My first ever attempt at a light restoration

[blaze_the_6]

Well peeps, bit of an update.

Been fighting with the front wings trying to get them off and I have to say, 306 front wings are the hardest wings I have ever had to remove from a car so far. That task got stopped short when I realised that the side skirts had to come off also.

I removed the ABS pump which turned out to be a pain in the arse also.
[attachment=20239]
Aluminium and steel is highly fraustrating, so I had to resort to using vice grips to get the union bolts off the pump. While removing the pump, I discovered a bit of a disaster before poking it:
[attachment=20238]

This extra rust hole has made me decide to bite the bullet, and hunt for a MIG welder. The cost of getting all the welding done would be ridiculous, so it looks like im going to have to learn a new skill

Next job will be to remove the all the air con pipework. all the bolt heads are virtually rusted away so its going to be another pain in the ass.

Im finding these little jobs harder than taking the engine and box out just because of rust....

[procta]

A piece of advice, you will find that the jobs that you think are going to be a bastard, wont be! the small easy jobs will be the bastards! trust me on that one!

[Niall]

A piece of advice, you will find that the jobs that you think are going to be a bastard, wont be! the small easy jobs will be the bastards! trust me on that one!

This. Even removing rusty bolts on the 306 is relatively easy as normally its just the head thats gone crusty. As soon as you manage to crack it off, it'll come out nice and easy.....most of the time anyway lol.

[blaze_the_6]

Yeah, Im starting to realise this. Still, not as bad as the hole I just found

Some of the threads really are past it, so will be needing loads of new nuts/bolts

[blaze_the_6]

Little update, all traces of air con have been removed. The pipework was seriously knackered and it would have been a pain in the ass to re assemble so its all going.

[attachment=20253]

Other than that, nothing really interesting to take pictures of. Just disconnecting various wiring which is seriously hurting my head

Got a few questions that are probably stupid to most.

What is this? [attachment=20254]

How do I remove the rest of the master cylinder? Do I need to prise the cover off like a paint tin lid?

And do people that remove the air con block this off in any way: [attachment=20255]

Thanks peeps

[procta]

Wiring can be fun! take your time with that sort of stuff! if you have binned the air con system, I think the lads wire in a second fan and use the air con switch to switch it on. or you can just fit a dash piece that doesn't have the button and do a way with it.

[blaze_the_6]

Wiring can be fun! take your time with that sort of stuff! if you have binned the air con system, I think the lads wire in a second fan and use the air con switch to switch it on. or you can just fit a dash piece that doesn't have the button and do a way with it.

The wiring is seriously frying my brain, and I will probably need to source diagrams.

Good shout on the aircon fan switch though, I was planning on doing that

[procta]

why do you need wiring diagrams? are you going to rewire the full car?

[Piggy]

Theres a bung for that hole but you will need to remove AC from insidetoo

[blaze_the_6]

why do you need wiring diagrams? are you going to rewire the full car?

No mate, I want the engine bay stripped of everything so that the whole lot can get repainted.

Will be easier for me to clean off and weld in new patches with everything out the way too

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Theres a bung for that hole but you will need to remove AC from insidetoo

Thanks for that piggy, you confirmed what I was thinking.

[Piggy]

Title of thread is misleading.

A 'light' restoration would be done by now

Wiring diagram wont shiw you where the looms fit. Just take lots of pictures and use some masking tape to label parts

[blaze_the_6]

Title of thread is misleading.

A 'light' restoration would be done by now

Wiring diagram wont shiw you where the looms fit. Just take lots of pictures and use some masking tape to label parts

Sorry bud, I wouldn't dare call it a full rebuild as it's not a complete strip down rebuild.

I realise progress is slow but as the title states, it's my first and work takes up much of my time

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I didn't plan on painting the bay till I saw someone else on here do it. Plus it needs welding

[procta]

go at your own speed, that way things will be done right and no errors will pop up.

[madwelshman]

go at your own speed, that way things will be done right and no errors will pop up.

Couldn't agree more. If you rush things, most people will end up cutting corners or not doing things to the standard they really want/intended to.

[blaze_the_6]

Thanks guys, im hoping to have the bay completely stripped this weekend so that the whole lot can get welded and primed

Does a hair dryer provide enough heat to help remove the side skirts. Cheers

[Niall]

Don't need heat to remove the side skirts! You need to drill out the rivets in the door opening, all the way along the bottom and then there are 2 or 3 clips holding the top of them onto the rear quarter.

[blaze_the_6]

Piggy, checked out your youtube channel, that car is a MINTER!!! lucky guy...

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Don't need heat to remove the side skirts! You need to drill out the rivets in the door opening, all the way along the bottom and then there are 2 or 3 clips holding the top of them onto the rear quarter.

All have been removed bud, but the skirt is still stuck to the wing (also unclipped the white clip that mates the wing to the skirt. I think the skirt has been removed before in the past, then someone used silicone upon refitting. Checked your youtube channel out too. Your car must put a smile on your face!

[Niall]

Ah i see. Yeah thats not standard. If its flexible, just pull the skirt back slightly and cut through it then you can remove it from both surfaces with a single sided blade.

Yeah, its great fun lol

[blaze_the_6]

Ah i see. Yeah thats not standard. If its flexible, just pull the skirt back slightly and cut through it then you can remove it from both surfaces with a single sided blade.

Yeah, its great fun lol

Unfortunately, its completely solid, no play at all.

Will have another crack at it this weekend. Thanks for the help foh!

[Poodle]

If it's the same as a ph3 loom the wires will all be numbered, haynes will tell you whats what. Iirc the servo is fixed to the bulkhead behind the dash. I wasn't looking very closely, mind, as i was swapping the whole unit, pedals and all.

[procta]

dash removals are fun! take your time with that sort of stuff. took me a few hours to mine, that was one loom out and another one in!

[blaze_the_6]

If it's the same as a ph3 loom the wires will all be numbered, haynes will tell you whats what. Iirc the servo is fixed to the bulkhead behind the dash. I wasn't looking very closely, mind, as i was swapping the whole unit, pedals and all.

Thanks for the advice bud. Think I might just mask the servo up before I paint. Really dont want to rip out the dash lol.

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dash removals are fun! take your time with that sort of stuff. took me a few hours to mine, that was one loom out and another one in!

If it took you a few hours mate, then it will probably take me a couple of days lol.

I dont want to take the dash out as im definetly starting to bite off more than I can currently chew! Just made a mission out of clearing the bay for welding/painting.

More progress to come this weekend

[306Dan]

You don't really need to remove the dash to remove the servo, I just use a 13mm shallow on a uj a bit tricky but doable

[procta]

If it's the same as a ph3 loom the wires will all be numbered, haynes will tell you whats what. Iirc the servo is fixed to the bulkhead behind the dash. I wasn't looking very closely, mind, as i was swapping the whole unit, pedals and all.

Thanks for the advice bud. Think I might just mask the servo up before I paint. Really dont want to rip out the dash lol.

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dash removals are fun! take your time with that sort of stuff. took me a few hours to mine, that was one loom out and another one in!

If it took you a few hours mate, then it will probably take me a couple of days lol.

I dont want to take the dash out as im definetly starting to bite off more than I can currently chew! Just made a mission out of clearing the bay for welding/painting.

More progress to come this weekend

dash removals are not as bad as you think, if you take your time, plan a head, and take plenty of photos of everything!

[blaze_the_6]

I have come to a bit of a halt on my progress, Im lost on how to remove the wiring from the fuse box in the engine bay? Also, Once everything is disconnected, how do I remove the loom out of the bay all together?

Sorry for the wierd question but as you can tell, I have never done anything electrical related

[procta]

I have come to a bit of a halt on my progress, Im lost on how to remove the wiring from the fuse box in the engine bay? Also, Once everything is disconnected, how do I remove the loom out of the bay all together?

Sorry for the wierd question but as you can tell, I have never done anything electrical related

is it not just plugged in a the back of the fuse box? if its like my rover metro/rover engine bay fuse box, you might have to take the fuses out( take note which ones go where) as the box its self might split in two halfs, One half for the engine and the other for the car loom, so that the fuses bridge the two looms together.

[306Dan]

iirc the box splits down and unbolts from each other, its the yellow clips inside the box, if no one sorts some pics out for you ill do some tomorrow

[Niall]

You remove the box from over the fuses and all the relays and small fuse rail just stay part of the loom. To remove the loom from the other side, there is a big multi plug up under the wiper motor. There is a small nut in the middle which needs to be undone then taken out.

[blaze_the_6]

Thank you very much for the info Dan, Niall and Procta. I really appreciate your help and patience with the simple questions that I ask. It keeps me going!

Dan, I half wish I never saw your thread as I would not have attempted to strip the bay out for a full respray. Just as well I did though, seeing all the rust removal and welding that needs done.

Hopefully in the future, I can help you guys out one way or another.

Thanks again

[blaze_the_6]

Small progress update, I wired up a strip light to my work area and stripped more things out such as the power steering pipes and reservoir, engine heat shield, wiring, offside hub and strut.
[attachment=20379]
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A little self reminder of how she looked:

[attachment=20383]

New toy

[attachment=20384]
[attachment=20385]

Things on the to do list are (in no particular order):

Shot blast the front hubs and calipers
Rebuild all calipers
Paint calipers and hubs
Remove and paint the sub frame
New copper brake lines
New disks and pads all round
New front shockies and springs
Seek advice on the condition of the rear beam
New track rod ends
New wheel bearings
Check C pillars for inevitable rust
Remove front wings and side skirts
Finish stripping the engine bay to weld and paint
Paint engine block, fit timing belt and clutch
Clean and paint the gear box
Give the underside a complete overhaul while the engine is out welding in replacement panels where needed
Source loads of bolts as many were way past it
Source plastic wiring/pipework clips
Look at this list and throw up from anxiety lol

Much more stuff to add to that to do list, but I dont want to scare myself anymore than I need too