12 yr old with a Jaaaag!

[kamilb1998]

I was having a quick poke around Oliver with a screwdriver on the underside and front side of the sill, and there is a couple of small holes. So once I've finished with the filling around the rear window, I'll trailer Oliver down to my local 'mates rates' guy to get him welded.

There's a fairly big hole under that filler, I put it in temporarily last year


This is probably a hole too


This became a hole after some grinder work


A couple of small holes under this filler, which I also put in last year


And this has a split towards the floor to sill join

[kamilb1998]

Some pics from today, jobs I did were -

Wire brushed and painted the whole exhaust, it wasn't rusty as it had been replaced just before I got it. But painting it just smartened it up and made it stand out.
Wire brushed and painted the calipers with some silver caliper paint I got recently.
Wire brushed and painted the bump stops.
Wire brushed and rust treated (where neccessary) the rear inner wings, primered the repaired areas and undersealed the whole inner arches.
Wire brushed and rust treated (where neccessary) various suspension parts, primered them and undersealed.

Time for pictures...



And some pics of the holes I found...



And inside them...

Edited by kamilb1998 on Wednesday 20th April 20:46

[Penguinracer]

Good work Kamil. You'll build & hone so many skills just by getting in there & giving it a go. It's great to see you've got a hands-on interest in engineering.

[Another Fluffer]

Penguinracer said:

Good work Kamil. You'll build & hone so many skills just by getting in there & giving it a go. It's great to see you've got a hands-on interest in engineering.

[TAHodgson]

Good on you fella! I hope you're saving to insure it when you turn 17, as it's almost certain you will get a spanking. Unless it's one of those odd cars that's ridiculously cheap to insure 'cause no other newly passed drivers have them. Have you looked into it?

[kamilb1998]

TAHodgson said:

Good on you fella! I hope you're saving to insure it when you turn 17, as it's almost certain you will get a spanking. Unless it's one of those odd cars that's ridiculously cheap to insure 'cause no other newly passed drivers have them. Have you looked into it?

I've briefly looked into it, and got quotes of £2,600. My parents said that's not the biggest amount of money and they are prepared to pay it. They said they will also pay to get the welding done (they don't want me doing it myself) and for the full/part re-spray next year.

[louismchuge]

That's a pretty reasonable insurance quote, my 3.6 as a new driver at 25 was £1200

[jbi]

kamilb1998 said:

I've briefly looked into it, and got quotes of £2,600. My parents said that's not the biggest amount of money and they are prepared to pay it. They said they will also pay to get the welding done (they don't want me doing it myself) and for the full/part re-spray next year.

Considering it can cost up to £2000 just to insure a little 1.0 litre sh!tbox these days it doesn't sound too bad

I'm sure after you have put so much time and effort into it it will be looked after as well, unlike all these throwaway corsa's and astra's littering the roads

[Waynester]

Generous parents Kamil, shame in a way you don't give the welding a try, surely this is the point of an old £170 Jag?
If you make a mess then it can still be put right as original plan.

Not that I'm critising, you sound like a good sensible kid for your age, especially as the majority are fluent in text speak & clearly were born in the Bronx.. but...having so much paid by your parents, will this teach the value of money?
You would have plenty of time to save for yourself, thus truly appreciating this car as yours & earned as yours?

Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with a bit of parent help, but getting for 3 grand is quite a wedge!

Maybe I'm a bitter old bd, my 1st car was a 1979 mk 5 Cortina, I paid every penny myself, but I learned loads through doing it all myself, including the value of money.

Having said that, keep up the good work.

[5potTurbo]

I learned to migweld when I was about 14.
My brother was a panelbeater then and taught me. I was crap at it, but I knew what to do.

I remain seriously impressed that a young lad (not wishing to sound patronising!) is doing so much 'hands on' work here.

I also agree with Waynester that it's refreshing to have a teen on here who can type in English, not txtspk rubbish, so well done on that fron too.

ETA: Waynester - your 1st car was seriously better than mine!

[Ben3883]

I'm with the OP's parents - I think 13 is a little early to learn to weld if you're self-teaching and not being instructed by a proficient welder. That said if he does want to learn or have a play I'd advise doing it with a load of scrap metal before attacking the car itself

[kamilb1998]

Waynester said:

Generous parents Kamil, shame in a way you don't give the welding a try, surely this is the point of an old £170 Jag?

I would love to have a go at doing the welding myself, and it would save my parents a fair few quid. But whenever I mention 'When will I be allowed to weld?' I get told to go away as they don't want me to kill myself while doing it.

[Waynester]

kamilb1998 said:

I would love to have a go at doing the welding myself, and it would save my parents a fair few quid. But whenever I mention 'When will I be allowed to weld?' I get told to go away as they don't want me to kill myself while doing
it.

Shame Kamil as you are just as capable of learning at 13 as you are any other age, maybe more so!

I can understand your parents view point, maybe find someone who can teach you safely? I think you would rather enjoy it.

[kamilb1998]

Refurbished the little bumper strip today, plastic primer and a couple of coats of Satin Black. I will refurbish the front bumper strip tomorrow and I may redo the cam cover as well, as I didn't remove all the old flaky paint when I did it the first time round so it didn't come up 100%.

[kamilb1998]

I've done most of the stuff that was within my ability range, so he's now waiting till Spring 2012. The plan is to then take him down to my local mates rates guy, do the welding, respray ready for the summer.

But when I drove Oliver up the close (10yds) to his parking spot for now, the Power Steering didn't work at all. I'm guessing maybe seized pump? But other than that all was fine and he fired up first turn of the key. I got him up to temperture, and with the coolant reservoir cap opened to top up the water as neccessary after just having changed the coolant. And when I revved him slightly (2000RPM) the coolant level in the reservoir would drop slightly and then come back again when at idle. Is this normal? Also after revving, when the engine was on its way back to idle speed I could sometimes see some coolant/water squirt out of the water pump/thermostat housing area? Could this just be excess coolant bleeding its way out of the system, or is this something more serious? This only happened a few times when cold, when up to temperature it was fine.

[joshd963]

epic. i wish i'd done something similar rather than getting an xbox and some turntables.. lol

guess theres still time

good on ya lad!

[kamilb1998]

Some pics from today, made a start on re-lacquering the wood...

[kamilb1998]

After starting Oliver up recently he has developed the following symptoms;

Overheating
White Smoke out the exhaust
Lumpy running & misfiring all the way through the rev range
Pissing oil & coolant out the back of the head

These have lead me to think the HG has blown. Only problem is that we're going on holiday on Sunday so progress will be very slow - probably won't bother starting until we get back in September.

[Yazza54]

Shame does sound like hgf. Heater work? Found any mayonnaise?

[kamilb1998]

Yazza54 said:

Shame does sound like hgf. Heater work? Found any mayonnaise?

Heater's not as good as it used to be. No mayo in the filler cap that I can see, but a slight rainbowy film in the coolant.