KeithRobinson
RMS Regular
Love this! Looking forward to seeing the work they do on the shell
Thanks, I hope sofantastic work so far!! going to be amazing when finished!!!
Well, thats true, actually unemployed at the moment, looking for work but its bad time of the year for yacht jobs. So might as well do jobs I can do well myself instead of paying others to do them. I was actually considering doing some small parts restoration on the side along with metal polishing.You have far too much time on your hands, lol Good work!
I painted the top and bottom but the fins just got one very light coat so I'd hope it won't be affected too much.Be careful with the radiator, looks like you painted it? That will reduce its efficiency.
Me too, getting impatient, just want it to start.Love this! Looking forward to seeing the work they do on the shell
Its great to see progress but to be honest I can't wait until its back on the road. Hopefully the costs don't get too out of control with the extra work thats likely to be revealed with the blasting given what we have seen so far.Outstanding to see this progress properly
I will, just hope I can afford it.Right choice, you'll be glad of the quality!
It will in the end, which is still a while away, even once its back with me I have a wiring to re do and a new oil sump to get made as well as trying to remember how everything fitted.Still, be well worth it though !
So. I'm considering scrapping this project. Its back from blasting and its uncovered terrible repair jobs everywhere, its a disgrace. While I have seen far worse S30's repaired this is well beyond what I was expecting and is likely to add at least £10k onto the total, not sure I can afford it.
All this will need done:
Wheel arches
Outer wheel tubs
Rear lower panel
Quarter panels
Fuel filler area
Both areas where the rear quarters meet the boot
Both sills badly fitted and welded the length rather than spot welded in
Badly joined A and B pillars
Bulkhead where steering rack is attached
Floor pans
Doors
Windscreen and lower a pillars
Even the engine bay needs some work and I was thinking this would be perfect there, admittedly its not much but still a surprise
I'll post some photos soon.
Only the front end from the cowel forward was blasted. I guess I've just learnt from my mistake, I thought the car was mostly good. Doing it again I'd dry fit everything mechanical, get it running, mark up any changes I want and then I'd take it all out and strip the shell back to bare metal.@EF Ian was it not blasted the 1st time? truly the only way to find out what you have.
As cool as that is, I want a car that actually handles well.Dare I say, put engine in a mustang like Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift
A better shell right away would cost £40k, best way to get a good shell would be to import a US S30 shell but it can't be an early 240 shell or my late 260 parts won't fit, dash, some interior parts, fuel tank, diff, radiator, intercooler and probably more would be useless. I guess a US 280 shell might be closest I could get. Any imported shell would still need body work, but not as much and would need to be RHD converted.What are the options tho? find a better shell or repair your own? Or just break it?
You are right of course. A lot of the issues could be worked around to leave it looking good without fixing it the absolutely proper way. There is not really anything dangerous, its pretty much just aesthetics.Is there not some acceptable middle road here?
It's one thing going for everything gold plated. It's another going for something which will be safe, working around some "issues" rather than "fixing" them, and end up with something which you can enjoy without issues and within budget?
At the end of the day, it is an old car, with its own history. If the issues are safety related then that is one thing obviously. But if not then they are just part of the history of the car. Fix what you can within your budget and leave the rest, then enjoy the car.
Otherwise you'll end up spending an absolute fortune on essentially building a new car from scratch. And probably won't enjoy it as much either as you would just be too worried about anything happening.
Amazing how well hidden it all was, no sign at all on the surface, which is of course because it was at least rust free underneath.Jeepers, you never truly know how many repairs a car has had until it's been completely stripped back.
Theres cars which have been restored and supposedly mint selling for £40k+. I could have bought one of those way at the start, but then you still have the problem of not knowing how well the restoration has been done, you should only ever buy a restored car if it has hundreds of photos of the work carried out, like mine has so far of any work done.Wow that is brutal, a complete kick in the stones for sure. I guess that's always the risk of stripping a 40 year old car back to the tin, you never know what you're going to unearth.
Well, if I got it back on the road it will drive at least as good and with the changes I'm making it should even drive better than it did so I know I'll love driving it, which for me is the main reason for having a 'fun' car.I’d be inclined to do a acceptable re-finish when your this deep.
Although possibly it’s ruined the feeling you have or should have for the car. You may find you finish it then enjoy it a year and sell it.
I could be happy, but only if most of those dodgy areas are repaired properly. I certainly wouldn't be happy just repairing the holes and skimming filler over the rest.Yea that would infuriate me , I couldn’t be happy with the level of effort that went into everything else and bolt it into that shell.
I mentioned that up in my first or second update today so it is something I'm thinking about. It would be a US import, LHD and then convert it to RHD and repair the rust, it will have rust but should be minor compared to a UK car.This may sound daft or whatever as im not sure how readily available it would be but could you import a shell or complete car from Japan and then start with that?
Obviously still costs money but its such a shame to see this project die off.
Theres cars which have been restored and supposedly mint selling for £40k+. I could have bought one of those way at the start, but then you still have the problem of not knowing how well the restoration has been done, you should only ever buy a restored car if it has hundreds of photos of the work carried out, like mine has so far of any work done.
Well, if I got it back on the road it will drive at least as good and with the changes I'm making it should even drive better than it did so I know I'll love driving it, which for me is the main reason for having a 'fun' car.
I doubt I'd sell as it wouldn't make financial sense, if I repair it properly it and get it back running it will have cost me over £100k by then so it depends what I could sell it for.