The Slow Cherry Red.

[daza2020 2]

So after joining around a month ago I got my hands on a 89 cherry red with 99k on the clock, it's had 7 owners from new the last two owners have had her stored under cover for quite some time which I have followed on with by purchasing one of those motex covers been spot on so far.

 

Now I did buy this unseen however I got loads of extra photos from the seller but I'll just put this one up ;

 

 

Now to get her I had to travel from the isle of wight to kent so two boats four trains and a long motorway journey I had her on the drive for a closer inspection;

 

 

The first item that needed addressing that night was the electric windows as the passenger side was stuck down from the ferry port to home in the end I hotwired it to a battery and got it up at 10pm after being up since 9am but that was just the beginning.

 

This is the dodgy connectors that are on all switches along with an earth under the dash a quick look at the haynes manual and I knew this wasn't stock the wiring isn't the same as the diagram and misses the fusebox completely with just a 10a fuse inline from a 12v switched source. The now defunct central locking/ alarm was even worse just clipped into the fuse box with no fuses and tonnes of lock connectors safe to say it's binned now.

 

So far from my dismantling I haven't found that much rust but I'm sure I'll find it I'll try to update this weekly as It's a long term project with no deadline as I'll be stripping it and rebuilding it as I go but the list so far to looks like this and it shall grow;

 

Front shocks/bearings gone.

Electric windows need tlc/rewire.

New radio needs sourcing.

Radiator cooling fan needs investigating as it's on full all the time.

Interior blower needs overhaul.

Cooling system needs draining heater matrix needs replacing and front radiator connectors leak.

Indicators have a mind of their own/driving lights work then dont then do.

 

So yeah expect a weekly update from my explorations I'll try to document it as much as I can, any questions feel free to ask =)

 

[daza2020 2]

So after a couple of weeks of tearing down and exploring I'm quite happy so far with the overall condition nothing has surprised be but there will be some hard work ahead so far all the interior and side windows are out and are in the process of being decruded from 25 years of grime as shown by the window I will be treating the base and most likely primer and paint to to make sure.

 

 

The next stop was the seats one of the previous owners had bodged it together with some duct tape which I could feel under the fabric on the test drive and it annoyed the hell out of me so I improvised with some webex basically the fabric version of duct tape along with some impact adhesive and off cut foam in the void.

 

 

The carpet has had a clean down and while I was out the sunroof got decrudded shall we say.

 

 

 

I'm still in the process of cleaning the interior bits and sourcing new trim that have erm broken. Moving on inside it now looks like this,

 

 

There is a leak from the heater matrix so a new one is on the list and a few small 5p surface rust bubbles that will be treated along with some extra seam sealant in the arches as they look like this,

 

 

It looks worse than it is it's all sound as I've poked and prodded enough I'm just waiting to see if I can get an angle grinder in there if not wire brush and deox-c gel.

 

At one point there seems to have been a in car telephone fitted as I found the sticker for it and some kind of blinker/flasher control as it was spliced in using my hated connectors, it already had the power wires cut so I did the deed and removed the lot just means some soldering to repair the wires oh joy.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mac Crash 78 1 Cars]

Looks like it's been looked after in the right ways apart from the butchered electrics, wouldn't worry too much about rust, easily dealt with in comparison to old Minis, Fords etc, interesting method to clean out the sunroof apertures, wouldn't have thought of that... the paint looks like it's stood up well too, overall 1st impression is that it's a good one, haven't been here long myself but it's a good site... and so most of the project threads I catch are older ones, though all good, will be interesting to see what else you discover along the way

[PeterGriffin 20 1 Cars]

You might find the rad fan has been wired through, I've done this in past to bypass faulty thermostat, rad fans are pretty hardy units..!

[daza2020 2]

You might find the rad fan has been wired through, I've done this in past to bypass faulty thermostat, rad fans are pretty hardy units..!

 

 

I had presumed this but the wiring for the loom is all intact which is leading me to suspect the thermo switch then the resistor. If all else fails I'll make my own loom as sat in traffic on the way back with a fan going full chat was fun to say the least.

[dcc 855]

I actually have 2 wiring looms for doors with electric windows, spare, in my shed. If you would like them for what they cost me, I've put up a for sale ad. they also came from a phase 1.5 car

 

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=152346&hl=

[daza2020 2]

So another week has rolled by and I've been less than productive, after some further inspection it seems there was some more rust that expected on the sunroof frame so out came the angle grinder and wire wheel.

 

As you can see here it's all stripped with all the mechanisms having a good de-rust and re oil along with a good clean, the rear bolt holes were the worst and there was some bubbling and surface rust along the right side.

 

 

Ah yes onto the bottom now for anyone thinking of doing this I wish you good luck, as it seems that the foam tape used is near impossible to get off no matter what I tried it took days with methylated spirits and a scraper it truly is one of the worst jobs I've done and to add to it the paint comes off as well.

 

 

One of the drain tubes was past it sadly as soon as the wire wheel went near it the rust gave way so I've cut out as much as I could and epoxied in a copper replacement in some may ask as to why glue it in well simple the metal is so thin I'm worried it would warp and I've never welded in my life so this is the next best thing the epoxy is waterproof and the tube was hammered into place so I feel confident.

 

 

Now I also had what I think was a lightbulb moment to prevent future rusting from the inside I'd take some more copper pipe and epoxy it inside well hammer it considering theres next to no space at all but we'll see how long it lasts, and yes the other side has been epoxied to stop the water flowing between the copper and steel.

 

 

And after 4 coats of hammerite direct to rust satin black it looks rather good, still got the other side to do but considering most of this is hidden I'm rather happy.

 

 

Next on the list is to give the roof a good polish, refit the sunroof frame then move onto the interior de-rusting, watch this space.

[Vili 17]

I'm sorry to say this but copper is not the right material to use there. It will make the frame around it rust super quick because of galvanic corrosion.

[daza2020 2]

Hmmm well I'll see how it ends up I'm not overly concerned as there's a layer of paint between the two and it's meant to be galvanised steel so we'll find out.

[daza2020 2]

Ok then this is still going on just somewhat delayed with all the great weather we've been having. As I type I've basically managed to strip the entire car from engine back (engine is next year) I'm leaving the dash in as I can work around that but everything else is currently in dry storage being checked repaired and cleaned.

 

I shall at some point when it's a decent day get the beam and fuel tank off as I've already done the rear bumper and side trims in readiness for grinding the underseal off and checking the damage aswell as giving the inside a going over and then rust proofing.

 

however I have managed to get some bits done in the mean time;

 

Seeing as I've had to make up a custom loom for the electric windows I've decided to somewhat go overkill and make sure they don't cease working ever again, all I need to do now is run a ground and power through the doors and there good to go as they've been checked.

 

 

I've also got the doors striped down and in the process of cleaning them up and adressing some rust bubbles on the bottom aswell as rust proofing the insides but I've started on the window guides need to find another as it's rotted.

 

 

Eventually got the rear lights stripped and in the process of cleaning 24 years of muck out of the seals yummy but I'm at a loss as to what to do with the base unit as it's meant to be all shiny and well mine isn't.

 

 

Now something else that I've been playing with, seeing as there's no platters near by that deal with small amounts and me not wanting to ship out bits that may/will get lost, I took it upon myself to learn zinc platting and I must say after a few hiccups I'm up and running and my bolts are coming out like new after they were deoxed and stripped of all the zinc oops.

 

 

This is my somewhat getto setup which is perfectly safe.

 

 

I shall update more when the weather calms down and I can get out there.

 

Thanks.

 

Edited February 5, 2014 by daza2020

[Daviewonder 533 3 Cars]

Coming along nicely mate.

 

That zinc plating looks amazing, any info on what kit you used?

[mowflow 67]

High temp silver paint in those tail lights should do the trick. You may even get chrome effect stuff as I remember someone doing a fix on a z4 fog light (known for turning into fish bowls). Using a shiny high temp silver paint.

[daza2020 2]

Ok so the last few days I have been out in the sun and got some work done, the rear beam is off aswell as the fuel tank which drenched the drive in fuel. I've only had a couple of bolts so far that refuse to come off and snapped when the whizzy gun hit them.

 

 

I'm fairly happy with the not alot of rust that I have found most of it only seems to be surface rust which is a plus and the boot floor is pretty much 98% good with just a couple of bits that will need welding.

 

 

Under the fuel tank is pretty much mint which I'm very happy with.

 

 

There's the usual rot on the passenger side bumper mount which I will be attending to when I get to that side but so far for a 25 year old car its good.

 

 

However when you get to the driver side sill there seems to have been a couple of bodge repairs over the years with the latest being hidden with an inch of stone chip I knew something was up as inside you can see daylight and bits of surface rust so out can the wire wheel and well yeh its not pretty but I will do a bloody better job myself than what it was.

 

 

 

and after some cutting;

 

 

I now have a very nice big patch to learn welding on, there will also be some more cutting out of the rear sill as theres more rot that I missed but so far I'm in the planning stage and welder buying/learning.

 

To round this update off I've also took off all the stonechip (2 layers) on the offside rear arch found some small bits of surface rust which have been treated then repainted with some rust killer 1 seeing as I had some free vouchers for halfords;

 

 

 

Now seeing as summer is nearly here with some good weather it will be full steam ahead, the plan is by the end of the year to have everything sorted from the firewall back it may be optimistic but its a goal. I'll also be springing for a new beam as the one I took off is seized solid and looks like it's being stored in the ocean for it's life.

 

I'm also in two minds of weather to get it sent in for a respray as it's mostly stripped down and there's a local place that can do it for under 1k choices choices.

 

Anyway stay tuned welder will be purchased friday as I can find anyone local thats handy with one living on the isle of wight I'm somewhat cut off form the mainland.

[Rock Lobster 28]

Looks like you have your work cut out for you there mate! Welding like that is daunting to me!

 

I'm intrigued by that webex tape you used, would you say it superior to duct tape for this? I have mine to do in a couple of weeks and was looking for something to reinforce my bolsters?

 

And if you can get a respray done for that price then I would go for it, I stripped mine down and wish I had done it all properly before building it back up. I'm now contemplating ripping it apart for a respray next year. I'm kicking myself!

[Mac Crash 78 1 Cars]

exactly what I'm looking at on my car, OS rear sill too, doesn't look so bad now you have it cut out and prepped, regarding the welding, make sure you don't practice on your own car until you know what your doing, then you'll be fine, you also need to think about how your going to protect and seal the other side of the repair section once it's been welded up, it's good to see you getting on with it, as has been said countless times (this is nothing compared to the excuse for steel that old mini's etc were made from, MK1's weren't so bad) I remember we used to use galvanised cooker steel to put back new metal in the car rather than buy sheet steel from the merchants...

[daza2020 2]

Thanks all.

 

With regards to the webex tape I would rate it more than duct tape due to the fact that nothing winds me up more than feeling it through the fabric seats if you had leather you may not feel it. It was all just personal preference as its my car =)

 

Well the car was bought as a learning tool but I will be practicing on scrap first, I'm thinking of using zintec sheet for it then having a healthy dosage of bilt hammer cavity wax sprayed inside to nearly bursting point.

 

Indeed I've a couple of mates with minis and every time they speak about them its more rust.

 

I've also been mulling over the paint part and I'm quite intrigued with this rustoleum roller paint thats quite a hit on the vw forums, I've seen some lovely examples from some of the america forums and I think I may give it a go if it turns out pants then I'll send it in but I'm in no rush to get it on the road as it's all a learning experience not a daily.