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white mk3 estate GSI

well got a week off and stopped myself from fishing this year so i can concentrate on my astra and welding coarse. had plenty of garage time so far starting to push on now.

i cleaned, treated and prepped my steering rack for a start unfortunately i have no progress pics as i smashed my phone, i do however have some pictures once i finished and re-fitted it, and some poor images from an iphone 3 of some prep work on my steering arms.

the rack went met grey along with my servo, pipes and track rod arms went met silver.









as i plan on upgrading to a FM55 gearbox i went about fitting the saab gear rod which is needed. mine was sensonic and involved some cutting and filling as i wanted the astra gear gaiter and knob to fit as i thought the saab nob and gaitor was ugly. just need to source a cav/cali v6 gear knob now as reverse is in the opposite corner.





my rear arch panels arrived. as well as my new phone today along with some more copper wire wheels :)







after a clean up and rust treatment, as you can see the inner arch will need some fab work.



i then carried on the clean up down the rear chassis leg which is when my grinder decided to pass away, it took a hammering up to this point being my main tool for destroying rust and underseal so R.I.P



treated and etched.



so now i am not sure what i will do next apart from wait for next pay day as smashing my phone dried me out for this month and i cannot afford a new grinder until next month, im sure ill find something to do!
 
jnyr said:
well got a week off and stopped myself from fishing this year so i can concentrate on my astra and welding coarse. had plenty of garage time so far starting to push on now.

i cleaned, treated and prepped my steering rack for a start unfortunately i have no progress pics as i smashed my phone, i do however have some pictures once i finished and re-fitted it, and some poor images from an iphone 3 of some prep work on my steering arms.

the rack went met grey along with my servo, pipes and track rod arms went met silver.









as i plan on upgrading to a FM55 gearbox i went about fitting the saab gear rod which is needed. mine was sensonic and involved some cutting and filling as i wanted the astra gear gaiter and knob to fit as i thought the saab nob and gaitor was ugly. just need to source a cav/cali v6 gear knob now as reverse is in the opposite corner.





my rear arch panels arrived. as well as my new phone today along with some more copper wire wheels :)







after a clean up and rust treatment, as you can see the inner arch will need some fab work.



i then carried on the clean up down the rear chassis leg which is when my grinder decided to pass away, it took a hammering up to this point being my main tool for destroying rust and underseal so R.I.P



treated and etched.



so now i am not sure what i will do next apart from wait for next pay day as smashing my phone dried me out for this month and i cannot afford a new grinder until next month, im sure ill find something to do!
Click to expand...

Nice work. Enjoy reading this thread. I'm in need of a new grinder aswell. I've seen they have makita ones on eBay for £40ish. I'll have to wait until payday aswell though!
 
thanks tom im glad your enjoying it, i love a good thread as well great for inspiration and nice to look back on. i also love spell check haha.
i have been browsing ebay for a grinder but i needed one today and i'm skint so i headed down to charlies today and got another cheap one.

i really want a battery one as for the scrappies so ill have to splash out when i have the cash and will come in handy when/if my new one gives up.
 
a trip to charlies this morning saw me with a new grinder some wire wheels and some decent tin snips.
got cracking.



i find it much easier to cut out rot/panels while the new metal it clamped to it, a tip i picked up from a friend in the trade saves #issing about and alot of time!







onto were i left off the other day, i wanted to try my panel on and off while building this section to ensure perfect fit.



folding this piece took some time to get right.



i then worked up from their.



the finished article, tried my panel over throughout, all seems well and pleased with the work. now time for some beers! cheers
 
Your fabrication is brilliant. Wish I was that good.
 
brilliant work :)
 
What sort of welder do you use mate? I am thinking of getting my own rather than relying on other people, but don't want to break the bank
 
Brilliant work, good tip on cutting out the old metal, however if you use a slitting disc won't the new bit of metal be too small for the gap? I.e. youl lose the width of the slitting disc?
 
TomVauxhall said:
What sort of welder do you use mate? I am thinking of getting my own rather than relying on other people, but don't want to break the bank
Click to expand...

i use an r-tech imig180 inverter, this is my first machine i got directly from r-tech for £450 0% interest over 12 months. fantastic machine worth every penny and great customer service! check out their website
 
Todd100 said:
Brilliant work, good tip on cutting out the old metal, however if you use a slitting disc won't the new bit of metal be too small for the gap? I.e. youl lose the width of the slitting disc?
Click to expand...


thanks! yes your right i had 1mm gap all around which is needed for expansion and gives you something to play with to line things up correctly
 
jnyr said:
thanks! yes your right i had 1mm gap all around which is needed for expansion and gives you something to play with to line things up correctly
Click to expand...
I like welding with a slight gap too. Can actually get a cleaner weld. Think the proper name is a root gap. Good way to weld thick metals.
 
cracked on again today, weather was poor so made myself some shelter and got to it.

few adjustments to get everything lined up and happy, had to adjust my door slightly as it was a tad high so lines up nicely.



i used panel bond in between the inner and outer lip of the arch to make a seal and hopefully make them more durable to corrosion.







final check and then full weld up inch by inch in various places to avoid distortion



ground down.



etch.



before i knew it it was beer o'clock, filler tomorrow hopefully!

 
Good work, how did you find the fit of the repair panel? Only thing I think I would have done is primed the inside of the panel with some weld through primer or will you be using some sealant on the inside?
 
Todd100 said:
Good work, how did you find the fit of the repair panel? Only thing I think I would have done is primed the inside of the panel with some weld through primer or will you be using some sealant on the inside?
Click to expand...

the fit wasn't too bad, i had to mess with the door a bit as it had dropped a bit but it it wasnt too bad but not perfect.

yes the panel came shiney, i did suspect some sort of zinc coating but for piece of mind i did etch the inside and seal the inner lip with Starchem P.U sealer which is Polyurethan similar to tiger seal.
 
Aaah spot on then :) wondered if you had primed the inside, I think when mine had the quarters done they were sealed between the inner and outer panels, maybe worth getting some cavity wax or something and blasting the inside so it seaps in any gaps?
 
yeah not a bad shout, ill have a look when the interior panels are off and maybe put some sealant down there.
 
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