Red Rallye resto

[Ben_w]

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin……

Anyone remember this horror?



Unfortunately, despite my very best hoping and talking nicely to it, it hadn't gone away. On that basis, I decided I'd better force it to go away….

Got under and started off by having a good look to figure out a plan of attack. As previously mentioned, this section has three sheets of metal, which all come together and fold under, effectively sealing the floorpan and sill together. They don't take to kindly to an errant trolley jack. Having has a good look, I thought the best plan of action would be to drive the three sections apart, clean up any rust, straighten them out and then reposition them as they should be. Easy enough in principle…

Out came the tools and got busy. It became immediately apparent the layers weren't coming apart without a fight. I had my suspicions why so got the grinder/wire brush going and confirmed what I thought.



Spot welds. I shouldnt have been surprised really. Haven't got a spot weld drill bit but got out a normal metal drill bit and got busy. Drilling out the spot welds worked and allowed me to separate the layers.



Wasn't as bad as I expected in there, just surface rust. Very difficult to get the layers apart above the right hand spot weld I drilled out, they were properly mangled together and the centre sheet of metal is much stronger than the outers. A chisel type of punch and a hammer eventually got them separated



Much work with a small drill mounted wire brush got the metal clean and manipulation with pliers (I know, bit it's all I have) started straightening the metal



Until eventually after about 2 hours, I got it to somewhere near semi reasonable.



Still needs more straightening work but before i can do much more, the three sections need clamping together and the spot welds reinstating. Once that's done, I can work on getting the metal all back into the correct place. Still, I'm very pleased with how it turned out, considering the mess it was before I began.

Also sorted this bit of the jacking point. Goodness only knows how it managed to get this bent. It's probably ¼” thick…..still, a bit of heat and the trusty mole grips and it's about there…





Then got busy cleaning up the surface rust and some scabby bits I could see at the bottom of the chassis leg….






A very small amount of welding required there….not sure if this hole is intentional either…



Was behind the factory seam sealant so who knows….anyway, that was all I did in the car itself today, currently got the zinc plating kit back out and fired up so will see how that goes….