Blast from the past - Marmite

[steve bain]

so did a bit more. removed my raceland stainless 4 branch and ordered a new one. photo below. i don't think it dealt well with heat wrap and not being used for 4 years!

more waxoyl, removed drivers and front bodykit, more rust treatment and waxoyl, ordered parts for full service. progress is ok.

[steve bain]

i've been chipping away with this and this weekend should see good progress as the missus is off on her hen do, so i have all weekend to fix stuff!

i've been working on the front end mainly as car was trapped in a corner with the intention of getting her running and dragging her out as the rear calipers had seized. I ended up just fixing it and the getting the engine started is not going quite to plan!!

so, pictures...

i had a new 4 branch delivered. £100 brand new sent from germany and i must say its excellent for the price.



heatwrapped it to keep engine temps down and protect the steeering boot. I wrapped the steering boot too in a soldering mat. made sense to me!



its very very close to the gearlinkage so did a bit of chopping and now there is a bit more room. i replaced all the linkage bushes whilst i was there, although there are only 2 left as i replaced them all with stainless ball joints years ago!



front end. couple patch repairs and fully undersealed. generally rust free which is good. New wishbones and polybushes, also replaced the arb bushes. new green stuff pads. the disks, although rusty are actually pretty good. brakes still work so i have cleaned them and painted them black as red is a bit 1990's. I replaced the nipples and cover whilst i was there as they were a bit rusty. everything metal got some paint, not so much to look pretty but just to protect it for a few years. trial fitted the replacement wing and i think it will work fine. I also sliced the lip off the top of the arch so i can run wheel spacers. I will do the same at the back too as there is not much arch left! Following the respray i will get my wheel refurbed professionally as they look a mess now!







this leads me onto rust. Hopefully i can repair most of it this weekend as mainly small patches, its the arches that i am not as keen on, but they could be worse i guess. there is more, but this gives you an idea. I am a good welder so this doesn't worry me in the slightest, just need to start at one end and work my way around.













the plan is to do all the welding to the front half and then hopefullly ones the new fuel pump arrives i will move her onto my other drive which is concrete so i can remove the beam and fuel pump so i can weld the arches safely and also check the condition of the tank etc.

I also serviced the engine, plugs, oil, filters, spark plugs, coolant (flushed it all too), removed sump, painted and checked pick up. also painted anything that needed it! new bosch battery and all looks good, but it wont start as no fuel. damn. relay was replaced but turns out the pump has had it too! so have ordered a new one.

thats it for now. sorry not more pictures, but will take some this weekend to show progress.

[james butler]

them arches are well past it, aint they!
one of the lads on here is doing new repair panel rear arches from Germany for not a lot of money.
ive just finished doing my rear arches, theyre not really hard to do but a bit awkward to get the internals welded up as well as the outer skins.
hopefully not too difficult for yourself.

i cant believe your exhaust had fell apart like that. i have read somewhere how heat wrap can cause exhausts to rot out but i didnt think it could do that to stainless.
best o luck though buddy thats a really nice looking motor you have

[james butler]

before i forget to ask, where did you get your heat wrap from? i want to do my downpipe but the price on heat wrap varies a lot, making me think i could end up buying the wrong stuff if i go for the cheapest.

[james butler]

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=18613
blueshark is the guy you want for rear arches.

[steve bain]

Heatwrap was from mrsilicone off eBay. I bought 50ft of 50mm wide, was about a tenner. To be fair the arches are not that bad in my eyes. I think I can patch them well as the bulk of the arch is ok. It's mainly the bottoms. I saw the arches for sale but don't want to wait for them! I stripped the interior out tonight and pushed my screwdriver through about 6 hole on the inner cills. Not big one. Hope to get the cills welded this weekend and save the rear arches for later. Only other hole was rear inner arch from filler neck which is not so bad I guess. It's an old car being an 84.

[steve bain]

right, did a bit more, i spent some time poking a screwdriver through holes! once i found them all i cut out all of the rust, treated it with Kurust, welded in new metal, 2 coats of hammerite and waxoyl. Once all welding is done i will also waxoyl inside the cills to protect the inside. I would have got more done, but run out of gas! so a whole day has seen the front half of the drivers cill sorted inside and out....this could take a while! i also found my fuel lines are leaking so have ordered kunifer to replace those.

pics - lots of small holes









and some bigger ones!



cut cut



i cut out all the rest of the brown you can see here too so there was no lip



weld weld - paints still wet so looks very shiny! i think thats a fairly invisible repair, especially once under bodykit.





This looks a bit messy in the picture but its actually all very tidy...promise. Anywhere under the car i haven't ground the welds flat as it seems unnecessary, but on the cills i did even though it will be covered with bodykit.



all wrapped up under her new cover to put off the local scroats from thinking its ok to take parts off it



and just because its the best pic i have at the moment

[steve bain]

picked up gas and sheet metal this morning before work, new fuel pump and rear calipers have arrived. more welding on wednesday evening.

I can't decide whether to hook up new fuel lines and pump and move the car onto concrete and next to my garage before removing beam and tank or to keep it where it is on the gavel, but its a pain and i have to carry tools etc around. I don't want to risk detroying new pump and pipes though if tank has crap in it though. but i also don't want to fit new tank, then start cutting the arches, i would rather do that with no tank. decisions decisions....

[mark1gls]

Glad to see work is moving along on this car, all looking good.

[treefingers]

where did you get your cover from out of interest?

[steve bain]

i got it from ebay. it was size medium and was about £8 posted. its good enough for the job but otherwise its worth about £8!

i did write a long post, but accidently deleted it so this is a short version. Rear beam out and fuel tank off. Tank knackered so new one ordered from classic-vw.co.uk for £103.50. beam painted and rebuilt with new calipers, discs, pads, etc. Brake hoses were new when i did the brake conversion so see no point in replacing them. I used massive mikalor clamps for the arb. Were about a tenner and were easy to fit. New polybushes in the pivots.

rusty! - but no sheared bolts. yay!



before



after





I jacked the car up really high. Jack stands..safety first...





rear arches are knackered. much worse than i imagined so ordered some from Joosts mate, Chris. Hopefully they will be quick enough. I actually gave up grinding as they were that bad!



I also welded up lots of smaller holes here and there, fuel filler neck clamp, cills etc, i cut out all rust and welded in new metal to be flush. If it can be seen i ground it smooth, if its under the carpet i haven't. I also spent a while under the car, any surface rust got wire wheeled, coat of kurust, 2 coats hammerite and 2 coats of waxoyl. hopefully it will last! I won't bother with pics as there just boring welding pics. i also cleaned up and hammerited and brackets i could find to do with fuelling. My approach is to make it last, not concourse, hence hammerite and not powdercoating.

[james butler]

fair play to you dude that rot would put many people off.
that actually looks worse then my rocco was
im glad you are repairing it though and what a great job you did of the rear beam it looks brand new!
keep going with it im enjoying your thread

[G Beats]

Hello Steve have not seen you or Marmite since 05 - 06 Bristol Volk's fest when we camped there and were with Darren and his Girl friend etc.We have a white scala model like the wife first brought I brought off her.We are now on our 4th mk 2.Getting parts up together too get worked done on her.Great to see you are sorting Marmite out after so long off the road nearly half a decade.Peace Gee Beats.

[steve bain]

Its been way too long Gee Beats. Its amazing how bad she got in just 5 years!

So i have set the compulsary unrealistic deadline. I am getting married in september and would love to drive her to my wedding, paint or no paint...

So i have been moving along with welding here and there but am mostly waiting for the rear arches to come from belgium now. Chris has confirmed they have been posted so just have to wait really. i am not too keen to cut anything out until i have them in front of me! i also want to hold off on the rear cills until i know how big the arch is as would rather use the arch that patches. i'm still waiting on the fuel tank too but hopefully that will arrive soon.

Due to the fact the quick refurb has ended up being a bit more major than i expected i was worried that the brand new bosch battery i bought would die before i even used it i bought this bad boy off ebay for £15. seems to work.



i've mainly been repairing the bottom of the drivers door recently and general repairs to rust here and there. anyway, few pics.

looking even worse now!



this is just one section! there was more then this



seamed. not the best welding, but solid and getting ground back anyway



paint. Just hammerite for now but will get blasted before paint.



this whole corner had rusted so had to repair inside and out





and a horrible fiddly bit.



everything will need a bit more tidying and skim of filler before paint.

I did do lots more but forget to take photos! hence why its always nearly finished because i forget. i also treated some more rust underneath and painted those and waxoyled the lot again.

just need the arches to arrive!

[steve bain]

Did a tiny bit more tonight. I replaced all the flexi fuel pipes and replaced the perished hoses on the pick up. Fitted proper fuel clamps too, rather than the dodgy looking bargain basement fake jubillee clips that were on it. Not much but its all progress. Realised tonight I am now stuck until the arches and fuel tank arrives. Sadly the fuel tank is going to be 2 weeks. Ho hum. I can do odd bits here and there, but will just be inefficient use of time.