Did a closer inspection on my car, bad news :(

[kherseth]

Hi guys,

In the planning/research stage of getting my car back in top shape, I knew there was rust on it, and got new rear panels to weld in, and have been close to ordering front panels a few days now.

Decided to do a more thorough inspection on the car before ordering and discovered that the "small accident" the previous owner mentioned might have been quite a blow. I do have a clunking sound in the front suspension which i have not been able to find the source of, now i`m thinking that it might be a result from the accident. I find several steel sheets that are about to come apart in the joints, some of them have separated enough to get a finger tip in between.

The part where the lower arm mount meets the chassis is bent/buckled(not the bracket but the steel plates), I think it is off by as much as 10-15mm. Check the following link for pictures, they are not very good but they show this problem.

There is a 1.5 meter weld on the right side of the floor, about 10cm in from the sill, that have been covered with Tec7 silicone, the same goes for the left hand sill. On the left hand side I decided to rip off the silicone just to find a otherwise untreated, amateur made, rusted weld.

All this might help explain why i cant get the left side door window to seal properly. It might also explain why the garage had so much trouble adjusting the geometry, and why the car pulls so much on tracked roads (feels too much even for the R888). It feels like it is worse now than when I changed to winter tires 6 months ago.

Also, the paint on the car is ruined, probably done by the same incompetent turd that did the welding, so need to sand it down to metal IF i`m going to restore it.

I`m just so depressed after this, I do love the car so much, even if my brakes never work, the paint is crap and all the bolts is stuck when doing work on it. I think I`ll ask a local body shop to have a look at it and give me a quote, but with the prices around here it will without a doubt get on the high side of 5 grand (british pounds that is). Might even pass 8 grand...
(A mint condition car would go for 5-6 grand, for reference)

And to make it worse, these cars dont grow on threes in Norway,8 years ago it was counted to 185 cars total, i expect about 100 still running, and maybe 50 which is not complete rust buckets(if the numbers is that high). So, getting a new one is not really that easy either, and with so few left, scrapping it feels very, very wrong.

A few pictures: https://plus.google.com/photos/10557887 ... sOjG3fq6OQ

Thanks for reading,
Kim

[elbon50]

Try PMing Gary (Mk1Dal) Kim

He understands Mk2 bodywork problems in detail & is very helpful

I think that problems with the chassis legs near where the lower arm & ARB mount can be difficult to deal with

Hope you get it sorted. Looks a lovely little car

Peter

[kherseth]

Cheers Peter,

A lovely car it is (apart from all the aforementioned stuff at least).

I agree with the chassis legs being hard to correct, probably have to cut them out, fabricate new ones and weld it together, which honestly is way beyond my skills.

Not very optimistic about sorting it, but honestly, i cant really see myself not having something with the engine in the right end

[kherseth]

Hi again,

After I had some time to cool down I think i`m gonna try to save it. I just like it too much to scrap it, and seeing that a better one probably wont come up in a while, I might as well try.

The checklist so far is, in rough order of priority:

- Repair the bent structures under the car, might require fabricating a few sheets, hopefully just get the old ones welded.
- Replace the bad welds under the car.
- Repair the sills, I think/hope they might be saved.
- Replace the rear panels (New from alfaparts).
- All those small spots that need a closer look.

- Replace the front wings(Fiber glass, from honeybourne). Not top priority as it is mostly cosmetic.
- Rust under the rear boot sealing, minor work.
- Some patchwork on the front and rear bumper, just scratches.

- Paint job when everything is solid and sealed.

Of course, it all sounds easier that it really is. All the work underneath requires the removal of a few mm of tectyl rust prevention. I guess i should get basic training with a welder before doing anything. Making sure the chassis is reasonably straight before doing too much work. And I need somewhere to do the work, dont think they`ll be happy at work if i occupy the garage for a long time.

If all else fails, I guess I could build it into a rallycross car and give it a last adventure

Gonna be some exciting times when the work starts, thats for sure!

Cheers,
Kim

[elbon50]

Good

Glad you're gonna have a go at it Kim

Is there anywhere you can get the car on a jig to check general chassis straightness first ?

[kherseth]

Cheers,

No use throwing it away ^^

I`m sure one of the garages around here could do it, but as a quick check I have found a service manual for a 88' which includes a bunch of chassis dimensions. I guess that I could measure them to have a good clue if it is twisted or not.

I dont think i`m able to start work on it before summer, should probably spot weld the important stuff so that it holds through the summer and start working in the autumn. Plus i need to find a second car while this is in surgery....

[elbon50]

A nice Celica GT4 perhaps

Mazda MX5s are nice little cars

[kherseth]

Have been looking at GT4`s but the prices is horrendous in this country.

1988 GT4 for sale, 100k miles, price tag at 7300gbp, double that for a 1994....

I am actually looking at a VW Caravelle, the long version of it. Would be nice with a car to sleep in when going on climbing trips... Could pull a car trailer with it also, which might come in handy. Should be good motivation to work on the mr2 also

[kherseth]

Hi again,

Just started on the basics on the refurbishing, trying to get a better overview of the rust issue which does not seem so bad after all. The rear panels looks quite solid actually, probably just have to weld in new arches instead of the complete panel. The whole trunk is also in very good nick, some rust stopping agent and some paint will bring it back to new. A few small welds under the trunk seal and thats good too.

The sills looks to be in better shape than anticipated and wont need much more than a teaspoon of filler to even out a small bump. in them.

Front panels is not rotted, but they have been damaged so will not try to straighten them out, all the places that the previous owner have tried to fix things are basically rotten... The front structure is also amazingly free of rust, the two bar is of course not to be trusted but the rest is almost mint.

Must say i have a much better feeling about this no than i did this spring, got my Fiat Scudo (yuck) to drive around while the MR2 is being worked on, and generally motivated to get it back on the road

Cheers, will add some pictures later...
Kim