Vehicle assessment - underbody condition
An underbody and chassis inspection of the vehicle has unearthed a few areas of concern. The sills are going to need some attention due to their levels of corrosion, mainly on the joining flanges. These will need to be cleaned up then assessed if repair or replacement is necessary. There is a hole present in the rear right floor pan and numerous areas of the chassis legs are showing signs of corrosion. The spare wheel well has some of its underseal missing and has revealed hidden corrosion beneath. Due to these findings a further assessment of the metal work condition will be required once the chassis is stripped of its underseal. The major concern is the absence of the kidney bowls, a structural component of the chassis and these will need to be fitted.
No items found.
Engine removal
Engine was lowered & supported on a trolley before removing any additional links, connectors & components. From here it was possible to jack the rear of the transmission up & lower the front of engine. It was possible at this stage to move the engine forward & raise the vehicles chassis on the ramp. The engine can now be moved into the engine room ready for further work to be carried out
No items found.
Rear control arm disassembly
Both rear control arms to be stripped & catalogued into individual parts. The rear right was stripped successfully although several components will require replacing. The backing plate is excessively corroded & rotten away. This is the same for the bearing covers, it was necessary to use an air hammer to remove. I was able to removed the hub flange & spline out without damaging. A few bearings will be required for both sides. When stripping the rear left control arm assembly, I was able to partially strip without too many issues. Unfortunately the hub flange is excessively seized. As a result, the casting of the control arm has fractured & sheered when pressed. I have aborted any further separating of the rear left control arm assembly at this stage as it will require a new arm, bearing & hub flange regardless.
No items found.
Factory sealant removal
Today we have put time into removing as much factory sealant as possible to get the car ready for blasting, and started stripping the paint from the roof by hand with a DA.
No items found.
Fabrication/underside/heater tubes RH side
Cut away rotten floor metalwork to gain to heater tub to find the tube has a lot more damage the first though. Now I have access I can also see there is a considerable amount of rot to the inner wheel tub and the floor pan
No items found.
Continued engine strip and inspection.
The cylinder heads have now been stripped down to their component parts to be assessed and inspected to form a parts list and to organise and price processes.
The heads were removed from the cam box and each valve was removed and inspected in the valve stem. Most valves and stems in the heads have significant wear so these will need addressing.
Each valve was removed along with the spring seat and the spring shims and stored individually to avoid mixing the shims around.
The cylinder heads themselves are in good condition with no broken cooling fins or cracks to be seen at this stage, after a full clean cracks will present themselves more readily
No items found.
Fabrication RH front bumper mount
The front bumper mount is heavily corroded and will ideally need replacing. The metal behind it is also corroded, so I have cut it out and started making repair panels to be welded into place
No items found.
