Nice to finally get new floor plan and chassis legs finished

[duffman]

I have an old Evo I've been restoring now past while. Just finished of final bit of the floor today as had rest finished months ago.
Still have few other bits of welding to do on it but the biggest job has been completed. Few 100 hours in the rear end alone. Hoping to get it all resprayed underneath and engine bay resprayed once the warm weather comes in this year and fully restored by August. Possibly will get it resprayed once I've the underside done.

 

[northwest]

You going to race or rally it?

 

[Nick DV]

I have an old Evo I've been restoring now past while. Just finished of final bit of the floor today as had rest finished months ago.
Still have few other bits of welding to do on it but the biggest job has been completed. Few 100 hours in the rear end alone. Hoping to get it all resprayed underneath and engine bay resprayed once the warm weather comes in this year and fully restored by August. Possibly will get it resprayed once I've the underside done.

Which model Evo?

 

[duffman]

Which model Evo?

It's an Evo 7 GSR.

 

[duffman]

You going to race or rally it?

Naw not going to rally it. Just get it cleaned up as best I can. New ball joints, bushes all round. Everything in the underside will be either replaced or restored. Will post pics once I have it fully finished

 

[Nick DV]

It's an Evo 7 GSR.

Very nice Didn't realise they rotted so badly.

 

[duffman]

Very nice Didn't realise they rotted so badly.

Thanks mate. Oh yeah the majority of them suffer from rear chassis leg rot. There is 3/4 skins stacked on top of each other and the moisture and salt gets trapped between them they basically rot from the inside out. Mine were at the point of needing changed I've seen worse though and they looked like a deathtrap

 

[Nick DV]

Thanks mate. Oh yeah the majority of them suffer from rear chassis leg rot. There is 3/4 skins stacked on top of each other and the moisture and salt gets trapped between them they basically rot from the inside out. Mine were at the point of needing changed I've seen worse though and they looked like a deathtrap

That's not good, and didn't realise it was such an issue

 

[duffman]

That's not good, and didn't realise it was such an issue

Yeah mate any of of these old Jap cars that have seen UK winter roads will have issues. Evos were particularly prone to rust issues from how light the metal is. Also Mitsubishi only had a light primer finish on the underside, basically zero protection from the elements

 

[Nick DV]

Yeah mate any of of these old Jap cars that have seen UK winter roads will have issues. Evos were particularly prone to rust issues from how light the metal is. Also Mitsubishi only had a light primer finish on the underside, basically zero protection from the elements

Again, I had no idea that they were that bad! Every day's a school day

 

[Turbo]

Is this a UK car or a JDM grey import?
I know that the JDM Imprezas had minimum underseal applied and you were advised to add protection if you imported them to here. Most folk didn't bother with the inevitable result, as above!
The rally prep guys liked them because they had less underseal to remove to lighten them!

 

[duffman]

Is this a UK car or a JDM grey import?
I know that the JDM Imprezas had minimum underseal applied and you were advised to add protection if you imported them to here. Most folk didn't bother with the inevitable result, as above!
The rally prep guys liked them because they had less underseal to remove to lighten them!

It was a JDM import. Think it was imported in 2007 and it's a 2002 car. I doubt many people undersealed them when they were imported. They will be rotted the same as the evos if they weren't. I basically opened a can of worms on this one, it just snowballed. I won't be fitting a floor again

 

[bricol]

Very nice Didn't realise they rotted so badly.

Colleague had one - even the flippin' suspension struts rotted - as he discovered when a spring pan left the chat.

Scrapped it.

Ten years later, he still looks sideways at my 35 yr old Lancia parked in the work car park . . .

 

[duffman]

Colleague had one - even the flippin' suspension struts rotted - as he discovered when a spring pan left the chat.

Scrapped it.

Ten years later, he still looks sideways at my 35 yr old Lancia parked in the work car park . . .

Was that an earlier model Evo 5? Strut tops give problems with them.

Any rust issues with your Lancia? Probably made with heavier metal.

 

[bricol]

Was that an earlier model Evo 5? Strut tops give problems with them.

Any rust issues with your Lancia? Probably made with heavier metal.

Later than that, but as to what it actually was, I've no idea. Polished with-in an inch of it's life on top though . . .

My Lancia is now up to 209,000 - had some small repairs over the years, but is sat in the works car park right now, wearing it's travel grime with pride Owned it over 20 yrs, it replaced an earlier version, never come close to seriously selling it, despite some serious offers. It's be making me smile on the commute home this evening.

 

[duffman]

Later than that, but as to what it actually was, I've no idea. Polished with-in an inch of it's life on top though . . .

My Lancia is now up to 209,000 - had some small repairs over the years, but is sat in the works car park right now, wearing it's travel grime with pride Owned it over 20 yrs, it replaced an earlier version, never come close to seriously selling it, despite some serious offers. It's be making me smile on the commute home this evening.

Wouldn't believe the underside on some of them the way the top is. I seen a blue Evo 9 that looked immaculate on top and the chassis legs were clean rotten. Serious work to put them right. What I've done to date probably cost in the region of £20k+ if you were getting a bodywork shop to do it.

That's what it's all about, nice to have the joy of driving it. Any pics of it? I'd be a bit sceptical of driving on UK roads with the salt this time of year?

 

[dave h 2]

Ten years later, he still looks sideways at my 35 yr old Lancia parked in the work car park . . .

That's just called stunned disbelief.

 

[duffman]

I also give the new legs a coat of epoxy primer and edges back to bare metal and done with copper weld through primer. That should persevere them lol

 

[bricol]

Wouldn't believe the underside on some of them the way the top is. I seen a blue Evo 9 that looked immaculate on top and the chassis legs were clean rotten. Serious work to put them right. What I've done to date probably cost in the region of £20k+ if you were getting a bodywork shop to do it.

That's what it's all about, nice to have the joy of driving it. Any pics of it? I'd be a bit sceptical of driving on UK roads with the salt this time of year?

25 yrs ago, on the Lancia integrale delphi forum, there were a lot of people stripping them for track days or doing perfect rebuilds etc. Few seemed to make it on the track or back on the road. I just kept on driving and smiling. Most of the time . . . To me the whole point is to enjoy it - these sorts of cars make no sense much of the rest of the time, although there hasn't been many times in the last 30 yrs where I haven't parked it and walked away without looking back at it and it's 16v predecessor.

Always used them in all weathers - on winter tyres in bad weather (other than really deep snow that lifts it off the ground) I'd not swap it for anything else. Until relatively recently, parked outside too - now under a car port. I use waxoyl underseal, 3M underbody coating, noxudol 700 cavity wax applied with a pressure gun, epoxy paint where I have been able to blast, normal paints where I can't. And give it regular inspections to catch any coating damage.

Silly things will drag it down eventually - the Bosch ABS sensor cables are failing, and they are bespoke to the car, no alternatives and out of production. I found the ones on it as new old stock maybe 10 years ago. Expansion bottle level sensor failed and then leaked - just able unavailable, so it now has a brand new Strada expansion bottle, with no sensor and no leak - identical other than the connection is right at the back, not the front, but a simple hose extension sorted that.

Yet stuff I bought and put to one side 20 yrs ago - track rod ends, upper strut mounts (got caught out with the 16v - model specific, made by SKF - stock vanished within a few years of production ending), lower ball joints - still unused as the originals still going strong. I did put some new standard shocks on it, but got fed up with ground on the back road commute home, so upgraded to decent coilovers at standard ride height.

These days, your grannies fiesta is probably quicker, stronger, certainly more economical, quieter, more comfortable, bigger boot, more room, much cheaper to run . . . but she won't be smiling to herself just driving it

Or, much to the other half's embarrassment, have people frantically try to take pictures or video as we go past, or come up to talk at petrol stations, car parks etc.