It has begun,but will it continue...?

[TTV6FC]

Hi all,since I have nearly finished my BSA,I decided it was time to get on with the poor old Black FC.I put the Grey FC in storage for the time being and the Black FC has taken up pride of place in the shed.After 3 hours I had it stripped to the shell (plus motor and front end) and to be honest,was pretty dissapointed with the amount of rust I found in the floor and sills/subframe(doors are in excellent nick/front guards,not so good).It hasn't turned me off but I would love to see some horror rust stories that have been repaired and are still going strong so feel free to post on this thread.Have since stripped the paint off the boot lid.I will persist because there just seems to be something "Special" about having an original all black FC.Will keep you updated as I can.

As I found it....

Quick wash...



Saturday,into it....

3 hours later...

Rust......



Cheers,Jamie.

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Good to see progress, I think all the cars that are "projects" will have rust unless you get really lucky.
Keep the updates coming, you may not get the replies but you'll see the traffic come thorugh 30+ hits already.

[Ed]

nice start,

now start a new thread about the BSA>

Cheers

Ed
;D

[waynos]

fibre max and nu steel can do wonders. floor looks pretty good .50 year old cars are always rusty.don't be disappointed it must be expected.hopefully you can weld.if not it could become expensive.
waynos

[KFH]

Hey Waynos

Can you give me a bit more information on Fibre max and Nu steel.  Who handles these products.

Keith

[TTV6FC]

Thanks for your replies guys,much appreciated.Thankfully I can weld and fabricate and have all the gear to do it.Most of the rust was nicely concealed under the bitumen sound deadener,so made the car look pretty good from the outside.Luckily the interior is in great nick.While I managed to get the headlining out in one piece and without a mark,I have been told it is very difficult to put back in as they are generally very brittle.Has anyone done this as I would love to reuse it if possible?

Interior...


One of the BSA,just waiting for the tank and seat to come back...


Cheers,Jamie.

[TAYZ]

Jamie,
            FC looks like a great basis for a resto, just remember these models started rusting from the factory!!!  Persist and you will reap the benefits no doubt 8)

[Glenn 'Stinky' Stankevicius]

Luckily the interior is in great nick.While I managed to get the headlining out in one piece and without a mark,I have been told it is very difficult to put back in as they are generally very brittle.Has anyone done this as I would love to reuse it if possible?

I haven't tried personally, but I would suggest doing it on a hot day and have a hair dryer or heat gun handy. The hotter weather will make the vinyl softer and easier to work with and less prone to ripping or cracking.
You'll be "up against it" with the stitching though (see my comments in the Irish FC thread) as it tends to become brittle with age and breaks very easily.

[fc_mad]

if ur getting things done that quikley u will be finished in no time ;D

[smithy]

not really sure how well it will work with old vinyl but you could always try and use steam. get an electric kettle, sit it in the middle of the cars floor with seats out and boil the crap outta the jug ( or be smarter and use a steamer), it may soften the vinyl enough. it works well for easing the creases out from a newly installed hoodlining and less chance of burning than a hairdryer. or maybe even try using some sort of vinyl / leather conditioning stuff for a while before trying to remove it ?
stinky is the man to ask for interior questions though..

good luck
dean

[melburgorbust]

that is a GREAT numberplate!

[the_love_god]

wow  ;D another black one ,good stuff, im just about finished the body work on mine,and all the frount end & rear end all done,  cheers Alfio :)

[waynos]

fibre max is a stringy fibreglass bog which is great cause it doesn't let any moisture back in to get to the rust like normal body filler does.nu steel is much the same but i think it's stainless metal strands (could be very wrong)but it is a real bitch to grind.obviously the fibreemax is a bitch too with the dust (get a good mask )but is much easier.i like to weld wherever possible but sometimes this is a better option.at the moment got rust in sill right near sub-frame.using these products.not happy about it but don;t wanna rip the front off for the moment.will fix properly when the real motor goes in.

[NO NAME]

you shouldnt fill rust holes with bog but if you do, allways start with fibreglass bog, as waynos says it stops the moisture getting through were normal car bog is porous and lets moisture spread and make rust again, same with welds, you should grind em down and go over the weld with fibreglass then put your normal bog over the top, you can use epoxy primer under the fibreglas, otherwise bare metal, dont bog on rust, primer (except epoxy primer)or paint the only way to have metal free of rust is to sandblast it or acid treat it, try to get it covered within about a hour or re do the acid.
ask your loacal auto paint shop about epoxy primers, its the modern way and is a big advantage when you have a big job that is going to take some time becuase unlike normal 2k primers epoxy holds the moisture out much longer and you dont want to get half the car done only to find the when you are doing the other half that the first half has absorbed moisture requiring it to be redone.
the rust isd going to be a pain in the arse, the pillars are more complex than they look but unfortunately most of these old cars need all new floor sections and iner outer sills and subframes replaced anyway.

if you have kids and a wife or work long hours or have no money and or have no shed or a tiny shed it could be a tuff journey.

[TTV6FC]

Thanks for all your comments guys.FCCool,I have had a bit of experience with bog/fibreglass and the consequences of putting it over rust but I do appreciate your input either way.I figured I would be replacing the sills as an absolute minimum but may be able to avoid doing the floor pans as well as the rust is only on the very outsides near the sills.This car looks like it was driven on a lot of muddy roads as there was a lot of mud still caked under it everywhere and the sills were full of it.Have already organised a local guy to sand blast the shell as we ( Local SA) don't have a Soda blast yet and it will cost me about $1800 to get the whole car dipped.I'll spend the money on getting it blasted first,then on the sections that he can't blast (Flat Panels/roof) I'll use a strip disc (fibre) then Deoxidine to kill the surface rust.I have had success with this method in the past.More photo's to follow,Cheers,Jamie.

[the_love_god]

if i was you i would get it plastic blasting ,like what i did to my black 058, inside out ,underneath have a look at my post cheers AlfioM

[the_love_god]

sorry guys i dont like putting body filler over holes  :o, either cut it out or leaded, if you put all that work into a classic, make it last as long as you can,cheers Alfio THE CLASSIC RESCUER  ;)

[KFH]

Thanks for the answer to the question re nu steel and fibre glass bog.  I can see the uses now.  I only have a couple of small holes in the angle part of the boot down to the bottom of the rear quarter panel.  Very easy to get to so will borrow a plasma cutter and Mig welder an do the job properly. Not keen on patching it up with bog.

Keith

[Rusty_T]

 ;)
Jamie,

If you want some rust pics I'll put some of my FE Wagon up (when I get home)to show you what I had to deal with when I started. I was told I was mad to try to bring it back to life.

Cheers Rusty

[NO NAME]

;)
Jamie,

If you want some rust pics I'll put some of my FE Wagon up (when I get home)to show you what I had to deal with when I started. I was told I was mad to try to bring it back to life.

Cheers Rusty

same here, lots of people told me i needed to find a better body but i didnt, now the rust is behind me, just got the rest to do.