AE86 booter project

[Myles1970]

Rear lamp panel stripped and given the phosphoric acid treatment… you can make out the golden hue…

 

[Cosantoir]

Awesome to see this progressing

 

[Myles1970]

Awesome to see this progressing

Thanks man

 

[Myles1970]

Shell is sealed with 2k epoxy primers of 4 different varieties . Spraymaxx 2k aerosol cans (engine bay), Eurepox, Mipa Ep 100-20 2k epoxy (zinc phosphate) and Besa F-286 2k ep (zinc phosphate). I think out of all, taking sprayability as well as cost into account, I rate the Besa product as best. These are the most readily available 2k eps here.





I’ll leave it to cure for a day or so before wheeling it outside to leave space for the doors, wings, and boot lid to be stripped and the shuts painted.

When I get that far, I can refit them, complete with weather strips and he tag everything lined-up ready for guide coat, blocking, filler, guide coat, blocking before sealer and finally top coat & colour sanding and buffing.

That’s the plan….

 

[Myles1970]

Wet flatted the bonnet, 600-800 to remove the orange peel, then 1500 and finally 2500 before running a buffer over it…..

 

[Myles1970]

…. A bit more buffing and whilst it looks good in the pic, if I’m honest I can still see sanding marks under the led strip lights. They may possibly from one of the lower grits, but hey this is a learning experience and I’ve always maintained that if I’m not happy with the result I’d wrap it.



Above is my diy panel stand… I have a chain for it and whenever I find it I’ll complete the stand



The bumper stand cost €10; it’s actually second hand keyboard stand but I think it’ll do my job

 

[Cosantoir]

stand cost €10; it’s actually second hand keyboard stand but I think it’ll do my job

Genius.... Will be buying one of these

 

[Dcal]

Genius.... Will be buying one of these

Spotted that, looks the same as my daughter's Roland piano stand.

I stole her foot pedal to control the motor on my bead roller.
I did replace it, but where else do you get a 10k pot at short notice.

 

[Keithmac]

@Myles1970 , read this thread from start to finish last night.

Some outstanding work and I admire your perseverance!.

Looks like not long before you can start bolting bits back on which is always a nice feeling!.

How have you shaped your parts, wooden forms?. You've made some very intricate pieces.

 

[Dcal]

I'm sure @Myles1970 will come back on his methods, but see post below for how I did it before I got a bead roller.

25 year old Alfa 75 back from the brink (hopefully)

So almost a year a go i bought a Alfa 75 with the intention of doing just enough to get it through the MOT and drive it for the summer. The plan was to then take it off the road and do another bit over the winter. It wasn't serious money, I've always had a notion for one of these and they...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

 

[Myles1970]

@Myles1970 , How have you shaped your parts, wooden forms?. You've made some very intricate pieces.

Thanks Keith.

The repair sections were mostly made using masking tape to make a template, and marking the outline and any contours. Then I’d place the tape flat onto my fresh metal, cutting around the circumference with hand shears. Any forming was done by hammer and anvil (an off-cut of rsj).

I did try a wooden form for the patch on the drivers floor without much success. Instead using Bob Gardiners method of hammer and blunted bolster and a lollipop stick sssped piece of flat stock clamped to the bench

There’s a lot to be gleaned from this forum as well as Fitzees Fabrications, Trevs Blog, Outlaw Edge, Make it Kustom, Hanabusa Restorations and others on YouTube.

Cheers, Myles

 

[Myles1970]

So I’ve slung the shell outside just in time for this wonderful weather we’ve been having, so as I’d have some space to work on the panels…



Seam-sealer was dried-out and cracked on the boot lid, causing perforations on the lower edge



… also evidence of an aerofoil installation…









Not having welded much recently, my helmet torch has let me down and my welding has suffered (not that it was great anyway

 

[Myles1970]

The doors I sourced aren’t too bad, but there’s a couple of patches on each to be done



Interestingly, this rust started on the outside

 

[Myles1970]

Apologies, these welds are awful. I’d been searching for the led torch that I’d attached to my welding mask for days and only found it after I’d done these.
Anyway, a little bit more to do, this time with the gift of sight

 

[Myles1970]

…so that’s the two repairs on the drivers door done. The worst/hardest part for me was welding on the edge where I’d ground off to remove the return/fold. When I finished I had a lovely oil-canning effect. Thankfully it was gone by the time all had cooled down fully.
Passenger door next, this time a different approach…

 

[Myles1970]

Which would you prefer? Heat-shrinking or work-hardening?

I cut some reliefs in the fold to allow me to in-fold the skin a section at a time. In truth I was so tempted to just treat then rust and crack-on, but there was a hole about 3mm across among the pitting that I just couldn’t leave…







…. All treated with phosphoric acid and coated with zinc rich weld through primer where it can’t be seen.

I spent the rest of the afternoon with a strip and clean disk in the grinder stripping the outside of the door…. there’s (still) a LOT of filler on this one but I need another disc

 

[Myles1970]

Engine block painted, I’ll do the sump next….

 

[conor1n]

View attachment 370396

Engine block painted, I’ll do the sump next….

Wow that's very nice. Will look great in the engine bay.

What paint did you use and did you use primer ? Looks like spray.

 

[Myles1970]

@conor1n thanks, it’s all 2k, epoxy primer and clear over base coat

 

[Myles1970]

Out the door before 9 this morning to clear out the workshop and replace the plastic sheet on the floor, in an effort to reduce the dust levels and get some more painting done.

Luckily enough it’s been quite mild lately, so I’ve got the sump, door hinges and door shuts painted.







Also stripped the outside of the boot lid using Rustoleum green stripper.



….as you can see, it was a messy business, although if I’d used a polycarbide disk on a grinder there’d have been dust all over the shop. I’ve no pic, but it’s about 95% clean metal now.







So Besa 2k epoxy shop primer on the door shuts and inside the boot lid. Try as I did to remove dust and grit from inside the boot lid, it still found it’s way onto my nicely primered 1st coat







Not so with the doors, as I’d masked the insides off.

The plan now, is to wheel the body shell back inside after the paint has had a chance to cure. Then I’ll mount the doors and boot lid and get it back up on the rotisserie. From there I can start to build up the front subframe, steering, suspension, and the rear axle/brake Calipers and rear suspension. I’ll bring the engine block, head, crankshaft etc. to my buddy to start assembling the bottom end.

Rolling by Christmas? New year’s?