Starting the resto....

[Rblackadar]

So I get the car back to my house for the first time in over 2 years and I want to get this thing moving along after 5 years. I'm starting to compromise on want I want done to move this thing forward by doing some bodywork myself. I was taking a look at the underside and realized there is absolutely no rot on this car just bent panels and surface rust. So I'm thinking of just taking it down to bare metal and using the POR15 Metal Ready and paint and then topcoating with Marhyde aerosol rubberized spray. I am then going to take some Waxoyl and get the internal cavities that I can't get. Am I missing anything else? Has anyone else done this or have any more suggestions? Unfutunately I dont have a compressor and a gun, so this will be done by hand( with power tools of course). I'm just trying to save money for the visible body work which I want done by someone else.

[FI Spyder]

I have just waxoiled my spider (actually Pro-Form) with engine cleaner wand and compressor. Mixed it 1 to 1 with turpentine, not the low smell type so stunk for a few weeks. Sprayed through the inside sill holes, taped them up then sprayed from holes below, then with headlights raised in through the wheel well parts, (you could see the mist coming out the bottom sill holes.

If your sills are particularly dirty I would flush them with power washer then dry with hair dryer. If there is some surface rust in there I would use ship-2-shore. They have a website. At $80 a gallon farely pricey but better than Blue steel at $120 a gallon. It reacts with rust, can be painted over, creeps into nooks and crannies, meant for marine salt water environments. Ozzies have similar product called PPW or some such. Better than welding and replacing sills down the road.



TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

[Rblackadar]

Yeah sounds good. I inspected the underside yesterday and its really solid. All the undercoat is dried off and flaking and there's just surface rust (very minor) appearing on the scratched painted surfaces underneath. The wheel wells look amazing. The undercoating is still on there good. There are a few places where it's coming off but the paint underneath is amazingly new looking. I'd like to strip the old undercoating off and leave the paint on if possible (undercoating stripper?) and just rubberize undercoat it on top of it. I can't wait to get going with this.

[FI Spyder]

I would try warming up undercoating with heat gun (carefully) or hair dryer and scrape it off with a plastic scaper where it is flaking off. I haven't actually got there with TCT and as Spider's undercoating was tight I just brushed it down with water based degreaser multiple times, flushed it off and spray paintedant bare paint with anti-chip coating and reapplyed a coat of rubberized undercoating. Only done in front and rear wheel wells as the rest is pretty much pristine with whatever had been done atSolihull factory or JRT dealer in Sacramento where it was serviced.



TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

[Rblackadar]

Lucky me I have a Speke build with drainage holes plugged at the factory with undersealer and cigarrette packs and washers sprayed over with paint in the trunk, yet the under coating in all the wheel wells are in good shape with new looking original paint underneath...pride in your work!