Project Pesto

[SPG]

With the N/S sill now fixed, it was time to sort the O/S which had only the one troubled area on the sill but also a very nasty bit of corrosion on the front arch to sill curve. 
 

Firstly the sill was tended to, this was more like a bubble or two showing on the paint, no more than the size of a 5 pence piece, until I agitated it with my screwdriver. 
 

This is what the car looked like after the initial wash on page one of this thread. You can see the rust bumbles near the front of the sill. 

 

This is what it looked like after the agitation. 
 

As you can see, the end result of me poking at it with a my screwdriver was a lot more worse than it seemed from the pre agitation picture. Worth considering if you go to see a car and it’s bubbling a little, obviously the owner might be a little less enthusiastic about you poking holes in the sill .

Yup you guessed it, more metal added. I also don’t seem to have the picture of this metal welded in so will check with ML to see if they have a pic.  
 

Staying on the O/S but moving to the rear, I’ve noticed this on a number of Supra’s I’ve seen over the years. Basically the rear spat section, where the rear hockey stick meets the body, that area has often seems to corrode and this was the car for the old girl. 
 

 

This was the car after the first wash as mentioned earlier. You can also see a scrape on the arch section. 

 

Stripped back to see what we were dealing with.

 

 

We caught this is a the right time as that corrosion behind was just surface rust and buffed off, but given more time, that would have developed into a much bigger problem. 

 

Fully ground back to the metal and the corrosion treatment steps added and finished with etched primer. 

 

You might be wondering why is the welding so rough on this section, well that’s because I wanted to give it a shot so that I could say that I had added one section. I was fully supervised and to be honest for a complete novice it was a good attempt. 
 

The excess material was given the grinder treatment and then a skim of filling was used to smooth it over. 

 

skimmed and shaped to match the origin lines. 
 

 

[Mr2kyle]

Looking good mate. Nice project 

[Hammer]

Great work mate. A lot of work going in to this project, great to see and great updates. Good work being done in the fabrication, it's fascinating watching these guys at work when it comes to cutting and shaping. Nice rebuild.

[SPG]

22 hours ago, Mr2kyle said:

Looking good mate. Nice project 

 

17 hours ago, Hammer said:

Great work mate. A lot of work going in to this project, great to see and great updates. Good work being done in the fabrication, it's fascinating watching these guys at work when it comes to cutting and shaping. Nice rebuild.

Thanks Guys, one last scary fix to go, and then I can start posting the prep and spray booth pics. 
 

Im building a track car from an accident damaged TT6 shell which I’ll start a new thread on once work progresses, here’s a teaser of what that looks like, and yes I do like a challenge . 

[Dnk]

On 11/30/2020 at 1:11 AM, SPG said:

With the N/S sill now fixed, it was time to sort the O/S which had only the one troubled area on the sill but also a very nasty bit of corrosion on the front arch to sill curve. 
 

Firstly the sill was tended to, this was more like a bubble or two showing on the paint, no more than the size of a 5 pence piece, until I agitated it with my screwdriver. 
 

This is what the car looked like after the initial wash on page one of this thread. You can see the rust bumbles near the front of the sill. 

 

This is what it looked like after the agitation. 
 

As you can see, the end result of me poking at it with a my screwdriver was a lot more worse than it seemed from the pre agitation picture. Worth considering if you go to see a car and it’s bubbling a little, obviously the owner might be a little less enthusiastic about you poking holes in the sill .

Yup you guessed it, more metal added. I also don’t seem to have the picture of this metal welded in so will check with ML to see if they have a pic.  
 

Staying on the O/S but moving to the rear, I’ve noticed this on a number of Supra’s I’ve seen over the years. Basically the rear spat section, where the rear hockey stick meets the body, that area has often seems to corrode and this was the car for the old girl. 
 

 

This was the car after the first wash as mentioned earlier. You can also see a scrape on the arch section. 

 

Stripped back to see what we were dealing with.

 

 

We caught this is a the right time as that corrosion behind was just surface rust and buffed off, but given more time, that would have developed into a much bigger problem. 

 

Fully ground back to the metal and the corrosion treatment steps added and finished with etched primer. 

 

You might be wondering why is the welding so rough on this section, well that’s because I wanted to give it a shot so that I could say that I had added one section. I was fully supervised and to be honest for a complete novice it was a good attempt. 
 

The excess material was given the grinder treatment and then a skim of filling was used to smooth it over. 

 

skimmed and shaped to match the origin lines. 
 

 

Seen way worse than that by supposedly guys that can weld  

[SPG]

8 hours ago, Dnk said:

Seen way worse than that by supposedly guys that can weld  

Thanks Dunk

[SPG]

Right everyone this last bit of panel work required, and on the surface it just looked as though the panel had surface rust on it, and a small 5p sized bubbled section. 
 

Curiosity got the better of me whilst I had the scope, so I decided to take a look from inside the arch structure. I’m very glad that I did, as after some agitation with the screwdriver and file.....well I’ll let the picture do the taking!

looking up from underneath the car, through the hole you can see the top of the wings/bonnet hinges. 

The above picture was not what it looked at first glance and that’s because at some point in the cars life, it’s been patched in this section and had layers of filler over it. This made the appearance seem aesthetically fine. 
 

Im glad we found it and had Martin and co strip it back and cut out the rotten section, this time replacing it with fresh metal. The surrounding area on the other side of the sill returns buffed back, to good metal and was treated. 
 

This is what the panel looked like once cut out. 
 

 

 

Then after the rust proofing processes were complete, Martin created the replacement Sill to Arch section and welded it in place. The pic below was whilst it was being tacked, as I don’t have the finished welded section at present. 
 

As I mentioned the surface rust on the other side of the sill return was later buffed back to the bare metal and treated, this was all done at the time of the preparation for the under-sealing.  

[mwilkinson]

You need to rename this build Project Swiss Cheese!

 

[SPG]

4 hours ago, mwilkinson said:

You need to rename this build Project Swiss Cheese!

 

I did pre warn a half dozen times in the thread .

Thankfully with this last section repaired, all the metal work was complete. As weird as this sounds, I was really into all of the metal work and watching it unfold, so a bit of me was kinda disappointed it was all over . 
 

As previously mentioned the underside was hit with the best we had for three days, and was ready, here’s a little pic of us buzzing back the surface rust. 
 

 

[evinX]

We need more pics!! Loving this thread

[Andrew K]

liking the project thread and some of that rust looks scary as hell!! But fair play tackling that job and some great work being done, most people wouldn’t even attempt those sort of repairs and give up. 
 

[TuneR]

 

17 hours ago, SPG said:

Thankfully with this last section repaired, all the metal work was complete. As weird as this sounds, I was really into all of the metal work and watching it unfold, so a bit of me was kinda disappointed it was all over .

Yes its  quite cool watching them bend/shape the metal before tacking it on. Its something i'd like to try when i have time, great work though mate. Also yes Project Emmental would've worked too lol.

[Dnk]

I hope you've found it all 

[SPG]

On 12/6/2020 at 7:33 PM, evinX said:

We need more pics!! Loving this thread

Lots still to come buddy, I just need to get some time to upload them all, glad you’re enjoying it . 

On 12/6/2020 at 8:01 PM, Andrew K said:

liking the project thread and some of that rust looks scary as hell!! But fair play tackling that job and some great work being done, most people wouldn’t even attempt those sort of repairs and give up. 
 

Yeah to be fair this one was as bad as I’ve seen, but that kinda made me wanna push to get it sorted. 

14 hours ago, TuneR said:

 

Yes its  quite cool watching them bend/shape the metal before tacking it on. Its something i'd like to try when i have time, great work though mate. Also yes Project Emmental would've worked too lol.

Thanks buddy, yeah these metal workers/fabricator types are a special breed. I’d love to have that skill level. 
 

13 hours ago, Dnk said:

I hope you've found it all 

I have to say, it’s been probed more than an alien abductee, so fairly confident it’s all fixed now. 
 

We used Raptor for the under seal, so as you may know it goes fairly sold once it’s activated and dried. Cavity’s were also waxed to hopefully keep new corrosion at bay a little longer.

mill get the underside shots next. 

 

[tayr]

great progress - i would hate to think how much all this is costing

[SPG]

On 12/8/2020 at 9:34 AM, tayr said:

great progress - i would hate to think how much all this is costing

It’s one of those you don’t worry about after a while . 

[bradleyh_15]

57 minutes ago, SPG said:

It’s one of those you don’t worry about after a while . 

I feel you here

[SPG]

Happy New Year Everyone! 
 

Back again with some updates .

Last time it was time for the under seal after the grinding, and rust treatment on the underside.

The application and masking was all done by ML, and raptor was used to seal the car after a long bake in the oven to make sure it was bone dry. 
 

I had a tough decision to make, as I was considering going for white raptor, but in the end I went with black, as I prefer the contrast. 

We also had to proceed with the raptor with  using the old fuel lines in place, this was due to the three orders from Toyota being bent in transit and me not accepting them. This delayed the underside by almost 2 weeks so we charged on as ML needed the ramp back, and we will be revisiting this when the new lines and bolts arrive. Very annoying but definitely something you want to buy from the main dealer direct as you can reject them. This critical section is where I don’t have many pictures of unfortunately as the team at ML were forced into reduced hours and only one person on sight at a time. 

 

How she started

 

 

Mid process shots, treated and then taken back with the grinders again so that we could get down into the layers. The underside was also masked off to preserve the tapped holes, although I had the unenviable task of re-tapping a fair few holes as a few of the rusty bolts had snapped off. 

 

the dark sections are where there’s been a reaction, and as mentioned these were taken back again before another coat was applied then dried. Glad I wasn’t doing this part. 

 

ML and Crew, tackled the rest of the removal of the old under seal, and have gladly promised not to do another without having it sent for blasting or dipping . I’m also very glad we agreed a set fee for the work in advance as I knew things would escalate quickly, and let’s just say ML are using this as an example of why charging by the hour makes good business sense. 
 

And finally the end product: 

 

[mwilkinson]

Amazing work.  What a total transformation.

I have to say I enjoy these kind of threads far more than the big power builds.

Edited January 7, 2021 by mwilkinson (see edit history)

[SPG]

10 hours ago, mwilkinson said:

Amazing work.  What a total transformation.

I have to say I enjoy these kind of threads far more than the big power builds.

Thanks matey, this car was a real challenge but hopefully stands me in good stead for future project which will hopefully be less of a challenge. 
 

the good thing with the raptor is that it’s not sticky and sets solid, which is what I was hoping for. The prep apparently is the main main component in its successful adhesion, which makes sense, and that’s why the car was dried in the oven each time. 
 

[raddys]

You sir are a brave brave man. Brilliant work though, look forward to seeing the final product  

 

[SPG]

1 hour ago, raddys said:

You sir are a brave brave man. Brilliant work though, look forward to seeing the final product  

 

Thanks mate, sometimes you become braver when faced with a challenge . 
 

Plenty of updates to come, paints up next for uploading, I just need to get a move on and actually do it. 

[SPG]

So after the underside was done for the time being the car went off to be prepped for paint. I thought this day would never come . 

 

First up we can see the car before the front screen was removed, I was able to strip the car back down and then the masking began. 

This is where I left it to the crew as I really didn’t wanna damage the glass etc. 

 

Windscreen came off and the door was removed and masked up. I’m actually very happy that I went with a glass and engine out respray, although this did bump up the cost I feel it was worth it. 

 

just another side shot before it got sanded back. 

 

All set after being rubbed back, all the sections that were welded had a skim and were all sanded back to match the lines perfectly. 

 

You can see the new rear hinge section in the shot below, and the water channels received a good etching before the primer was applied. 

 

All mixed up, ML have a PPG Scheme (mixing set-up/station in-house) and Martin dialled in the mixture for 040 Super White II. 

[SPG]

More pictures, time for the promise to be laid down, and as you can imagine I was a spectator during this part of the project. 
 

 

[SPG]

With the primer on and dry, it was time for the paint and this picture sums up the difference to great effect: 

20+ year old paint work vs fresh paint

 

Id share some more but I don’t want to spoil the lurkers .