'83 Golf - (non)BBS Bodykit - Resto Project - (02/01/22)

Right well after thinking I would have the car back from Spikes for 10 weeks max, It's actually been just over 8 months… A LOOOOOOOOONG 8 Months… The bonus of having a family I guess!

So after the initial investigation of the underbody of the car, apart from a few small areas around the rear chassis legs and the rear beam mounts, the car looked pretty sweet…

Despite this, and for reason's i'm still unable to quite figure out, I decide to embark on a perfect lesson of "how to waist a LOT of time for no real gain", and started to remove ALL the underseal… you know, just to make sure!! I also didn't want to use a wire wheel and go back to bare metal, as this will just get damp, start to oxidise and then that's a whole new pain in ass to deal with.. So I opted for a heat gun, chisel, plastic scraper, scouring pads and a lot of thinners. Had I used a wire wheel I'd have been done in a few weeks, this way though..Waaay slower, but I got to keep all the original factory primer coating in tact which is a real bonus in my eyes.

Anyway, it turns out that wasn't really necessary as the cars almost completely rust free! Oh Well! Despite this, I'm pretty happy with the end result (even if the end result is not having all the original underseal on haha)

I also took all the running gear, brake pipes, fuel lines, suspension etc off so I can renew this before putting the car back on its wheels.

I'll let the pictures do the talking…
























 

Wow - that looks really solid. Probably the best I have seen if it is all original!

AL_Mk1 said

Wow - that looks really solid. Probably the best I have seen if it is all original!

Cheers Al, the shell was almost completely rust free, the front panel needed to be replaced due to crash and the last "welder" replaced the outer arch lips for no good reason despite the rust being about the size of a £1 coin and a bit on the corners… Other than that, totally original and rust free Happy days..

I feel your pain Alfie and I've only scraped the sealer on the rear end of mine!

That said I don't think you waisted your time, I've seen first hand what can be lurking under that underseal so it's well worth doing  

Hairyarse said

I feel your pain Alfie and I've only scraped the sealer on the rear end of mine!

That said I don't think you waisted your time, I've seen first hand what can be lurking under that underseal so it's well worth doing  

Cheers bud, it's hard work that's for sure! Once a its all been re-sealed i'm sure I'll be much happier

Any news on yours?

Looking great Alfie, that floor is about 20x better than how mine was, it's going to save you a lot of work!! Got any pics of where the breather tubes from the tank go through the o/s chassis rail? Just wondered if yours is rotten there? 

Keep up the good work mate!

Cheers bud, I remember when you did yours, partly why I decided to do this on mine lol!!

The fuel breather area is pretty good, only a bit of surface by the looks of it!

Duplicate

SO! It's been a LOOOOOONG time coming but the car has finally gone to paint again (in fact I got the shell back a few weeks ago after just over two months away and I'm just waiting on the panels)!!

I was hoping to get the paintwork done by Spikes, who put the roof on and had the car for a bit a year or so ago, but with my budget being quite tight, more work required on the underside, a second baby last November and the fact that he is over 2 hours away from me, made things a little harder to come together.

I have done some web work for a company in my home town over the last few years who currently do dashboard flocking but had previously owned a classic ford restoration company. They recently moved to a larger premises with a huge booth and have started to do more paintwork again.. Last time I was down there they said that once the Ferrari F40 was out the way they had a slot for mine IN TWO WEEKS!!! So rather than burn the car to the ground I took it to them to make some progress on it!

I'll let the MANY MANY pics do the talking!

Off she goes - knocked on a guys door round the corner from me who had this van and asked if he could help me move a car, was happy to help for just £20!



New home for the next month or so



Intricate rub down across the whole shell to remove any surface rust picked up whilst in storage



Rub down inside



Started working on the underside (I went down a few days and helped out with this part)





Bit of filler work on the arch (was in two minds whether or not to completely re-do the arches, so bought some panels, but in the end decided that as long as I was happy with a skim of filler we'd stick with what we have)



Bit of filler work to sort out a little dent in the quarter, pretty much the only other filler on the car



Onto the fabrication and rectifying the issues from the previous paintshop.







Car then went off the the blasters to have the rear chasis legs, petrol tanks and boot floor area a bit of a cleanup.


Lower rear panel and arch repair and a full coat of primer


















New lower rear panel on, I have LOADS of pics of the repair work in this area behind the panel but it's taken me ages to get this far, might put them up later.










Scuttle tray repair





Second coat of primer




Next up PAINT PIIIIICCCCCCSSSSS!!!!!!!!

Good stuff mate!

After reading your whole thread looks like you've been up against it. Glad to see it's all working out  

borednow said

Good stuff mate!

After reading your whole thread looks like you've been up against it. Glad to see it's all working out  

Thanks bud, it's been tough, considering it's just a car, but glad it's all starting to come together!

Just finished sorting through the paintwork pics so here we go.. Missed this one from the previous set of pics, just before it's seconds prime.. Wasn't 100% on the colour choice (still even at this point, and was undecided between original Diamond silver and a more modern Reflex silver).. Engine bay in paint car in the booth ready for the underseal to go on Underside in tinted underseal and base coat Inside painted Guide Coat Masking of the bay and re-paint of the front of the chassis legs after removing the rollover jig Base coat Lacquer Shell out the booth ready for collection Safe and sound back in the Garage until the new year!! Stone Chip Inside There you have it… Only taken nearly 4 years to get to this stage since it last came back from paint!.. Just waiting for the doors, boot, wings and bonnet now..

Damn!  

Looks like a brand new car. You must be chuffed this time  

Lovely paint finish, makes me want to hurry and get mine into paint.

What sealer did you use between the rear panel and the rear quarter panel please?

Great work Alfie, so much hard work and dedication.  I'm going through a similar process but my car has been with the bodyshop for almost 3 years now!. You don't appreciate how much time/money it takes to do these things properly until you actually go through it. Ill bet you can't wait to start putting everything back together. Are you aiming to be on the road this year?

daniboy123 said

 Are you aiming to be on the road this year?

He best get cracking to finish it this year, there's only 3 days left!

Haha yes I mean 2017! Would be something to behold to get it on the road this year.

daniboy123 said

Great work Alfie, so much hard work and dedication.  I'm going through a similar process but my car has been with the bodyshop for almost 3 years now!. You don't appreciate how much time/money it takes to do these things properly until you actually go through it. Ill bet you can't wait to start putting everything back together. Are you aiming to be on the road this year?

3 Years! DAMN! What they doing? Mining the ore for the steel!  

Looks really nice mate …now the rebuild begins😢👍

Makes me emotional reading this!

I'm having to give up my Caddy due to money (needs work and I just cant leave it and I can't fund the work it needs), and this is after already scrapping my Cabrio project of 5 years due to rot.

Really nice to see yours come out looking so good after so much hard work. Best of luck with the rebuild!

Hopefully I can get another one someday.