Restoring my P1800E

[Burdekin]

Finally back into doing some work on the car this weekend after a month or so without any progress due to our holiday and study. But study is all finished and now I will try and progress the car in between sore heads from the festive period.

This weekend I pretty much stripped the engine bay, took the dash out (there must be an easier way to get the steering column out than the way I managed) and started stripping out the interior carpets.

Unfortunately found some rust under the windscreen seal. More rust was found in the front passengers side front under the dash and a wee bit on the drivers side. All fixable though so nothing to stress over.

Here are some pics, the first is a pic of my heater. Just thought I'd mention it as it's tiny and pumps out 10kw so gets the garage toasty warm in no time and is a must this time of year in sunny Aberdeen. If any one is interested I got it from Machine Mart and is made by Clark Tools.

The other pics are of the rust around the windscreen and under the dash.

[PaulWphoto]

Hi Mitch

Catching up on the thread has left me a bit confused i'm afraid

Is the white car the one you are going to restore - the new one? or is that your old car that you intend to use the mechanicals from?

Either way best of luck - I stripped mine to the bones over a 42 month period and like you I carried out all of the welding, fabrication and paint myself.

Prepare for a spell of looking like a coal miner!

Regards Paul

[john h]

Interesting project, best of luck and keep the photos coming !

John

[Burdekin]

Hi Paul,

It's a bit confusing but they are both white, one is a 70 and the other a 71.

The car I'm using for parts is the first car in the thread and the car I'm going to restore is the car in the recent pics. I need to post a proper pic of the second car.

Stripping the car is definitely going to be a messy ole job...

Cheers,

Mitch

[redcar]

love the garage Mitch, looks pretty cosy... i'm sure you're going to enjoy your time in there.. dont forget the radio and bucket for beers!

it's amazing how creative you can get, when you need to. doors, barrels and scaffolding all make for great workshop furniture..

i once rebuilt a 928 in an old hayshed... it was pretty comfy once i got set up, but the ticks were a pain in the butt!

maybe we should have a thread for the best and worst workshops....

[Burdekin]

Yeah the garage is cosy but won't be too bad for space when the car is stripped and it's only the car in the garage. The beers certainly go down well when working on the car. I also have a small workshop off the garage with a bench made from two old firedoors a mate gave me, my tools, welder etc etc. Would be great to have a big workshop with plenty of room but that's just a dream at the moment. Maybe if I win lotto this Saturday.

[Burdekin]

My chief mechanic having a close look at the inside of the car but he wasn't too impressed. I'll have to try harder.

[b20e]

Depending on your degree of restoration, you may want to consider taking the windshield out and bottoming that rust out.

But you do have to be careful about how you do this, and it needs two people. I think your chief mech will find his claws are not adequate for the task.

I had a P1800E 25 years ago and it had rotted all along the underside of the window. (I think it is a blind void channel)
So yours is good in comparison.
But stopping it in its tracks may be a good idea.

I only had a little repair to on my resto but was happier to have the roll strength retained in the structure.

After the repair I filled the void with Hydrate 80, left it for a day or so, and drained off the excess.

I then filled every available void with Waxoyl after I had done all the boy work and respray and before I put the trim back.

[Burdekin]

Thanks for the advice. Will be pulling out the windscreen fixing the rust as I'm also putting in new wings so it has to come out anyway. I'm doing a complete overhaul and I don't want to cut any corners.
Ordered all my other repair sections from Simon at Brookhouse today; both front floor sections, new sills (they don't look too bad from the outside but there is rust in the middle so I expect to find rust when I take off the outer sill cover), rear repairs between doors and wheel arch, front member repairs where the steering box bolts on and door repairs sections. I've already got rear wheel arch repairs. So I've got more than enough cutting and welding to get on with...

[b20e]

Dirt is the biggest failure cause in the EFI models.

Hope this helps as a checklist.
Its not hard to work out FI, its just different.

Please be careful when working with pressurised petrol.

You need a good battery to start the car as you get a fair bit of drain from the fuel pump etc.

Check all the connections before you start.

Clean petrol is the biggest issue and enough pressure from the pump.
A new petrol filter is really important.

I think pre-filtering the petrol before the pump is a major benefit.
It is highly likley there is rust clogging the in tank sock filter or it will have ruptured. It either wants replacing or removing and an inline big volume filter put inline before the pump.

If this has been left too long you will need a pump.
But test it once you have replaced the filter.
If it wont pump test the fuse.

This does not need to be a volvo one but it does need to pump over 30PSI.

Once you have pressure you should be good to go.

If you get rough running then unseat the injectors and check they are squirting. If they are not test the connectors.
(Note this is not a 12v circuit)

If they are clogged its possible to take them off and tap them on the bench (not very hard) to bounce the valve.

If you get running but your exhaust system glows red hot and the car runs rough then the MAP sensor is roached. Dont panic they come up on ebay and were used for Citroen, Porsch and Mercedes (I think they are all a bit different) but I have been OK with the one I needed.

I am not an expert but have got 4 of these cars going over a period.
The two I have now run rather well.

Happy to help further, if you need it.