RS2000 Mk2 Freshen up.

[KelvinS1965]

He Hey, got it running again. Put 5 litres of fresh fuel in the tank and that seemed to do the trick. Just need to check I've got all the nose cone bolts and screws undone on the off side, so I can move it over to work on the near side (wish I had a double garage ). Once the cone is off I'll be able to start removing the front wings to get at the inner wing repair...then the real fun starts.

[KelvinS1965]

Moved it over and started trying to free off the nearside nose cone fixings...plenty of plus gas and a bit of patience needed I think. Seeing the other threads on here makes me grateful for the amount of welding I'm going to need to do: I'm hoping to refit the original wings as there's no rust on them that I can tell, though I will clean them up (and the bits I can get to while they're off the car) before refitting.

I've priced up and located most of the bits I know I'm going to need and it's not as scary as I thought, so I hope to have some left over for niceties like getting the custom badge for the dash (it was missing when my parents bought the car in 1980) and maybe treat it to some new door cards without speaker holes (can't believe the price on those though ).

[KelvinS1965]

Some pictures

I know we all like pictures, so I thought I'd add a couple of the 'before' pictures so I can look back on these later this year (he says confindently ). As the nearside has been tight against the wall for the last few years I hadn't noticed the bottom of the door bubbing up. The driver's door is much better and looks like it just needs a touch with the wire brush to clean it up...not sure I'll get away with this long term on the nearside door. I don't want to get into reskining the door this year as it'll just be a further delay in getting it back on the road. Likewise I'm planing on localised paintwork and a through buffing up to make it presentable, with a view to a further rolling restoration later on and eventual full respray: Much as I'd like to do this myself (having sprayed over 20 cars in the past) I may just do the prep and pay for a good quality job with 2 pack.

I'd like to give it a good wash, but pulling it out on the drive might attract unwanted attention, so it'll have to wait until I've sorted some insurance out: Getting it pinched is one thing, but having no cover as well.

[mk2ddc]

No disrespect mate but if I was you I`d be on the phone now trying to get some insurance.
There is just no way I`d have that in the garage with no cover
For peace of mind at least if nothing else

[KelvinS1965]

As it's been in there for 10 years even my neighbours seem to have forgotten it's in there so I've been a bit lax in insuring it. Plus I only paid a grand for it but the deal with my parents is that if I ever sell it in future then I split whatever I get for it over that cost.

[KelvinS1965]

Nose cone removed!

Managed to get the nose cone off tonight. Despite a week of spraying and soaking with penetrating oil I still managed to snap off one of the nuts and had to cut off the indicator as it was seized onto the nose cone. The exposed metal doesn't seem too bad, but I'll see how it reacts to my favourite de-rusting tool which is a heavy duty wire brush wheel on my angle grinder.

I think I need to remove the driver's door so that I can get to the spot welds that hold the front wing on near the hinge area (unless someone tells me different). Once the wing is removed I'll be able to get at the repair area to neatly cut out the rust as I want to keep the repairs to a minimum.

[south west restorations]

hi

good to see some progress there m8....

[vlv991v]

It's looking a lot better than mine is, at least you have some metal around the front of the wings.

As for removing the wings, I think you should be able to get the wings off without taking the doors off. There are three hex heads holding the back edge of the wing to the A-post, maybe a bit of weld holding the bottom edge to the bulkhead / front of sill, then a series of spot welds along the wing rail.

Saying that, taking the door off is only 4 bolts, 5 minute job.

Good luck!

[KelvinS1965]

Thanks for the feedback. If I can leave the door on for now it's easier as it's pretty hard taking a door off on your own (I did it once with a '93 Cavalier and nearly killed myself ). Just ordered a new spot weld cutting tool and a Dremel set for those hard to reach areas. I need to find a replacement indicator to replace the one I broke tonight.

Really getting back into 'car mode' now after years of apathy due to having a company barge and getting too cosy watching films on my projector setup. My OH bought a '56 plate Mini One last week so I've been doing a few little jobs on that too so it's really upto scratch. I'll see if I can start getting the offside wing off tomorrow, but my spot weld cutter is a bit old so might have to wait for the new one to arrive...

[KelvinS1965]

Some progress!

Quick play tonight...OH's birthday tomorrow, so not much chance of working on it tomorrow (and Mother's day on Sunday too ). The wire brush stripped away most of the surface rust really quickly, so just need the Dremel to get right in the corners. Seemed solid enough under the flakes and dirt though. Not as rusty as I'd first feared once I took off the nose cone.

Can anyone take a photo of the lower front wing section? I can see the gap between the wing and front valence but as shown in my photo the gap dissappears under a bit of brazing (I think anyway) so I'm not sure where I need to cut. If anyone has a new wing they could take a close up of I'd be grateful.

Drilled about half the wing rail spot welds out, but think I need to take the bonnet off to get at the last few welds...not easy on your own, so I'll have to phone a friend.

[KelvinS1965]

Thanks for the heads up re the 3 bolts under the wing: Mine were like new under the mastic/stonechip so came out straight away. The wing is nearly off, just waiting for my Dremel to turn up so I can neatly cut the front edge away from the valance. The wing rail is rotten, but it seems to get solid within a few inches of the inner wing, so the replacement rail I've got should be all it needs 'letting in' I hope.

[KelvinS1965]

Wing removed.

Got the offside wing off and cut out the rusty drip rail section ready to let in the repair piece. I'm going to need to remove the strut top plate to chop a bit more of the inner wing away. I'd hoped I might get away with using some flat steel to fill the gap, but might have to buy the smaller top section of the inner wing and cut oout the bit I want to minimise the repair size.

It's at that 'OMG' stage right now, but I did once cut the floor out of an MGB and replace that, plus other pieces of chassis/floor supports...I hope I haven't lost the knack 14 years later.

[vlv991v]

OMG, yep - I know exactly how you feel there bud. The remaining edge of the wing top looks a lot more intact than mine is. I'd definitely take the strut top plate off, there's certainly going to be something lurking under there. I don't think Ford thought about it that much but it was always going to be a moisture trap. Stick with it mate, if you've done it before all will be good. I haven't....eep!!

[south west restorations]

good to see some more progress ..

[KelvinS1965]

Took the top plate off tonight, had assistance from my young lad (as in he held the lamp for me ). I ordered both sides top inner wing repair section for just over £60, collect tomorrow, so I'll be able to cut out what I need so I can hopefully hide most of the joins under the top plate once it's refitted. The underside of the top plate seems pretty good and will clean up with the rotary wire brush...I always find it weird how you can have rust in one bit, then a few inches away have nice solid metal.