Pistolpete's Mars Red Mk1 GTi restoration

Cheers Hugh. Unfortunately I can't make Dubshed due to clash with work, but will be hoping to have it ready for Castlewellan in the summer.

I know what you mean about the zinc plating. To be honest, I'll probably buy a home plating kit when I come to restore the engine and ancillaries as it'll be all little bits and pieces.

Did you sell your red Mk1 tintop? I was surprised you decided to sell.

No sale on my tintop so keeping it for the moment. Had a few offers but always shy. I've bought another…

The zinc plating really looks the biz but does discolour over time with both heat from the engine and I guess oxidation. I bought the kit too. Never used it. Take loads of pictures of all the bits at least that what I did. Have an archive of pictures now!

Looks good but I think that engine is too big for the pink bike! (looks a bit like my garage .....when you have kids

So, little update.  It has taken a while, but finally got the rollover jig assembled and mounted the car onto it.  I bought the basic kit from www.rolloverjigs.com but have added some additional bracing and castor wheels to move it around the garage.  Its pretty tight in the garage due to overall length of the base feet, but it fits and rolls over with relative ease.  I plan on sending it to the painters on the jig on a trailer.  End to end its probably almost 5m long but I'll get a tape measure on it to confirm as I'll need a suitable trailer.  The larger box sections on the floor will be to join both jigs together under the car to stiffen it for travelling.  Its fine as it is for now just moving it around the garage and into the driveway.








Hopefully things will progress a bit quicker now.  Having said that, I've started looking at electroplating kits !!!!  This project has definitely grown arms and legs, what started as a stripped thread in the front hub has become a full concourse resto.  I just want to get the shell finished so I can start putting it all back together.

Good Stuff Pete - the fun starts when the pieces have to go back together!

Nice work on you mk1!
Keep up the good work

So onwards it goes.  After contacting Bilt Hamber to get advice about the reaction when I put on a coat of Electrox Zinc primer, they advised to use their Xylene thinner as a degreaser and to go over the surfaces thoroughly.  I did all this (Xylene is nasty stuff, I can tell you), and then tried again with a coat of Electrox….same result.  Started blistering badly and clearly was not compatible with the Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 treatment I'd applied to the steel.  I was pretty pi**ed off, but took it all back to the start again (I had only done the top half in the pic thankfully, so only this needed to be stripped back again with the trusty drill and various wire brush attachments).



After this I re-applied the Hydrate 80 after some more thorough degreasing with Xylene and left to dry for the day.  Went back out this evening and have got a fair bit coated now in the Bilt Hamber Epoxy Mastic.  This stuff is really nice to use, goes on really well and covers very nicely.  It still stinks as the hardener also contains Xylene so you need a well ventilated area when using it.  Pleased with the finish so far.

Last update for this week as I'll not get back to working on the car until next week now, but have made some good progress since getting the car on the jig.  Engine bay now cleaned down ready for paint prep.  My hands are in bits, used Bilt Hamber Surfex HD which is a great degreaser (water based), and some 3M Scotchbrite pads to remove all the old waxoyl (a testament to how effective waxoyl is, there is virtually no rust at all in the bay).  I do not intend to bare-metal or wire wheel the engine bay other than a couple of little areas on the front cross member, as the factory sealant is all intact and in too good a condition to disturb.  I will be rubbing down slightly to key the surface, then on with more Epoxy Mastic and then primer and paint.

By the way, reading back through my last few posts it sounds like I have shares in Bilt Hamber!!  I don't, I just rate their products and am using them a lot for this stage of the resto.

Is the epoxy plastic on the floor the finish coat or does something go over it? It's looking great Pete

Cheers for the comments folks.

Des, the Epoxy Mastic is a 2-pack resin which is for corrosion protection. I will be priming and then top coating the whole lot in a fresh coat of Mars Red.

You must be getting the green machine out soon. I must hook up with you gents next time you're out for a run.

Pistol said

Cheers for the comments folks.

Des, the Epoxy Mastic is a 2-pack resin which is for corrosion protection. I will be priming and then top coating the whole lot in a fresh coat of Mars Red.

You must be getting the green machine out soon. I must hook up with you gents next time you're out for a run.

Yeah would be good to hook up Pete with a few mk1's or other stuff next time we are out for a run. Looking good.

So almost a year since my last post, thought I should update.  Basically, in June 2016, the engine bay was completed in epoxy mastic:-

Have finally reached a bit of a milestone with this restoration project.  Can't believe its over 6 months since the previous picture.  I was not too comfortable with trying to transport the Mk1 on the rollover jig to the bodyshop, so I decided to build a spray booth in my garage.  Thankfully, my painter is very accommodating and he travelled to me to complete the work.  Really pleased with the results.













Now I can at least get on with starting to put it all back together slowly, as each piece will be restored before re-fitting.

Fantastic effort Pistol… I've been following your post and was starting to wonder where you were at.
Those roll over jigs are a great example of brains over brawn!

I'll be interested in how you progress with the home based electro plating if you decide to go down that path.

I'll be over in Northern Ireland either late this year or early next year so I'll be  keen to see the car.  

Nice  
Dont forget to clean all the exposed threads of paint before attempting reassembly because when torquing the components if the threads are not clean (with a light drop of oil) you will get incorrect torque settings!

I would also wax oil the cavities before installing any components because access will be much easier!  

Great work Pete. Looks well.

Wow, looks stunning Pete!  

Great paint job, you must be massively pleased  

Matt

So the rebuild has started, well I say rebuild but really mean lots and lots of cleaning of little assemblies as I start putting things back together.  Believe it or not, spent about 16hrs just cleaning the wiring loom.  Photos don't really give any justice to the amount of time and effort this took:-



Got new clips for securing the headlight wiring to the front cross-member:-