FRP 591

ok so a little update, managed to get a race technologies dash2 for a really good price, basically its a digital replacement dash board (for anyone who didn't know what it was) which means that i can still have a road legal car when the new engine goes in, the old dash wont fully work with the new Emerald ECU running the engine and having all the engine sensors plugged in to that, I will still have the old ECU running non essential bits, but this is a slight indulgence as its a proper race spec dash that can display all sorts of cool stuff, I think I need to do a whole lot of reading around this display and the Emerald ECU I'm hoping to get in January, any helpful tips or advice would be greatly appreciated, anyway here are a few pics

OK so I've been doing a lot of work on the car to get it ready for its MOT, unfortunately the expiry date has been and gone on the old MOT so the car is off the road for the next few weeks till its all tidied up and sorted, essentially there were a loads of jobs to do from last years MOT, but with the wedding and other stuff I never got round to it, the rear callipers are quite grotty and sticking plus the handbrake cable snapped just before I started work on the car, plus around the rear beam mounts the car is starting to get very crusty and rotten, so I thought I had better give it an almighty overhaul so I don't have to worry about it again for a while, so at the moment the car has had the rear beam/axles/brakes removed, the callipers i have sent off to be cleaned up and powder coated, i have had the rear beam sand blasted and powder coated gloss black, the rear hubs splash guards and axle spacers are going off next week to be sand blasted and powder coated and im fitting new hand brake cable (both front and rear section) new ABS sensors, discs, pads, new wheel bearings, and im going to get a new fuel tank (also powder coated silver) as they are quite cheap, whilst everything underneath is removed im going to clean it up and repair the rot, also i got a couple of other parts powder coated at the same time, any way here are some pics of the job so far

engine mounts



rear beam mounts



rear ABS sensor and all new beam/mount/shock bolts



New EBC Ultimax discs and pads to match the front





new hand brake cable courtesy of pumabuild



hub spacers are going to get powder coated satin black to match the wheels, these are the rears i need to get the fronts off yet



two halves of the alternator cage, it was originaly powder coated silver but the quality was pants so i got it redone at this new company i have found and they have done a much better job!



fresh rear beam



grotty old splash guards, axle spacersand rear powerflex bushes removed



rear spacers need some love!



front part of hand barke



i had to get creative to get the bushes out so i came up with this new tool for removal of powerflex bushes, note the crusty old beam before its make over



il post up some more pics over the next few weeks as i get time to work on her

the keen eyed amongst you may also notice i removed the spikey thing from the centre of the rear beam, seeing as i have no spare wheel i thought id cut it off and make a zombie killing tool out of it

Ok a little update for you, so far I have stripped the rear end completely:

- rear beam, including spindles,hubs, callipers, discs, splash guards, ABS sensor
- rear shocks
- fuel tank
- rear bumper
- fuel filler neck
- all plastic brackets, including the evap canister

iv'e washed and cleaned the whole rear end so far, next up is to get back to bare metal underneath and cut out/repair rust then I need to build up the protection layers:

- mastic 121 as a primary layer
- zinc acid etch primer
- stone guard
- repaint under side (probably anthracite)

iv'e already started cleaning up the plastic bits and treating them with plastic cleaner/polish and I have sent a few parts off for galvanising (fuel filler neck, and some bolts) a few parts for nickel plating (rear calliper cable brackets) and I am still waiting for a few parts to come back from the powder coaters (hubs, splash guards, axle spacers, new fuel tank) I am also going to rebuild the fuel pump assembly with a new pump and tidied up top plate/connectors

couple of pics

rear calipers powder coated



rear FRP spindle painted up



new fuel filler hose, exhaust clamps, exhaust rubbers

little bit more work done today, i got the other silicon hose in the post for my fuel filler



cleaned up and used some plastic polish on the filler neck and evap canister/bracket and hoses



rear springs and helper springs are a little crusty, so off to the powder coaters they go



cleaned up the rear shocks with drill and wire attachment



masked them up for acid etch priming, il paint some gloss black on them tomorrow, also primered my shock top mounts

[lisafrp]

You've been busy! How much has all the powder coating cost if you don't mind? Was thinking of getting some bits done on the race car.

Is the turbo engine built and in now?

[big boy al]

great work sam, love reading your updates

thanks Al! the turbo engine is not in yet, the powder coating and sand blasting for the above parts was £140, the parts below cost £90, the company that do the podwer coating for me is called DAFDEN in Wadebridge, cornwall

got some paint on the shocks today



got some parts back from powder coaters

all 4 hub spacers in satin black to match the wheels



axle spacers in gloss black



splash shields in gloss black



hubs in gloss black



new fuel tank in shiny powder coated silver



my spare room in getting a little cluttered with car parts now, wifey is not best pleased

[lisafrp]

Thanks, that's not a bad price, might look into doing that later in the year

Ok so not a massive update but ive got a few things done, the under body cleaning/preparing/repairing have been going very slowly but ive got a few other bits sorted, first up is the fuel pump that i have cleaned up the top plate/painted it, plus a replaced the old pump with a new walbro unit, however when i fitted it to my new tank it didn't fit... so i bent back the locating tabs on the top plate and rotated it in the tank approx 20 degrees and it fits fine, i guess its a post 2001 pump with a pre 2001 tank, oh well. next up ive cleaned up my exhaust as its pretty corroded and grotty so ive sanded/cleaned up the pipe prior to laying down some black VHT paint



all the old parts



new pump



all rebuilt





shiny back box



centre section all masked up ready for paint

ok so i got some work done on her today, this is how she looks at the mo





looking up under the rear arch











so it looks like i have a fair bit of work ahead, started on the drivers side arch today, uncovered some holes on the out side of the wind too



here is a pic of the first stages of cleaning up



so i know it looks pretty grim, but im confident that i can get her looking good again and be rock solid too, she will need a stop off in the body shop after the work is done but i think i can save her from this nasty state, its a pain having to work on my drive as i done have a garage or workshop at least the weather is good

[lisafrp]

Good work!
I share your pain having to work outside. We have a garage but you can't actually move in there with a car in it, so it's a case of rolling the car out, work on it, if it rains roll it back in and packup for the day!

didn't quite get as much done today as I would have liked but I finished off getting the drivers rear arch back to bare metal, then my drill blew up nearly electrocuting me, anyway 95% of the arch is fine its just the edges are a little tatty, so I thought id get the first layer of protection down on the bare metal to protect it till I get the rest of it to the same stage, then I will repair the rust, paint the repairs with the same stuff then finish off the rest of the layers of protection, the stuff I'm using is called 'epoxy mastic 121' its not cheap but its well recommended and

bare metal





first layer of gloop

almost finished the passenger side arch sanding today, found a couple of small holes in the outer wing, here is a pic of the stuff im painting the underside with, the mastic 121 goes on first then acid etch primer, dinitrol stone guard then finish off with a coat of gloss black



also got some new Hel rear brake lines, i ordered clear braided but got black, never mind they are much better than the goodridge ones i have at the mo! the problem with the goodridge ones is that there is no part to secure it to the bracket where it meets the hard line it just goes on the FRP rear hose extension, plus the out sheath has started to give way near the join, i must admit Hel are rather good, they made me up a custom set to fit my brembos when i fitted them a few years ago

proper part to secure it to the chassis



old vs new

did some more work today, finished passenger arch cleaning/sanding and also made a small start on the boot floor, also picked up my rear springs from the powder coaters

before



after







rear shocks rebuilt

little update, got some more work done this week as i have been off work and weather has been perfect



got a coat of mastic on passenger arch



finaly finished the boot floor and got first layer of mastic on that too



my cat approves of the work



there are a few areas that I haven't painted with the mastic, these areas are where new metal needs to be welded in, I will finish the new metal with mastic once it has been repaired, the plan at the moment is to get it all painted and put back together, then i will take it to my friend who will do the welding, get it MOT'd and then get the rear arches repaired and painted, once that is done i can paint the welded parts and its finished hopefully in time for the 15 year FRP meet next month, fingers crossed it will get done in time

lots of progress this week

first in to etch primer then in to underguard then another coat of etch primer ready for top coat



now in top coat





various bits back from electroplating



put my calipers together





test fit of a few parts before final assembly on the car



lots of shiny parts and goodies to go on



made a start at assembly - got the rear brake lines replaced and HEL flexi hoses fitted







hopefully get a whole heap of stuff done tomorrow, thanks for reading

Hi looking good,hope you get finished for the meet,look forward to seeing finished car
Good luck,enjoy reading your posts