I can't believe it was 14 years last month since I bought my 1st stag (the Mk2)
The engine blew up the following February and I rebuilt it and converted it to MOD from auto, and to injection, but I was disappointed when I couldn't match the power figures of my TR, being about 18bhp down, which I eventually put down to the smaller bore exhaust manifolds.
A further fly in the ointment was the bodywork. Despite having receipts for over £4600 of bodywork in the 3 years before I bought it, it soon became apparent that the bodywork had been badly bodged and I ended up replacing the lower halves of both rear wings and the drivers doorskin a year or so later.
I reckoned there was a very good chance that the front end was equally bodged (MOT tester pointed out vast amounts of seam sealer over the front chassis outriggers but this actually looked better once removed)
The combination of a disappointing power output and possible extra bodywork (although the car was still very tidy) pushed me into buying my unmollested MK1 which was featured in the Flying Farmers new project thread which I started back in July 2012 with the intention of sorting out the Mk2 when it started to get tatty.
Over the last couple of years I could see large areas of filler starting to lift on the lower front wings, so I dave decided to bite the bullet and get on with the job.
Blowlamp and scraper revealed a good quarter of an inch of filler over most of the lower halves of both front wings. Repair panels had been used and to be fair a reasonable job had been done, but due to the repair panels not being seam welded the damp had got behind the filler and dissolved a lot of the steel.
I was a lot luckier with the front wings than I was with the rears. On the rears the original metal had been cut away so replacement arch repairs wouldn't work, and I had to go for lower half wings which are a PITA to fit due to having to weld the entire length of the wing with the attendant distortion.
Fortunately the repair panels had been shoved up inside the original wings at the front, and there was an inch or two of overlap. This meant I was able to grind off the repair panels and still have metal to trim off to fit a set of SOCTFL front arch panels. (I did ring Robsport to check their dimentions before I started cutting)
I started with the drivers side as it was least depressing. I have had to replace the inner arch lip, the rear splash panel and a lump of the sill behind the wing. The pictures shows it in its current state with a couple of coats of white Smoothrite for some rust protection.
I have still got to do the front of the inner arch and the lower front panel (inner and outer), but these will be done once the outer arch is fitted, I tend to incorporate a few mods to remove rust traps and give more clearance for the 15 inch rims (had to use 195/60 x 15 on this one due to the tyre catching the front panel on full steering lock)
P1010363 - Copy (600 x 400).jpg
I have started more cutting work on the nearside which also involved removal of the front outrigger. The picture was taken before this happened. I have also found some rot in the main chassis leg. I will post some more pictures as I work my way through it.
P1010364 - Copy (600 x 400).jpg
The engine blew up the following February and I rebuilt it and converted it to MOD from auto, and to injection, but I was disappointed when I couldn't match the power figures of my TR, being about 18bhp down, which I eventually put down to the smaller bore exhaust manifolds.
A further fly in the ointment was the bodywork. Despite having receipts for over £4600 of bodywork in the 3 years before I bought it, it soon became apparent that the bodywork had been badly bodged and I ended up replacing the lower halves of both rear wings and the drivers doorskin a year or so later.
I reckoned there was a very good chance that the front end was equally bodged (MOT tester pointed out vast amounts of seam sealer over the front chassis outriggers but this actually looked better once removed)
The combination of a disappointing power output and possible extra bodywork (although the car was still very tidy) pushed me into buying my unmollested MK1 which was featured in the Flying Farmers new project thread which I started back in July 2012 with the intention of sorting out the Mk2 when it started to get tatty.
Over the last couple of years I could see large areas of filler starting to lift on the lower front wings, so I dave decided to bite the bullet and get on with the job.
Blowlamp and scraper revealed a good quarter of an inch of filler over most of the lower halves of both front wings. Repair panels had been used and to be fair a reasonable job had been done, but due to the repair panels not being seam welded the damp had got behind the filler and dissolved a lot of the steel.
I was a lot luckier with the front wings than I was with the rears. On the rears the original metal had been cut away so replacement arch repairs wouldn't work, and I had to go for lower half wings which are a PITA to fit due to having to weld the entire length of the wing with the attendant distortion.
Fortunately the repair panels had been shoved up inside the original wings at the front, and there was an inch or two of overlap. This meant I was able to grind off the repair panels and still have metal to trim off to fit a set of SOCTFL front arch panels. (I did ring Robsport to check their dimentions before I started cutting)
I started with the drivers side as it was least depressing. I have had to replace the inner arch lip, the rear splash panel and a lump of the sill behind the wing. The pictures shows it in its current state with a couple of coats of white Smoothrite for some rust protection.
I have still got to do the front of the inner arch and the lower front panel (inner and outer), but these will be done once the outer arch is fitted, I tend to incorporate a few mods to remove rust traps and give more clearance for the 15 inch rims (had to use 195/60 x 15 on this one due to the tyre catching the front panel on full steering lock)
P1010363 - Copy (600 x 400).jpg
I have started more cutting work on the nearside which also involved removal of the front outrigger. The picture was taken before this happened. I have also found some rot in the main chassis leg. I will post some more pictures as I work my way through it.
P1010364 - Copy (600 x 400).jpg
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