Classic Alfa Forums

got the front wing finished off this afternoon, inner arch where it met the front panel needed a fair amount cut out plus a small hole found near the suspension tower

all welded up now so just made up a pair of rear jacking points and fixed them in place.......at last the welding is very nearly done!

are a couple of bits still to do, back of the roof and a panel inside the car under the side window but at last the structural stuff and outer bodywork is solid...

i'll start to prep the underside for stoneguard and paint next time, once I've sealed all the welds...that might take a while!

As the little Imp will soon need to be on its wheels and the structural stuff is very nearly done then the last few suspension parts need to be readied.
A job I'd been putting off for a while was the front Kingpins which have some play, vertically and laterally.
I've not really done much with Kingpins to be honest, they were going out of fashion when I started spannering and the ones I did get to have the pleasure of doing were on front axles of the LDV stuff, heavy duty stuff that took some beating to get out.

But stuff needs to be done and parts need ordering so this afternoon instead of another edition of Wheeler Dealers on repeat I dug them out...
There is a little cap in the top and bottom, like a core plug really which need taking out along with the grease nipples (which all 4 didn't shear off!) then a tapered cotter pin through the side which holds the kingpin itself in position.

Once all apart the Kingpin can be drifted out, surprisingly both came out pretty easily which leads me to believe they've been done fairly recently, definitely not the 40+ year old originals that's for sure!
The Kingpin back in the housing for safe keeping with the removed bushes, all came apart without issue. There are a series of washers that should be between the housing and hub, a Nylon one to take up lateral play...missing on both sides presumably worn to nothing.
The Hub you are left with ready for new bushes to be pressed in, once Rob has cleaned it all up
Nice to do a greasy job on the Imp for a change

Nice one Kev, great to see Rob is helping you along !!

Little tinker.

lol, he's tried mate but distractions of the female have taken over

he has got a load of parts refurbished ready though, dashboard hanging off the washing line yesterday, can't think where he got that idea from

mixed bag of task today

started off tidying up the bottom of the front wing arches as I wasn't happy with the result

then a tidy up of the workshop was well overdue as there was all manner of rubbish under the car

first time the little imp has been hoovered out for a good few years!

car now sits on 4 strong jacking points for many a year....
once all cleaned out the new rear shelf was bonded in with the aid of the panel bond

next job was to start seam sealing all the welds......several tubes later and arms aching it's now pretty much sealed
aim for Saturday is to chip off the remaining underseal then etch prime the whole underside and inner arches then later on stoneguard it all

next Wednesday I should then be able to paint the same bits

this will allow the suspension to go back on ready for it to be moved when I need to next month, I can then carry on with a few remaining welding jobs and start some of the paint prep..

Looking good chap . Oh to have jacking points

What panel bond stuff do you use . As I'm not sure what to use to stick fibreglass arches on with. I may rivet on too . Liking the etch and stone guard . Bodywork I've got covered. But underside pass apart from underseal

I get my stuff from fishers in Lincoln, at the advice of Ian the rep.
when I was going to fit fibre glass arches I asked ian if there was a special bonding agent for the job and there is, changed my mind on using them before I got some so can't help with what it's called but guess any body shop suppliers would have the right stuff.

old guy at the unit near me popped in this afternoon for a chat as he usually does and suggested that he finds this stuff to be as good as anything, might be worth a try....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw= ... l&_sacat=0

Cheers kev. I've used tiger seal which is pretty good . I'll have a search don't want the arches flying off

with a few sections of underseal still to be removed from one wheel arch, central tunnel and all around the front end I set about it. best method on this car I found was to use an air chisel with a very light touch, which chipped it off in decent segments. it'd stuck in places but mainly just held it's shape against itself so comes away leaving clean painted metal underneath, which was nice

inevitably though a few more rusted out sections were unearthed where the underseal had been letting moisture in.

these are now all welded up and seam sealed so the plan is now on Wednesday to go over the underside with a cup style knotted wheel to key it all and clean off any flakes then treat any surface rust before etch priming it all
it'll all then get stoneguard everywhere before painting at another time to give the stoneguard plenty of time to cure off

I also got to seam seal around the new inner rear shelf
I also thought it wise to make some drain holes in the lower front panel for any water that will probably get past the headlights etc once we're done, don't want water being held in the seam.
I've drizzled plenty of etch in the gap which will get further protection, hopefully enough to keep it sound...

another task completed that I've not been looking forward to today

the whole underside needed going over with the knotted wheel cup on the grinder to get rid of any little pieces of old underseal and any remaining flakes, plus it gives a good key for the etch afterwards

so with that done and a couple more holes welded up that the unforgiving grinder found I treated a couple of areas that had some surface rust with kurust then etched the whole lot

after that had dried off I applied about 7 litres of stoneguard to the floors and wheel arches, plus a coat of the inner floors too for good measure

really glad that is over, a horrible job laid on your back

if it's dried enough by Saturday i'll paint over the stoneguard with some brushable enamel I bought for the job then it can have it's suspension put back on ready for the move next month when pauls' 33 arrives

whilst the Imp gets most of my time and Rob is busy elsewhere he does actually manage to refurbish a few parts...

here's the radiator assembly that he stripped down, de-rusted all the attached parts in the electrolysis tank himself then cleaned and painted everything before being rebuild

some parts awaiting reattachment to god knows what...presumably to do with the cooling system and water pump...



he has stuff stashed in the roof space of his shed awaiting refurbishment, door panels will need to be done in body colour too so better not forget those!

he's already done many more parts, most of which are wrapped up safely and up in the parts store

posts in the right place now.....

sorry to delete your posts kieth, just made more sense than to confuse in Aarons

No worries

took a bit longer than anticipated, not to mention huge neck and arm ache! but the underside and wheel arches are now done with a coat of brushable enamel, my favoured method in a way for this job although spraying would be easier in the nooks and crannies

Looking good chap . The joys of painting on your back . Same as welding . Never easy

Johnboy wrote:Looking good chap . The joys of painting on your back . Same as welding . Never easy

Or fibre-glassing, for that matter

Looks really good now Kev, you've worked your magic again. I take it you won't be keeping the topsides metallic bronze then

cheers guys, yes not easy work but I kind of like this stage as things finally start to appear to be coming along...


and yes lauren, as you surmise, the bronze will be forsaken for rosso red
robs' choice, it being his car and all. I don't mind at all though, they look great in red with the minilites so should make it look fresher than the 70's feel it had before.

Good progress Kev!

rear section of the roof skin had been bugging me for some time, some scabs on the inside that looked likely to be serious enough to warrant surgery, a sand back of the paint on the outside confirmed it
inner rail had some surface rust too which got ground back and treated
repair section made up ready for install with joggled edges
tack welded into place before the welder ran out of gas, never a good time

bits & bobs done, rear roof section all welded in now
has a skim of fibre glass filler over it to seal any pin holes or missed sections. luckily ?? I managed to get enough distortion to allow for some filling i'm saying it was on purpose anyway

inside edge seam sealed after etch primer to help stop any moisture getting in between the panels from the inside
started prepping under the bonnet for painting, some small pieces to weld and some areas needing seam seal or etching.

rob has made the paint colour choice, not Rosso Red as I thought he was going to pick. after scouring through all the colour chits at his works paint shop he has picked out a Toyota red.....bit more orange in it than the Rosso so we'll see when it's painted

Looking good kev. Sounds like he wants it bright . Should look great

should look good with a nice bright red JB, some contrast chrome and black parts too


as it's only a couple of weeks now until it has to move the front kingpins really need doing.

despite a few prompts to rob to get the hubs cleaned up they still sat on my workbench so if you want a job doing.....

took quite some time to scrape 40+ years of dried up grease and grime off them but ready now for the new kingpin kit to be fitted then painted

Lol kids ah
Red and black and a bit of chrome always looks good

Are you going to fit greases nipples or not bother Kev?

Sud 145 wrote:Are you going to fit greases nipples or not bother Kev?

yes mate, this is a later car which has grease nipples so new ones will be going in with the new bushes etc.
the early ones didn't have them.

can make a mess but a few pumps every 6 months should save wear and tear on the new kit

the front boot area all needs painting both due to the colour change but also due to the poor state it was in, had been liberally sprayed with the same schutz black underseal that the wheel arches were done in which although has helped preserve a lot of it it just looked awful

such a fiddly space to rub down, once all the underseal was chipped off that is!

important to not rush it too much though as the new paint will flake off if all surfaces aren't rubbed over at least, especially the areas out of sight
2 pack etch primer mixed up and sprayed all over, awkward getting to the underside sections but important to get coverage

a bit more seam sealer was then applied where I thought it ought to be plus a coat of stoneguard for the spare wheel well and section that is covered by the fuel tank, plus another liberal douse to the inner front panel and wing corners

had a ride out tonight after work to prime the boot area.

had planned on getting some red on this area Saturday but may try and get some more done to the inside and do as much internal red bits as possible before the move
underside bits aren't the easiest to spray but really important to get good coverage

Looks great chap . Home straight now

definitely getting the feeling that a corner has been turned JB, with the impeding sabbatical to do Pauls' 33 i'm keen to make progress this next week or so.
once back in the workshop then it'll be "just" the outside to prep...

sanded all the rear sections inside the car today, some filler went in to where i'd repaired around the back window and the rails under the side windows

been some time waiting for paint to go on, Wednesday i'll get some colour on this lot and the front boot area

the little panels near the B pillars are door bins for the rear seat passengers, we're pretty sure they are visible so need colour coding.... we couldn't remember if they have material on them but I think they'd look better painted anyway

that will save having to crawl inside it and risk catching the sills if I left it until doing the outside.

must say though, sanding inside the car is a royal pain in the arse!