The donor shell

It all began with sourcing this shell locally. The shell had been stripped and partly welded. The owner decided though that his welding was not up to scratch so decided to sell. The bonus was that the rest of the car came with it, including the logbook.

As usual, it needed a from end, door steps, sills and the usual floor repairs. Surprisingly, the boot floor was solid, and the previous owner had replaced one rear subframe mounting plate on the heel board. This panel just needed the welds tidying after confirming it was in the right place.

Disclaimer

I am no weldist or paintist! I have qualifications in Motorsport and Motor Vehicle Engineering. My day job is teaching the mechanical side of how cars work, so body work is not my forte. If you think my welding is poor or my paintwork is rubbish, that's fine. I do it because I think I can!

Smoothing the engine bay

I decided the bulkhead had to be smoothed as well as the rest of the engine bay. So out came the grinder and welder. The offside area around the pedal box mount was badly corroded so this had to be changed.

Stripping it bare.

The problem with stripping the engine bay and smoothing it is the amount of stuff that is in there. The wiper motor has been relocated to the inside of the bulkhead and changed for something a it newer with less play in the linkage. I have had to fabricate new spindles are arms to suit.

The bonnet hinges are something I want to change, I have two options here. I have seen a type that will mount as the originals but open the bonnet in two stages, or to swap them for something different with a gas strut.

New metal

The floor needed the usual work, both front floor plans needed replacing and two sills. The rear valance was rotten so it was replaced with a new one with closing plates. I decided to go for one with 5 holes in it, I might put some fog lights and reverse lights in them, or even cover it over with a body kit.

The rear lamp holes have been blocked with mark one conversion plates. I don't intend to use mk1 lamps, I want some small LED lamps in there that are different.

Trying to keep it tidy

With so much bare metal, and many new panels, the shell was looking a bit rough still. I decided to send it away to have it blasted and then coated it with epoxy primer to give it some protection. I knew it needed more welding, but at least it would keep the rust at bay.

Not much progress to report, but...........

The A pillar seams have now gone, and some filler has been applied to some dents. Both door steps have been repaired, not much needed in each but a repair panel that was bought was a poor shape. In the end, I made a two piece buck of the door step on the 3d printer. I then pressed a piece of sheet steel between the two parts to make the correct shape. 99% happy which is a damn site better than the bought panel.

Just a tidy up of the drivers door pillar now and a small hole in the roof near the gutter and all the welding is done, except for hinge brackets for the bonnet and boot.

Choosing a body kit

I like the wide arch look and was torn between a Zeemax kit and sports pack arches. I fell out of love with the Zeemax which is the kit I always wanted years ago. Additionally, I now have five holes swaged into the rear valance that would be hidden a Zeemax kit. I had found a set of rubber sports pack arches on Facebook market place, but these are not very good.

Fibreglass arches.

These arches are from a company called The Ark Angels, and whilst they fit well, it would have been nice to receive the rubber seal I paid for too, despite a couple of reminder emails.

Alas, these are too narrow for the wheel and tyre combination that I want to use.

Fitting wheels

I knew I wanted a wide set of wheels, my previous car had 7" x 13" Minilites which looked good. I was looking at the option of 14" wheels, but decided against this. The options were then either a set of 8" wide Revolites or 8" wide Minilites. I know many people do not like the handling of these large wheels, but it's my preference.

These wheels were sourced locally, and although they need a refurb, there is no damage to the rims and they are straight.

175 tyres look stretched on 7" wheels, so to put them on these would look wrong. These tyres are used for competition, are very soft but fit the wheels nicely. The front are equivalent to 205mm wide and the rears are equivalent to 215mm wide. The front arches are certainly going to need to see a grinder!

If it doesn't fit, make it fit

Because the arches were too narrow, I decided to make my own. The design is evolving to fit the front panel correctly and to hold a flush small side repeater. I may also make new rear arches and maybe space the rear wheels out a little more.