19?? chrysler sunbeam no 2 (+½ )

after a long run of being very busy at work, i have had a couple of days of car time

much of this has been taken up with my new daily drive previa.

so far i have fitted a wrong size battery(using bits of wood to pack it out (new correct battery is purchased and sitting in the boot awaiting enthusiasm )

i have also repaired the blowing exhaust twice (both times unsuccessfully hopefully the third time will be the charm ;D )

also in a re-run of the meganes first fill up i left a huge puddle on the petrol station forecourt (awaiting investigation )

yesterday afternoon was set aside for sunbeam fettling.

after a fruitless search for a working hoover to de-dust the interior i had to admit defeat and tidy the unit up, i even put my tools back in their correct places

thankfully dr dick then arrived with his willing helper and i drank coffee and caused a distraction for an hour or so before going to the pub


today i dropped into work to borrow a hoover - there were none

undeterred i borrowed a stapler and a piece of tyvec and fashioned a makeshift bag for lard44's hoover (i had previously broken the old one - sorry paul )

an hour of wirebrushing and a bit of manly hoover action later i was ready to vactan the seams and other bits of surface grot.





the more observant of you will notice that there is a distinct lack of black shiny finish to the newly applied rust convertor.

it has once again dried to a chalky white finish which can be wiped off with a dry cloth






in the meantime paul had turned up with his new corrado, and my aura of disaster spread over to his side of the unit.

i was asked to leave



in a moment of clarity i collected a rusty offcut of sunbeam and both the old presumed frost damaged bottle of vactan and the fresh bottle, to test at home in a more hospitable environment.

at a room temp above freezing both samples dry hard and black




at least i know that after i have removed the faulty coating, i only have to wait for summer before i can progress

total time spent 392 hours (not including hunt the hoover, 'blue peter' time with the stapler, tidying and annoying/distacting my fellow tenants ;D)

total spend £2750 (still no heating budget )

more cheerful reports to follow hopefully

i was doing it wrong though ;D

onwards and upwards as ever

I was only there to pick up some spring compressors...one look at your Sunbeam and the Corrado developed incontinence...

frost damaged mojo and projectile vomiting disease donated by my daughter limited progress to a few exploratory rubs and prods during the last 7 days



I had this morning off for an appointment, and didn't get to work 'till 2pm.

I noticed that unusually the thermometer @ work was not only above freezing but was a toasty 15+degrees



as is customary in these circumstances I skipped out to the unit as fast as was polite (ie after I had made a coffee )




my earlier experimentation showed that brake cleaner melted the white deposits and water sort of dissolved them. armed with this knowledge I splodged a bit of fresh (water based?) vactan on a couple of bits in the vain hope it would re liquify the old and then it would all dry lovely

then, armed with a corded drill and a few wire brushes, I set to cleaning the old vactan off.

15 minutes of wire brushing later, I had cleaned off 1/2 of one side of the front floorpan.

(something went wrong with that sentence, it makes my eyes/brain hurt - I need more commas or less of's I think )

happily by now the new vactan had miraculously repaired the old

enlivened by this happy turn of events, I filled a fresh container and splurged vactan and poundshop brush hairs all over the interior

the results were as I expected last time without the subsequent dissapointment

(white bits are mostly still wet )
















roof not so good but a quick rubdown will see it right





it will all need rubbing down as its lumpy/dusty as fcuk, but its a lot nearer to getting some paint on the inside




total time spent 394 hours (not including the three hours of groundhog day style "can you just" my family subjected me to while trying to post this )

total spend £2750 (still no heating budget but have spent many a happy hour researching rocket stoves/heaters )

(yesterdays) comedy moment of the day:

realizing that the only thing more difficult than squeezing into Pauls 'bought for his girlfriend honest' eunos (so I could make broom broom noises ;D)
was getting out of said vehicle

no jdmYOdriftaction for bigFAThairymel

nothing to see for this update

3 hours hand rubbing down the interior and engine bay today.

desperate for some warm weather on a free day so i can throw a bit of paint about


total time spent 397 hours (lots of hot coffee drinking on a cold day)

total spend £2950 (bought a load of toss that i can't use on this car or that i don't need - bad ebay )

This and that burned out Monza are by far my favorite restoration projects ever. Glad your making progress!

nope - i saw the 'nescafe' and my heart sank

but happily I found a nearly empty tin of millicano so had nice coffee with lumps in ;D


sambaS thanks fella - i hope you have sorted your heating issues

if its any consolation i have spent today fixing frozen pipe damage in my home from home - popped pipes, burst electric shower and burst water heater mostly repaired now though

Oi, Hairymel, where's our updates? This car is just about finished, you just got to [insert list here] and you can be out and about.

I can empathise with the situation, here's hoping this get better very soon for you.