mk1 Fiesta - Updated 17/08/13 - Almost back together..

[W103_A5H]

Today got the rear axle/supsension off. Started pushing all the bushes out of the parts, well.. the ones I could get out! lol. I am going to get all the parts shotblasted and then powdercoated in black to give them a fresh look and lease of life!

Also now that the car is on bigger axle stands I was able to get under and see how bad the rust was, and found another patch just before the stat of the drivers side rear arch.
Oh, and noticed a nice big dent in the fuel tank so think a new tank is in order

[Pricklep]

Looks like its had the good old shitey Waxoyl there. Awful stuff

[W103_A5H]

Originally Posted by Prickle

Looks like its had the good old shitey Waxoyl there. Awful stuff

Yeah, all the bolts were covered in it too, was an absolute pain in the ass to get some of the bits off Even snapped a screwdriver just trying to get a brake hose clip off as that stuff had stuck it in!

[spacehopper]

loving this thread...

theres something so great about seeing something old and battered restored to like new!

[m4tt274]

Originally Posted by Prickle

Looks like its had the good old shitey Waxoyl there. Awful stuff

You say that, but (it would help if i could find a picture) mine was coated in wax oil from new and it pretty much did its job flawlessly.
People regularly paint the undersides of cars in tetrosyl or waxoil, only, they paint it on top of the salt and existing rust leaving a real mess for someone else to sort out.

If you paint a surface properly, then, ensuring its totally clean waxoil, it will last!
This car looks like the underside has got a bit ropey so a prev owner has just painted it all black with underseal in an effort to mask the rust.

[Bedford126]

Originally Posted by m4tt274

You say that, but (it would help if i could find a picture) mine was coated in wax oil from new and it pretty much did its job flawlessly.
People regularly paint the undersides of cars in tetrosyl or waxoil, only, they paint it on top of the salt and existing rust leaving a real mess for someone else to sort out.

If you paint a surface properly, then, ensuring its totally clean waxoil, it will last!
This car looks like the underside has got a bit ropey so a prev owner has just painted it all black with underseal in an effort to mask the rust.

This is wrong, also has been proven wrong by the national insurance beuro. That is why waxoyl and Schultz is no longer approved.

Times move on and so do products.

[Pricklep]

I say that because i've had no good exp with it other then making a hella lot of mess and wearing thin quickly. (prev car)

... and yes it was applied correctly.

[GTuff]

Originally Posted by Prickle

I say that because i've had no good exp with it other then making a hella lot of mess and wearing thin quickly. (prev car)

... and yes it was applied correctly.

I always thought it was gd stuff never used it myself though!

[willsy]

Waxoyl is horrific stuff, took a huge amount of time to remove it all on my old AX after one of the previous owners had plastered it everywhere, was rusty as fook underneath so does a wonderful job of hiding rust but an awful job of stopping it

Worth putting in the elbow grease now getting it all off, cleaning underside properly.

Would be great to see this restored to a good standard mate, good start so far :-)

[W103_A5H]

Originally Posted by spacehopper

loving this thread...

theres something so great about seeing something old and battered restored to like new!

Cheers, and that is why I chose it because it is something different. I did originality think about turning the saxo into a track car but this popped up and couldn't resist!

Originally Posted by m4tt274

You say that, but (it would help if i could find a picture) mine was coated in wax oil from new and it pretty much did its job flawlessly.
People regularly paint the undersides of cars in tetrosyl or waxoil, only, they paint it on top of the salt and existing rust leaving a real mess for someone else to sort out.

If you paint a surface properly, then, ensuring its totally clean waxoil, it will last!
This car looks like the underside has got a bit ropey so a prev owner has just painted it all black with underseal in an effort to mask the rust.

Tbh it still has hardly any rust compared to most old fiestas and it seems solid in most places so it looks like it has done its job or protecting it. I mean it is a 33yo car there is bound to be some rust

Originally Posted by willsy

Waxoyl is horrific stuff, took a huge amount of time to remove it all on my old AX after one of the previous owners had plastered it everywhere, was rusty as fook underneath so does a wonderful job of hiding rust but an awful job of stopping it

Worth putting in the elbow grease now getting it all off, cleaning underside properly.

Would be great to see this restored to a good standard mate, good start so far :-)

Yeah not easy stuff to remove but like you say will be worth it to do it properly. Have any tips for getting it off or is it just a case of scraping it off with some elbow grease?

[m4tt274]

You say its wrong, and though i dont doubt there are better products, the underside was and is mint!

[nuttysaxo]

Just had a look through , not in bad shape to be honest that mate , I had a couple of xr2's before the saxo , in my opinion tasmin blue was the best colour in the mk 2 range and I think it would look great on this car even though yours is a mk 1 it will look great .

[W103_A5H]

Well I haven't updated this for a while, reason being as I haven't really done much now untill the last few weeks.

To start, I went and got myself a Clarke 100E Mig welder from Machinemart. I was going to pay someone to do the welding but the price I would have paid would have been in the region of £500, so I thought at that price I can buy a welder, so why not do it myself? Perfect opportunity to learn! I wish it was as easy as other people make it look. I practised on a few scrap bits of metal first to get the hang of things and play with the settings. The small bottle that came with it ran out fast so got a bigger one from a local welding supplies place. Had an old newspaper trolly which I had at home which made a perfect trolly for the welder and bottle



To start with I removed the undersill out the way ready for welding as didn't want to set the thing on fire!

Then I cut the section of metal out in the boot where the rust was. I think that it would have been easier had I cut a bigger bit out as the first bit of metal melted quickly. So I cut it out and made another, better fitting panel and went for round 2!

Got the first welds in, ground them away then began to fill in the gaps. Then started to weld from the underside as I wanted to make sure it had a good hold on the metal.

Once I ground all the welds down I used some metal repair putty over the welds, which I will be gridining down to make it look like there was never a problem. That's it for now untill next weekend, which I will be cutting out the front floor panel and making a panel for that to weld in. My welds are far from the best but I am still learning so go easy on me

I will post the pics below.











Any comments, tips and criticism is welcome

[stevo67]

Check the front suspension towers(think thats what they`re called)prone to rusting away.Good luck with it.

[W103_A5H]

Thanks. Have checked the car over mate. All rust spots have been found, think i have pics on here of all the rust.

[W103_A5H]

Just a small update. I have just finished this part of the floor pan (under the drivers pedals) I'm quite pleased with how it looks considering im no pro welder! Next step is to cut the sill on the drivers side apart to access the rust by the door and the rear drivers arch. Hopefully not long to go on it now. I realised I have had it a year this month, so I need to pull my finger out! Pics below.

[nuttysaxo]

looking good mate , well done on the welding , if it was mine I would go for the MK 1 rally arches , with the painting if you can get a compressor have a go yourself , you might even surprise yourself with the results

[W103_A5H]

Originally Posted by nuttysaxo

looking good mate , well done on the welding , if it was mine I would go for the MK 1 rally arches , with the painting if you can get a compressor have a go yourself , you might even surprise yourself with the results

Cheers mate.

I was going to get the arch kit around the time I started on it, then I bought the wheels for it and now I think I like the standard look on them if I'm honest. I have a compressor, but I may get a mate to do it as the price he gave me was quite cheap but will see how things pan out.

[nuttysaxo]

Originally Posted by W103_A5H

Cheers mate.

I was going to get the arch kit around the time I started on it, then I bought the wheels for it and now I think I like the standard look on them if I'm honest. I have a compressor, but I may get a mate to do it as the price he gave me was quite cheap but will see how things pan out.

There is a bloke on XRTWO forum with a silver MK1 think his name on there is bomber , but if you get the chance have a look what he did to his , there used to be a place that sold parts for Fiestas only they did a 5 speed conversion kit too oh and injection bits to convert mk 2's to injection .
You could have a go spraying the engine bay and boot .

[Richy_Rich]

Love this and your ideas!

Don't change the colour! OEM old colours are the best!

And you say Rat look. PLEASE don't force rat it. Just leave it tatty till you can afford a respray! Just leave it with the characteristics as is!