Dubai Mk1 Duratec

[mk1matt]

Nice work
Did you check the sill with the door back on before welding it?
I only ask as i didnt and now the sills are tucked in further than the door will shut (good job i dont give a fook )

[cobweb]

looking good, nice work done mate.

[dobuy]

Nice work
Did you check the sill with the door back on before welding it?
I only ask as i didnt and now the sills are tucked in further than the door will shut (good job i dont give a fook )

No, I didn't.... hopefully I will have got the sill in a similar position, but we will see

[dobuy]

OK, time to get stuck into the left hand side, no doubt l have learned a bit doing the right, so it went a bit easier

Cut out the various bits of corroded metal on the sill


Fitted a repair patch to the inner sill and a small patch to the bottom of the outer


Once that was done, I cut out a previous repair that had several layers of corroded metal between the repair and the A-post panel, then rust-killed and re-plated


Removed the old front floor pan,


It was not terrible, but all rot has to be removed so....


Once floor panel was spot and seam welded, a wee repair patch for the front of the floor


Also made a repair patch for the end of the sill, hopefully the wing bottom will match up OK, if not it will be out with the hammers and maybe even bondo


And for the next incision a bigger gearbox tunnel obtained from Rally Design, still havn't decided what 'box to use, but likely it will be a Type 9

[dangerousdave]

Nice work and nice hole

Putting a lot of us to shame here, especially me Im gonna blame the weather though

Also my mate andy is back out in dubai on the radicals again so keep an eye out for him if your round that way again

[dobuy]

Well I am lucky to have a decent amount of free time and it's starting to cool down here so might be able to turn off the AC in the garage
Was just up at the circuit today for the new seasons launch, lot's of nice Radicals. Is Any one of the Mech's or a driver?

[dangerousdave]

Lol its alright for some eh, ac in the garage

Yea i think he was saying theres a few more in for this seasons racing compared to 2 years ago when he was last there, and he is a mechanic Im sure he will pop on here when he gets sorted but if not i can pm his number if you want to get in touch with him?

[xeandy]

yeh im here again and was working up at the autodrome yday, or should i say sweating!!!! was abit warm around midday but still think i prefer hot and in a pit garage than raining and working on the drive!!!

If you need a hand with anything just come and say hello id be happy to help all i can, seems asif you are getting on pretty well at the moment so keep it up would love to see that think out on track confusing all the locals

[dobuy]

Hi Andy, was up at the 'drome for the launch the other day, had a poke around the Gulf Sport shed, loved the sound of that SR8 being run through its gears. Will seek you out next time I am up there, otherwise if you ever feel like a Coffee....

[Dave]

AC in the garage

Nice work mate, keep it up.

[dobuy]

Thanks Dave, but you try welding in 48'c during t'summer without A/C.

Got a bit more done in the last couple of days. I cut out part of the gearbox tunnel brace to allow enough room for a Type 9 gearbox (as suggested in another tread)


Then plated the cut out part.




After that it was in with the Rally Design gearbox tunnel, bit of a mission to fit, but got there in the end.



Think I will run some weld round the underside as well, just to be sure.

[Dave]

you try welding in 48'c during t'summer without A/C.

That's what I was laughing at, it's usually bloody freezing here! Need a heater, not AC
Have you trial fitted the gearbox? because I think you may not have cut enough of that reinforcement out.
On mine I needed to remove half of the vertical bits too. That was with pinto and xflow, but I don't think that comes into it.

[dobuy]

Nope, took a chance on it, kind of depends on which bell-housing and input shaft I use on the Duratec and how far back I mount the engine. May need to go back in for a bit more surgery, but if it needs more cutting, then so be it.

[mk1matt]

Nice work
I think you need to be carefull welding the underside of the tunnel though as i'm sure i read somewhere that that would encourage it to rip/tear/break I could be wrong though

[dangerousdave]

I think its more the moisture trap theory of the lap joint from gary Also the reason my floor split from the inner sills both sides

[dobuy]

Hmm, I have kept the lap joint size to a minimum and sprayed a load of zinc into the joint before I gently smacked the plates closed. I am paranoid about stopping rust re-forming, but I guess there is only so much you can do. One of the things I always wondered about was seam sealer, does it really keep moisture out, or trap it in for longer
Good news is the car will never see rain while it is n Dubai

[gareth_1111]

working in 45 deg c is killer at least when its cold you can warm up.
Inside the workshop is about 45deg c and 80% humidity before you start welding.
All good fun though and its work it for the end result when the cars finished.

[dobuy]

That's an awfully tidy looking workshop there Gareth, must be no work getting done

[Scott_B]

Nice project mate, i am wondering though is it a road or track car your building,because ive read that the powers to be in Dubai have now effectively banned cars over 10years old,it it true?
I do hope theres gonna be a way around the ban if its going to be a road car.

[gareth_1111]

not looking tht clean rite now but i do try call up when you can mate.

we can get around the 10 year rule as long as its a classic car.

Mine is being built to grp 4 spec ill start another thread up so people dont get confused between my car and neils car.

[dobuy]

and I have no plans to register mine as it is RHD anyway and I can't be bothered to change it

[dobuy]

Well, bit of progress although it always seems to take a lot longer to do than I plan and holes keep getting bigger as I really want to get rid of any all of the corrosion possible.

Finished off the floor, replaced the final bit that sits under the seat crossmember, don't know if I will bother putting them back in as I am going to cage the car and put in the 'dual tube' seat bars as well.





Decided to double weld (both sides) of all the new floor panel joints, so should be strong like bull now



Cut off the remains of the wing rail and didn't exactly like what I saw underneath, so cut it away and got rid of the usual plate on top of rust, previous repair



Little repair panel for front top of footwell



Also cut out old repair at base of screen and redid it.



Then finally got stuck into the strut tops. Had to cut away some of the inner wing as it was corroded around the weld of the previous repair, so made a small repair panel and fitted that while strut cup was in place



Then put on top new strut top plate and spot welded it in place before cutting away the cup and uprights.



I could probably have patched the uprights, but as I have the repair panels here...... Metal under uprights is nice an shiny with no rot

[mk1matt]

Great progress

[dobuy]

Spent the best part of a day getting the underside of the dash cleaned up. PITA job as the sandblasting did not reach under there properly, so it was out with the blow torch, scraper, wire brush and zinc paint.



On the LH side strut top, pan and upright. First did a bit of a repair panel to replace the slightly rusty inner wing were the old repair panels had been welded.




Uprights went on easily enough



Spent a fair bit of time checking all the angles and measurements of the strut top, as the previous one was out by about 10mm and the angle was all wrong.
Bought one of these on eBay, to check all the angles, handy little gizmo and only £25. Got it here http://stores.ebay.co.uk/GetItRightUK even has free postage to Dubai!



Strut top fitted




All in all pretty happy with the fit and welding, should just take a light smear of filler to cover the welds

[mk1matt]

Nice work

[mogsmex]

some nice work your doing there

[nms]

Have a look at this, one of the guys in the Westfield club, also a bit handy with classic fords

http://boardroom.wscc.co.uk/cgi-bin/...ST;f=3;t=46169

[dobuy]

Have a look at this, one of the guys in the Westfield club, also a bit handy with classic fords

http://boardroom.wscc.co.uk/cgi-bin/...ST;f=3;t=46169

Just read that whole thread, great welding and lovely prep job, shows how much time a proper restoration takes

[dangerousdave]

Windy is on here too

[katluke]

Have a look at this, one of the guys in the Westfield club, also a bit handy with classic fords

http://boardroom.wscc.co.uk/cgi-bin/...ST;f=3;t=46169

A bit off topic but this project by Windy is ideal for a newbie like me.It shows were all the mods are fitted and why . keep up the great work on this project also dobuy .

[dobuy]

Thanks, just wish I had Windy's skills

[mervhill]

Windy does have the skills, he also has a massive garage, and takes years to do it

[dobuy]

Decided to tackle the couple of bits of rot on the rear of car, this was a bit of the sill and of course the spare wheel well

Small simple plate to fix sill


Spare wheel well before,



And after

I chopped the repair panels down a bit as there was a lot of good metal left.

Rear of inner wheel well needed a little repair to match up with the new bits





So on to the fun bit, spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the position of the rear bubbles, lots of measuring and matching of swage lines. Ended up with a nice big hole



Panel clamped loosely, note the panel fits inside the existing arch. Received wisdom is that this is neater and uses less filler to blend.



I came up with a measurement of 44cms from the door shut to the flange edge of the bubble panel as the position for the Gartrac supplied bubble. Measurement was along the swage line.




Then slowly and carefully welded it up trying not to get too much heat in it.


Next thing is to figure out what to do about the excess bits, do I bend this over and fix the sill with it? Do I do a bit of hammer & dolly on the edge to roll it over?



Likewise rear lower edge, should it be dollied over a bit

[mervhill]

PM Retromotorsport mate, and I'm sure he'll give you some pointers as to what to do with the bottom edges, he has done a fair few of them you could say

[dangerousdave]

Lovely work, i would have tubbed out the rear to meet the 1/4 and then just tack the arch on top just incase i ever pranged it, but your way is fine so long as you keep it on the black stuff

Really starting to take shape now the holes are getting filled

Also i think you fold the excess over to make it match and then trim off the rest if theres any extra still

[dobuy]

Thanks Dave, I plan to do the outer tub now that the arch is on. I had a look at Gartrac's stuff and they all fitted the arches under the wing, not over, so decided to go this route.

Have to say I really enjoyed putting it on, mad it seem like real progress

[dobuy]

On to the other side of the boot, usual repair looked not to bad from the outside, but on closer inspection, new plate on top of rust





Inner part repaired


And outer part blended into new bubble and old rear wing section. Will need a little skim of filler to blend perfectly but pretty solid now.


Final part of rear rot the end of the chassis rail and rear panel


Chassis rail cleaned up and new end plate


And rear panel then repaired. Needs a little panel beating to shape, but will get to that closer to painting


So that is the right rear all done, very happy with how it all went, bubble fitted nicely as well.


Little repair piece on the sill for the left hand side


So that is both sides done, just a small repair required to the left hand rear bumper mount hole, as it is a bit ragged. Not sure whether to just cover it in, as was planing not to use bumpers at all

[dangerousdave]

Cracking stuff

Your flying through this resto! The difference a nice bit of heat in the winter can make eh

Cant be too much left now!?

[PERKY]

I havent looked at this project for a month or so, cant believe how much ive missed! Cracking work mate Plenty of progress and plenty of pics, just what we like

[cossie matt]

Nice work there Dobuy, really cracking on with the work, it'll be ready for paint by the new year

Be great to see a mk1 with a Duratec, only seen mk2's so far