Red Rallye resto

[Ben_w]

This is the bulkhead I was on about.

[Ben_w]

My welder chum sent me some pictures at dinner....





Told him i liked his gussets..... certainly looks as though it will do the job once bolted together! I also ordered a pair of mounts for the front front the guy who makes the jig. Thought I'd be ok without, turns out probably not.

And finally got to pick up the parcel of bits I've been waiting.to collect. These are the parts my parts guy got from the dealership my bonnet came from. Rear beam mount, front ARB brackets, bumper bolts, fuel filter strap, door light switch and a couple of others I've forgotten probably....

[Mighty306]

Who knew there was a special strap for the fuel filter!   I would guess pretty much every other 306 has theirs zip tied on!!!

[carlukepeugeot]

lovely job you're making. Just a suggestion and maybe you already have a plan here but with all the nice new fixings etc you may want to consider spraying them (e.g. bolt threads / heads, nuts etc) with a little bilthamber UC clear wax. It's great stuff. I've got it on all the exposed fixings I could get to on my Jap import classic mini and it really helps to keep fixings from rusting. Actually I have most of the underside of the car coated in the stuff tbf...

As long as you don't load up too much it dries clear and apart from keeping things looking nice, it makes for easy removal in future too.

[Mighty306]

Another vote for Bilt Hamber stuff. Dynax S50 is recommended for cavaties, is very nice to use from the pressurised cans n goes a long way. Both it and UC (underbody) are reported to perform very well in long-term tests.

Really looking forward to seeing this car get built back up.  Did you ever manage to get the original engine back from the company that went in to administration btw?

[Ben_w]

Another vote for Bilt Hamber stuff. Dynax S50 is recommended for cavaties, is very nice to use from the pressurised cans n goes a long way. Both it and UC (underbody) are reported to perform very well in long-term tests.

Really looking forward to seeing this car get built back up.  Did you ever manage to get the original engine back from the company that went in to administration btw?

No.....thats long gone, although it wasnt the original engine for this car anyway. Ive got the engine from that 6 i broke last year to go back in. Remove the aircon and change the aux belt set up and its back to how it should be.

Yes, im looking at the UC and S50 for when i build stuff back up.

Im also looking into hiring a stud welder. There were a number of studs which sheard as i was removing stuff, the most worrying being one of the fuel tank fixings. A few of the exhaust heat shield studs and one or two in the engine bay. Use of a stud welder seems very simple, i just need to find one to hire (they are not cheap to buy!) and sort the correct size and length stud.

[Mighty306]

I'm also looking into hiring a stud welder. There were a number of studs which sheard as i was removing stuff, the most worrying being one of the fuel tank fixings. A few of the exhaust heat shield studs and one or two in the engine bay. Use of a stud welder seems very simple, i just need to find one to hire (they are not cheap to buy!) and sort the correct size and length stud.

Mmm, intrigueing. Didn't know such a thing existed. Modified spot welder I assume.

[Ben_w]

Short video but you get the idea how it works.

https://youtu.be/VuoxfKnmO58

[Ben_w]

Realised my plan for front mounts wasn't going to work so hastily ordered a pair from guy who makes the jig. Had them delivered to work today to make sure I got them...



Modified towbar comes back tomorrow so looks like I'll be getting the shell in the air for the weekend.

[Ben_w]

So, the towbar is on. Not without a fight, but it's on.

First issue is that we didn't measure properly where to put the additional spars. Balls. Only out by an inch at most but out to the point it wouldn't fit, so out came the hacksaw....





I will have that welded back in at a later date....

Onto fitting proper......It's supposed to bolt through the chassis with two M10 bolts either side. Now, whichever numpty made the rear chassis rail for this car decided to leave a lump of weld in one of the holes, meaning the M10 bolt wouldn't fit. It's right up in the corner of chassis rail/boot floor so there is no hope of getting a drill into it either. The other side was just full of crap. I ended up switching down to M8 bolts. Not ideal but I guess it will do the job. Eventually, after much cursing, bashing if head followed by even more cursing, removal of electrox and mastic from screw threads, we were on....





Got the front mounts on.



Had to get the wife to get me some 40mm M10 bolts whilst out as I thought up had some but I can't find them....



Slight issue in that the rear is too low. I jacked it up to raise the axle stands that are under the rear currently. Turns out they're already at full height. I need to swap the ones from the front to the rear as they are taller. The front is already more than high enough.


Got the front all connected up. The rear is ready, just needs lifting and the car levelling off.

Before I can do anymore, I need to remove the rear beam. A mate has got a taller set of axle stands I can borrow so picking them up tomorrow. Once I've got it lifted, I can then attach the rear properly and connect the brace between the two uprights. Then, lift!!

The forecast for the next two days here is awful. Heavy rain pretty much solid. At least it's not snow!

[Ben_w]

She flies......









Finally up high enough to allow the shell to rotate to the postion ill need. Really pleased. Can start making some progress again. Underside looks to have held up extremely well considering its been like it is now for 2 years.

[Magenta Sunset]

well. I know whom I'm coming to, should I need an underside tidy.

[Mighty306]

Well, that's worked very nicely Ben! Just a shame you had to cut a bit out of the towing eye brace at the back. It's going to make sorting the shell so much easier, although it's looking pretty good underneath on the whole

[Ben_w]

Yes, didnt want to have to cut it but the towbar wouldnt have fitted otherwise. Very simple job to weld it back in though. Definitely needs to be there, i guess it forms a lot of the strength of the tow eye.

[Mighty306]

....simple job to weld it back in though.

Indeed ...it just added another job to a long list, so a bit frustrating for you.

The progress you're making, despite the weather, is impressive. I've not been near mine since the rear brake calipers got rebuilt! Need to get motivated as want it on the road this summer.

[Ben_w]

Well, there wont be any progress today unless this rain stops......and i cant see that happening.

[Mighty306]

Well, there wont be any progress today unless this rain stops......and i cant see that happening.

It won't ....it's a Bank Holiday Ben!!!

[Ben_w]

Well, it has stopped! Off out to play!

[Paul Baldwin]

Some serious dedication here, well done

[PugLee]

Some good work there mate fair play! 

Where did you get the rotisserie from? Want to do the underside on mine at some point.

PugLee

[Ben_w]

Got the rotisserie from a guy called Ade Foreman. Look up Ade Foreman light engineering on Facebook. He sells them on eBay too. Not sure if I posted the link somewhere in this thread. I'll find it out and post it again.

Lee as much as I'd love to, the wife will kill me if anymore cars turn up here.....how about I sell you the jig, the mounts, the towbar etc instead and you can do your underside? 

[Ben_w]

Right, quite why I didn't buy a rollover jig in the first place (other than being a tight fit!) I don't know. Hindsight being the thing it is, I could have saved a lot of time, energy, discomfort and physio bill if I'd bought one of these first.....

It rained until about lunchtime and I didn't think I was going to get anything done. However, the rain stopped, so I started.

Brew in hand, I wandered out side. Manouevered the jig into position a little, rolled her on her side, marvelled at what a tool I'd been trying to do this without a jig and got cracking.

Most of the underside was fine. A few spots showing a little surcae rust which I attacked with the grinder, thinking is was perhaps poor prep first time round. In a couple of places, it may have been but lack of room and light to see what's what won't have helped much but in all honesty, I think it's probably the zinc in the Electrox doing its sacrifical thing. Either way, when I took back the coatings, in most places it was good, clean bare metal underneath. This really is testament to the quality of BH Electrox and Epoxy Mastic. It's been sat outside for over two years with no cover, no nothing. Other than a few cobwebs and dust and dirt, it's as clean as the day I did it.

Anyhow, down to the business of grinding (as I once said to the wife with a cheeky wink as she sighed and rolled her eyes....)

The only bit of the car I never got any protection on was perhaps the first 6-9" inches front the bulkhead back. I just left it bare. Some surface rust, but again, nothing serious. The only real issue I have here is that these sections, as on so many GTi6 & Rallyes, have been mistakenly used as points to jack the car up. You can see the indentations. I've two options. Either drill all the spot welds, remove, straighten and spot weld back on or try a technique to pull body panels out where a series of hooks are spot welded along the panel and a rod passed through which is then used to pull the panel out. I doubt very much I'll find new sections, I'll ask my parts guys but not hopeful.

Anyways, Imgbb is good but a pain to try and organise pictures so I'll just post the lot. I had to nip out mid afternoon as clearly my wire brush was done! I also decided to split the three sections that made up the section of sill that was properly squished and attacked them with a wire brush on a drill before going at them with the Hydrate 80.

The only other bit that was a real issue was that odd closed box section that forms the rear suspension bump stop. I got in there with another wire brush bit on a drill as much as I could but access is still awful, even with the car on its side. I then applied as much Hydrate 80 as I could. Did the underside of the chassis legs too then gave everything id done a good coat of Hydrate 80

[PugLee]

Got the rotisserie from a guy called Ade Foreman. Look up Ade Foreman light engineering on Facebook. He sells them on eBay too. Not sure if I posted the link somewhere in this thread. I'll find it out and post it again.

Lee as much as I'd love to, the wife will kill me if anymore cars turn up here.....how about I sell you the jig, the mounts, the towbar etc instead and you can do your underside? 

Yeah I'll take it once you're done! haha

[Ben_w]

What a damn fine morning this morning turned out to be. To coin some more lyrics…..what a difference a day makes.

Finally dragged myself from my bed (started back at the gym with my cousin on Tuesday and God were my muscles meeting me know they weren't happy!!), made a cup of tea and ventured forth.

Now, my garage is set behind my house with the drive running down the side of the house. My front door points pretty much west, meaning the sun shines on the side of the house opposite to the garage. Not an issue. My jig has wheels. Rallye, walkies! Nothing better than finally feeling a little warmth from the sun on my skin.



Id bought a spray can of Electrox as part of my Bilt Hamber booty box, planning on using that for hard to reach areas. However, having had a think, a spray finish is much better than a brush finish so I decided that for all things engine bay, I'd use the spray as you are likely to see much more and finish is critical…

Suspension turrets and engine bay…






Rolled her on her side and got on….handbrake cables have been annoying me for months…not getting in the car now it's on the jig so….



Mr Angle grinder and his cutting blade pal sorted them….




Cleaned up the rear arch. Deox Gel did a job, but not as well as I expected. The grinder finished it off…





Further up in the arch, I noticed a scab..



I'm glad I found and treated this as I've seen so many 306’s rot through here, mostly estates though.nQuite why, I've no idea but it's right next to a seatbelt mounting point sound normally sounds the death knell for a 306 if left….

So after doing lots of little bits and pieces, I got onto applying another coat of Electrox. It had already had one, but I think it was a thinned down coat to allow it to flow into the seams etc..I can’t remember for sure so I figured a full fat layer of Electrox wouldn't hurt….

Going on…



Finished…



Close up of finish. Seems odd painting a car with a brush and when striving for perfection, almost downright uncomfortable. The stuff is very thick and solvent based so spraying wouldn't be an option unless thinned significantly, which will then detract from lifespan performance I'd imagine. It's like glossing in the house and I HATE that bloody job. In the end, the finish wasn't too bad….



Browsing the BH website, I discovered they do a product called Flatface:

https://www.bilthamber.com/flat-face

Touted as:

‘Sprayable polyester filler allows very high build levels in one application – easy sanding.’

Apparently sits over the epoxy mastic very well, providing a flat surface for final coats. There go the worries about brush marks in the mastic. The guys at BH really do seem to have thought of everything. I can't praise them enough.

Biggest issue I came across today was jig issues…was a bit more difficult to push and having had a look, I can see why. Thought I'd got the centre spar/brace positioned correctly but clearly not. I looked at the video that the guy selling them linked in his advert and the people have added a ratchet strap between both uprights. I plan on taking up the strain, loosening the bolts on the brace, ratcheting until the uprights are vertical and retighten the bolts which will pin it all together.





All in all, a bloody enjoyable day working on this.

[Ben_w]

I did a bit more Friday morning but it was pretty windy so scuppered my plans to do any painting really, it was too windy for that. I bare metalled a couple more bits i needed to, including the passenger side rear arch. This was the first thing i ever did on the car, i bare metalled it, used some rust prevention stuff (not hydrate 80) and then overpainted it. 

Ive not been properly happy with the finish and i could see some rust bubbles forming under the paint again so i stripped it all back. Sure enough, there was some surafce rust bubbling away. Cleaned it up as much as i could and then gave it a good going over with the Hydrate 80. I didnt get any pics at this stage. Today, with the weather being warmish and nowhere near as windy, i used the spray Electrox and primed it.



Happier with that. Whilst it was on its sides, i pretty much finished off the engine bay and got as decent a layer of the Electrox into the bumpstop boxes as i could. Not perfect, but better.









Just a little bit more to do on the front end now but need to pick up some masking tape to mask a few bits off before hand. Tomorrow, i may well start on the application of the epoxy mastic, depending on the weather.

[C2K]

Forgive me to say, but the rotisserie looks a little Heath Robinson in places. Considering you’re loading the half ton kebab on it I would’ve expected vertical bracing in some manner. I’m not surprised to see it caving in the pics. Still, it’ll do what you need.

Your neighbours must find it quite an odd sight, wheeling a car down the drive on a spit and rolling it over lol. Fair play for the effort going into it.

[Ben_w]

Forgive me to say, but the rotisserie looks a little Heath Robinson in places. Considering you’re loading the half ton kebab on it I would’ve expected vertical bracing in some manner. I’m not surprised to see it caving in the pics. Still, it’ll do what you need.

Your neighbours must find it quite an odd sight, wheeling a car down the drive on a spit and rolling it over lol. Fair play for the effort going into it.

Yeah, the jig hasnt turned out exactly as i thought. I think there is probably some adjustments of the mountings i need to do but she is a heavy shell. With all the glass, panels & interior removed, i think it would be a different story. I did some adjustment on it today and its better although id agree on the upright bracing comment. Ive a couple of ideas for strengthening gussetts. Base plates i think need to be thicker too. Either way, as you said, it does what i need. It is useful having it on wheels though! Always nice to wheel it out into the sun.

As for the effort, it's always what i wanted to do with the car, so for me, its just a process....

[Mighty306]

You've been very hard at work Ben.  This really is coming along very nicely.  It's good to see how sound the structural areas still are.  It gives me hope that there's a good few years in my 306's yet.

I've got quite a collection of Bilt Hamber products but not any Electrox as yet.  Think I'll get some for the rear underside.  Only going to clean & paint the patches that look like they need it.  Think I'll have to go for brush application as won't be able to put the car on it's side!

[Ben_w]

Didnt get as much done as i thought i might this weekend, but i still made some progress....

So, Saturday i was intending to go to the gym first thing. Can i make it clear i was intending to? One or two ciders more than the prescribed friday 'youve got the gym in the morning' limit meant i might not have made it.....forgive me!

I went to the local Post office collection depot to pick up a parcel (my shell fixings kit) and then shot over to my parents to start and drive their cars as they are in Australia for 3 months. Then came home for a brew.

Now, my intent was to get the underside done with the epoxy mastic. Again, intention....i ended up going through the fixing kit and putting notes in bags as to what was what and then trying to sort the garage out as ive a buggy and pretty much most of a 306 in there....in the end, i sorted a load of 306 stuff, emtpied the buggy of 306 stuff and got its battery on charge and then spent time time drinking with a few of the other kids parents in the sun as we watched our kids play in the cul-de-sac....

Today, the forecast wasnt great so started by washing off 2000 miles of crap from the daily GTD. Got that finished and the rain arrived......and then stopped an hour later and the sun came out so i mixed up a batch of epoxy mastic and got busy. Started and completed the passenger side rear arch and the went onto the underisde.

Despite me using a non thinned batch of mastic, im still not happy about using a brush. It feels wrong, given the level of finish im trying to achieve. The finish levels domt look too bad but im not happy with them. Ive been in touch with a mate who paints stuff for a living about spraying the mastic. Ive a 150cfm compressor available if i need so lm looking at spraying the mastic rather than using a brush. Bilt Hamber do something called flatface which appears to be a super high build primer that sits well over the mastic and should get rid of any brush marks.

A few pics:

[Ben_w]

Not a huge amount more progress at the minute. Combo of weather, being busy at work, saving more funds etc.

The biggest issue is I managed to break my windscreen, which annoyed me massively. Managed to drop my bonnet on it. Even worse, it appears it's the original screen for the car as it has the VIN etched on it. My parts guy managed to find 3 Rallye/Phase 1 GTi6 screens at a dealership in the UK (Rallyes and PH1 cars didn't have the rain sensor so had a different screen) and got them for a silly cheap price. £120, delivered by a bespoke man in van service. That arrives Wednesday. My next issue is that the screen is etched with the VIN from the factory. Then new one won't be. I tapped up Rikky to see if he could make me a template sticker to allow me to etch the screen. Making the image wasn't too much of an issue....




However, getting his vinyl cutting machine to cut it proved very difficult, to the point it wouldn't do it. I do have a plan in that I'll print the image off, stick it to a piece of vinyl and use the 1mm punch I bought from eBay to manually punch it. Be a ball ache but I need to try.

We've also located a couple of the cross member panels (can't remember if no said about those?) A pair were in Belgium and were initially MIA when the dealers went to find them. One has been located and we have tabs on another. I will be looking to replace the pair of them as the ones one the Rallye now have been trolley jacked as they all have and are a little bit crusty.

Also picked up a new seat pretension error loom. When I removed the driver's seat, the connector has been cut off and the cables hard wired so I had to cut them. New loom section was £9 delivered. Much better than the £30 odd Peugeot wanted.

Tonight, I managed to pick up the other brand new headlight I needed from eBay. £30 delivered which I thought was pretty good. That's a pair of brand new, genuine Peugeot Valeo units for £55.....yes, ph2 headlights aren't the greatest in terms of looks or light output but originality is what it's all about. I even managed to sell the Ph3 crystals with the broken mounts for £10 so these new ones cost me even less.