azzurro

Mean! Be keen for some pics. Was a cool we thing but I bet that green paint was hiding some horrors.

More & betterer pics?

Old man had one of these brand new, metallic blue. Only had it for a year or so then traded it in for a V8 Grand Cherokee that he reckoned was better on gas, lol

What a big honker. Looks like a similar bittersweet situation to my Kirstys HQ. Was gonna say any mix of ATF, diesel and or acetone you are able to concoct in the shed for soaking stuck engines. But literally anything is better than nothing, and it's the nothing that makes them stick. But happily I'm too late! Fingers crossed it fires up

Step 1: Right Rear Door This door was the most obviously chooched of the 4 on the car, and was pondering if it was worth bothering to fix it and instead replace it with another second hand door. But, after checking out a few 'mint' facebook examples that needed pretty much the same amount of work, for far far too much $$ i decided to buy a full sheet of 1mm electrogalv for less than a 1/4 of the usual asking price of a door and hack into the one we've already got There is a visible hole in the inner leading edge. It's a bit hard to tell (i couldnt untill i started hacking) but the whole lower inner is a previous repair Weird that the lowest section where any water would presumably sit wasnt really rusty, but im not a GM/Holden Engineer so what do i know Back to sound metal andstarted with replacing (again) the long lower section. Then fill the gap, incl a recess for the door panel clips (made with two sockets and the press) Then the leading edge/corner which was a tricky shape to make, again with a panel clip recess Turned out good enough tho Some grindy grindy then flipped it over. Rust in the corners make sense, but how has it rusted out in the middle of the panel? Even my FIATs dot do that! Was able to tidy up the inside of my repairs too, and fix a few more frilly bits on the edges Made a new lower skin, used my new shrinker/stretcher and pipe anvil to put a bit of curve in it and joddler/hole punch to lap weld to try minimise warping from a long mig weld kinda worked in that it warped from welding less but I locked it in without checking properly and so it's turned out a bit lower than I wanted. It was lots faster to set up and weld and clean up than a long butt and it was always going to need filler anyways Then back on to check for fit and gaps... Woops! numbers show mm needed on the front edge. The rear of the front door is also a bit off, should be straighter I think, but since it's already painted ill ad it all on the rear door No chance of finding any decent lengths of 3mm steel rod on a Sunday afternoon, but i did have a handy bag of short ones Better(?) Then final filler and prime, and blacked the frame and hinges etc (flippin cheapy gun leaked all over everything - however on clean up i found it was operator error) Sanded out and final prime Base then clear then polished, all the door innards cleaned and greased and reassembled etcAnd riveted the gutter trim back on the C pillar, noice! However, the 1k paint has been reacting pretty much randomly to the new primer and the old paint etc, however i think its mostly due to the (lacquer) thinners i was provided so ive got some proper Mipa BC stuff that matches the paint for the next panel or recoat Im not entirely annoyed as it helps the new bits blend into the old paint which is even worse - this is the boot And even ran the polisher over this corner to shiny it up, but you can see the whole car really needs stripping back top bare metal and resprayed, but as that will never happen preservation is the aim here So yeah, thats all the doors done. Only all the other rust to go... Still a ways to go, but slowly slowly catchy monkey

Yes. but, they are actually quite different sizes BMX rims are noticeably smaller diameter, wider and have different axles. The smaller rim makes it lower so can tap the pedals on the ground which can be annoying riding in jandals

depends on the hub, some are single speed some are two speed/back pedal brakes, shifted by back pedalling but not braking, but also braking changes gears - makes it tough to look cool if you come in hot and rip a mean skid but need to roll out again but you are struggling to move off in high gear now and need to do a little pedal glitch to get moving. The 3 speed ones are cable shifted (twist shift or t shifter on the dragsters) and have a wee nubbin sticking out of the hollow axle, fiddly to set up and keep within adjustment IME with a default to getting stuck in high

Agree, there is no way that should be happening absent major issues in the front hubs/ball joints/spindles/steering and you are perhaps moments away from complete loss of steering due to catastrophic failure. the spindles or steering arms have stops that hit the control arms preventing them from steering angle pivoting that far that the discs can even get close something in the front end has had its retaining fasteners come loose, or is worn out/broken, or a combo of all three Be interesting to know what the issue ends up being when you find it! My guess is worn ball joints. Pic from my recent front end rebuild might help visualizing whats going on behind the backing plate

Wow, good save! I have some foam filters on sideys (too tight for anything else) in my 125 and an extinguisher, but that's making me think maybe mesh is enough filtering. Glad you caught it and managed to stop it in time!

Next bit, the wheel arch/quarter panel This is a super common area for these to rot as evidenced by the low cost and wide availability of repair panels for this very spot But why do they rust there? Well...let me count the ways... Bit more cleaning and careful chopping trying to figure out how best to deal with this efficiently. Like the sail panel repaired in the previous post, which this is just the lower section of, this area is also triple skinned: 1 the inner arch, 2 the sail panel and lower outerwheel arch and then 3 rear outer quarter panel over that, all loosely spot welded together and then lovingly coated with lashings of lead to cover it all up at the factory. Chopping done, now to start adding nu metal Patched the inner arch, then remade the lower and rearward bit of the sail panel the front part had to wait as there was more of the inner arch to patch first -(as i tend to work on this in fits and starts every few days, sometimes I throw paint and seam sealer on as i go) And inner done. From what i could gather from what was left, the factory panel more or less floats behind the covering panels, so i welded it up to the inner arch to make it a wee bit stronger and also reduce the chance for dirt to get up there again from the door vent or boot, but its still open (towards the front) to drain any condensation or whatever that does come down from further up in the car (inner roof etc). Now there is something for the quarter panel to stick to, trimmed the repair panel back to fit the hole The rarespares panels are a big help but still need to copy and make a lot of the smaller details. Forward of the vertical fold needed making following the shape of the door and recreating the factory return Remaking the factory seam for the dogleg was not necessary given its leaded and invisible from factory but it will make it a bit easier when its time to redo the front dog leg, and does finish of the tricky bit under the corner of the door Overall pretty happy with how this turned out. Door gaps and body lines all came out minty And only a skim of filler to hide the weld and blend it in to the rest of the car, which as you can see wasn't perfect before and i didn't cut out all of the big crease either

In this exciting update, more rust! This time its the rear sail panel on the drivers side. The passenger side has the same rust spot (to do) so i assume its a "they all do that sir" type scenario, and im guessing its water and muck flicked up by the rear wheel, finds its way up there and doesn't come out. For this to happen the rear wheel arches need to have holes too, and well... (spoiler alert for the next exiting update). This is mostly hidden by the trim that is an extension of the drip rails. Just trying to figure out where and how to cut it for good access, while also retaining enough datums to be able to put it back on. Cause I needed to chop out the middle layer too (there is another layer that the headliner sticks to on the inside as well, thats fine Chopped out and cleaned up Inner mostly done. Mocking up the outer layer, which was pretty tricky as each 'face' has a compound curve but also gets wider as it goes, so well beyond my ability to make as one bit Can see it coming together here, managed to reuse the little cutout for the rear face of the door detail Weldyweldy Grindy grindy Pretty much ready for paint minus some pinholes (several more steps of weldy and grindy) Blasted some primer, have a hole to fix where the grinder caught the edge a few times, but im out of welding gas Then a few rounds of filler and then some metallic red (colour match for my Forester) just to finish it off (for now). Of course it reacted with the cheap spray can primer i used! While i had the filler out i also fixed up the nose cone and bumper. Progress is slow but its progress

Ehh. Its better than it was. If that doesn't peel off immediately well get some of that dye spray paint and do the whole seat darker to match the door cards and rear seat

I wouldnt clear coat patina, you are literally painting over poorly prepped metal, paint and rust, which only leads to the inevitable, also making it harder to maintain or fix in the future especially if you want to preserve the original paint and look. I also love patina and its hard to maintain the look while also preventing 'patina' transitioning into something worse. IMO some sort of waxy/oil type thing would be best, seal out water and oxygen but also removable, the old VVG 'shine juice' (pre this actually becoming a branded product that is more of a 1k clear) was a mix of Linseed and turps +/- any other similar stuff on the shelf like WD40. Old Fiat stories Pappa used Olive Oil and parrafin. Lanolin type grease or oil would be good. Maybe something like penetrol in there too to help it set up a bit. There are a number of other companies making simila stuff (sweetpatina.com patina sauce for eg) Trade off is whatever you use, it will need regular reapplication simply due to the nature of the substrate (its rust!) , for my 2c slapping more juice on is preferable to sanding back clear coat (doing so somehow without removing the original paint)

Appreciate the sentiment, but its not happening, the reason why this car has this engine and box in the first pace is why its getting any love at all Besides that will need to source and install a 3 speed manual or auto box, and nope.

An the reason we were inside fussing with the gearstick and handbrake? Found a cheap* HQ bench seat (ex Ute) to replace the current Torana buckets that dont bolt up It was pretty cheap for what these seem to go for but was still way to much for what they are. Rat chewed and sun damaged, but complete and colour is in the 'brownish' range Upper vinyl on the drivers side is pretty crunchy too but the passenger side where ill be sitting is ok Ive ordered some self adhesive vinyl off Aliex and ill get some Ados as well and see how that goes Guy had some sill panels too, so those were negotiated in as part of the deal and I dont feel so bad about how much we paid for this junk And interior is all back together, its a nice spot for making brum brum noises now that the seats dont wobble

In the new year holidays a did a bit more as the weather was unseasonably cold and wet, and the surf was crap. Rear of the wheel arch on both sides needed some fettling Passenger side inner: This is a complex area where a lot of panels join and overlap. The lower quarter panel/boot well already has an old repair on this side (flashback!) that is still sound and has since been reburied, but the inside has continued to deteriorate Anyway, chop chop back to sound metal A very fiddly spot to get my fat head + ppe and all that into, but pretty pleased with how it turned out There was more work after this to clean out a bit more of the thinner metal rust aft of the patch on the seam, but that is done Drivers Side: Pretty similar story to the passenger side on the inside, (no progress pics only 'done') but also needed the outer doing too, including redoing a previous patch that was very nicely welded right over the old rust which was not removed and made worse Inner wheel arch and inner boot well needed patching too. (i ended up putting another patch in above this one after chasing those holes you can see for way too long, no photos because of the red mist) Getting the outer patch to fit up nice, pretty pleased with that And halfway though welding - no finished pics for some reason And a couple little patches right at the rear of the well same on both sides, where the quarter, valance and well panels all meet and are double skinned, Bam! and the rust is gone (but still got another another round of pin holes to fill nd grind) I also welded up the old aerial hole in the top of the rear boot panel that had been bogged over previously So that meant the front clip and boot are rust free, just all the bits in between now! As i was finishing up the work in the boot (seam sealer etc), we had also been fiddling in the interior and must have knocked it out of gear/handbrake off and the car rolled off the blocks of wood it was sitting on straight into the basement wall and bent the nose codne and bumper, so thats good, great, grand, wonderful. No one was hurt, only my feefees, but a good reminder to take care working under cars!

Pipe anvil (for bending curves into sheet metal) Picked the pipe up at Rietvelds (https://rietveld.co.nz/) for scrap value a few months ago and finally got around to cutting them to length and burning them together, + a simple stand pipes are 2, 3 and 5 inch diameter thick wall pipe with washers between to set the gap (about 2mm), should be handy for making patches etc

no update for a while but have been scratching away at this in november i finished off the drivers door primed jambs etc coloured back on to sort out the gaps but after new pins and bushes, which made a huge difference, top pin had worn though the bush and was making a good start on ovalling out the hole gaps! Then prime paint clear and also blacked the top half New windlace and seals, and rivnuts for the mirror (instead of self tappers) fixed the window runner mechanism (missing rollers) and then the interior back on for the first time in a long time Door handle, lock and mirror back on, closes beautifully and lines up nice! Then my reliable* daily needed work. Oil leaks (from valve cover and turbo oil return) right onto the exhaust made it smoky, a new turbo (broken shaft, common due to oil starvation from often overlooked and hard to access mesh filter in oil feed banjo bolts), a new clutch (messed up from the oil leaks and generally worn out), and new cv joint boots (adding grease to the oil fires), but the bellhousing was well stuck to the motor (there is no spot to put anything between them to lever it off) so that had to come out with the engine. What a debacle. Those of you who Subaru know removing the engine isnt usually too bad, and is often easier than working on it in the vehicle, but removing it with the box attached, man, what a bastard. You can see where the valve cover has been leaking right onto the exhaust. Anyway, so that took all my car time/money/motivation for a good while leading up to xmas (GHFWII now!)

Very very nice work on the rust repairs and body work! Used to have VWs and now my reliable* daily's are Subarus so looking forward to seeing where this gets to.

Stink for him/not surprised but I don't think there would be too much money in it even in the best years, wonder what will happen to all the parts? Good job on the heater core! the tap/body join have a slight leak on both of mine, adjusting the cable flexes that area and they crack. Where did you get them from? From memory the heater outlets have 2 or 3 little clip tabs in the plastic. Once you get one tab free (by mangling it with a screwdriver) twist the whole housing to gain access the other(s) without the first clicking back in I think the clock is similar but I can't remember the process, I remember it being a real pain, as there's not much room for sausage fingers or even line of sight back there and the floor isn't very comfy, esp on your back

Found a pic of the piston:

Diagram C shows what you are trying to do