, btw.

Read most of this thread mate, you are making my 10 year efforts to not restore a Mustang look even worse than they already are. I'll have to come and have a look at this beast some time. Whats that rather sad looking welder? You can borrow my Murex if you want, guaranteed to weld everything to everything even on low setting!

More updates!

sorry nothing to report, except i have spent the last 4 months covered in grease and have touched the beam for a total of 6hrs.

taken 3 days of work this week to get some quality time in and have spent it all pi$$ing about with my megane

welcome to RR drdick even though you only joined up cos i was ignoring your phone calls

ps its bad form to try to slag off my tools when you want to ponce borrow my plasma cutter

Awesome really gald to see some action again in this thread! Nice to see it back on page 1 where it belongs

Keep up the good work chap!

deano - chassis tags only, but a very nice man hpi'ed the chassis no. and i now have the reg to apply for a v5

rich - not to worry - many a car has passed through my hands never to roll again, i miss the rapide coupe as well

speedle - thanks , I hope to keep on keeping on