The Quest for the Mars Red Cabby !

  Ok here goes ..
                             New to this so hope this is the right place and it sort of makes sence.
           I've owned my 92 1.8 8v Cabby for about 7yrs now Ive done all the basics over time, new rad and fan, all new brakes, new lower arms and bushes, new suspension ( only cheap coilies though , they need replacing ) Porsche D90's with Toyo tyres, new mohair hood as the old one was grey vynal that someone had painted black in a moment of pure brilliance and a new rear screen frame as the old one had gone more than a bit rotten.
 Other than that its pretty original except for the verious different shades of red that for what ever reason have been added over the years, so let me introduce you to my Mk1 Cabby..



  So thats how it looked in the summer while the sun was shining and it had been treated to a little polish, this is what it looks like now…




I will be getting into that a bit futher this weekend…and this is an idea I knocked up on the laptop of how I would like it to look ( done in paint on my laptop so hard to draw with my finger on the mouse pad but you should get the idea )



Good job this isn't a computer forum or I'd get lynched Iknow, but hopefuly you get the idea.

Today I took my rocker cover in and blasted it as it had gone a nasty shade of brown so painting tomorrow, just satin black nothing to jazzy.

 Well thats about it for now I will be sure to keep the thread up to date with any progress ( and set backs ) and I'd be glad of any feed back.
Catch you all soon

Looks a tidy Cab, i'll be keeping an eye on this one.

And so it begins…………  

i like where your going with this   ,

looking forward to seeing some progress!

Me too , lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looking forward to seeing this one evolve!

Btw if not stating the obvious, was the gauze filter and intlet pipe to it well sealed off when you blasted the cam cover?

I do know a story of someone's engine that got goosed as that was full of blasting medium and went through the engine!  

Ohhh yes ! Plenty of gaffa tape and I didn't blast the inside just to make sure then a blast through the hot wash after just to make sure followed by a bloody good blow out , paranoid ? Me? Nooo it took a lot of air to get all the fluid out the cap after the wash though.
Refit on Sunday I think and new cambelt too while I'm in that neck of the woods.
Then I'm all about the body work for a bit, take it to work and remove the return lip from the rear arches and roll the front just to make sure there's no rubbing issues, that's first on the list, fortunately it still has an MOT so I'll drive it there and back, shouldn't take too long. Exciting stuff !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice mate really like the style your going for

Cheers Scott, it's gona be a long road but should be worth it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quick update, not a lot to report just painted cam cover. Cambelt on order, fitting both on Sunday.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cracking finish on that Jamie    

Cheers fella, changed my cambelt today but the bottom pulley is a bit rusty and the cambelt cover is a bit oily from the old cam cover gasket leaking. So have decided to take them to work, blast and paint the pulley and hot wash  the cover.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So Cam belt cover cleaned and pulleys painted everything replaced timing checked and everything is happy.
Took the back bumper off and found that there was the remains of a tow bar behind it ! So that's been removed also ready to take the old girl to work next Saturday for rear wheel arch lip removal, should be quite straight forward just clean back the paint and sealer then cut of the spot welded return lip a few inches at a time and tack it up as we go then once the lip is removed weld it up job done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Have decided to remove the large box section that hangs below the sills on both sides. Cut it out reinforce internally so it looks like a tin top from the side, well that's the idea anyway


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sooo took the car to work today with big plans of getting lots done… but when I removed the NSR arch and the sill trim I found that there was some old damage that had been left to fester. I had planned to remove the lip from both rear arches today but having to make a new section for the arch put me back quite some time so only the 1 today. My first bit of advice for anyone thinking of doing this is don't do it ! But if you feel the need I have found what I beleive to be the best way. Cut the arch just outside  the spot welds so you still have about a 5/6mm lip then using some grips clamp the inner and outer layers together with an extra layer on the outside to prevent dents. Beat the inner arch edge back behind the outer and while it is clamped beat the edge of the outer arch over the inner so it holds it inside. Then tack the beaten edge of the outer arch to the inner arch below, grind and tack your way round the whole arch. Then weld, be careful though as there will be old sealer and wax oil to spit and burn you but thats just how it is so suck it up and look out!

One down one to go    

That looks spanking Jamie, top work


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cheers dude! I'll give it a little skim of filler when I start the overall prep stage, get the metal work out the way first. Hopefully the other side should go quicker, no repair needed and have learned from the first side


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like that orange shaping tool. I remember my Dad having one when I was a kid - I think for woodwork though as it had much fewer and larger pins.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk