When I went to open my track car's hatch for the first time in about 5 years, it was clear that it had seen better days.
There was rust in all the usual spots, and a few unusual spots too. So I thought I'd better pull it off and give it a quick patch up, until I can come back and fix it properly one day (i.e. make it future-me's problem)
So off it came, and popped the glass out to see what I was up against.
Doesn't look tooooo bad:
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/h1.jpg)
err...
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_h3.jpg)
umm...
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_h4.jpg)
???
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_h6.jpg)
So maybe a little worse condition than I first thought?
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_h9.jpg)
ok, but the frame is solid, right?
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_h8.jpg)
:-[
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_h7.jpg)
Yeah ok, that's well beyond a quick patch-up job. Time to learn some basic sheet metal skills, seeing as rust-free hatches are rather hard to come by these days.
Future-me, you're off the hook because present-me is going to take one for the team :(
So why not dive straight in the deep end and start on the lower window corners ;D
I was going to have to replace a number of sections of the window channel, which involves two 90° bends plus a little raised lip.
Not easy to do on a bender (not that I have one), but what about hammer forming over a wooden buck? The guy on the youtube video made it look so easy...
So I chucked a wooden block in the mill and made myself a buck form, I even added in allowance for the sheet metal thickness. Easy so far...
And the result :-[
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_form.jpg)
ok then, plan B - make a simple bender, buy a cheap bead roller and step dies, and maybe make a tipping die for it because they look so easy to get great results with on all the youtube videos :o
But in the meantime maybe start with some of the simpler frame patches.
This looked like a good place to start:
hatch3p.jpg
I made the dogleg lip by first bending a 90° angle then clamping the piece flat between two steel plates, clamping a 6mm bar hard up against the outside of the bend, and hammering the edge over it.
Or if I'd waited a couple of days for my bead roller to be delivered, it would have been a 20 second job :-\
hatch3p2.jpg
Getting ready to weld the first patch in:
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_patch1.jpg)
I had no clue how to go about making a new lower frame corner, I stared at this for quite a while pondering how I could coerce a flat steel sheet to take this form:
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_corner1.jpg)
It was pretty obvious I couldn't make it in a single piece, but two pieces seemed achievable.
The raised pad for the rubber stop was formed in a press with a large socket under the sheet.
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_corner2.jpg)
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_corner3.jpg)
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_corner4.jpg)
The bead roller I got was a cheap chinese generic manual type, not all that rigid and this one doesn't even have grease nipples in the bearing blocks. I'll add them if I end up using the roller enough to worry about that.
My first attempt at forming a step turned out pretty well
roll1.jpg
But using a manual bead roller is not a one person job. It takes a fair amount of effort to crank the handle, and meanwhile you really need both hands at the other end to steer and guide the part through the rollers.
Its probably fine as long as you have a friend that can crank the handle for you - but that means I'd have to come up with an automated way of turning the crank handle :-[
Side quest time - powering the manual bead roller
I looked at how other people had powered their rollers - some used a big sprocket and chain on an electric motor, some used a garage door opener, or right angle reduction drives, 3 phase motors and VFDs... most costing way more than the roller itself.
What I needed was:
- variable speed (0-30ish rpm?)
- reversable direction
- lots of torque
- compact, or at least not too big and bulky
- foot control would be nice
- low voltage preferably
- cheap, as this was only a side quest after all
After considering a few options like big stepper motors or modifying a wiper motor, I found a decent sized gear reduction motor that I think was for an electric caravan awning.
The specs looked about right, and so did the price.
The motor bolted up nicely to a random thick steel bracket I found, so I took some measurements, 3D printed a shaft coupler, put it together and tried it out.
And immediately stripped the plastic coupler. Well, I guess the motor has plenty of torque :o
Try #2 - I made up a better coupler on the lathe and tried again, this time it worked much better.
roller_motor2.jpg
I still needed to be able to control the direction and speed.
After scouring ebay I ended up with an electric scooter speed controller and a throttle pedal for an electric toy ATV.
Side quest completed for under $100 ;D
getting back to those bottom corners of the window frame, again this wasn't really going to work as a one piece patch
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_patch3a.jpg)
I made a very small, basic and dodgy bender out of a couple of bits of RHS and a pair of big door hinges - its vaguely useful, but that's the nicest thing I can say about it.
But seeing as there's really no straight edges or flat surfaces on these hatches, it was good enough for the few short bends I needed.
This part was made from 3 pieces: the top skin with a 90° bend forming the face facing the camera and the lip on the left hand side that folds over the frame edge; the bottom strip with a stepped lip; and the third piece to fill the inside corner.
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/patch2a.jpg)
Because the hatch is curved, there was lots of massaging needed to match this.
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/patch2b.jpg)
Working at the blistering pace of completing roughly one patch repair per week, in only 3 or 4 short months my hatch was starting to look a bit healthier
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/stripped.jpg)
The rear face still needed replacing, there wasn't really any salvageable metal so I thought I'd cut off what remained just below the top lip and replace it as a single piece.
It looked simple enough to start with, but that panel is anything but flat or straight edged.
The bottom edge is curved, the two side edges are angled inwards at the bottom, and the whole panel is lightly convex in both vertical and horizontal directions.
I made a template from my other gtv out of thin mdf then transferred that to sheet metal.
Next was hammer forming the slight curves, then an awful lot of smoothing out the hammer marks.
Using a tipping die in my bead roller I progressively bent a lip along the curved lower edge that would eventually be hammered down over the edge of the frame, and the same for forming the two side lips.
Then marked out and drilled the hole for the lock, and rolled the lip with a dimple die (i.e. a pair of suitably sized sockets and a press).
Then lots of trimming and fine adjustments, before tacking it into place for a final time then tacking it in between each weld, letting it cool down, and repeat until it was fully welded.
rear.jpg
And that's roughly where I'm up to now, next comes filler and lots of sanding...
Just go fibreglass and perspex window. Big weight save and no rust, ever!
You're doing some very nice metal work though.
Quote from: NSharpley on December 21, 2023, 05:40:40 PMJust go fibreglass and perspex window. Big weight save and no rust, ever!
That was/is my backup plan, but I would still need the hatch in a decent enough shape to take a mold from.
The weight saving isn't much of a concern to me though as I'm seriously thinking about turning it back into a road car anyway. Enough of a road car to pass a blue slip at least...
And my other gtv has rust in its hatch too, so I thought I should get some practice in first before tackling that one.
If this hatch actually turns out alright then I might swap them over temporarily so its not off the road for months while I repair the other hatch :-[
Great work Festy, keep it up. Looking forward to having some time to learn those skills someday :)
Festy I am in total awe of your work. Need to get around to making a patch and welding it into the rear valance of my GTV. this will be my inspiration...
Still slowly chipping away at this. The filling and sanding took far too long, and I regret not spending a bit more time getting the metal closer to its proper final shape because it probably would have been less effort in the end.
The first two coats of colour are on, I'm using 1997 ford laser 'classic red' because one of my GTVs is AR501 Rosso Alfa and the other is meant to be AR501 but has been repainted an orange-er red, possibly FER300 Rosso Corsa - and Ford Classic red is about halfway between the two.
And also because I had half a litre left over from repairing a laser a few years ago :D
hatch_colour1.png
That will never fit. You have made it upside down ::)
Quote from: MD on March 13, 2024, 09:28:09 PMThat will never fit. You have made it upside down ::)
No that's ok, I just need to flip it up the other way to make it fit.
Like this:
77_upsidedown.jpg
AH, much better. An instant crowd pleaser. No need for an air foil either. Bonus. ;D
The paint has had 6 weeks to harden, time to see how it scrubs up.
paint.jpg
Started with a very light (actually too light) colour sand, then cutting compound, then followed by a polish.
Then I realize I was too gentle with the colour sanding, so repeat the whole process.
It's a long way from perfect, but I'm happy enough with how its coming up.
polish.jpg
polish2.jpg
Now, to find where I hid the rest of the chrome trim 10 years ago...
Always a snag isn't there ?!!
If you literally cannot find the missing stainless cover strips to complete the job and you are not too precious about it, consider a rubber surround like in the later models.
I found another side and corner piece yesterday in a different spot to where I found the first bits, so I'm sure the rest is buried in my garage somewhere.
With the repairs to the hatch done, I started on the spare wheel well rust today.
This car has been mostly undercover for the ~25 years I've owned it, but for the last decade or so the rear end has been exposed to the weather - so plenty of rust but only from the rear wheels back.
The highlight of my day was working out an easy way to reproduce the drain holes in the bottom of the spare wheel well.
I was initially considering trying to form the lip along a straight edge of sheet metal with the bead roller, then go nuts with the shrinker/stretcher to try and form the straight edge into a circle.
But based on my experience with the shrinker/stretcher I gave myself a 0% chance of pulling that off.
After a bit more head scratching, I found a bearing race off a Patrol front outer wheel bearing (a bit like a really strong ~80mm ID egg ring) and a short piece of ~70mm diameter round steel bar, and used them together as a dimple die in my press. Then finished it off with a hole saw.
For less than 5 minutes work, I'm pretty happy with the result ;D
drain1.png
A bit more progress today - all the rust around the drain hole was cut out, the replacement trimmed to size, then welded in.
drain2.png
drain3.png
I also found a decent crack a few inches long in the boot floor above the rear right hand tank mount :o so welded that up and plated it just to be sure, I don't want the tank falling out on me.
Next up....
more_rust.png
wish me luck :-[
festy, you started with a hole and you have finished with a hole. I even checked on my AI calculator and it told me -1hole + 1= same hole. I think the fault might lie with your welder. Is it plugged in ? ;D ;D
Interested to see how you go with the rear valence Festy - mine is gone in exactly the same spot. Started out as what I thought was just a few rust bubbles - when I started peeling it away it was totally gone.
Quote from: MD on July 29, 2024, 06:52:16 AMfesty, you started with a hole and you have finished with a hole. I even checked on my AI calculator and it told me -1hole + 1= same hole. I think the fault might lie with your welder. Is it plugged in ? ;D ;D
Ahh, but it's all about the
quality of the hole. not the quantity ;D
But speaking of hole quantity, I've got one less now:
rear5.png
Not perfect, but not too bad either
rear6.png
This straight section was pretty easy, just one bend and a rolled lip. The corner piece is going to be a bit trickier though.
I'll probably have a crack at making it from a single piece (with lots of stretcher work for the curve) but I think it'll end up needing 2 or 3 pieces.
I have been giving this matter considerable thought and in a spirit of neighbourly assistance, you know, leaning on the fence stubby in hand kind of wisdom sharing.
I don't think you have a corrosion problem at all. You car is the victim of a savage and ferocious termite attack. You don't need a welder, what you need is a can of Mortine.
What a revelation! I feel guilty that I haven't revealed this to you earlier.
The Forum could do with more wisdom sharing me thinks.
Is that the same some sort of double skinned carefully engineered rust trap arrangement that Alfa also used in the AlfaSud (firewall ffs).. same period I guess.
Poohbahs example looks to be foreshadowing...
Quote from: MD on August 07, 2024, 06:59:34 AMI have been giving this matter considerable thought and in a spirit of neighbourly assistance, you know, leaning on the fence stubby in hand kind of wisdom sharing.
I don't think you have a corrosion problem at all. You car is the victim of a savage and ferocious termite attack. You don't need a welder, what you need is a can of Mortine.
What a revelation! I feel guilty that I haven't revealed this to you earlier.
The Forum could do with more wisdom sharing me thinks.
So I'm wasting my time patching up the rust, unless I can kill the queen?
Maybe I need to invest in an echidna...
Quote from: Craig_m67 on August 07, 2024, 04:27:55 PMIs that the same some sort of double skinned carefully engineered rust trap arrangement that Alfa also used in the AlfaSud (firewall ffs).. same period I guess.
Poohbahs example looks to be foreshadowing...
Yeah they all rust out at that spot. In what I assume was an attempt to stop water/debris/random odds and ends carried in the boot from ending up in that crevice, they filled the whole thing with seam sealer.
Which probably worked ok until the very first bit of body movement allowed water to seep past, but then get trapped behind it.
Lucky these don't have a reputation for the hatches leaking and letting water into the boot I guess ???
Maybe a one-piece patch for the left hand section isn't out of the question :o
I made a rough paper template, then copied that onto sheetmetal and sketched out approximately where the bend needs to be
corner1.png
I ran it through the bead roller with a tipping die a few times to form a crease.
Because the crease isn't a straight line, the sheet was already starting to warp along its length by the time I got this small amount of bend in it
corner2.png
But almost as soon as I started with the stretcher around the curve, it began springing into roughly the shape I wanted.
A few more passes through the roller, a bit more stretching, hammering, trimming etc and it started looking like it might not be a complete disaster ;D
corner3.png
Still lots more work needed before it will fit, but so far its taking shape ok.
corner4.png
wow I'm really impressed mate.
Also - housekeeping question. Is there any need to drop the tank before welding near it (assuming your tank is neither leaking nor "fumey")?
Quote from: poohbah on August 08, 2024, 06:11:02 PMAlso - housekeeping question. Is there any need to drop the tank before welding near it (assuming your tank is neither leaking nor "fumey")?
Having "flashbacks" are we? ;)
(https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/daba03f8012e712d768079cf58e9f2ae?width=1024)
I'd be very nervous welding this close to the tank.
To be honest, if it was just one small repair patch then I might be tempted to leave the tank in - but it only takes 4 bolts and a couple of hose clamps and connectors to drop the tank out so I would strongly suggest removing it.
I pulled the tank out of this car 10 or 15 years ago because it leaked thanks to a small crack in the bottom, and replaced it with a small plastic fuel cell in the boot when I converted to EFI.
But as part of potentially returning it to a road car I'll have to swap back to an OEM tank so I pulled the fuel cell, surge tank, pumps etc out of the boot and thought I should take this opportunity to fix all the rust now before installing the fuel system.
cheers Festy, that's kind of what I'd assumed, but I have seen some conflicting advice about it.
I'm only planning MIG welding, but probably better safe than sorry (yes Bazz ... I'm still a little gun shy)
This is the original tank, I cleaned it out and sealed the crack a few months ago.
It was full of what looked like rusty clay, spider webs, and the inner half of a filler cap :D
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/1.png)
This is where it was leaking from:
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/crack.png)
I haven't got any photos of the sender unit when I first pulled it out, but it looked like something salvaged from a shipwreck.
It was completely crusty, the pipe was clogged, and the rheostat was jammed up with crud. Once I cleaned it up I discovered that the sender wire's post had been removed and the hole soldered up, and the low fuel light terminal had been pinched for the sender's output.
I assume the original terminal post started leaking, so this was their solution :-\
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/sender1.png)
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_sender2.png)
I made up a new terminal post insulator and wired it back up properly
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_sender4.png)
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/sender3.png)
I also soldered up the crack in the bottom of the tank, but looks like I didn't clean the flux off properly before slapping a coat of paint over it because 4 months later there's surface rust all around the repair.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_solder.png)
I still need to add a return line to the tank before its ready to go in. But no rush, there's still lots of rust repairs to get to first.
A bit more progress this morning, before I lose motivation for another few months ???
Before I cut away the rusty section of the boot floor edge, I thought I better work out where the lip on the outer part goes first seeing as its my only reference.
I trimmed and massaged the patch piece into shape, then traced the line marking the edge of the lower piece, then a few passes with the tipping roller to start easing the lip over.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/corner5.png)
Pretty quickly the lip started warping so onto the shrinker/stretcher
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/corner6.png)
Once the lip was close enough I cut out and replaced the inner floor edge. I was struggling to get the mig gun into position for the inner edge until I realized there was easy access from inside the boot.
Then lots more welding, grinding, percussive alignment, trimming etc got me to this point. Not Finished, but enough for one day.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/corner7.png)
This patch is going to need a light skim of bog in a few spots, whereas the other two patches might get away with just high fill primer.
I'm not convinced making this patch in one piece was the most efficient way to do it, but its done now.
And now onto the tail light area...
Right hand side looks worse, so lets start there
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill1.png)
Clean it up a bit to see how much metal is actually left
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill2.png)
ok, not as bad as I'd feared. I was dreading having to make the corners, but they look mostly alright.
I thought the profile of the tail light surround looked kind of like a standard round bead, except with the outer side of the curve not quite as sharp as the inner side.
Sort of like this, but not so extreme:
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/profile.png)
I grabbed the nearest piece of sheet offcut and ran it through the roller half a dozen times using 1/8" round bead dies.
I trimmed it back to right at the base of the bead on what would be the outer side, and started looking for a suitable spot for it to fit.
Yes, I know that's backwards - it makes much more sense to pick a spot to patch and then make a patch to fit that spot, but I'd only set out to experiment with making the profile and hadn't anticipated I'd end up with something usable on my first try.
And that's probably why I didn't think to take any photos until it was welded in, but that's ok because I'll have plenty more opportunities :-\
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill3.png)
More tail light fun, this time the lower lip of the tail/brake light.
Measure out a piece for the repair, then mark a line where the top edge of the bead will be.
Run it through the roller a few times, lining up the mark with the lip of the die to try and keep the bead forming straight.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill4.png)
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill5.png)
Mark out where to cut
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill6.png)
And start cutting
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill7.png)
Spend some time making small adjustments until it fits nicely, then start tacking
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill8.png)
Lots of stitching and grinding later
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill9.png)
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill10.png)
I still need to blend the right hand end a bit better, not sure what happened there.
Impressive, if you're ever in Brisbane....
Quote from: Craig_m67 on August 17, 2024, 03:29:30 PMImpressive, if you're ever in Brisbane....
Some patches have really surprised me how well they've turned out, considering I have no idea what I'm doing and hadn't touched a mig before starting on the hatch.
But other times its a complete amateur-hour s#%*show here :-[
Quoteok, not as bad as I'd feared. I was dreading having to make the corners, but they look mostly alright.
Well,
mostly....
I was cleaning up the right hand edges and found a fair bit of filler :o
This car has obviously taken a bit of a hit to the read right corner a long time ago. I've owned it since 1999 and the paint was equally old and faded everywhere when I got it.
The panel had been roughly beaten back into shape without much effort to shape the tail light beads or anywhere else for that matter, then the whole area was filled with bog straight onto bare metal.
Amazingly, it was holding up pretty well after 30 odd years.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_taill11.png)
After removing most of the filler, a couple of light taps from the inside got the general panel shape much closer than it was.
But the corner of the lower light was a mess. I rolled a corner bead as tight as I could manage, which came out at around 90° and then tightened up the bend with the stretcher/shrinker until it was a decent match.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill12.png)
Then marked and cut the damaged corner out.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_taill13.png)
I didn't do a great job with this patch, it didn't fit well so I ended up going round in circles trying to weld it in. A little bit of persuasion and a skim of filler should sort it out though.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_taill14.png)
I finished off the last few little patches, now onto the left hand corner :-\
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/taill1primer.png)
Mate, at this rate you WILL be nominated for the Panel Beaters Hall of Fame placard.
What is the big plan for this illustrious vehicle?
Quote from: MD on August 23, 2024, 08:03:11 AMMate, at this rate you WILL be nominated for the Panel Beaters Hall of Fame placard.
What is the big plan for this illustrious vehicle?
The only thing I'm likely to get from them is a cease and desist letter ;D
The plan is a bit open ended at the moment, but seeing as I haven't taken it to the track in about a decade I thought I might get a bit more use out of it if it was registered.
The NSW classic rego scheme allows a fair bit more freedom than historic rego, but there's still quite a list of work to be done. Remove the fuel cell, roll cage, slicks etc, fit roof lining, carpet, interior, seats, seatbelts, lights, ignition barrel, washers and wipers, bumpers, speedo, and probably a lot more that I haven't thought of yet.
I've been reading up on VSB 6 and all the applicable ADRs to work out what modifications can stay and what can't.
Apart from the rust at the rear, this is a really good solid car with a bunch of performance and handling improvements and its a waste to not be driving it.
A few more updates on my crusade against rust - working from the rear forwards, next job was behind the left rear wheel:
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/rl1.png)
I started with a paper template then transferred that to sheet metal, then bent the flanges for the two ends and bottom edge so I could attack it with the shrinker/stretcher:
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_rl2.png)
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_rl4.png)
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_rl3.png)
Then I lost motivation for a while part way through finishing that patch, but got stuck back into it a week or two ago.
Moving forward again, next was a pair of rust holes just forward of the tailgate hinges, in a pretty awkward spot :(
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/normal_rl5.png)
Then lots of filling, sanding and priming followed by a quick coat of red:
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/red.png)
As usual, as soon as the colour goes on all the blemishes stick out, but I'll come back to those if they bother me too much once the tail lights and bumper are fitted.
Next job is re-fitting the original fuel filler and tank, so I can work out where to add a return port to the tank.
I dug out my filler neck from the garage just to find that the rubber elbow is badly split, so have ordered a Gates 24713 which I think should be a good fit once cut to size.
I've been making slow but consistent progress over the last few months.
Once I ran out of rust repairs that needed urgent attention, I worked out a rough order for the rest of the jobs:
1) Strip out the roll cage, seats and harnesses
2) make a headlining (while there's no interior to drop glue on)
3) Wiring, while there's no interior to get in my way
4) Finish the fuel system
5) Get it running
6) Install an interior
Ready to start on the headliner:
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/stripped1.png)
Then on to the wiring...
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/wiring1.png)
This took me a few weeks - I had to wire up the column switches which was extra fun because this is a very early '77 GTV which apparently has very different wiring to most so I had to get creative.
I also had to re-install the wiper motor and linkage which is a real pain.
There were a couple of frustrating days where I could get the lights working OR the wipers, or the wipers would work but then occasionally blow fuses, but I got it all worked out eventually.
I was running out of engine bay space for a washer bottle, so found a little generic kit with a small washer bag. I'm not sure how long it will last, considering its proximity to the dump pipe ???
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/washer.png)
Interior installed
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/int1~0.png)
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/int2.png)
Then I drove it into my backyard and washed it for the first time in about a decade
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/77_washed.png)
Got the air con and hi-fi installed yet?
I haven't done anything to it lately other than start it once a few weeks ago.
I still need to sort out a speedo cable. I bought a couple of RHD cables from Classic Alfa but they're too short, it seems that australian market cars need a longer cable than everywhere else.
Other than that, I think it might only be a set of tyres away from a blue slip (plus probably a million little things I haven't thought about yet).
I'm thinking of going back to 14" turbinas and a tyre with plenty of sidewall, because something tells me it won't pass an inspection on the 16" slicks its currently wearing ???
I haven't ran a standard size wheel on an alfetta in a long time but from memory a 195/65/14 tyre is about as wide as you'd want on a 5.5" rim, and is pretty close to the stock diameter?
I dug around in my garage and back yard this morning and found four turbinas, then washed and de-spidered them in preparation for fitting some new boots.
The new tyres are just cheap Nankang 195/65s, but still cost more than what I paid for the car 25 years ago ???
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/tyres.png)
I think I might need to re-visit the exhaust before rego. The current exhaust is rather... umm... 'minimalist' and might not do the most thorough job of muffling the exhaust noise.
Its also only 40mm off the ground at the lowest point which I think would probably be a bigger problem than the noise.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/exhaust.jpg)
Always great to see enthusiasts bringing something back to life. You have a long journey yet I can see but the incremental steps are always rewarding that much I know. Sometimes it's the arrival and sometimes it's the journey.
"New" exhaust is done, made from whatever random bits and pieces of exhausts I found in my garage.
There's still a small leak near the front to fix, but otherwise it seems to do the job.
Plenty of clearance now too - well over 100mm at the lowest point.
I got the engine up to temperature to start tuning it, but abandoned that idea when I saw that the alternator was only putting out about 12.8v which dropped to 12.4v when the thermo fan kicked in.
I'll replace the mechanical regulator with a modern one and give the alternator a quick freshen up before trying again.
The way the alternator's output dropped off as soon as a load was applied sounded like a brush/slip ring issue to me, so open it up and...
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/1.jpg)
Yeah, that'd do it :o
After a quick clean up they were looking a bit better:
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/2.jpg)
The brushes looked ok so just gave them a super-light sand and a squirt of contact cleaner.
The front bearing should probably be replaced soon, but it'll do for now.
Alternator is working a bit better, but still drops below 12.5v when there's a load so will need to check the wiring and test the regulator.
But after 10 mins of running there was a decent oil leak from either the head gasket or timing cover gasket, so will have to pull it all apart and replace them before going any further.
oil_leak.jpg
Well, that escalated quickly :o
Oil leak is temporarily fixed, because I guess it can't leak oil when there's no oil pump ;D
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/tc1.jpg)
I think I found the problem, timing cover gasket was a bit short at the top leaving a paper-width gap for oil to escape through.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/tc2.jpg)
Love the Frankenstein liner clamps!
Good to see this GTV slowly coming back to life. Keep up the great work.
All back together, fired up first go.
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/77_reassembled.jpg)
Nothing leaking from the head, timing cover or sump, happy days.
But 30 seconds later there was petrol pouring onto the ground - my 'brand new' braided hose feeding the injector rail that I installed only 12 years ago must have only just been holding together, and repeatedly bending and twisting the hose to move the rail out of my way over the last few weeks was enough to crack the hose.
Oh well, I much prefer it happen now than when I start driving it on the road...
I needed a quick youtube refresher because its been about 12 years since I made up a braided hose, but I only managed to stab myself with the braid once and the new hose keeps all the petrol on the inside so must have done an ok job ;D
Then, after 5-10 mins of idling I noticed an oil puddle on the ground :( I followed the drips back to the remote oil filter housing...
Its in a pretty awkward position for accessing the fittings, but after a lot of messing around I eventually found that the o-ring on the M16(?)/AN10 adapter in the bottom of the filter housing was rock hard, flat, and falling apart and like my fuel rail hose, was doing ok until it was disturbed.
Lots of choice words were said while I was battling to get a pair of 12" long spanners into a 4" gap to reassemble.
Eventually I got the fitting and hose back on and nipped up, cleaned up all the oil, and fired up the engine - to find that the leak was fixed, but now of course the other fitting was leaking because I'd disturbed it while fighting with the first one so I get to do it all again :o
This morning I de-greased and washed down the engine bay, then got the engine up to temp to re-torque the head and then let it run for about 20 minutes to look for any more leaks.
Only two more minor leaks this time - a pinhole drip from the turbo coolant supply hose that was a quick and easy fix, and an occasional drip from the 90° AN6 fitting on the turbo coolant return line.
The alternator still wasn't charging properly, so replaced the mechanical regulator with a Bosch RE55.
That helped a bit - now I'm seeing 13.2v at the battery at idle, but it still drops to 12.6v with the headlights on so still some work to do there.
Only a couple of small jobs to do now before its ready for a blue slip.
Amazingly, its still in RTA's system:
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/77_rego_report.png)
I bought it as a parts car in 1999 i think, I hope I still have the receipt somewhere ???
I was warming it up for a last check over before booking an inspection the other day, when the car vanished right in front of me... hidden in a thick cloud of smoke :o
I thought that was a bit strange, so switched it off and let it cool down before trying to track down the cause.
Nothing looked out of place, so I started it up again - and after a minute or two the smoke came right back.
The turbo must have let go :-\
So I headed off to youtube to find out what it takes to rebuild one.
It doesn't seem too scary, so lets do this...
I pulled the cartridge out, and yes my exhaust lubrication system appears to be working well:
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/exh_housing.jpg)
The oil is not meant to be on the outside of the rear cover...
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/cart_oily.jpg)
And the shaft has seen better days :(
(https://festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/shaft_worn.jpg)
Cleaned up the shaft as best I can, time to see if I remember where all the bits go...
(https://www.festy.org/pics/albums/userpics/10001/10/parts.jpg)
Maybe the issue with the lower voltage with the headlights on is due to miles of old and thin wiring between the battery and the headlights? Add in some old, dirty, maybe corroded terminals in the various plugs and that's a lot of current draw. Some relays near the headlights might solve the problem and will at least give you better headlights and extend the life of the headlight stalk.
It wasn't just the headlights - if I switched on any electrical load I could hear the fuel pump slow down :-[
The one really obvious check I hadn't done was check the voltage on the back of the alternator.
That showed a bit over 14v, bingo...
So I ran a new heavy duty wire from the alternator and problem solved :D
Other fun adventures - I spent ages trying to find the violet wire in the harness for the fuel gauge.
I had what I thought was the right plug in the boot, but it had a light blue wire.
Eventually I started peeling back the harness tape and found my violet wire :o
sender_wire.jpg
Now that I knew I had the right wire, I connected the sender up... and nothing. Added 5L of petrol to the tank, still nothing. Ok, so I guess the sender doesn't work.
A few days later I added another 20L in preparation for driving to a blue slip, and the fuel gauge sprung to life. The tank had been low enough to read empty, but not empty enough for the low fuel light ???
But, once there was a decent amount of fuel in the tank the sender seal didn't. I tried replacing the seal with a nitrile o ring, but that didn't work too well so now waiting for some nitrile sheet to get here so I can make a new seal.
In the meantime I thought I'd bleed the clutch and brakes, and found out that the only thing holding the fluid in the slave cylinder was rust and crud.
And once that was gone, so was all the fluid :(
So I've got a few more little things to sort out before it goes for an inspection...
In between all that I did drive around the block to test the rebuilt turbocharger, and can confirm it works rather well ;)