Red Rallye resto

[Ben_w]

Beam trial run went ok. No bearings in the beam tube just yet, won't put them in until I'm ready to build it for real. Pleased with how it looks. Efforts have paid off.

[RetroPug]

That looks fantastic!

[Matt]

That beam looks crazy fresh! I need one for mine! All coming together, car looks great

[highwayman306]

^^^It is

I can't wait to see this finished, its looking mint

[Ben_w]

Well, haven't updated this for a while as there hasn't really been too much to tell and there hasn't been too much more I could do to it.

They guy whom is going to be painting the I derside and engine bay came round the other Sunday and had a good look at the sill. Good news is he reckons the nasty section just needs splitting, blasting and then welding back together. The dented sections are probably going to be more hassle than its worth to try and do anything with and, given they are covered by the skirt, we will leave them as is. We've also decided that once the engine bay is stripped, it will go to a local farm unit he uses and be blasted clean. Be far, far faster than me with a grinder and a wire brush... I'll then zinc prime and expoy mastic everything before we get busy seam seaming and stone chipping. Going to look at possibly spraying the zinc and epoxy. Should be possible with a little thinning and will give a better finish we think.

Once all that's done, the underside and engine bay will be painted and then I've to decide what to do next. A lot of the engine block and gearbox need a good clean. Considering vapour blasting for those. The car has also been taken to my friends unto and should hopefully get started on the engine removal next week.

[Stef205]

id seriously consider turning the rear mounting bracket bolts around the other way for future easiness should you need to change a mount again.

[Ben_w]

Thanks Stef, useful bit of info that. To be fair, it was just a mock up in that pic but its a good point nonetheless

[Ben_w]

Well, haven't done much more at all to this.

Car is now outside my mates unit waiting to go in and have the engine removed and the engine bay stripped. He's just taken delivery of some tyres though so space is an issue...!

Plan is we are going to get the engine bay blasted and then I've a guy who is going to paint it and the underside in cherry red. He's also going look at spraying the zinc primer and epoxy mastic too. Should give a better finish than a brush.

Noticed the other day is perhaps a good job I'm doing a beam for it. But of camber going on. Will probably end up refurbing the beam that's on it afterwards.....

[davidfarrellt]

absolutely savage resto on a lovely keep up the good work

[Ben_w]

Couple more bits bought.....threaded studs for the ends of the torsion bars and the cable conduit that runs along the front cross member

[Redordead89]

Nice Ben new bagged bits are always welcome and the cars looking great!
Knowing what we know now after years of dealing with problems leading from the vulnerability of the cables that run in that conduit along the cross member it might be worth reinforcing and weather proofing it a bit further than it is as standard for long term durability no????

[Yohann77]

The work you 've done great!

You do not have greaser installed between your bearings ? 

[RetroPug]

The work you 've done great!

You do not have greaser installed between your bearings ? 

He's going for OEM specification.

[highwayman306]

the added bonus of a greaser would be ok though...wouldnt it i heard of these installed onto the Spaxo VRS' beams way back when, never heard stef mention putting them onto the new ones he builds...so didn't think they were that important...


Could be wrong though

[Ben_w]

So, a very very long time since i updated this. A fair bit has happened. The car sat at my mates unit for about 9 months (more on that a bit later). The engine came out of it and got donated to my other red rallye which once sorted, got sold. So it then sat there for ages, no engine, unloved. In the meantime, I'd still been busy behind the scenes, sourcing more NOS parts. Since my last update, I've found a brand new battery box lid, with all the clips! A new fuse box lid, ball joint heat shields, a new front splitter, a correct Rallye boot carpet and a correct Rallye head unit. I'm just keeping an eye on eBay and seeing what pops up….got a lot of the tough bits sorted now.

Brand new front splitter, right part number




Complete airbox set up with all pipework and unbroken icv pipe take off. Airbox will be blasted and powder coated



Ball joint heat shields










Battery box and fuse box lids









The other thing I was keen to see was how the underside that I had prepped last year had held up. Since July Ish last year, its been parked up in a damp grassy bank at my mates unit, including all through the winter….as good a test as any I guess….











Generally, and on the bits where I had applied the expoy mastic, its as good as the day I did it,which is hugely encouraging. Couple of the bits I'd left in bare primer have gone a touch rusty again, although it's nowhere near as bad as it was and is easily fixed. Very,very happy with that. Bodes well for the future….

So next step is to get the engine bay completely stripped and get it off to be blasted. Wings are coming off too so they can do the inner arches as well. Engine bay currently looks like this. Nothing major, a little crusty in the edges but no major probs.

[Eeyore]

oh god... im sick of seeing rust... :/

[Ben_w]

Par for the course with a Rallye...mine just seems to be surface rust. Nowhere near as bad as yours....

[Ben_w]

Bored this afternoon so started stripping the engine bay until.it started raining...

Power steering pipes and reservoir out, heat shield out, abs pump and brake lines and master cylinder out....

[Eeyore]

Just read the entire thread on 6 forum. Lots of work gone into this! Feel very sad that im going to have to do all this to mine if i want it to last... I guess starting with the boot floor is easiest.

[Matt-Rallye]

Just read the entire thread on 6 forum. Lots of work gone into this! Feel very sad that im going to have to do all this to mine if i want it to last... I guess starting with the boot floor is easiest.

sorting arches is easiest first and gets you in the mood

[Ben_w]

Mine was a pain due to the horrible underseal stuff that had been applied to it. Would have been a lot easier without.

If you are intending on doing the same, I'd have the engine out and get it on a spit.

[Matt]

What paint are you using the the underneath? I'm making a start on mine soon, want it white, but want it protected. Don't know wether to paint it with white Hamerite or paint with under seal

[Ben_w]

Primer is Bilt Hamber Electrox. Over the top of that is Bilt Hamber Epoxy Mastic. Over that is seal sealer and 3M flat finish Stone chip. The section I've painted red was just a test rattle can. Whole lot will be painted properly using base and clear along with the engine bay

[Ben_w]

So, through a guy I met in Detailing World who is doing a similar resto on a 309GTi, I've been put in touch with a parts guys. An ace parts guy.

I sent him a list of 31 part numbers I'd be interested in for this resto. Every single one marked NFP. A number of them were seat parts (covers, foam pads etc) as I want a brand new interior if I can get one..

So far, without even trying, he has possibly located 12 parts. Both sill seals (yes, the unobtainium ones that sit at the bottom of the door opening), boot trim kit, steering wheel, gear gaiter, gear knob insert, under tray, headlights, stereo remote amongst others. Is making phone calls so will probably get leads on other bits too....rather pleased. Thought I'd never ever find the sill seals...

[Toms306]

How does he get unobtainable nfp parts??

This is coming on well though!

[Ben_w]

How does he get unobtainable nfp parts??

This is coming on well though!

Through being involved in the 205/309 resto scene for a long while. Has built up a huge network of contacts it seems, a lot of them European by the look of it.

[Eeyore]

How does he get unobtainable nfp parts??

This is coming on well though!

Through being involved in the 205/309 resto scene for a long while. Has built up a huge network of contacts it seems, a lot of them European by the look of it.

please share the details! I need some of the unobtanium seals as well! If you have a list of part numbers for those 31 items would you be able to copy and paste them into here?

[Ben_w]

PM sent Eeyore

[puggered]

Some serious effort going into this.

[Ben_w]

QGiven the weather was pretty decent when I woke up, I decided today I'd do a bit more in the Rallye. Bit groggy after a wedding yesterday, I had to drop off the wife to pick her car up as she was taking our daughter to a party. Ace, place to myself for a while...and I needed something to do as was waaaay to nervous to watch the Leicester game!

So first job was have the front wheels off and go and put some air into them as they had gone flat...with that done I could push the car up the drive into the sunshine..

First job was get the front wings off. Not a particularly difficult affair, apart from one bolt right up in the top corner of the wing, by the bottom of the windscreen. Proper pain to get to but luckily the bolts only need loosening to release the wing. They both came off relatively easily.









Generally pretty clean underneath, with the exception of the bracket in picture two (more in that in a mo, and this little crud trap at the bottom of the wing. Usually hidden by the arch liner, I'll make sure the bottoms of the wings are properly protected when they go back in..



Now, that bracket….

Bit odd this one. There's one either side. Just holds wiring on the passenger side but in the drivers side, it holds this fuel filter thing. Now the odd bit is that the inner wing strengthener panel is immaculate and this bracket is crap. All part of the same panel so I don't get why just this bit rusts...I'm getting to find someone breaking one they can cut me some good ones off. The drivers side is so bad, its nearly rusted through and deformed as I undid the very rusty bolt holding the fuel filter in. Deffo needing replacement.



Managed to get the two water hoses off. Doesn't look nice in here….might flush the matrix before it all goes back together..



Then it was time to get the loom out. Took me a while to get the fuse box innards through the hole in the inner wing but did so. There's a wiring loom holder bracket that runs down the inner wing on the passenger side. There's a nut and bolt at one end….that sheared…..oh well, can replace that. Then it was about getting these rings off.



Again, an uber pain. Needed a blunt chisel and a hammer to drift them round. They are messy and have paint on them so will try to replace those with new. Getting them out meant I could then release the loom from scores the bottom of the cross member and pretty much empty the engine bay. Bit crappy round here with surface rust…



Which left me like this…..



Neighbour has his jet wash out so covered all the loom plugs and the hole in the servo, gave it a bloody good spray of G101 and attacked with a brush…..came out OK. Clutch cable out (no wonder the clutch felt heavy, cable is shot although I've a brand new in the packet pug one that came with the car to go on) fuel lines out completely, power steering pipes out of the way and all the engine bay pipe/wiring brackets removed. Took lots of pics to remember what went where..!!!

That was pretty much it for the day. I had a quick look at the wings. The drivers side one has a very slight ding in the arch section. Can get a NOS wing for £30 so ill just replace. Noticed on the passenger side it's been painted several times and the last time, its been painted, Rallye stickers applied and clear coated over the top!!! Most odd! You can just see a little lacquer lift around the edges of the top and bottom stripe…



Next steps will be to get the front end up in the air, take the subframe and suspension off and bare metal as much as I can before having it blasted. It's going to be awkward to have some areas blasted with the subframe on but it needs the frame on to be mobile…..can't win sometime!

I did stand back several times today and wonder if all this effort will really ever be worth it…..

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Forgot the mention, I got a brand new, still in the box, Valeo headlight. Correct part number for a twin optic unit for a Rallye too...