bris jas

Michael, i was lucky enough to see your car today at the classic car show at Shepton Mallet, looks great! Shame about the rubbish weather although on the bright side i managed to pick up a pair of Manta b cills from back in the 90's

Not long now Ian until its ready for paint, when are you hoping to get it painted?

Managed to spend a bit of time in the garage this week, as mentioned above i will concentrate on the rear inner section of the cill, their are 3 parts to this. I had to repair the lower inner arch section where the seatbelt anchor sits first and the floor Once i was happy with that i moved on to the piece that attaches to the cill and also the rear jacking point, this had to be made from thicker metal as it could be supporting the car. I just had to cut out another section of rust first Then plate it up That piece fitted in a treat, so next was making the section that is part of the inner 1/4 panel and also the cill attaches to it as well. Once that was welded in i then repaired the section which attaches to it which is the base of the b post. Bit fiddly this section but best to take your time and also check the cill fits and lines up where it should. I then moved along the cill/ floor and had to fabricate a couple more plates before i got to the jacking point! Once i finish a section i like to coat it in Hydrate 80 for protection. Onto the jacking point To be honest the jacking point and floor around it had rotted but the chassis is very good, there was a small piece of corrosion on the outer skin that i removed and treated the inner but that was just a bit of surface rust. I have closely checked over the rest of the chassis leg and to my amazement its perfect with no signs of any rust issues any where, kinda feels like i'm cheating if i don't replace it!

They can go brittle and rip easily, so don't feel to bad😉

Ok so on to finishing the lower rear 1/4, had to make in 3 sections. Firstly i made the top (in the picture) section, will of course be the bottom when the car is up the right way! Once this is the correct shape and welded in place, it will help making the other sections as this runs the full length. I made the front section first, this is a little easier as the section just has a slight curve The rear section is harder because it curves both ways, i also managed to get a return on it where it fits inside next to the rear panel Next i'll be tackling the cill section, floor and the reinforcement section behind the rear of the cill which also attaches to the b pillar. Its always best where you can to drill out the spot welds, makes it easier in the long run and doesn't cause so much damage to the adjoining panels. As the cill had been patched before and looked pretty rough all over i will replace the whole length, this way i can also treat the inner cill. As you can see there is quite a bit of rust (no change there!) so first i will tackle the section behind the front seat belt mount I started to cut back the reinforcer panel and b post section to get to clean metal, piece that attaches to the back of the cill by the jacking point, i was hoping to save some of this but it had gone worst than i thought so out it came. I also at this point removed the section of the inner arch which had the rear seat belt bracket attached. Now all the rot is out of this section i will make up new sections to fit. The outer 1/4 panel above i will deal with once the cill is all lined up and ready to go in.

I've painted over Hydrate 80 before with cellulose primer and 2k primer and raptor system, no problems either time. Its does state on the side of the container for best and lasting results use modern paint system. I've never used red oxide primer so can't advise on that. Spraying primer on rather than brushing will give easier finish to work with.

Looks like he's selling a few rally cars/projects

Correct me if i'm wrong but isn't this the car Mr Carlos sold for around 2k a few weeks back?

Ok bit more of an update! Finished off the o/s arch up to the new sill section, it has had one fitted before but rusted through so that will be replaced, waiting on that part. I took the 1/4 back to bare metal and covered it with hydrate 80, this acts as a great etch primer plus stops the metal getting surface rust. So onto the n/s, this needed the same work as the o/s but also the spare wheel well needed replacing, once that had been done i could then finsh the fitment of the back panel. Onto the wheel well I had to make up another inner support that joins between the well and outer 1/4 panel, this one was a bit trickier than the other side as it had a curve for the wheel to fit. once that was welded in i could then weld in the wheel well and fit the toe eye as this doesn't come with the new one Next will be to finish the rear lower 1/4 section and then move onto the sill section which arrived yesterday along with both jacking points.

Couldn't agree more!

Well that has surprised me, on both of my latest restorations the wiper linkage was a right pain to take out (and put back in), it seamed with the soundeadener on the bulkhead it didn't want to drop down and made it a struggle. Ian did yours just come out that easily?

Great find at that price.

Spent a bit of time in the garage this week, started on the o/s/r lower 1/4 panel, there was also some repair needed to the floor. The inner strengthener had completely gone towards the bottom where it meets the floor to 1/4 section, so i cut out upto a good section and fabricated and welded in the new piece once the strength was back in and the floor repaired i moved onto repairing the 1/4, as this is a shape with different curves i made it in a few pieces to make life easier Next i started on the arch, as i will be fitting a 400 arch i wanted to cut out all the rot and make up a good edge from which i can then fabricate a piece to finish off once the arch was in place. I did it in 2 sections, rear first as i didn't want the 1/4 panel to distort Next job will be to do the front half down to the cill section (still waiting on cill panel).

Thats come out really nice, good to see the old gas welding is still going strong over in South Africa.