phr34kr Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 So spied this on trademe a few weeks ago, I have wanted a SS1 for some time now and this fit the bill nicely, It's a NZ new 1988 1600 model, meaning that it has a 5 speed box but unfortunately the non galv. chassis. The previous owner brought it for a racecar project but didn't get too far with it. Along with the car and the spares it also came with a CA18DET, top mount manifold, and the loom, a few ECU's etc. Plans are to get it back on the road (reg on hold) and have somehting i can use for reliant club events etc. List of things needing to be done; Fix the window frames, these commonly rust out and fall out, it has happened to some extent on this car but unsure how bad it is yet. fix rust in the front of the sills, this seems to be the only real rust on the car that I have seen. Refit original alloys (came with car) , the ones on it now rub on the rear wheel wells (wrong offset). This also solves the low tyre tread issue. Find out all the places its leaking from, the de-humidifier is in there at the moment to try draw all the water out of the carpet. Possibly get the bonnet, boot and hardtop painted, the paint is either in quite a bad state (bonnet and boot) or faded (hardtop). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuel Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 nice! I was wondering if anyone would snap it up. What did you end up paying for it if you don't mind me asking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My name is Russell Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Does this model have heaps of fiberglass bits also? Looking forward to updates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Not too much over the starting price, I think it was a good score, but that probably means im sick in the head. Iv had a look over the CA and though its been sitting in a damp area and the turbo is seized, it still turns over and looks really clean under the oil filler so hopefully it shouldn't need too much work to get running. The 1600 CHV thats in it at the moment seems good, starts well with no smoke and sounds okay so ill keep that in for a while, being only ~800kg it should still be good fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Lownslow The tub is hand laid fiberglass, the wings are a composite plastic/resin I believe and the boot and bonnet are vacuum moulded fiberglass, the chassis on these are a really awesome bit of engineering, German made, hence the reason the British body panels fit horribly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Okay so had a poke around this afternoon to check out the extent of rust in the sills .... yeah its pretty gone, Jacking points are still fine (made from thicker steel with less chance of getting water trapped in them. So to replace these I will pull the body off the chassis, luckily it turns out that its really easy to pull apart SS1's. nose cone and headlight surround off. I love how the body panels are held on, Torx screws which are awesome, and plastic wing nuts (no rusted on nuts make me a happy person ) Oh and also turns out the quaterlight/window frames aren't rusted out near the mounts, they are brand new they just havent been bolted in properly/at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 So still carrying on with the strip down of this thing, I'm very happy that I did as there have been a few surprises not too major but still nice to know about. Dash out Boot/boot liner out Rear guards and bumper off Front guards off Rear frame off front frame off will hopefully have the tub removed from the chassis tomorrow then I can begin the restoration, I will be getting all the suspension components sandblasted and more than likely the chassis as well. I have a set of bushes for the car and will replace all the old ones while it is apart, as well as ball joints etc. I have also noticed a crack on one of the top wishbones, they are pressed steel and have the pushrods for the shocks welded to them in such a way that cracking is quite common Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
durty Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 please take it for a drive like that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted June 25, 2012 Author Share Posted June 25, 2012 Too late, no steering, brakes or seats. But i have considered it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Nice, alwas wanted to see people play with one of these. Can see the Lotus Backbone inspiration in the chassis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 Nice, alwas wanted to see people play with one of these. Can see the Lotus Backbone inspiration in the chassis. They are really cool little cars, I have already thrown out the idea of the CA, if I'm to do an engine swap it will be for a light 4 cylinder with an alloy gearbox behind it, should be able to loose a few KG's there. So i got the main tub off yesterday, to give you a little bit of an idea of the light weight nature of this, a friend and I managed to lift it up above the pillars and carry it forwards with ease, there is literally almost no weight to any of these body panels. So as you can see the rust was a little more extensive then first thought, the drivers side A pillar parted ways with the tub as it was removed. Not the end of the world as the passengers one is in quite good shape and i can just copy it. Tub off On the bright side, everywhere but the sills seems solid. The drivers side sill is far worse than the passengers side but still looks fairly straight forward to repair, the club does have replacement sills in stock but at almost $400 a side I think ill make the patches up myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 If you're looking for a light 4 cylinder engine, the Rover K is the lightest around unless you want to screw around with a bike engine. The later VVC engines were 160 bhp or you could build up a non-VVC engine with porting, cams etc to about the same power and still be reliable. Also the option of going to 200+bhp later if you want to get silly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 As attractive as the weight of the rover engine is, I just don't think I would be able to convince myself that it would be a good swap. Anyway the engine swap would be a long way down the road and the 2zzge is far more appealing to me. Anyway a picture-less update as I have misplaced the camera. The chassis is fully stripped down, engine gearbox, diff front/rear suspension is all off. Further inspection of the drivers side upper wishbone shows that it has a lot more cracking than previously thought, so I will be getting that welded up and crack tested. Good news on the sill front, turns out that one of the club members had a ~1M long length of sill bent up as a sample to get the full length pieces made. I have luckily been able to acquire this, so will be getting new sills bent up out of Zinc plated steel. I have decided that cutting the entire sill off and welding in a new one on each side will leave a nicer finish and should be more resilient to new rust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 Quick cad of the outer sill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 Sills Manufactured, all suspension components blasted and being painted tomorrow. I got the sills made up at a local sheet metal company and picked those up today. More photos to come over the weekend. Also should be getting some spare body panels/ Maybe another complete SS1 ( but 5 scimitars would probably be too many tbh/Acquire them all) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 So since all suspension components were freshly bead blasted, and I couldn't be sure that the insides of everything would get an adequate coating of paint I decided to get them all zinc plated, then paint them. Shouldn't ever have any rust problems with them. The springs were done first and the rest should hopefully be done next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 wow. could turn that into a sweet beach buggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 So continuing to get things plated a few more of the bits that have been done. Trying to figure out how exactly im goign to straighten out the drivers side top wishbone, its severely cracked and twisted ( a common problem on SS1's and impossible to find replacements) then to get it welded and crack tested. I have borrowed the clubs set of new sills which have already had the cut outs done, as a template for my ones. Should hopefully be able to get one side tacked on in the weekend, then need to find someone to weld them fully. Hopefully on track to start assembly in late november. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phr34kr Posted November 11, 2013 Author Share Posted November 11, 2013 So I have finally started working on this thing again, Brought a decent welder and a bottle of Argo sheild. Im trying to do a bit every day after work. got the drivers sill tacked on as well as the B pillar. Decided to check the fitment of the tub, so dropped that on and will slide the A pillar into place and tack that on before removing the tub to start the passengers side later this week. B pillar fits nicely and a shot with the hard top on. You can see that the sill is a little long. I decided to leave it long and mark exactly where i wanted it with the tub on to make sure everything looks right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esprit Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 If you didn't get a de-embrittlement done on the springs immediately after plating, they're probably toast as they'll crack in service. Also, blasting springs tend to stress relieve them and make them soggy as hell. Springs should be painted or powdercoated and that's it. The rest is looking good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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