I'm in two minds as to what to do with my ERST while it is off the road. The engine is out but will be quite a while before its ready to put back in due to bits being made etc.

The shell does need a fair bit of work i.e. new offside rear arch, various small dents and possibly a new roof skin as there are some rust bubbles.

Should I either?

A) Get the rear arch, sort the roof and any other bad rust areas and just get a blow over in the same colour.

B) Strip the car to a bare shell and have all the rust sorted and fit a proper cage and possibly have it seam welded.


If I chose B is seam welding worth doing?
Thanks in advance for your ideas and suggestions.

Si

 

What are you planning to use the car for?

It is pointless seaming up a shell if your going to bufty it!!

 

if ure jus gonna use it on the road i'd jus strip it and mint it up and spray it in same colour, put it back together keepin it tidy as u go

 

I will be using it for the road, 1/4 mile

What are the benefits of seam welding. I don't know that much about it. Is it expensive?

 

My new 4x4 RS500 shell is seam welded, but it was a group a motorsport jobbie so all the seam sealer and sound deadening etc was missing which made the job a lot easier - its a bitch of a job to do on a road shell as all the seams have to be cleaned out back to bare metal first, and time is money.

Only worth doing if you are going to use the car on track, but it does stiffen up the shell a hell of a lot - I foam filled all the cavities on mine as well so this baby is rock solid unlike a normal 3dr shell which flexes big time.

 

only needed for rallying in my opinion

 

Only needed in motorsport really, I seam welded the chassis legs front and back on mine just for a little extra strength. TBH I wish I hadn't as it screws up the design of the car's crumple zones, which means that it the car won't be able to absob an impact as well as it should which would mean if you were involved in a head on accident you would be more likely to crease the floor pan.
I can definately appreciate the benefits if you are rallying or track racing the car as it will definatley stiffen up the shell. Seam welding alone will not be sufficent to stiffen up a shell though, you would need fillets added and gussets aswell in places.
HTH

 

depends how serious you want for 1/4mile stuff and the power out put, I have already done an ESRT for a customer and it will be out early next yr to put some spice back into the ront wheel drive scene

 

Where can i get a roof skin if possible 4my s2?

How hard r they 2fit?

 

Mines FULLY seam welded

If its just for a road car dont bother doing it fully Si, you will not gain or be able to use enough of the benefits at all. You could of course just get all the turrets, chassis rails, and front x member etc done for added safety in the event of the worst happening tho'.

 

CheeRS for the info guys I've decided i'll wait till my new engines in and mapped before I sort the bodywork. I won't bother having it seam welded as I really only use the car for straight line stuff.

 

so straightline stuff doesn't take its toll on the chassis rails? if you going out to run 14's leave it but if your chassing 12's or quicker I'd advise alot of work. just my opinion.

 

Danny B, What work would you advise? Car already does high 13's and will hopefully do low 13's with new spec.

Simon

 

well I'd definately advise seem welding the front inner wings around the turrets and onto the bulkheadand the main chassis rails down under the floor You WILL split the bulkhead seams if you dont seem weld it and continue to give it standing start abuse, even more so if you have grip.

 

CheeRS for the info . Any idea on cost? can any decent welder do it?

Si

 

Ideally you want to get the shell blasted in the engine bay and underneath then any good mig welder would be able to do it for you,just make sure the shell is sat square to the ground and clamped down and to keep alternating from side to side to avoid twist the shell