Restoring my P1800E

[john h]

Ow, very nice brakes!

John

[Burdekin]

Almost finished the A pillar this weekend, just needs a bit more welding and then grinding and it's all done.

I've attached pics of what I did but it was basically a case of making a template, fabricate a new bit, cut out the section and then weld new bit into place. The size of the section depended on how difficult it would be to fabricate. The A pillar is now rust free and came up looking pretty good.

I've also attached a pic of a flipper that DJS made for me, thanks heaps. I haven't used it in anger as yet but had a wee play and you can see why they are such a great too for forming shapes. I need to linish the surfaces just to finish off but looking forward to using it soon.

[Burdekin]

During the week I made a start on my fibreglass trials. Have made 5 different setups and will test them this week. Will post everything when all done.

This weekend was just more body work. Finished welding the A pillar, then ground it and gave it a coat of primer. Next job was the bottom of the windscreen left pillar. Made a new inner section, welded it in place and then made a new outer section (forgot to take a pic so will take one next week). All went well and will finish off the inside of the car later when I'm doing other welding inside the car.

The last job was to make a start on the support member that goes under the top of the front wing. I have a Amazon repair section so although it's not perfect it should work out quite well hopefully when finished. There has been a lot of bodging in this area previously so good to get it sorted. I tacked it in position just before I finished today just to see what it looks like, still a bit of adjusting to get the fit a bit better before welding. I'll also need to strip the underseal off the inner front wing to see what rust there is to fix.

I also cut out some more of the section between the bonnet and windscreen to see if there were any bad areas hiding away. Some surface rust but not too bad so will grind off the rust and give it a coat of primer before I weld the section back in.

Had a little mishap yesterday, set my goggles on fire when welding, lucky I wasn't wearing them...

[Burdekin]

Did a bit more on the car this weekend. Still working away on the front left inner wing but nearly got it finished. Quite happy with how it's turned out and did a trial fit with the outer wing and it looks fine.

Where the repair section fitted to the inner wing there was still some rusty bits so cut these out and welded in new sections. The pics don't really show it but also replaced a section of the brace from the top of radiator member to the inner wing and a bit around the battery box. I did lots of welding and grinding this weekend and always takes longer than I plan.

I've got rid of the spot welded joints around the passenger foot well as they just collect mud and moisture and cause rust. So I will fully butt weld all the joints here which will be stronger and should be less prone to collecting muck.

The last job was to start on the repair of the lower left bulkhead which I made to eye as there wasn't anything of the original left so I just made it how I thought it should go. I've just tacked the side bulkhead repair panel in place so I can mark out where it needs to be cut to size and shape.

The next job is to fit the flat section on the top of the inner wing member and then I'll finish welding everything that is only tacked in position.

[Burdekin]

I forgot to post these pics yesterday. Pics of fixing the rear of the inner wing member etc.

[scorpius666]

Mitch as always great work and the car is coming along nicely , I recall you were considering doing this like a concept car here are a couple of pictures I managed to find on the web.. I saw a custom job that someone did locally as a prototype concept and it looked quite nice he even added Aston Martin type fender vents which gave it quite a nice look.

[john h]

Looking very good!

John

[Burdekin]

Thanks guys, I sealed up the passenger footwell last night which seemed quite a monumental stage of the build considering it had been open for quite a while and how rusty it was. But all nice new metal now and no rust to be seen! :-)

Good to see you back on the forum Anton. Yep I'm still planning on doing the concept, not exactly like the one in the pic, for starters I'm not having the steel bumpers and the rear won't be so square. I'm going for the round slightly flared wheel arches though, sloped front lights (I have a set of mini front lights) and inset rear lights. I'm stealing ideas from the Maserati GranTurismo for the front lower nose and a Ferrari grill, quite fitting I think as the original P1800 took design styles from Maserati, Ferrari and Aston Martin.

Pic attached of the Maserati GranTurismo and the concept that I'm using for inspiration.

[Burdekin]

Not much to update this weekend as I've only done two hours on the car this afternoon, anyhow pics of the passenger side footwell being welded up attached.

[Burdekin]

Been doing a bit more body work and ALMOST finished the inner wing, I just have the top plate that connects the inner wing to the outer wing to do. I did make one but it was a little out at the front so I thought bugger and decided to come home and go for a beer with a couple of mates instead of doing it again. I did however check the fit between the top of the inner wing and the outer wing and the fit is spot on, so if you can't get hold of a P1800 repair section then go for the Amazon and it can be made to fit really well.

I've finished the passenger side footwell, I'll probably do a wee bit more grinding welds and have to do a wee bit of panel beating later to smooth out a few waves caused by the welding, no big deal and will come up nice when done.

The next job was to replace the front chassis leg and a section of the inner wing that connects to it that was rusted out. I had to cut the section a bit bigger than planned to get all of the rust. I've also cut off the tabs off the trinangular section that connects the inner wing to the upper radiator support member. They were rusty and rather than do them again so the rust can get in again, I fillet welded it to the inner wing and front chassis leg. The area came up okay but will probably need a bit of filler before painting.

I also made a new support that goes between the scuttle and outer front wing and then welded the piece of the scuttle back in that I'd removed to check for any hiding rust. It will need a wee bit of filler also but doesn't look too bad and not much distortion at the welds.

My MX5 front seats turned up so the job for the weekend will be fitting these, something a bit different for a change. The seats will get upholstered in leather when I get the interior done.

I've also ordered a detroit truetrac limited slip diff from the states. Slowly accumulating all the parts.