- Thread starter Japtastic
- Start date
Vapour blasting is do much better than sand blasting.
Been a while, lol. As usual, the normal culprits take my time! Had a chance to put a few days in over the last few months but progress has been slow and I've even gone backwards. The last few days I've put into it have led to frustration and disappointment which then killed my ambition to get out there and spend any more time so I had to bite the bullet and make a decision.
I had been trying to re-create the rear arch + inner wheel house as you know but this has proved too hard me for and my skills with metal fab. I even spoke to some bodyshops who said they wouldn't attempt it, and only the old timers (who have now retired) with decades of experience could do a decent enough job to recreate the whole thing from scratch.
So with no other option, I put the feelers out for the replacement rear 1/4's again to see if there was anyone that could get them cheaper. Turns out there was and after a few emails back and forth to Japan, I managed to get both delivered for around the £3k mark. Still a crazy eye-watering price for some 1/4's but it was the right thing to do for me and the car, and the prices for these are only going one way, and soon enough the consensus is they won't be available at all. The current great GBP/YEN exchange also helped.
So, onwards and upwards! I've started removing the spot welds yesterday and have some glass removal tools arriving today. I'll cut the existing panel quite high up on the C pillar as is the norm for this repair on these cars.
I'll still have to make a piece and repair the inner wheel house, but I'm confident that it's doable, especially with the new panel to work off and the fact it won't be seen so can hide some imperfections.
I had been trying to re-create the rear arch + inner wheel house as you know but this has proved too hard me for and my skills with metal fab. I even spoke to some bodyshops who said they wouldn't attempt it, and only the old timers (who have now retired) with decades of experience could do a decent enough job to recreate the whole thing from scratch.
So with no other option, I put the feelers out for the replacement rear 1/4's again to see if there was anyone that could get them cheaper. Turns out there was and after a few emails back and forth to Japan, I managed to get both delivered for around the £3k mark. Still a crazy eye-watering price for some 1/4's but it was the right thing to do for me and the car, and the prices for these are only going one way, and soon enough the consensus is they won't be available at all. The current great GBP/YEN exchange also helped.
So, onwards and upwards! I've started removing the spot welds yesterday and have some glass removal tools arriving today. I'll cut the existing panel quite high up on the C pillar as is the norm for this repair on these cars.
I'll still have to make a piece and repair the inner wheel house, but I'm confident that it's doable, especially with the new panel to work off and the fact it won't be seen so can hide some imperfections.
Managed to get out the 1/4 panel glass and rear glass yesterday. Only issue I had was the rubber seal around the 1/4 glass was very degraded and brittle/hard and in generally poor condition after 32 years and fell apart with the wire going past no matter how careful I was. It didn’t help that it had been over sprayed before.
And guess what, Nissan don’t sell this separately so all my hard work might be in vane and I may need new glass anyway
The rear looks all good and is reusable and the rubbers are available.
I’m becoming more glad that that I’m removing this 1/4 as look at the rust it was hiding. Will be nice to remove all that!
And guess what, Nissan don’t sell this separately so all my hard work might be in vane and I may need new glass anyway
The rear looks all good and is reusable and the rubbers are available. I’m becoming more glad that that I’m removing this 1/4 as look at the rust it was hiding. Will be nice to remove all that!
Assume you're going to treat that inner wing (outer side) before welding anything back on? Looks like a fair bit of surface rust that you can get at and hopefully buy a good few years out of if dealt with now.
Brave man doing surgery at this scale (on such a great car) - but will be well worth it once done if right.
Brave man doing surgery at this scale (on such a great car) - but will be well worth it once done if right.
Slow progress once again but that's par for the course! I've made some progress but it's 2 steps forward and 1 back. Pretty much how it's been for the whole project!
Most of the rot is now out from this side so now on to lots of metal fab. Something I'm both not that great at and also very slow. I do get there in the end though!
I did cheat and ordered two pre-made sills as I had literally no good reference to make new ones. These have helped massively.
How this old sill ever stayed on is a mystery!
Start of floor and inner sill repair.
Floor repair. + This piece is at the end is going to be fun to make!
New sill test fit.
Most of the rot is now out from this side so now on to lots of metal fab. Something I'm both not that great at and also very slow. I do get there in the end though!
I did cheat and ordered two pre-made sills as I had literally no good reference to make new ones. These have helped massively.
How this old sill ever stayed on is a mystery!
Start of floor and inner sill repair.
Floor repair. + This piece is at the end is going to be fun to make!
New sill test fit.
defender dan
Member
- Messages
- 207
Doing a good job & it`s worth taking the time to get it just right. Nice to see the pictures & updates
Exuptoy
Member
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- 3,064
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- Maesteg, South Wales
Good to see. Nice project and well worth doing.
I put over 50 hours into an 07 Seat Alhambra as it was a cheap car for my son and he needed a 7 seater at the time probably 2-3 times purchase value and he didn’t have that sort of money so dad to the rescue. (Kinda similar story now with his VW T4
)
Fresh metal protected with Bonda zinc rich red oxide, seam sealed with Sika Flex 212 and coated with Gravitex Black through a shutz gun. Some id it reacted as I was rushing the coating in before it had dried.
My advice, just keep plugging away.
I put over 50 hours into an 07 Seat Alhambra as it was a cheap car for my son and he needed a 7 seater at the time probably 2-3 times purchase value and he didn’t have that sort of money so dad to the rescue. (Kinda similar story now with his VW T4
)Fresh metal protected with Bonda zinc rich red oxide, seam sealed with Sika Flex 212 and coated with Gravitex Black through a shutz gun. Some id it reacted as I was rushing the coating in before it had dried.
My advice, just keep plugging away.
Exuptoy
Member
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- 3,064
- Location
- Maesteg, South Wales
….and well justified. It’ll be worth it.
Have taken a bit of a break from the bodywork while the weather has turned. I've also been helping a mate with his MK4 supra.
I've been fighting with removing bushes and ball joints for the last few weeks. There are around 16 to remove just from the rear subframeEach one comes out with a slightly different fight. Much swearing and bashed hands are involved. A combination of flat heads, club hammers, heat, reciprocating saws, the 10-ton press and various press tools. One might come out in 10mins and the next one I could be fighting for over an hour.
If I had known the struggle this was going to be I would have considered buying the replacement parts with bushes already installed but I had placed the order before starting the work so I have a box of Nismo bushes here to use so the struggle will continue
These two kits come in handy. The blue one is a beast and can take me pounding on it with my strongest Dewalt impact wrench with no problem.
I have a question for those of you who have restored aluminium parts. The hub carriers are on mine and have been painted at some point but doesn't look factory. Not sure if they have protection from the factory or not? Either way, they need stripping and cleaning. What did you protect them with after, if at all?
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Two OAP's in the hospital
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Awesome! Fellow Supra owner here
Paulbarrett
Member
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- 1,091
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- Northampton
A worthy project here. Glad you are not bodging a bodge, keep up the work. Some work is better than none
