My daily pearl white

[bzh kevin]

The guys at HTDevelopments started working on the car last week .

As expected the panel between the bulkhead and passenger strut tower is rotten . The sills are also a bit worst than I previously thought .

Here are some of the pictures they sent before starting pulling bits off .

 

[bzh kevin]

I got a quick progress update from HTDevelopments this week .
Rear subframe and arms off getting prepared for powder coating and new bushes .


No idea how these screws got there .

 

[bzh kevin]

HTDevelopments are getting properly stuck in the project . I get photo updates nearly everyday .
Front lower control arms, rear hubs and subframe getting a brace upgrade .

 

[bzh kevin]

Engine and running gear and everything else are off the car .

 

[bzh kevin]

The engine bay is pretty much all apart now . As expected a lot of rust between every panels.

 

[bzh kevin]

More pictures from HTDevelopments .

 

[bzh kevin]

 

[bzh kevin]

For a long time I had suspicions the car had been resprayed . Prior to starting taking the engine bay apart the guys at HTDevelopments also suspected the car had been repaired before as they noticed some of the seam sealer wasn't applied very nicely .
Some panels turned out to be replaced, and the passenger chassis leg shows signs of being pulled back . I was told the work was done to a good standard bare the seam sealer application .
The car will be measured on a jig prior to reassembly to make sure everything is straight .

 

[bzh kevin]

More update from the guys at HTDevelopments . The front end is now stripped to the bulkhead and parts are ready to be prepared for zinc plating and powder coating .

 

[bzh kevin]

Unfortunately the bulkhead turned out to be in pretty bad shape . Some panel will need to be replacing .

 

[bzh kevin]

Legs before cleaning .

 

[bzh kevin]

After finding more and more rust, things are starting to look better .

 

[bzh kevin]

More update from HTDevelopments . Just some cleaning left to do behind the rear bumper support and it will be ready for primer .



Some work needed on the rear pockets .

 

[bzh kevin]

The scope of the project has slightly expended . The passenger C-pillar/roof panel join is rusty and the overall state of the paint and body was pretty rough so the car will also get a full respray .

The interior was stripped and all glass removed . Unfortunately due the car having a front impact previously the windscreen was under tension and cracked on removal .

 

[Josh_T_Squared]

How much was it for all this? Looks like a good job! And looks like it needed it as well, worryingly

 

[bzh kevin]

I am not sure yet how much the total cost will be as this is still ongoing .

I phoned a few reputable restoration places at the start to get an idea of what to expect pricewise . The answer I was always given is that it varies a lot from one project to another and that you don't know what you are dealing with until the car is being pulled apart .

On average I was told £12/13k for proper floor and engine bay restoration, this is including powder coating and zinc plating everything . Also I just dropped the car as it was, all the dissembling and putting the car back together by the shop .

Obviously with mine having a rotten bulkhead and previous hidden crash damages plus a full respray I am expecting a lot more . I won't be surprised if I end up spending around £20+k .

 

[Josh_T_Squared]

Very impressive catalogue of images, I'd love to get this done to mine but it sounds like it'll require quite a bit of saving for a proper job like yours. Fair play though, nice to see these cars being looked after for a change

 

[bzh kevin]

I am getting everything done at once and did absolutely no prep work so it's adding quite a lot to the bill .

It's probably worth talking to a few restoration places and see if the work can be done in stages and how the cost can be managed .

 

[bzh kevin]

The guys at HTDevelopments started sorting the C-pillar and rear arches . More crash repairs were discovered so the passenger rear quarter panel was taken off the car to see what was behind . And of course, more rust was found...
The driver quarter panel will be next as there are big chances the seams will be in the same state .

 

[bzh kevin]