WINSTON 1988 GT MK2

[treefingers]

Thanks Bill :) Long time between updates, basically I lost the ability to build the car at my work due to some negativity I won't go into, and I've had to find a new place to keep the build going. So for the last few months I've converted a shipping container into a new mini workshop to get the car done. It's small but I'm good at persisting to make something work out, and it's not too bad. Lots of positives over the old space as I can just lock it up and forget if I need to. It's the size of a single garage. I made a soundproof box on the roof with a 150L compressor in it, with air lines/drain tap coming back inside. Fitted a kitchen extractor fan for airflow, put some wood down for flooring and taught myself some domestic electrics to get some plugs wired in (oh yeah it has power to it!). Got a 16 amp supply to run my new Kemppi welder, a dehumidifier, a kettle for coffee and a microwave to cook sweet potatoes. Made some long ramps to push the car in and out, and with the car on the trolley or rollover spit, it's easy to make space if I need to. Not sure I can finish the whole build here, but I can get a good chunk of it done up to the paintwork.




Got coffee and chilli sauce, that's important to me.


So I've done a fair bit of work on the accelerator pedal, but can't find photos now, so out of sequence slightly..

Car is now back on spit and stripped to attack bodywork and make a super solid shell.



Started cutting out all corrosion. Shell seems really good, not too much to do. Well, an enjoyable amount rather than laborious. All of the corrosion is symmetrical too, the same thing on each side!

I probably could have left this sill as it was just really squashed by the jack, but there was one corroded part so it all came out




Both corners of the rear arches need repair. Main arches are good tho!


Both rear jacking points had holes so will be rebuilding some custom jacking points



Another rusty corner


There was a small hole by the jacking point so I cut a square out, as I was sure it was all corroded behind. Not the case, was perfect behind, still had the wax in the cavity! Facepalm. Ah well at least I know now..


While the car is on the spit I cleaned up some under dash brackets, and made a new column support bracket, as the old one was in the way of the pedal box. The metal there is to brace..





The holes are for plug welding.


I also welded in some 3mm spreader plates to the inner wings, for the pedal box/bulkhead brace bar to mount to.

[mk2daz]

Awesome work Andi, and awesome little workshop you've created too.

Shell looks in great condition, will be stronger than ever when you're done!

[treefingers]

thanks darren, yeah it's registered the same month i was born so i feel a bit attached to it in this way and gotta make it all good!

Not sure how I added a Monty Python image to the last post!?!

This is the mock up of the accelerator pedal. It consists of limit stops, the sensor bracket, an actuator pin, and twin springs. the sensor and springs are from the standard DBW pedal that I'm integrating into my pedal box. Spent so much time on this, as the consequences of a failure in this department are pretty severe, i.e accelerator stuck on = risk of death. Worth it to make sure this area is 100% safe.



The £450 pedal box has been hacked to pieces... at least I can confirm now that it's not a bolt on part!

[treefingers]

Not really making the progress I want to be at the moment so I turned it up a bit today.

Last 2 days progress.. much weldings. I really like my new welder :)

Welded in 2 x 3mm plates where the front jacking points were for additional strength in this area.

Welded up all the holes in the chassis I made removing the old seat rails, using a piece of aluminium on the back so I didn't blow through.

Today I fixed the front sill I had cut out due to jack squashings in a past life. Very happy with this repair, a few of ripples in the sill that I was trying to avoid, but not an issue as the body kit is going over it.



Much use of the weld-thru-primer inbetween pieces, there are three sections to this I welded in, all in 1.5mm steel. It's a bit thicker than the original but so much better for repairs as it's less prone to warping, blowing through, and there's more material should you need to grind a weld back



On the inside.. nice penetration :)



It's key to get all these repairs sealed asap with epoxy primer. I hate the enclosed parts of the sills that you can't easily get paint to..

[C 20 CCO]

Love looking in on this build, it’s fascinating ..... I wish I could have been in a position to tackle something like this a few years back .

Could do with bolting a few shipping containers together and opening them up inside. Give you a little bit of wiggle room. Brilliant stuff

[treefingers]

Love looking in on this build, it’s fascinating ..... I wish I could have been in a position to tackle something like this a few years back .

Could do with bolting a few shipping containers together and opening them up inside. Give you a little bit of wiggle room. Brilliant stuff

Glad you're enjoying it and that's quite right, two next to each other would be ace. I feel like one of those people who live tiny minimalist lives with few posessions, although I can't stop buying more tools at the moment..

This month I claimed a mug for my mug



Drank a lot of this



and had a go at making some handrails for my mate's Dad




I did some work on the Scirocco too. Picked up the steering shaft sleeves for my hybrid Nissan steering, from a local machine shop. I could have done these on the lathe, but the press fit was so good I was incredibly happy to pay for these.

This little shaft goes between the UJ and the rack, it will need correct phasing. Joins the K11 Micra part with the N16 Almera part.



This sleeve allows me to lengthen the main N16 Almera shaft, I ended up using two Almera columns to do this so I could retain some degree of self-collapsibility.




Then I used my welder to make a shelf for the kettle, and had lots of food and coffee...




Got on to what I'm doing now.. chassis repairs. Driver's side rear wheel arch corner.




The first of 6 parts to this repair was the inner arch lip, 1.5mm steel, slitted to create a compound curve (slitted is a word!?). Sticking this in was the most awkward bit of welding so far, with my head right up inside the wheel arch the welding mask was touching my nose, mig in right hand aiming behind the arch lip, and an LED torch in my left had so I could see what the hell I was welding to!







Outer sill in 1.5mm, simples



Return lip welded in here too




Curvy-joiny-gusset-thing in 2mm added




Outer sill section in 1.5mm, shaped first



Drain holes added by welding in some tube sections




Weld-through primer prior to welding this..



Happy with this. Holes for plug welding, 7-8mm minimum diameter!



Then lots of welding, and waiting for cooling so as not to create stresses and distortion. And lots of grinding, 80 grit disc then 80 grit on the finger file


Outer arch built up in 2 sections too




Took a lot of time to do just this small repair, but I'm happy it's done right as it would be a waste of time if not done well enough. Feeling warmed up on body work now so the rest should go a bit quicker, the repair on the other side is basically identical to this! Symmetrical corrosion on Winston..

Ground off the front sill repair, again with the 80 grit discs on the grinder, and finished with my little 10mm finger belt sander. My compressor on the roof is so quiet I can't hear that it's running when my music is up, it's so awesome.


Finished the dash support and coated liberally with epoxy primer on the brush, good to seal it in and forget about it!



Got epoxy everywhere, all in down the cracks, and got the paintbrush down into the sills by the inside rear wheel arch until it was leaking out the drain holes.



As a special note, 2 grinders died in the making of this forum post. A 900W Bosch grinder's thumb switch broke off. and in the same weekend a 700W Bosch grinder ingested a fragment of wire wheel, shorted out the live and earth and began to smoke like a fat cigar. There's me frantically running around the container trying to find out where I'd plugged it in and there's the stench of burning plastic in the air and sparks coming out of the poor unit. Really must blow out the grinders more.

As a last special note, a Makita DHP458 battery drill nearly died in the making of this forum post. A rag with some degreaser on it on the floor catches fire, and as I kick it outside it gets intertwined with the wire wheel on the battery drill, and I'm stupidly kicking this flaming pile of drill and burning rag round the yard trying to separate the two, before my best drill becomes a piece of plastic and lithium magma, but to seemingly no avail. Luckily at the last minute a puddle steps in, and the drill lives to fight another day..

[mk2daz]

Awesome work again Andi, love the drain holes in the sill!

A moments silence for all the grinders that are no longer with us today...