Classic Impreza Track Car Restoration / Building an Impreza from scratch
04 September 2016, 02:39 AM
#121
Next the prop.
Cleaned with a grinder and sanding disc. Coated with some anti rust treatments in some places and then painted with dinitrol. Ready to go on.
Where it goes.
Fitted.
Prop guard ready.
Where it goes.
Fitted.
This is how the bay looks at the mo. Note that the hose on the steering is just there to loop the two hoses so that fluid doesn't leak out for now. I am aware of all the dangers of using the wrong type of fittings and hose here.
CDF pitch mount fitted.
Jacking plate ready
to go here
done
Front bumper support beam fitted
The captive nuts in it had been cross threaded/striped (I restored a used one from ebay). So I drilled the threads out and used a nut on the underside instead. So as you can see it's not the original method but just as good, if a bit fiddly to hold the nuts inside the chassis leg.
Cleaned with a grinder and sanding disc. Coated with some anti rust treatments in some places and then painted with dinitrol. Ready to go on.
Where it goes.
Fitted.
Prop guard ready.
Where it goes.
Fitted.
This is how the bay looks at the mo. Note that the hose on the steering is just there to loop the two hoses so that fluid doesn't leak out for now. I am aware of all the dangers of using the wrong type of fittings and hose here.
CDF pitch mount fitted.
Jacking plate ready
to go here
done
Front bumper support beam fitted
The captive nuts in it had been cross threaded/striped (I restored a used one from ebay). So I drilled the threads out and used a nut on the underside instead. So as you can see it's not the original method but just as good, if a bit fiddly to hold the nuts inside the chassis leg.
04 September 2016, 02:48 AM
#122
Passenger seat fitted
And finally for the first time in a couple of years it's back on the ground! Then with the wheels free to roll it didn't roll into the wall so the handbrake clearly works
Will move onto the fuel sender next. I also have a quote to have it transported to the body shop so hopefully will be painted soon. I also have loads of pics of other bits I have been working on off of the car so will try and update soonest.
And finally for the first time in a couple of years it's back on the ground! Then with the wheels free to roll it didn't roll into the wall so the handbrake clearly works
Will move onto the fuel sender next. I also have a quote to have it transported to the body shop so hopefully will be painted soon. I also have loads of pics of other bits I have been working on off of the car so will try and update soonest.
05 September 2016, 12:54 PM
#124
I did actually consider filling the rear door handles.... Then welding the rear doors and smoothing them... A wide arch kit.... But I just think the short front doors alone will look out of proportion. So as much as a two door looks better I think it has to be a proper one. But trust me I thought about it 🙂
29 September 2016, 04:55 PM
#131
Scooby Regular
[QUOTE=FMJ;11833570]
Rear shafts. One took quite a whack to get into place past it's circlip in the diff.
[/QUOTE=FMJ;11833570]
how did you clean up your driveshafts? ive just got mine off and aam a bit confused about which parts can be shot blasted/coated and what i need to tape up for this process etc. do i need to put the rubber boots on before this?
still jealous of your build! you're doing it no a driveway similar to me ive got a TINY garage in which im doing mine, barely 1ft each side of the car
Ash
edit: ive just seen the front hubs. debating what to do with mine , as ideally id want them blasted and powder coated, is this not possible ?
Rear shafts. One took quite a whack to get into place past it's circlip in the diff.
[/QUOTE=FMJ;11833570]
how did you clean up your driveshafts? ive just got mine off and aam a bit confused about which parts can be shot blasted/coated and what i need to tape up for this process etc. do i need to put the rubber boots on before this?
still jealous of your build! you're doing it no a driveway similar to me ive got a TINY garage in which im doing mine, barely 1ft each side of the car
Ash
edit: ive just seen the front hubs. debating what to do with mine , as ideally id want them blasted and powder coated, is this not possible ?
Last edited by Ash Webster; 29 September 2016 at 05:35 PM.
06 October 2016, 12:07 AM
#132
The shafts were stripped down completely. So boots cut off and binned, uj's removed. The inner joints can be stripped down and cleaned up. The outers cannot so you either buy news ones (can't seem to get hold of new rear ones so it has to be a whole new shaft or nothing) or wash them out with a lot of brake solvent and then inject new grease and reuse.
I used new boots and clips all around and new outer joints on the fronts. All other parts cleaned and reused with new grease. When fitted new boots get a proper rotating/winding clamp tool. I found boot clamping to be a bit of an art. I tried the pincer type and then a lever plier type and they were crap. You have to use decent clamps or they will leak and come off.
I had the inner cups and shafts shot blasted and powder coated. You have to mask off the splines and ends of the shafts so prevent damage to the surfaces. You also need to mask off the inside of the inner cups to prevent the shot blasting damaging the smooth surfaces inside and the inside spine hole on the front shafts and the smooth spine shafts that go into the rear diffs. So basically only blasting and coating the parts that are exposed to the elements.
With regards to the hub carriers.
Yes you could have them powder coated. The reason I didn't were:
Cost and time (my powder coat bill was getting large and the lead time was getting a bit crazy)
I started get poor service from the coater.
I didn't want the bearing surfaces to get blasted or coated at all as the bearings wouldn't have fitted properly afterwards.
Fittings bearings to hub carriers involves quite a lot or force and I was fairly sure then in forcing them in, putting them in the vice, using the press etc the powder coat would be damaged. So I opted to clean all corrosion off first, fit new bearings then paint afterwards with epoxy mastic.
But you could powder coat if you masked it all off and were very careful/lucky when inserting new bearings.
You could also have them plated instead but plating does tend to corrode too and its quite a large thing to plate.
I used new boots and clips all around and new outer joints on the fronts. All other parts cleaned and reused with new grease. When fitted new boots get a proper rotating/winding clamp tool. I found boot clamping to be a bit of an art. I tried the pincer type and then a lever plier type and they were crap. You have to use decent clamps or they will leak and come off.
I had the inner cups and shafts shot blasted and powder coated. You have to mask off the splines and ends of the shafts so prevent damage to the surfaces. You also need to mask off the inside of the inner cups to prevent the shot blasting damaging the smooth surfaces inside and the inside spine hole on the front shafts and the smooth spine shafts that go into the rear diffs. So basically only blasting and coating the parts that are exposed to the elements.
With regards to the hub carriers.
Yes you could have them powder coated. The reason I didn't were:
Cost and time (my powder coat bill was getting large and the lead time was getting a bit crazy)
I started get poor service from the coater.
I didn't want the bearing surfaces to get blasted or coated at all as the bearings wouldn't have fitted properly afterwards.
Fittings bearings to hub carriers involves quite a lot or force and I was fairly sure then in forcing them in, putting them in the vice, using the press etc the powder coat would be damaged. So I opted to clean all corrosion off first, fit new bearings then paint afterwards with epoxy mastic.
But you could powder coat if you masked it all off and were very careful/lucky when inserting new bearings.
You could also have them plated instead but plating does tend to corrode too and its quite a large thing to plate.
Last edited by FMJ; 06 October 2016 at 12:25 AM.
06 October 2016, 12:36 AM
#133
Another update:
I am going to be fitting a swirl pot and double pumps so I wanted to mod the fuel sender. Now this is a sport 50 litre tank so it doesn't have double jet type senders that the turbo model has. It just used the one sender unit which originally has the pump on it like the turbo models. The sender/wiring will need messing with to make the gauge read right bit that is in hand.
Pump, sender and wiring removed
Wiring fitting removed by bending the tabs out
Pipes chopped off and holes enlarged for an6 fittings
New Walbro pump and original sport sender re-fitted with an6 fittings, submersible fuel hose, and wiring fitting all put back together with original tank seal that was soaked in rubber care to soften it up again. Sender body was powder coated black.
Hole
Fitted
Ali sheet shelf for fuel bits riveted and bolted to boot floor.
Swirl pot
Fitted
I have a guy coming to quote me to paint the car this week
I am going to be fitting a swirl pot and double pumps so I wanted to mod the fuel sender. Now this is a sport 50 litre tank so it doesn't have double jet type senders that the turbo model has. It just used the one sender unit which originally has the pump on it like the turbo models. The sender/wiring will need messing with to make the gauge read right bit that is in hand.
Pump, sender and wiring removed
Wiring fitting removed by bending the tabs out
Pipes chopped off and holes enlarged for an6 fittings
New Walbro pump and original sport sender re-fitted with an6 fittings, submersible fuel hose, and wiring fitting all put back together with original tank seal that was soaked in rubber care to soften it up again. Sender body was powder coated black.
Hole
Fitted
Ali sheet shelf for fuel bits riveted and bolted to boot floor.
Swirl pot
Fitted
I have a guy coming to quote me to paint the car this week
Last edited by FMJ; 06 October 2016 at 12:38 AM.
06 October 2016, 08:38 AM
#134
Scooby Regular
The shafts were stripped down completely. So boots cut off and binned, uj's removed. The inner joints can be stripped down and cleaned up. The outers cannot so you either buy news ones (can't seem to get hold of new rear ones so it has to be a whole new shaft or nothing) or wash them out with a lot of brake solvent and then inject new grease and reuse.
I used new boots and clips all around and new outer joints on the fronts. All other parts cleaned and reused with new grease. When fitted new boots get a proper rotating/winding clamp tool. I found boot clamping to be a bit of an art. I tried the pincer type and then a lever plier type and they were crap. You have to use decent clamps or they will leak and come off.
I had the inner cups and shafts shot blasted and powder coated. You have to mask off the splines and ends of the shafts so prevent damage to the surfaces. You also need to mask off the inside of the inner cups to prevent the shot blasting damaging the smooth surfaces inside and the inside spine hole on the front shafts and the smooth spine shafts that go into the rear diffs. So basically only blasting and coating the parts that are exposed to the elements.
With regards to the hub carriers.
Yes you could have them powder coated. The reason I didn't were:
Cost and time (my powder coat bill was getting large and the lead time was getting a bit crazy)
I started get poor service from the coater.
I didn't want the bearing surfaces to get blasted or coated at all as the bearings wouldn't have fitted properly afterwards.
Fittings bearings to hub carriers involves quite a lot or force and I was fairly sure then in forcing them in, putting them in the vice, using the press etc the powder coat would be damaged. So I opted to clean all corrosion off first, fit new bearings then paint afterwards with epoxy mastic.
But you could powder coat if you masked it all off and were very careful/lucky when inserting new bearings.
You could also have them plated instead but plating does tend to corrode too and its quite a large thing to plate.
I used new boots and clips all around and new outer joints on the fronts. All other parts cleaned and reused with new grease. When fitted new boots get a proper rotating/winding clamp tool. I found boot clamping to be a bit of an art. I tried the pincer type and then a lever plier type and they were crap. You have to use decent clamps or they will leak and come off.
I had the inner cups and shafts shot blasted and powder coated. You have to mask off the splines and ends of the shafts so prevent damage to the surfaces. You also need to mask off the inside of the inner cups to prevent the shot blasting damaging the smooth surfaces inside and the inside spine hole on the front shafts and the smooth spine shafts that go into the rear diffs. So basically only blasting and coating the parts that are exposed to the elements.
With regards to the hub carriers.
Yes you could have them powder coated. The reason I didn't were:
Cost and time (my powder coat bill was getting large and the lead time was getting a bit crazy)
I started get poor service from the coater.
I didn't want the bearing surfaces to get blasted or coated at all as the bearings wouldn't have fitted properly afterwards.
Fittings bearings to hub carriers involves quite a lot or force and I was fairly sure then in forcing them in, putting them in the vice, using the press etc the powder coat would be damaged. So I opted to clean all corrosion off first, fit new bearings then paint afterwards with epoxy mastic.
But you could powder coat if you masked it all off and were very careful/lucky when inserting new bearings.
You could also have them plated instead but plating does tend to corrode too and its quite a large thing to plate.
I had never thought of using a special tool for tightening the clamps on the boots - a quick google pulled up something like this
http://image.superstreetonline.com/f...tools_shot.jpg
is that right? (top tool)
my mate at land rover is popping the bearings and ball joints out of the hubs, then i guess ill carefully mask them up before sending to be blasted?
thanks again for the advice/info
free bump - Ash
Last edited by Ash Webster; 06 October 2016 at 08:46 AM.
20 October 2016, 09:55 PM
#135
Been at my car with a grinder for a few hours . Came back to re read how you went about it . Looking at your pictures of the stripped back underside i now appreciate the amount of work that took . What did you use at the top of the wheel well and the other bits i cant get to with a grinder .
Im finding taking the paint off harder than the underseal . Considering getting a shot blaster. Anything to make this task easier
Im finding taking the paint off harder than the underseal . Considering getting a shot blaster. Anything to make this task easier
22 October 2016, 08:09 PM
#136
Unmapped 12.4s @ 105
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I must admit, the blue powder coated bit on the underside look good. I stand corrected on my worry that it would be a bit much blue. 
Keep up the good work.
Keep up the good work.
19 December 2016, 06:10 PM
#138
Still here I have been trying to co-ordinate getting the car taken away to be painted and today we have some progress on that front.
Loaded up.
Gone.
That is the first time that drive way has seen the light of day for about four years! It's very weird that its gone.
Anyway I will be popping in the the body shop the next week or so with the intention of getting some pics as it progresses.
I have been trying to co-ordinate getting the car taken away to be painted and today we have some progress on that front. Loaded up.
Gone.
That is the first time that drive way has seen the light of day for about four years! It's very weird that its gone.
Anyway I will be popping in the the body shop the next week or so with the intention of getting some pics as it progresses.
19 December 2016, 07:41 PM
#140
Been at my car with a grinder for a few hours . Came back to re read how you went about it . Looking at your pictures of the stripped back underside i now appreciate the amount of work that took . What did you use at the top of the wheel well and the other bits i cant get to with a grinder .
Im finding taking the paint off harder than the underseal . Considering getting a shot blaster. Anything to make this task easier
Im finding taking the paint off harder than the underseal . Considering getting a shot blaster. Anything to make this task easier
Used a 115mm steel brush on the grinder for most of it. The flat brushes used edge on get into most seams. Anything I couldn't get the grinder in I used a combination of a scraper and heat gun for underseal and seam sealer. For paint and rust I used a dremel with a pointed grinding stone or wire brush.
The potential problems are:
115mm wire wheel digging in and flipping the grinder taking you with it.
Wire wheel over heating (can set fire to things nearby/on other side) the metal or polishing it so smooth that coating won't stick very well. Make sure to stop as soon as the metal is clean and keep the brush moving.
The bristles get everywhere and hurt like hell when you get one stuck in your skin. Also any clothing you wear will be covered.
The dremel bits don't last long at all and the dremel itself may burn out with extended use on such a bit area (I have been through a few).
Shot blasting I did try....
I got a sealey small kit and used it with my small compressor.
The pressure was enough but the capacity was not. You would only get about 10 seconds before pressure dropped and had to build again.
The grit gets EVERYWHERE. Like in the next county. It is so very very messy. I tried sealing the underside with plastic then climbing in like a tent. This really didn't work well.
The process did not work on underseal or seam sealer. The stuff is too soft and repels it. I am sure this would not be the case with a more powerful industrial kit.
The process did work on rust and paint but it was soooooooo slow. Like a few minutes to clean up a part about the size of a 50p. In the process you would make a ton of mess and it just wast not practical for a car. It would have been ok for very small parts say the size of a *** packet but not for this scale. The finish was actually great but it would have taken several tons of grit, killed me, taken all year and buried the street I live on.
The mask I used was **** and the grit got into everything I was wearing. The rebounding grit destroyed the visor in no time so I couldn't see...
In general it was a very bad idea.
If you have a indoor area that you could properly control and clean afterwards with nothing that would get damaged by the process, a proper air supplied mask and proper setup it would be 100% the way to go as the finish would be great. But a DIY hobby setup is pointless IMO.
30 December 2016, 02:03 PM
#145
Its looking great .all that work is starting to pay off . Its been an incredable project . Cant wait to see it on the track .
Thanks for the reply regarding paint removal. Im still at it lol. I dont go into the garage very often but looking over this thread gets me motivated .
Thanks for the reply regarding paint removal. Im still at it lol. I dont go into the garage very often but looking over this thread gets me motivated .
08 September 2017, 12:51 PM
#150
Hey everyone. I am still here. I had to take a few months off the project due to going away from home for work but I am back on it again now for the final stages.
In the time I have been away photobucket have told me I need to pay them $400 a year to host the photos.... as their site was slow as hell and gliched all the time and as I only use it to do this they can take a running jump.
So I will look for another site to use, put the pics back up and carry on.
**Photos slowly going back up starting from the beginning of the thread. Will take me a few days as its a slow process but the first page is done**
In the time I have been away photobucket have told me I need to pay them $400 a year to host the photos.... as their site was slow as hell and gliched all the time and as I only use it to do this they can take a running jump.
So I will look for another site to use, put the pics back up and carry on.
**Photos slowly going back up starting from the beginning of the thread. Will take me a few days as its a slow process but the first page is done**
Last edited by FMJ; 27 September 2017 at 06:28 PM.
