I reckon i could regret starting this thread but here goes! Its you guys that have motivated me to start!

I've the had the guy around a year and have now SORN'd it over the winter and decided to clean up a few bits and pieces ready for next year. I'll throw up a few pics of the car as it stands.

 

I've started at the back of the car, removed bumper and fuel tank and began cleaning up this area, i'm pleasantly surprised with what i'm finding, the car is in great shape for its age!



Fuel pump bracket is off, gonna get it blasted along with a few other items and get them powder coated. Going to clean up the tank tomorrow, give it a coat of zinc primer then spray it silver through the week, again, the tank was in excellent condition (according to the history it has been changed at some point, good news for me!)
I'll try my best to keep the updates coming, heading over tomorrow to spend most of the day in the shed!

 

quick shot before the bumper came off, tank strap will get the powder coat treatment too. Sources a set of RS mudflaps too and some new clips, also another front ARB, was handy money so bought it to fire in with the batch of parts for blasting/coating!

 

Looks really clean under there like from the pics.... my old one was covered in surface rust

Are you keeping it standard and blinging everything up, or subtle mods as you go along??

Will be keeping an eye on this....

 

nice to see another crystal blue sapph getting some lovin

keep the pics coming mate

 

subtle mods is the plan, exterior is staying exactly as you see it, any modifications will be to enhance how the car drives

 

That looks superb,, is it a low miler..

 

110k, still on std engine, it was painted before i bought it which throws people a bit

 

It does look well,,, looks a bit "ford press car" ish, if you know what i mean,, could be the number plate..

 

its was owned by a ford rep first car was originally sold from trimoco in essex and one of the employees there was the first owner

 

both my crystal blue sapphs came from essex originally pmsl " the crystal capital"

 

spent a few hours today, feel like i got very little done



fuel tank rubbed down and a coat of zinc primer on it, get a second coat later in the week then give it a coat of silver



fuel pump cradle is in good nick, i started rubbing it down then gave up, blasting it will be a better job!



ended up spending ages cleaning tar of the back of these! i know its a bit daft cleaning mud flaps but i don't want to bolt manky ones onto the car!
Thats the updates so far, good job the cars off the road, could take longer than expected!

 

Hoping for some advice here guys. After buying a tin of cheap underbody seal a few people have mentioned its probably not the best out there as if it chips it likely to hold any water that may ingress between the coating and the metal.
Mactic 121 seems a popluar choice although a few stockists seem to be funny about posting to n.ireland or seem keen on andding extra tax's to the final bill!!
I've looked at some of the 3M stuff as there is a 3M supplier not far from here, has anybody any experience with this stuff or should I bite the bullit and go fro the 121??

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...beDCH9W13WN4gl

 

Ignore anything aerosol-based as it will not last as long.

I find the best thing to do first is to take back all the old and loose stuff and use the types of stone-chip that you pour into a gun and spray on (dedicated type of gun). It should go on a bit like a web-effect and is basically what we use in the trade on the bottom of doors and sills before painting over. It might cost you more initially, but the benefits far outweigh the money spent.

Once that is on, then you can apply a brush-on type of underseal, should you need it, or as I have done in the past, just add another couple of layers of the stone-chip. I did this once on a car about 4 years ago, and the underside is still as the day I did it as far as longevity stands. IT also gives a better-looking finish.

Any local paint and body supply shop should be able to provide you with the equipment and supplies. The stone chip we use in my bodyshop costs us a shade over Ł5 per litre, and 3-4 of those should do you well over the whole underneath should you take it that far.

 

cant wait till see your cleaned up bits lad

 

looks very good

 

Looks cracking, would have never guessed its done over 100K - seems mint underneath

 

small update, i removed the plastic guards inside the door to give me access to the sills, i then found a grommet that would give me access to get some wax pumped in there. I used bilt hamber anti corrosion wax after hearing good reviews on it.

http://www.bilthamber.com/dynaxs50.html

I used the full tin on the 2 sills, to the point where it was actually dripping out of them! Hopefully that should give them enough protection!
My order of mastic 121 arrived this morning and i've sorted out a space heater so i'll start on monday and get the floor sorted. Also have an order of brake discs, goodridge lines and mintex pads due!

 

underside and arches now done with mastic epoxy, tank is done as well, thi just leaves the small fittings to sort. Tried some hammerite smooth blue on, the shade is too far away from the crystal though have to get some mixed up now, if i lose any momentum it'll end up staying black!

 

Fair play she looks good for an old 'un.

 

i sure i seen some new fuel tanks on fleabay for 55 notes mate, good work there

 

Looking good m8.

 

 

when i was underneath decided it was as good as time as any to change some fluids, thought it would be a simple matter of unscrewing a bung and catching the old stuff, not so so now the diff mount is removed and i have all but 2 of the bolts removed from the back plate of the diff, they were just a little bit on the tight side going to buy a fresh torx driver today and hope i can persuade them out, then see if i can source new bolts, think i'll give the back plate a lick of paint when its off too. Have something to try on the diff mount too ( i think its done but davey reckons its plenty of life left in it!). A mate beefed up the engine mounts in a nova track car by using sikaflex to back round them, i'm thinking there is enough space on the std diff mount to get it packed out and if its not the end of the world if it goes wrong!
Xmas is hopefully bringing some shiny new bits so roll on 2 weeks time!

 

not a great pic but the shed was well supplied with saphs last night!! My cousin just brought this 93 1.8lx over from england for daily driver duties, i think its put him in the notion for a saph cos now!

 

great work mate shes starting to look proper mint under there now

 

Hear hear!!

 

started on the diff mount today, heard of a few people trying thi on other cars so thought i'd give t a shot, can't do any harm!



1 diff mount and 1 tube of polyurethane window bonder

so, the plan is to pack out the diff mount with the polyurethane bonder in an effort to tighten the mount up, ala group A mount

so, i laid the mount flat on a small metal plate and began to pump the bonder around it



I then cut a plate roughly to size and placed it across the now open end of the mount to compress the bonder, into the vice overnight and see how it looks tomorrow!

 

And tomorrow you will find that you have bonded both the plates to the sides of the diff mount and can't prise them off

 

the smear of grease i put over each plate should help prevent that

 

you smart boy

 

looking good, but the car was nice before you began

 

lookin all good mate,good luck

 

Looking good mate, keep the hard work up.

 

parts gathering up at a good rate now! New headunit, std one won't even play cassettes and the speakers died long ago! Going to dynamat the doors when i have the doorcards off.
Vibratechnics gearbox mount, hope this cuts down on some of the vibrations coming through the car.
New front discs (surprise surpise, front ones warped!)new mintex pads and goodridge braided lines, hopefully this should improve the stopping power!
Diff mount is also finished and painted up, time will tell if it makes any noticeable difference to the car!

 

sorry mate but ive heard that the vibratechnics gearbox mount makes noise worse no joke ive heard that on here and remember reading about them on of the ford mags not to long back.

some nice parts though mate

 

ahh well, will give it a try and see, not a big job to change back

 

yeah its got to be worth trying i would be interested to know for sure mate so keep me informed as cos my car is only for weekend/track use i may use one anyway

 

i guess it will be from one extreme to the other for me as the std gearbox mount is so tired!