So I looked at the offside front inner arch and knew that I couldn't just leave it as it was. It wasn't just the aesthetics, it looked structurally bad. A little love from some 1mm cutting discs and we're off... Ermmm, there's three layers of metal where the 16v engine mount has been added on... Continue Reading →

Bonnet mod is finished: The other job was tidying up the battery tray which had been chopped and was bent outta shape. This is after I put a big adjustable spanner on it and got it pretty much straight: Bit of 1.5mm zintec and some shaping in a vice with a BFH, welded, finished and... Continue Reading →

All builds have some degree of 'acquiring parts' involved. Mine is no exception. I now have a full exhaust system thanks to Neb's mate selling this Janspeed 16v manifold and Mark Yates of 106 Parts doing me a stellar deal on a full 2" Scorpion Pugsport with the motorsport cat. The manifold might be inline... Continue Reading →

Finally bought some new bits from Baker BM. They've tweaked the engine mount design since I bought one of the early ones. Looking forward to getting this fitted, but it needs some work on the car first. To sort out the front struts, I opted for the fixed spherical bearing top mounts: I then needed... Continue Reading →

Big hole patch done, will need a little bit of filler before final painting. Smaller hole in the inner wing (same side of the car) Cut out and replacement made last weekend and welded in tonight. Progress is slow at 30 minutes here or there but is moving forward.

An update! So after months of walking past every time I was in the garage looking at this I decided that it was time to give the car some love. Before I could sort the big hole I needed to make a patch repair: Bit of CAD Then transferred to steel and welded in. With... Continue Reading →

With the pedal box back in, time to sort out the steering column, as you'll know if you've stripped the dash these were never painted from factory so the bare metal rusts up over time, more so if the interior has been damp. Mine was a poor state so was taken back to bare metal... Continue Reading →

Rack reassembled over the weekend: Also finished the PAS pedal box mod to the bulkhead, which was basically cutting and panel beating to the cardboard template above. Needed to do a bit of welding to make sure it could take the different lower mounting points. Next job is to fit the steering column which will... Continue Reading →

Stripped the PAS rack down completely... Then dropped it off last week with RIX Blasting Services who are local to where I work up in the North East and picked it up again yesterday: Last week I also went to North East Motor Salvage and found a suitable 106 shell to donate a sill and... Continue Reading →

The right parts turned up from Bigg Red this time, it's kit number 204832: Pistons were corroded behind the seals, quite a difference between them: Brakes back ready for reassembly with polished sliders: All back together with a lovely smooth action On the steering rack front I managed to get blanking plugs for the two... Continue Reading →

Frustrating progress, not enough time to work on the body work so trying to get a few other jobs finished. Another steering rack arrived. It's in a terrible state, but all I need is the tension adjuster plug. Came to undo it and immediately sensed the friction - it's been staked! So I will probably... Continue Reading →

So the plan for the top mount bearings did not work out. I picked up a pair of these Meyle top mount bearings which are for a Peugeot Boxer van: Although they fit as I had envisaged, from a mechanical point of view the idea sucks so back to plan B, aftermarket top mounts. Also... Continue Reading →