My new toy!

[dangerousdave]

I agree dave im not ever gonna have perfection with this car in terms of concours as its been far too rusty and bodged for it, but im just gonna do it as best i can given that i do it all on my drive and all by myself So i do find things taking a bit longer than they should cos im trying to do all the repairs properly so they will hopefully last a bit longer than the few years the other ones did

Just wish i was at the stage where i could be bolting all the shiny bits iv hoarded to it and then go and rag the arse out of it as its coming up to a year since i took it off the road this month

[dangerousdave]

Here we go then girls, the pics iv been hiding so far to bring you all almost up to date!

Theres too many pics so cant be arsed with the explanations, those looking in should be able to see whats going on by now

Here we go




































And thats basically it, on the underside i had my mates over the other day, as payment for welding my mates metro up in the rain i got him and my other mate to get scraping so we have got pretty much everything between the chassis rails schultz free so it just needs the rust treating and a wipe over with panel wipe to get any schultz and waxoyl residue off and its ready for some lashings of stonechip, have also wire brushed and zinga'd the whole boot floor it dont half take ages to do the underside!! Also the jig was a right pain in the ass with none of the bolt holes lining up and the front mounts not fitting through a front panel etc, but il sort all that further down the line when i come to fitting it for now i have enough to do!

Hope its been worth the wait

[dangerousdave]

Just got this message too The following errors occurred when this message was submitted:
You have included 53 images in your message. You are limited to using 50 images so please go back and correct the problem and then continue again.

Its definately the big catch up post i was after then

The rest of the pics!

[dangerousdave]

Oh and another quick question for those in the know, are the anti tramp bar mounts in the right place? Im pretty sure thats where they fit

And also whats the general consensus on stitching the chassis rails cos as we all know the mk2 shells are a bit floppy and when i was doing the inner sills theres a lot of flex about around there

[tom burgess]

most definitely worth the wait Daveyouve made some fantastic progress there mateand it looks like youre welding has further improvedi thought the first pic was how youre escort had ended upi really like the look of those gold wheels tucked up in the arches aswell.nice work Dude

[Dave]

If you can't be arsed with explanations how can you expect comments?

Your car seems to rust quicker than you can weld Dave.
I have heard that Harriers do seem to be more prone than other models. Would you agree? or is it just random.

Anyway, besides all that, glad to see progress is being made.
The summer we have just had didn't do you any favours. Or anyone else trying to work outside.

[trig]

About fooking time you lazy git.

yes the anti tramp bars are in the right place but thought you were going four link???

Also I would highly recomend you stich weld the thing as its up in the air and free from stonechip/wax/oil/shit.

Your getting there buddy but as dave said hurry up!

ps see you still got the mk1

[dangerousdave]

Cheers boys

Tom i recon my welding is now as good as it will ever be, have finally worked out when to be playing with the settings for differing conditions and am getting nice consistant penetration..which is always a good thing Also id love to have the wheels tucked up in the arches that much, but i doubt il have the clearance on the tyres and the tubs and also the bottom of the rim was about level with the chassis rails

Dave theres like 50 pics and it was 11.30 so wasnt really in the mood for trawling through a million pics and commenting, if anyone gets confused or wants to know anything they can ask Yep it certainly feels that way, i must must must fix the hole in the tub as thats where the rains getting in to fill up my 1/4 (which i need to get it all out from tomorrow thinking about it!! might even do the plate if the weather holds out )

Yep about 90% of the harriers i have ever seen have been total rot boxes, i think its a combination of being the last load of shells (sat about unpainted in primer somewhere...maybe outside?) and also being sat about when built as i doubt they were all instant sales what with all the sports and rs's available aswell, and you didnt really get much except exclusivity and some nice seats for your money Although i could be wrong with the silver ones as they were an option and would have been painted to order so would mean they were made as they were ordered???

Anyways yes the weathers been a bit shite, but its no problem just means the car will be better when it is done as i have more time to do it as its looking at next summer for completion

And trig shut it you tart i was thinking stitching has got to be a good idea, dont want to go mad like full gp4 welding and do absolutely everything, was just thinking the main structures so it still has a bit of flex but a bit more rigidity, plus also is a guarantee against my plug welds
And yes it is 4 linked (retromotorsport special, andy pipes old rear end) but it fits the tramp bar and spring hangers so no need for the body boxes meaning it can go bacl on an original axle and springs if the need ever arises, and the car will still be mostly of original spec if it needs to go back to it (i hope not )

[trig]

Cheers boys

And yes it is 4 linked (retromotorsport special, andy pipes old rear end) but it fits the tramp bar and spring hangers so no need for the body boxes meaning it can go bacl on an original axle and springs if the need ever arises, and the car will still be mostly of original spec if it needs to go back to it (i hope not )

Good idea bud may think about doing that myself
what about sideways movement watts/pannard???

[dangerousdave]

Just a panhard mate

You can see the pics of how it all goes together, pretty simple stuff, the only disadvantage is that the bars cant be adjusted up and down but thats no problem for me as it should be a good deal better than the leaves with the coilovers and their spring rate availability! Pm gary if you need any more info on it as im pretty sure he was thinking about making it as a kit a few years back?

[Stu.C]

Sterling work there Dave

What did you use to get it on the rollover jig though, a fork lift?? Looks to be about six foot up!

[dangerousdave]

Its bloody high il give you that im sure the bloke who made the jig was blind as its needed lots of tweeking and its stil nowhere near perfect!! And to get it up on it was me my dad and my bro, a whole lot off beefcake, and my mum lining the its of the jig up and putting the ends on I cant wait to take it off....not!! think il use the engine crane when it comes to it

[PIG]

some good work there you hockey play girl.stop playing with ya stick and get it finished m8.
very well done tho dave

[lincolndanny]

Jeeez about fuckin' time

Lovely progress Mr Dangerous, must surely be getting somewhere near to paint now?

If i had the money for panels id try to catch you up, but its never going to happen

Keep up the good work fella

[mk1matt]

Nice work gay lord.
I think your caliper bolts are a bit long though
Any idea on a colour yet?

[dangerousdave]

Cheers girls

Nothin wrong with hockey pig if you saw some of the birds at the tournament the other week, youd have been right on them like the pest you are

Dan...paint....no way man maybe on the underside but there still feels like a million things to do, still got to bare metal the engine bay, tidy up drip rail welds, fit front panel, all the shit underneath, and fill the sunroof hole before i even think of paint Hoping to get the underside at least in stonechip before winter comes and hopefully get it in body colour and the engine bay all painted up but we shall see, should have a bit more spare time now and im getting some motivation back again so fingers crossed!

And matt i know its all i had to mock up with plus its pretty budget How you treating my jumper lol???! and your car best be nearly done by now

Might put some pics on in a bit, if not tomorrow got a bit more done underneath, almost ready to start welding the little patches, tramp bars, shock mounts and stitching the rails Also got about half a litre of water out my rear 1/4 i need a garage

[markb]

looking Good Dave.. didn't realise you had Andy's old read end and were linking it.

hopefully i'll have an update or two after this weekend as well... as long as my garage hasn't flooded again!

Why is Dan appearing to threaten the ketchup bottle?

[dangerousdave]

Ah thought id told you Anyways was out in half the tent thing you gave me last night (its the closest il get to a garage/workshop ) and was getting the mounts for it all prepped, might get them welded in today

Good stuff, nice to see you have some enthusiasm back after the swimming incident

And i dunno he was in one of his stupid moods and decided to jump in my photo wielding them

[markb]

not surprised at any opf the above to be honest mate... my memory is full of holes and only worse since the weekend...


you want an example of people jumping in photos you should check my facebook... lol... anyway.. hometime.

[dangerousdave]

Some more pics seeing as i seem to have found some motivation from somewhere

Got quite a bit scraped off with the help of my mates Looks a lot better




The puddle in my 1/4 from all the rain, the door was as bad


Then i built my tent as i was pissed off with not being able to work in the rain quite a nice little workshop eh?



So last night i took to the rear shock mounts with the starrett cutter...


So i can fit the new shock mounts from gary might weld these in tomorrow if i can work out a comfy way to sit in the car and not get spatter all over my glass


Also found a bit of shit in the tank well from the various bodges from before Can you get tank well panels as i had a quick look in a few places last night and came up with nothing!


Anyway, today i decided to get the tramp bar/link bar brackets in place, and i decided to start seam welding the chassis rails too seeing as it would be going over a little bit of it PS the tramp bar brackets are from rally design and are pretty shit, i had to cut one of the floor flanges off and reweld it about 4mm away from the bracket to make it touch the floor, and also the flange that sits over the chassis rail is about 4-5mm below the chassis rail so had to bend it flat and then rebend it once the rest of the bracket was in place! That was fun, i have the other side to do aswell

Anyway some nice welding


Bracket in place


Welded on


Also tacked the rest of the chassis rail forward of the bracket



More in a few days

[PIG]

good bit of welding there hockey boy

[Dave]

I think the tank well is such a simple shape it is pretty easy to make your own.
Nice to see some work going on.
I see some security issues with your new workshop though.

[j0llyboy]

Great work mate wish I could weld as well as you. I can’t run a weld like that yet still blow the odd hole. But I am getting there slowly.

[dangerousdave]

Cheers again pig you just wish you were slender enough to woo the hockey girlies with your big stick and little balls

Dave i did think that, its only the seam where it joins the outer lower corner (was repaired bad before) and the front edge where it meets the tub (that was my dodgy uside down bodge ) so shouldnt be too hard once its all hacked out, plus the tanks in there so dont need to be bufty inside
Also you can just make out my workshop security in the crap pic, its the bit of string round the jig holding the door shut , i recon its pretty good, plus its got a free alarm, the cover rustles if any pikeys are getting in The only pisser is that my 1/4 and door were somehow full of water again today even with another cover on the middle bit of the car, il just keep adding layers til it stops leaking

Cheers jolly, its pretty simple when you get the hang of it My welder has 7 power settings, i did all of it on 3 (i did the inner sill plugs and generally all my panel welding on 2 for comparisson) with a middleish wire speed of 5-6. I think the key to it is to see how hot the pool is and listen to the weld, it it beads up lots use less wire speed and make the run slower to get more heat (and penetration) into the weld. If you look on the inside of the floor the welds have all come right through, and to be honest i wasnt really trying for neatness today, just rushing it as im pissed off with my car turning into a fish tank everytime it rains and i really really need to get these car bits iv ammassed out of my bedroom and shed to get some space back

[j0llyboy]

What size wire are you using?

[dangerousdave]

0.6mm

No update today, my workshop was flooded

[ddazboy]

i fitted rally design tramp brackets to my mk2 and i agree the fit was crap! needed a big hammer and brute force!
i have a 4 link kit and panhard kit from them to fit to my mk1, hope that fits better, will find out this weekend! anyway my hammers ready, lol.

[lincolndanny]

Keep it up Davey boy, just dont burn that enthusiasm out You should of bought your brackets from GS they fit a treat

One little tip by the way, do your plug welds on the easiest acces side, ie your plug welds for the tramp bar brackets, alot easier to get in and grind down from the inside than on the flange if you get me?

[dangerousdave]

Cheers dan Oh well live and learn, roy nunns would have been better still..but id have had to sell a kidney


Also grinding of plug welds is for buftys and gasless boys i just wanna get the car done so fuck the welds, plus the penetration i have got means that the button you see in the pics is a similar size on the other side so both would need doing plus finding where to drill plug holes in the floor would be a ball ache for me, i struggled enough with the hole in the rail for the captive nut

Anyway the weekends here so expect a few pics soon, hoping to get most if not all of the main underside welding and stone chip removal done with the car this way up on the jig and maybe make a start on the other door pillar and the tank well

We will see how far i get

[dangerousdave]

Well the intention was there, just a severe lack of time, these underside restos dont half take a while considering you never really see any of it

Anyways on with the pics as i found this lurking on page 3


Finished seaming the inside edges of the rails, also can see the new shock mounts (cheers gary)


Close up of shock mount


Rotten chassis rail as with every escort



Underside at that point (actually looking at this i can see i how much more i have done!)


Arty pic of the seaming


And the other rail


Penetration inside, can also see shock mounts again, gary would it be an idea to put a brace bar between them or is it unneeded?? Was thinking maybe coming off them and up to a bar across the parcel shelf to try and get some strength into the rear of the shell or would a firewall do this?


Then spent a day tidying the welds and the lips on the tunnel, and the welds on the inner sills, and also stitched the front floor joints


Repaired the top chassis rail rot with the one from the 4dr, odd how this ones mint and the other side was fooked also forgot to take during pics as i was excited just need to grind the welds back a touch to make it neater as i wasnt bothered about neatness just needed to make sure i got loads of penetration


Stitched the rear floor (badly welder didnt like all the shit hiding in the seam, probably diff oil!)


As above to show chassis rail repair


Had a play with a rollcage plate, made the one for the other side too just need to get round to fitting it!


And inside, nice welding apart from the back edge where the inner 1/4 is bloody tight to it and you have to literally throw the weld in the gap


Scrapped off the bastard stonechip from the outer side of the bottom chassis rail, used the air chisel in the end, sharpened up the bit with my grinder and it works a treat either powered for the harder bits and bends or by hand fr the softer shit!


Then today was tidy up day, ground off this top plate and the shit welds in the wing rails (since i bought 80 belts for my air file ) and also welded up and ground back the depressions from the spot weld drill on the battery tray bit on the inner wing. Also tidied up the welds on the bulkhead lip repair and ground off the lip of the bubble to match the bulkhead (no pics tho )


Stitched the inner wing to bulkhead


And finished the bottom chassis rail by doing the bit in the bay


Fucking sexy welding day today if i may say so lets hope i can get the other side to match when i get round to it!!!


Anyways thats your lot guys your up to date, having another day at it tomorrow so hoping to get the rest of the stonechip off the other sill and both tubs....unless i get bored of it! Il grind off the rail repair and the outer sill plugs that side and then maybe try to repair the tub which i have been putting off for a few too many weeks now and also try to stitch the floor section of the chassis rail outers both sides

I love restorations me

[mk1matt]

Bloody hell progress!!!!!!
Nice one centurion Keep at it

[Ratters]

Brilliant bit of work Dave Well done

[dangerousdave]

youve forgotten the meaning of the word! plus yours has paint too!!

Will do mate, getting sick of the sight of it so trying to tart it up a bit and doing the jobs iv been putting off so i might start looking at it as nearly done than a pile of fucked rust

Edit, cheers ratters...not as precise as yours but your clapping so it must be good

[mk1 gaz]

You should buy a paint brush + big tin of red oxide Dave , next year it will be rusty again otherwise

[mk1matt]

I've not forgotten i'm just letting you catch up
As is dave roberts

[dangerousdave]

You should buy a paint brush + big tin of red oxide Dave , next year it will be rusty again otherwise

Gaz the grey shit iv been putting on as i go is my brush on shit hot zinc paint so dont worry it should be on the road a lot longer than about 4 years after this resto chasing fiat pandas

Matt i see, is this like the restorers code of conduct to allow eachother to catch up??

[mk1matt]

"no one gets left behind"
Not so much "black hawk down" as "silver harrier"

[tom burgess]

Fantastic update Davethat welding is superband there was me thinking you hadnt done anythingLooks better everytime

[dangerousdave]

Cheers tom, its taken a while to properly get the hang of it but its nice to see them turn out good where im gonna see them Now you got me thinking you havent done anything, i dont think iv ever seen a pic of your rs!?!??

[tom burgess]

Cheers tom, its taken a while to properly get the hang of it but its nice to see them turn out good where im gonna see them Now you got me thinking you havent done anything, i dont think iv ever seen a pic of your rs!?!??

i think i posted a pic once.i have done a few things but no welding.my carpet hides the holes.maybe one day i will start a thread.but then i will have to learn to weld but always be put to shame by you.