Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

[meverett]

Hi everyone,
Thought I had better start on my rebuild diary as my roadster has been stripped to the bare chassis, wire brushed with angle grinder then a couple of coats of primer so far.

IMG_2935.JPG

Ready for top coat.

IMG_3363.JPG

I had an old barrel hanging around so thought that would make a good sand blasting cabinet, with a few bits removed from the skips at work, a pair of cabinet gloves purchased from eBay and I have my own cabinet.

IMG_3402.JPG

In the mean time I have stripped the front suspension down and sandblasted the paint and rust off before primer and topcoat.

IMG_3400.JPG

I started a thread a couple of weeks ago about a replacement master cylinder and servo but after a bit of TLC my original Marina/Ital one will be OK, looking through the vacuum hole the diaphragm looks to be in good condition. The master cylinder has had the same treatment with a new set of seals ready to fit. Before anyone asks, no I didn't sand blast the servo, I plugged up all the holes and wire brushed it.

IMG_3403.JPG

[scott h]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

Great to see another build diary, nice clear pics too!

[stevejgreen]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

Looking good progress.
One thing I would suggest, if it's not too late is to review the rear seat belt mounting. Later Roadster chassis versions had a substantial pillar behind the seats giving a solid mounting for an inertia reel belt and raising the shoulder anchorage point.
It would not pass an IVA as it has to be above the cockpit surround, but it will be a lot safer.
But if you have just painted the chassis I can understand why you might leave it as is.

[Alan c]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

I like the homemade shot blaster. I did similar but no where near that quality, eventually bought a one from Machine Mart. It comes with a thin polythene sheet taped inside the Perspex lid so you rip of an fit a new one from time to time rather than the perspex itself being replaced. Just a thought as visibility was part of the demise of my home made device.

[meverett]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

I have the updated seat belt mounts somewhere in the garage that will get the same treatment with wire brushing then shot blasting to get to the difficult to reach corners.
I have already gone through 2 panes of old Perspex, surprised how blasted this gets which makes it almost impossible to see through. Thanks for the advice of some thin plastic film that can be replaced easily, I have got one more old piece of Perspex and some clear pallet packaging wrap that I will try before I have to reluctantly pay for some new Perspex. I have also changed the gun to be gravity fed from a funnel that holds about 3L of shot as my compressor isn't up to continuous blasting but it does the job.

[Michael Turpin]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

I had an old barrel hanging around so thought that would make a good sand blasting cabinet, with a few bits removed from the skips at work, a pair of cabinet gloves purchased from eBay and I have my own cabinet.

Nice blaster, does the Dyson suck excess dust out through the white pipe at top left? I made my own and use an extractor fan (built in) which which stops "the glass window" (in my case) from being frosted. and a couple of bulk head light fittings

blast-3a.jpg
I found that "glass beads" were best as a blast medium kept in a bucket with a 60 watt light bulb in the bottom to keep it perfectly dry, this was then connected with a piece of flexible pipe to the tube of the gun and to a connector in the bottom of the bucket bucket. the bucket hangs in the top of the cabinet to help gravity feed. it just needed the bucket filling occasionally.

[meverett]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

The Dyson is connected to the white sink waste pipe, I also drilled some random holes so that there wasn't direct suction, it does the job and clears the dust. I am using aluminium oxide and screened at <0.8mm. I leave it in the bottom of the barrel and just use a scoop when the funnel empties. Could do with some decent lighting in it as currently just using an LED torch.

[meverett]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

Top coat on the chassis today.

00041.JPG

I have also fully stripped the front suspension, repainted and replaced the ball joints, trunions, wheel bearings and caliper piston & seals. Next job is to start rebuilding the front.

00043.JPG

I removed the rear brake drums to clean up and repaint and noticed a crack in one, has anyone seen these crack like this before?

00042.JPG

How much time have I spent in the garage so far and I haven't even got anything bolted back to the chassis.

[928cdu]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

Love the way the chasss is strong enough to support it with axle stands under the 'bumpers' ! BTW I often use that method on my fully built roadster, just with some protection on the axle stand cradle ..

[meverett]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

Front suspension is bolted on

IMG_3443.JPG

[jon_wilkinson]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

Looking good.

Keep them coming!

[meverett]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

Steering rack cleaned, checked ok and painted. Greased up and new boots fitted this evening.

IMG_3467.JPG

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[michael47]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

Looking great Quality as good as can be

Hi everyone,
Thought I had better start on my rebuild diary as my roadster has been stripped to the bare chassis, wire brushed with angle grinder then a couple of coats of primer so far.

[ATTACH]8223[/ATTACH]

Ready for top coat.

[ATTACH]8224[/ATTACH]

I had an old barrel hanging around so thought that would make a good sand blasting cabinet, with a few bits removed from the skips at work, a pair of cabinet gloves purchased from eBay and I have my own cabinet.

[ATTACH]8226[/ATTACH]

In the mean time I have stripped the front suspension down and sandblasted the paint and rust off before primer and topcoat.

[ATTACH]8225[/ATTACH]

I started a thread a couple of weeks ago about a replacement master cylinder and servo but after a bit of TLC my original Marina/Ital one will be OK, looking through the vacuum hole the diaphragm looks to be in good condition. The master cylinder has had the same treatment with a new set of seals ready to fit. Before anyone asks, no I didn't sand blast the servo, I plugged up all the holes and wire brushed it.

[ATTACH]8227[/ATTACH]

Top coat on the chassis today.

[ATTACH]8298[/ATTACH]

I have also fully stripped the front suspension, repainted and replaced the ball joints, trunions, wheel bearings and caliper piston & seals. Next job is to start rebuilding the front.

[ATTACH]8300[/ATTACH]

I removed the rear brake drums to clean up and repaint and noticed a crack in one, has anyone seen these crack like this before?

[ATTACH]8299[/ATTACH]

How much time have I spent in the garage so far and I haven't even got anything bolted back to the chassis.

Steering rack cleaned, checked ok and painted. Greased up and new boots fitted this evening.

[ATTACH]8320[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]8321[/ATTACH]

[meverett]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

Stripped the rear axle down and stripped the paint before repainting then new bearings and seals.

From this. (Do you like my toy car road rug?)

00046.JPG00047.JPG

To this.

00052.JPG00053.JPG

Next it's getting the bulkhead, tunnel and rear bulkhead to be stripped of all old adhesive then bolted back in.

Looking through the original build manual it will then be engine and gearbox back in, exciting times.

[Cameron F]

Re: Roadster Rebuild Diary from Cornwall

looking excellent!