1.1 Formel E Restoration

The time has come to spruce up my wonderful Formel E and I thought I'd share with you it's progress.

The aim is to make it rust free and possibly refurbish but not totally rebuild the engine as it's runs perfectly fine - it just looks a rusty mess!

Firstly let me introduce you to Oreo.







I've had the car just over 3 years and it's the best thing I've ever bought.

Apologise if the pictures get a bit tedious but I wanted to document everything. It's my first restoration and I want to get it right!

My lovely boyfriend bought me a nice big tool set. He said it was for me but I know it's really all for him. What he didn't know was that
I had to remove 21 screws to get to the tools! And of course the trusty Haynes Manual  :mrgreen:



I started with the front bumper:



Then the grill:



Next were the lights!





Rear bumper:



And the lights:





Number plate too!



I took note of a rusty area. Is there supposed to be a hole there?



I then, literally, whipped out the front seats. One bolt holds them in  8O



I couldn't remove the rear bench as a) the Haynes Manual was telling me something totally different and b) lack of knowledge on my part.
I'm of the thinking, if I don't know what I'm doing, ask Dad/boyfriend/brother but because I was on my own, it stayed in.

Next were the door cards:



I knew the rear passenger door was rusty…



…but I didn't know it was this rusty!  :redfaced:



So now I'm looking for a new door as it's completely rusted through all along the bottom - anyone have one?

Finally some of the dash and instruments:



Not bad for a girl, eh? It only took me 4 HOURS  :redfaced:  :mrgreen:

I'm happy with it anyway and I'm determined to do most of it on my own.

Hopefully if the weather is fine there'll be more   and cuts and bruises  tomorrow as it needs to be fully stripped for it's
Rust-Oleum paint job.

Looks really solid.  Good luck with the restoration!

one very nice looking car to start with

Keep up the nice work

butleraw said

Looks really solid.  Good luck with the restoration!

Thanks!

blink said

one very nice looking car to start with

Keep up the nice work

Ta, I know it looks like it'll be a pretty tame restoration but I wanted to nip it in the bud before it got really bad.

Good work. Nice to see another 1.1 being restored.

nice unmolested MK1 formal e; looks better than mine which is full of GTI cast offs from previous owners.

the "hole" on the slam panel shouldn't be there, looks like a little bit of damage which has rusted.

what be the plans you got for it?

Ta  

I think it was a little bit molested before I got my hands on it. The front door cards had nasty speakers in them and I feel sure the dash is supposed to be blue like the parcel shelf supports.  :dontknow:

Engine wise it's completely standard.

The plans are to strip it, make it rust free and then paint it inside and out in it's original colour. Replace anything worn/broken and put it all back. I have the original steelies that need refurbing and putting on too.

It's probably going to be a really boring resto but I'm hoping the Rust-Oleum paint job with make it more interesting.  

yeah dash should be blue, there was a complete dash on ebay, but that has sine gone (helpful i know).

where did you find the door cards, i am on the hunt for some at the moment, mine have nasty speaker holes in them at the moment, just need to decide where to relocate some speakers to.

When I first got the car there was a complete mint blue dash on eBay for £20 - I should've bought it!

It took me 2 years to find a set of door cards that didn't have holes in and were blue - I eventually bought them off a member on here.

Black ones are a lot easier to find!  

I'm not fussed about having any music in mine, however if you can find a speaker cover you could fit one in the center cubby hole? That was my plan once upon a time  :wink:

looks really solid in the main, good luck with ya resto and keep us update with the pics :-)

Not many 1.1's around

Nice looking car. Best of luck with the build. Nice to see a women getting down and dirty doing it herself.
Truely inspiring.

richyhill said

looks really solid in the main, good luck with ya resto and keep us update with the pics :-)

Will do - I'm going picture crazy with it!  8)

allana13 said

Not many 1.1's around

I'm really anti-engine swap when it comes to the 1.1's  :redfaced: I love the revvy engine and it's really nippy around town. Hopefully I can restore it to be a decent example.  

Beeno said

Nice looking car. Best of luck with the build. Nice to see a women getting down and dirty doing it herself.
Truely inspiring.

Ta! I don't see myself as inspiring at all, just a bit stupid  :wink:

Not much today I'm afraid.

Got the dash and rear bench out:



Had a good poke around the car with a flat head to see which rusty bits were ok and which were bad.

As I said before the door has rusted through along the bottom - would it be cheaper to fix or replace? Both rear arches have rusted but only as far as the lip (I guess the bit you'd roll if you were to put it on it's ass) - the actual flared piece and inner are fine - is this an easy fix?

I'm hoping tomorrow will see some sanding action - I need to get it painted ASAP!

NICCEEee….it looks so nice and clean

Are you planning on repainting a different colour?

The rust in the door doesn't look to hard to fix and the door looks really good besides that piece so i would just cut that bit out and repair that door.

Keep up the nice work

Nice project thumbs up for a local one aswell

blink said

NICCEEee….it looks so nice and clean

Are you planning on repainting a different colour?

The rust in the door doesn't look to hard to fix and the door looks really good besides that piece so i would just cut that bit out and repair that door.

Keep up the nice work

Ta  

It's staying the same colour as I really like it and also because I don't have the funds to completely change it anyway!

pablos said

Nice project thumbs up for a local one aswell

Thanks, Pablos. Hopefully we can get a meet going once it's back on the road  

Got the wings off today and it all looks good underneath! I don't think they're the originals or even genuine but I didn't have to take the time to fit them so who cares!





Thought I'd attempt a bit of sanding and before I'd even started properly, this happened:



I'm wondering if it'd be a good idea to fit a completely new front panel. The old one is rusted to buggery with some bits even missing - the rear arches, rear passenger door all need welding work so why not throw one on and save myself a lot of time?

Any ideas?

Also what shall I be using to remove the paint and rust?  :dontknow:

So today was strip-the-car-some-more-and-find-rust day.  :roll:

Out came the carpet:



£1.05 for me troubles!



30 years of dirt:









My method to clean them was the boyfriend's Nilfisk with good old Flash in the lance:





Blasted them with clean water until it ran clear then draped them over the washing line.



They're still in one piece and almost dry!  :cheer:

Whilst the carpet was drying I cleaned the interior:













All was going well until I found this: (that's daylight you can see!)



Two holes in exactly the same place - awkward places!



I keep telling myself that it could be worse and the holes could be as big as my fist instead.

Last bit I promise!





What are the three bolts for? They don't screw into anything and you can just pull them out?  :dontknow:

This wiring is a bit confusing too.

wiring looks like a bodge repair on the rear lights, unless i have made a mistake on where they connect to.

all in all a solid shell there then, little bit of welding and she be a gooden