Disaster, the dreaded rot has finally got me.
Discussion
After spending the winter scaping the chassis I have just found a hole in the front outrigger. The thing that winds me up the most is that I missed it when I was scraping that area before Xmas…!!!!!
After spending a despondent night I have decided this is a great opportunity to refurbish the chassis, fuel tank, suspension and the other iffy bits and end up with the S3 I always wanted. Luckily this is not my only car so time is not a big issue.
After reading all the past threads I am confident that I can get the body off the car. One thing I haven't found in my search is when I come to put the body back on, how easy is it to line up the body again. I guess that any welding will leave the repaired outrigger slightly different (if only by a few mm) to its original position and that the existing rubber packing may not be the right thickness.
The options I am considering depending on cost are;
1. Have outrigger and any other bits repaired, scrape down rest of chassis, paint with POR15 and reassemble.
2. Strip down to rolling chassis with just the suspension and wheels left attached and pay a specialist to complete the final strip, refurbish and rebush chassis and then I'll rebuild it.
3. Completely strip chassis myself and have it repaired, shot blasted and rebushed before I reassemble.
At the moment I favour one or two as I would like to drive the car this time next year..!!
Finally, I live in Reading and I would appreciate if anyone could recommend the following;
- Specialists to do the chassis work (I already plan to call David Gerald and Moore Racing to get quotes)
- Someone who can shot blast chassis if I go that route
Thanks…Ralph
After spending a despondent night I have decided this is a great opportunity to refurbish the chassis, fuel tank, suspension and the other iffy bits and end up with the S3 I always wanted. Luckily this is not my only car so time is not a big issue.
After reading all the past threads I am confident that I can get the body off the car. One thing I haven't found in my search is when I come to put the body back on, how easy is it to line up the body again. I guess that any welding will leave the repaired outrigger slightly different (if only by a few mm) to its original position and that the existing rubber packing may not be the right thickness.
The options I am considering depending on cost are;
1. Have outrigger and any other bits repaired, scrape down rest of chassis, paint with POR15 and reassemble.
2. Strip down to rolling chassis with just the suspension and wheels left attached and pay a specialist to complete the final strip, refurbish and rebush chassis and then I'll rebuild it.
3. Completely strip chassis myself and have it repaired, shot blasted and rebushed before I reassemble.
At the moment I favour one or two as I would like to drive the car this time next year..!!
Finally, I live in Reading and I would appreciate if anyone could recommend the following;
- Specialists to do the chassis work (I already plan to call David Gerald and Moore Racing to get quotes)
- Someone who can shot blast chassis if I go that route
Thanks…Ralph
rpage said:
After spending the winter scaping the chassis I have just found a hole in the front outrigger. The thing that winds me up the most is that I missed it when I was scraping that area before Xmas…!!!!!
After spending a despondent night I have decided this is a great opportunity to refurbish the chassis, fuel tank, suspension and the other iffy bits and end up with the S3 I always wanted. Luckily this is not my only car so time is not a big issue.
After reading all the past threads I am confident that I can get the body off the car. One thing I haven't found in my search is when I come to put the body back on, how easy is it to line up the body again. I guess that any welding will leave the repaired outrigger slightly different (if only by a few mm) to its original position and that the existing rubber packing may not be the right thickness.
The options I am considering depending on cost are;
1. Have outrigger and any other bits repaired, scrape down rest of chassis, paint with POR15 and reassemble.
2. Strip down to rolling chassis with just the suspension and wheels left attached and pay a specialist to complete the final strip, refurbish and rebush chassis and then I'll rebuild it.
3. Completely strip chassis myself and have it repaired, shot blasted and rebushed before I reassemble.
At the moment I favour one or two as I would like to drive the car this time next year..!!
Finally, I live in Reading and I would appreciate if anyone could recommend the following;
- Specialists to do the chassis work (I already plan to call David Gerald and Moore Racing to get quotes)
- Someone who can shot blast chassis if I go that route
Thanks…Ralph
1. This is the best option to get you back on the road ASAP and need not mean it will be a bodge job.
2. IMHO if you get it down to wheels and suspension, you may as well do the rest. It is all down hill from the moment you remove the engine.
After having a look at removing the engine I decided that there was no real point. Of course I could replace the clutch and the manifold gaskets, but chances are they are good for many 1000's of miles anyway. There seemed little to gain by going down this route other than a whole in my pocket and a cross Mrs Z.
3. If you want a fully restored car and have the time and money then do it.
Z
Thanks for the advice Guys. Had a chat with Richard Moore from Moore Racing (the guys who fixed RichardR's car). Seems a top bloke who reckon they can fix the outriggers without lifting the body for reasonable money.
My dilemma is I could spend the money having the outrigger patched only to have something else fail next year. Or take body off and get it all done once and for all.
Guess I'll poke around the rest of the chassis tonight and have a think.
Ralph
My dilemma is I could spend the money having the outrigger patched only to have something else fail next year. Or take body off and get it all done once and for all.
Guess I'll poke around the rest of the chassis tonight and have a think.
Ralph
rpage said:
My dilemma is I could spend the money having the outrigger patched only to have something else fail next year. Or take body off and get it all done once and for all.
You'll find that the outriggers take a real hammering and rot away yet the rest of the chassis can be near perfect. I've seen a Chimarea with totally collapsed outriggers, yet the main spine still had its powdercoat. I would suggest the likelihood of something else "failing" elsewhere on the chassis is much more unlikely.
Cheers,
Matt
Ive just put the body back on mine and had it mot'd after the same problems.
I took the 2nd option of taking the body off and having it shot blasted and powder coated, Replaced the outriggers, sills, body mounts, and seatbelt mounts, on both sides. I also replaced the fuel tank support and the tank and had the suspention shot blasted and rebushed.
I dont think you can do the job properly without taking the body off as you won't get the right access to weld.
The body dose come off quite easily though, and goes back on with no problem if you messure it all thourghly.
Dont though under estimate how much room it will take up. Mine filled a double garage and one room in the house for 6 months.
I only live in Thatcham so if you want a look or info let me know.
And lastly it was great fun and the car is one im now happy with so if you have the time/skill/mates/money.
go for it.
Good luck Mick.
I took the 2nd option of taking the body off and having it shot blasted and powder coated, Replaced the outriggers, sills, body mounts, and seatbelt mounts, on both sides. I also replaced the fuel tank support and the tank and had the suspention shot blasted and rebushed.
I dont think you can do the job properly without taking the body off as you won't get the right access to weld.
The body dose come off quite easily though, and goes back on with no problem if you messure it all thourghly.
Dont though under estimate how much room it will take up. Mine filled a double garage and one room in the house for 6 months.
I only live in Thatcham so if you want a look or info let me know.
And lastly it was great fun and the car is one im now happy with so if you have the time/skill/mates/money.
go for it.
Good luck Mick.
P.s David gerald quoted 2.5k for a new chassis. So repairing is a good option as the center spine dose not seem to rot as long as its straight.
The sills on mine were rotten at the rear where the seat belt mount fits on and you cant see it with the body on so be carefull if you just replace the outriggers.
The local metal finishers collected shot blasted and powder coated and delivered back to me for £250 cash.
The sills on mine were rotten at the rear where the seat belt mount fits on and you cant see it with the body on so be carefull if you just replace the outriggers.
The local metal finishers collected shot blasted and powder coated and delivered back to me for £250 cash.
rpage said:Sorry I'm late!
Thanks for the advice Guys. Had a chat with Richard Moore from Moore Racing (the guys who fixed RichardR's car). Seems a top bloke who reckon they can fix the outriggers without lifting the body for reasonable money.
I'd definitely recommend Moore Racing as their quote was way better than any others I got, they were really helpful including working within my tight timescales, their work was of a high standard, and Richard's a top man!
They lifted the body slightly to do my outriggers, but didn't remove it completely, and they gave the rest of the chassis an inspection and a paint while the body was up.
This option would obviously be more expensive than doing the work yourself, but my car was only off the road for 8 days, and that included doing some of the strip down and reassembly myself.
Let me know if you'd like to take a look at their handywork sometime.
M@H said:Mmmmm....Tend to disagree. I’ve seen S's with holes in the trailing arm mounts, and the large diameter tube that they are welded to. Also, as already highlighted, the seat belt mounts are another area. Plus the area behind the body mounts on the main chassis rail box section, the bits you can't see when the body is on.
You'll find that the outriggers take a real hammering and rot away yet the rest of the chassis can be near perfect. I've seen a Chimarea with totally collapsed outriggers, yet the main spine still had its powdercoat. I would suggest the likelihood of something else "failing" elsewhere on the chassis is much more unlikely.
Cheers,
Matt
Check, fix and paint all these areas and of course the trailing arms and petrol tank cradle. Then the rest is down to time money and how fussy you want to be.
I went for option 1 as it was the quickest as I could'nt bear to be off the road for the summer (diesel progeot's just aint as much fun), I done mine in a single garage with 2 hand winches in the garage roof to lift the back end of the body, me and a mate on either side front wheel arch lifted front end and pushed the chassis out with our feet...easy, got the riggers and seat belt mounts welded up by a friend for £200 de-greased and cleanded of rest of chassis and painted with por15. Took 1 week of nights 9pm - 2am a saturday and half sunday to complete rebuild after chassis came back, Anybody thinking of doing it themselves i would say go for it.
Heres looking forward to a long hot summer, will have to change my name now!! "nice new shinny riggers" sounds good.
cheers john
Heres looking forward to a long hot summer, will have to change my name now!! "nice new shinny riggers" sounds good.
cheers john
Just completed mine, I did a complete body off and stripped the chassis bair. I shot blasted all bits and re painted everything, I started to paint by hand but found it much quicker to spray everything and it came up like new.
I would advise to try to do as mutch as you can yourself, when you have the body off you will notice there is not much left to be dismanteled. 4 bolts and the engine and gear box can come out and take it from there.
There s nothing too much complacated about it, one word of advice take plenty of photos before you remove any pipes, cables fuel lines etc. makes putting it back together much easer and quicker. Everything else is just bolt off bolt on.
I started end of janurary this year and spent last week finishing it off, job done.
I would advise to try to do as mutch as you can yourself, when you have the body off you will notice there is not much left to be dismanteled. 4 bolts and the engine and gear box can come out and take it from there.
There s nothing too much complacated about it, one word of advice take plenty of photos before you remove any pipes, cables fuel lines etc. makes putting it back together much easer and quicker. Everything else is just bolt off bolt on.
I started end of janurary this year and spent last week finishing it off, job done.
RichardR said:
mmickgoodall said:
P.s David gerald quoted 2.5k for a new chassis.
Blimey.. I got quoted less than that for a Chimaera Chassis from TVR the other week..
I got quoted £8000 for a new chassis by Station Hill Garage in Farnham!
With, or with out the rest of the car
Z
Thanks for all the encouragement and advice. I have decided to go the body off route as I can't resist the opportunity to have a gleaming refurbished chassis and to not have to worry about MOTs for the next few years. I did think about having the outriggers done with the body still in place but that would still leave me with a very shabby rear chassis and crappy fuel tank (and a large hole in the wallet). I will also take the opportunity to rebush everything and fit new suspension. Sadly this will mean I'll miss the summer as I don't have the money to do all of this quickly.
Just a few questions to start with although I am sure I'll be back with a load more before I'm done.
1. Do I need to measure anything before I take the body off or will the welder have enough reference points on a bare chassis to replace the outriggers precisely enough?
2. If I take the engine out can I store it with the sump on the floor or will this dent the sump?
Thanks again
Ralph
Just a few questions to start with although I am sure I'll be back with a load more before I'm done.
1. Do I need to measure anything before I take the body off or will the welder have enough reference points on a bare chassis to replace the outriggers precisely enough?
2. If I take the engine out can I store it with the sump on the floor or will this dent the sump?
Thanks again
Ralph
You don't need to measure anything off of the body for correct alignment, just make sure you get the measurements right.
If you are worried about your sump then grab an old tyre, scrapyard, or hedgerow is usually the best place to look. I also had a collection of old tyres to rest the body on and this worked a treat.
Z
If you are worried about your sump then grab an old tyre, scrapyard, or hedgerow is usually the best place to look. I also had a collection of old tyres to rest the body on and this worked a treat.
Z
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