Another day, another chassis

[Byker28i]

Body came off mine yesterday. The outriggers in the front corners were terrible, definitely rotted down from above. Apart from the outriggers the rest looked good.

Passenger side front:


Drivers side front


The back corners had started to flake and some odd bits but overall not bad for 15 years





So time for a clean, strip and see what else needs doing. Whilst it's all apart it might as well be done properly, so all new bushes etc. Time also to look at the starter motor whilst it's so easy to get at. I might get the Nitrons sent away for a refurb, new fuel lines are a must.

The earth cable had melted onto the chassis and there's a little overheating of the tubing there. Might be an idea to add some heat shielding in this area.

[Byker28i]

Fuel tank is out:


Interior is stripped


it's looking a little sad.

However the interior is looking in really good condition, just needs a clean. Do I need anything special to clean it?

[Byker28i]

robsco said:

Wow, that passenger side front is absolutely shot. Quite scary to think that an outrigger in this condition can be almost completely hidden until the body comes off.

Bearing in mind that I've kept an eye on my chassis ever since I've had it every 6 months or so, por'd the corners, then hammerite paint, then waxoil, touched up any bits that went rusty. I cleaned out all the captured mud.

However both front corners rotten through from the top where I could see/get at. I went checking just before MOT and found a small hole in that really rotten outrigger. I chipped away and exposed a 4 inch hole about 1/4 wide. The rest was exposed when the body was off. Glad I took the decision to have to body off, but now the real costs start. It would be a shame not to do everything seeing as it's all exposed and easily accessible.

[Byker28i]

Not had a chance to visit but I received this photo on Friday

[Byker28i]

BLUETHUNDER said:

Just looking at this thread and all the others regarding chassis work puts me off of ever owning one again. It's bad enough with the costs of running one let alone having a chassis job slung on top.

Still lovely cars but I admire from afar now.

Sorry - been a busy week.

Ok - this has been my dream car for about 15 years, took me about 10 years or so to get one. As such I plan to keep it.
There really aren't many of them left - say 750-800 so what's the odds of finding a really good one after 15 years? so all will need some work sooner or later. Most stuff has been found/documented on here as the cars get older.

As such, I bought the best one I could find, within my budget, looked at the worse case scenario's, (£5k engine rebuild, £5k chassis) and peoples suggestions of £3k a year running costs, so that worked out at £250 a month, stuck in the bank as a slush fund.

That's paid for all the money I've ever spent on the car, servicing, upgrades and now the body off chassis repair and other bits. Running costs for me have been fairly low over the 6 years I've had it so I've got a pot put aside.

Yes this is going to be expensive, I'm expecting around £7500ish after the vat is added, but then I've got a completely good as new chassis that shouldn't need attention again for years, plus lots of other bits refreshed at the same time. Whilst it's apart it's having all those other essentials that have come to light done whilst they are accessible.
New modern fuel lines throughout, new brake lines, top up the heat shielding, new starter, all new cooling hoses, fully poly bushed etc etc. Basically whilst it's apart it'll get as mechanically perfect as I can get/afford.

Apart from a clutch or engine refresh, mechanically it shouldn't need anything for years. I'm not touching the engine or clutch as both are fine currently.

What else could I get for £250 a month? I certainly couldn't lease anything as exciting or as unique.

[Byker28i]

jamieduff1981 said:

Who's doing the work? It looks really good. Any chance you could PM me a ballpark figure? I expect to have to do this on a Cerb I buy in the new year and I'd like to factor in a suitable amount for a quality job like this one.

I realise other things are often done at the same time which makes sense, but costs for the chassis blast, repair and re-protection in particular is of interest!

The work is being done at Neil Garners near Cirencester. I have trusted him with my car almost from day one, he goes beyond the extra mile and his work is faultless in all aspects. We discussed the best way to approach this and decided together that body off was best but he did give me the much cheaper offer of just the outrigger replacement in situ. In hindsight I don't think I'd recommend anything other than body off.

Cost is obviously depending on how much you have done, but we started with a ball park figure of £5k (plus dreaded vat)

[Byker28i]

Update.

it's back! past the MOT on Thursday with no advisories but then it has a two page invoice to go with the Body off chassis refurb. It rather turned into a 'well whilst it's all apart...', so all new poly bushes, wishbones, track rod ends, engine mounts, starter motor, all cooling hoses, all fuel lines, all brake lines etc etc etc.

I've driven it into work today, popping and banging like a good 'un. Didn't have much fuel in it so it's got a mix of 104 octane and Shell's Vpower.

Now I can start playing with diagnostics on Windows 7