SJ413 Driveway Rebuild

[bmonut]

Ello, first post here.

My SJ413 arrived on the back of a lorry yesterday, filled with water thanks to the leaking hard-top and torrential rain. It starts and drives without smoking, but I have not driven it far as the brakes are sticking. Only driven it in 2WD forward and reverse, off the flatbed and onto my drive.

I was just going to weld patches in the holes and drive it, however I think I've caught it just in time and have decided to strip it all down. As the title suggests, I have to do it all on my driveway. I have a garage but it's my workshop with no room for a car.

I have a TIG welder and have welded patches on cars before. Having had a quick-ish look over I think it's in reasonable condition and should present no problem given time and patience.

I'm going to start by stripping the interior, then the exterior panels, and then the drivetrain. Not sure whether I will take the engine out or not we shall see. I'm not planning on rebuilding any of the drivetrain however will see what condition it's all in. Will do the brakes and tidy everything up, just looking to get a rust-free body/chassis and an MOT by summer.

It's be POR-15 for the chassis and underbody. I would like to respray it one of those modern greys you see on Fords and Audis - I like the colour and I think it will look good with the black wheel arches, bumpers etc. Wheels will be black and going to junk the crap hard-top and get a black soft-top.

Always loved these little cars which I know as a Sierra or Drover. I like it that just about everything unbolts - this is essential as I don't have much indoor room, and will need to work on all the bits individually (e.g. axles, front fenders etc).

Anyways here endeth my intro. This is either going to go well or end in tears. Enjoy.

B

[Jordi]

Welcome to the club.

[Rabid Rhino]

How come you know em as Sieras or Drovers ?
Gonna badge it up as one ?

[bmonut]

How come you know em as Sieras or Drovers ?
Gonna badge it up as one ?

I come from a land down under.

[bmonut]

Took advantage of that new car enthusiasm and stripped most of the interior, pulled the fuel tank and rear bumperage. Am enjoying myself: it's like a large motorbike. I don't usually like working on cars but am liking the functional simplicity and some nice touches like the o-ring sealed electrical connectors which are class.

Rust has almost completely seperated the rear wheel wells from the outer skin. I guess this is a common thing. I'm not overly concerned about it as I think I can just weld a strip in and cover it with some wheel arch guard thingos (what are they called?), as this is very similar to a virtual lift.

The rest of the car looks surprisingly good, especially the sills and doors. There's little patches of rust over the rear section consistent with stuff being dumped in there and scratching it up, but I was pleased to see that the front section floor pan is almost perfect (well, relatively speaking of course...). Brake and fuel lines are toast but that's not a big issue.

I do think that another couple of winters and it would be too far gone, but I've got it just in time. This is a rescue Suzuki.

One thing: are the springs supposed to look like that, with the bottom leaf just hanging out in midair?

The back bench seat is 'OK', but the front seats are shitty especially the drivers. I'm considering junking them and putting in seats from... some other car that doesn't have shitty seats.

Are the old seats worth anything to anyone or can I just take them to the dump with a clear concience? Same goes for the hard-top which is cracked and was badly installed.

Tomorrow: the dash, then I'm going to take that terrible hard-top off, then the front bumper and wings. Will see how heavy the body is, as am considering putting it on a frame and shoving it sideways into my garage.

B

[bmonut]

Got the dash out. Much cursing. This has to be the complicated part of the whole car.

No horrible surprises, just a lot of hay. The heater was full of it. Had to cut the heater hoses but no big deal.

Pretty rainy today. The £20 "car cover" I put over it last night was crap and was not waterproof in any sense. Have ordered a proper tarp. In the meantime have taped over the vent on the bonnet and backed the open end up to my garage where it should be protected by the overhang.

Tomorrow looks less rainy, and I'm going to try and get the doors, front wings, roll-bar thingo and widscreen off. I think from here disassembly is a matter of unsticking bolts rather than figuring out how stuff comes apart. I prefer this to the frustration of the dash.

B

[bmonut]

Now topless.

While there is a bit of bog on the rear corners that I'm yet to explore, the rear arches don't seem that bad. The strip that mounts the arch-guard thingos is almost completely intact.

Some resistance from some of the bolts as expected. Have had a quick look at the body-to-chassis bolts and not looking forward to trying to get them off. Mr Grinder may be needed.

Having some trouble getting the front bits off - the two strips top and bottom that sandwich the headlights. Lots of hard to spot screws in hard to reach places, and rusted to buggery.

Have cleared the wings of hangers-on inside the engine bay: airbox, wiring, etc. Hopefully tomorrow will get the front wings off, and body unbolted and jacked off the chassis. From that point I have vague plans all of which depend on how heavy the body is, and also how much it twists in the thin bit where the doors are.

I would like to make a pair of H-shaped frames around the body, so that I can store the body on its side on the drive - against the wall in the pics. I can fit the engine and drivetrain in the garage, OR the body on its side but not both. So, the plan is to sort the chassis and drivetrain first, and then put the body in the garage for welding.

After sorting the rust and welding, may send the doors/bonnet etc out for painting, as I'm not really set up for it. There is a local blast/powercoat outfit that are cheap, so will send bumpers etc to them.

Still enjoying myself. Three easy days, 18 hours total so far and good progress.

[Rabid Rhino]

Wow you don't hang around.
Hard top... I'd fix it & keep it or sell it. They are hard to find

[bmonut]

She's nekkid now.

That was a longer day and I admit my back is hurting a bit. Started at half 10 and finished at 8pm.

Couldn't seperate the front wings as someone has brazed the two 'joiner' bits together and it seemed easier to just pull the lot off.

I was a bit surprised to see studs on the bottom joining the chassis to the body. Studs look OK but whatever metal was sandwiched around the rubber has gone. Difficult to see what it used to look like. Have got the big washer things will reuse them.

I just sloooowly jacked up the body until it cleared the chassis, and then rolled the chassis forward and then slooooowly brought the body back down again bit by bit. It was a bit sketchy as I realised part-way through that I only had two axle stands, so I had to improvise with an old toolbox and a step-ladder. I did strain the handbrake cable a bit - will see later if it is still usable.

I was relieved at how light it was. In fact, when I realised how light the body was I felt silly for taking such exaggerated care like to was a 10 ton boat or something. I'd say it weighs 80-100kg. I was reasonably easily able to lift a corner with one hand and adjust the jack stands.

I made two skids on the body by using the studs and bolting on blocks of wood, and then screwing more wood to that until it cleared the sills. I am going to make a box frame around it and put wheels on it so I can wheel it into the garage to weld up the body. Might make a light wood frame to make wrapping it in the tarp easier.

Tomorrow is very windy and rainy so a day to work on other stuff. Hope it doesn't tip over in the wind! Have wrapped it all in tarps, but I don't have enough of them and it will be getting wet. Hey ho.

Next step will be to strip the drivetrain and engine, and then paint the chassis. Going to do as little as possible to the engine (it can wait) but it does need a new sump gasket and that rocker cover needs some love.

B

[bmonut]

All wrapped up, just in time form xmas.

Finished the frame this morning, including adding some wheels. Works well although most of the weight is on the rear wheels. No big deal but I wonder whether the whole things is flexing without the support of the chassis. Again no big deal but I wonder whether I will be welding in this flex.

Met office yellow warning for high winds a rain. We shall see how it all holds up!

No more work for a few days as it's raining and windy, and I need to corral all those parts. Here endeth for now.

B