My 79 Beta spyder 2000

[deks]

Hi Pete. I will get that organised with you. I will drop you a text to discuss

Will do so soon ish as I am guessing you starting the rebuild of it and I will get some images taken

regards Steve

[peteracs]

Hi Steve

Hoping to get started on the rear suspension around Xmas time, so this month is a good time.

Peter

[deks]

Been shopping this week. Treated myself to a sandblaster. Used on eBay and it came with lots of sand. Will try it out over the weekend or next week

[WestonE]

Warn the neighbours there is a dust storm coming and they might want to cover their cars! I hope you have the required respirator mask for this. The dust is definitely not for breathing in. 

Good luck!

[deks]

Yes I have an air fed mask for painting which will do nicely. The area in which I am working is mostly sealed with polythene as its my car port.  I am going to try a small area to start with so I can assess the dust. I am thinking about installing an extraction system for spraying so may do this a bit earlier to extract the dust. Behind me is a very large drainage pond so no houses behind me that I can extract to.  The dust is of concern so handy its winter months when most will have windows shut and no washing out either side of me though to be fair in 7 years Ive never washing on their lines but mine s usually full 


thanks though for the sound advice about personal PPE

[Ferrit]

my neighbours would hit the roof, everyone here puts their washing out and sits in the gardens etc.  I have to open a consultation just to extend my drive.

11 out of 10 for cracking on though.  Very interested to see the results and what you find.  Its sounds fun tbh

M

[deks]

So today after several adjustments o equipment and a new trigger unit for the shotblaster I attempted to strip so paint with limited success it has to be said. Wow this is a super messy job and the stuff goes everywhere. Ive gone through a bag of grit already. Pebble dashed my head  but removed very little paint. The what looks like e poxy primer/ ecoat on the bottom is not shifting at all. The paint is coming off but not so good with underseal or rusty metal.  The trial bag of grit cost me £24 I paid this as wanted to see if it would work can buy it bulk for cheaper price but I reckon now having tried it in a small area   and looking at guide price for a professional shot blasting service to do the car It will come out near to the cheaper quote I had for dipping. the shot blasting is going to be extremely messy and the stuff will get everywhere as this small exercise has shown me. I am not too bothered as I can still use the tool and grit to do the mechanical parts that will need doing but for the shell I am going to give it some serious thought and re consider the cheaper dipping option or even shot blast professionally

[deks]

Back to basics today. as in elbow grease and some normal mechanical tools. Only tested a small area as I don't really need to strip the floor at present as plenty to do elswhere and the floor is largely solid.
Also sanded a bit of bodywork as wanted to see what the crack was(filler).  seems to have had paintwork at least 3 times in its life. this was around the roll over bar.

Also got a couple of gifts from Santa Claus. next years list will be bigger and more expensive 

[Ferrit]

my wife would roll her eyes if I showed her the mug :-)

[peteracs]

I was bought both the mug and the sign by a 'friend'......

Peter

[Ferrit]

I did say to her the other day I needed a new and bigger Vice.  She just looked at me...

[Ferrit]

How are you getting on Deks?

[deks]

Sorry Mark, I missed the comment from Feb. Many apologies.

[deks]

So, Been quiet for a while as haven't really been near the car other than to move it out of the way. This has been due to winter, waiting on electrician to upgrade garage power supply and purchase of a welder.

Got a welder from R-tech at the show in March which is now ready to go having got the gas last week. Mask is being delivered this week

[deks]

So Making a start on the repairs needed to structure of the car. Why start with a simple part when a difficult one will do

The front crossmember which I originally intended to replace but stocks are now not available so repair I shall. the outer repair patch was not connected to the inner structure hence the subframe will have been floating around I suspect given the state of the inner metal to which the bolt is fixed

I may come back to this later rather than now as I think this will need skills I haven't yet developed and will also give me time to look about and hope a new or at least much better condition one can be located.

[deks]

So. thinks getting complicated in my life now, bought about by my deciding to add to my Lancia ownership by buying a very nice HPE which I hope to take ownership of in the coming weeks. just waiting for seller to fix an issue he refused to let the car go with then arrange for transport.
Anyway back to topic. now I have my full kit for welding I thought I would start practicing welding, I have never welded before and so it's a lesson to be learnt. I have as you can see bought new and what I am lead to believe is a quality welder from R tech. 

I am nowhere near ready to start on the car both in ability and areas ready to be welded. Theres a lot of MOT passable welding to undo as well as tin worm

Here is my first and second goes at welding. the first was really poor given I pulled apart the two sheets of metal i thought I had welded

[Nigel]

Hi Steve,
I've also got an R-Tech, a 180. You've probably got the
updated version.
I started with 20% argon mix as it was the only version available
locally at the time. My results were below expectations for quite a while
until I replaced with 5% argon. I'm now getting much better at it!

Nigel

[deks]

Hi Steve,
I've also got an R-Tech, a 180. You've probably got the
updated version.
I started with 20% argon mix as it was the only version available
locally at the time. My results were below expectations for quite a while
until I replaced with 5% argon. I'm now getting much better at it!

Nigel

yes the 181 has a novice setting where you select wire size and metal thickness and it does the rest. I read up on your welding story and went for the 5% argon to start it was also recommended by a few others when I asked inc the supplier.  I am going to play a bit more before starting on the car. Ive had a few more goes since posting these pics following advise given. So far happy with my progress. Lets hope I pick up the fabrication side of it as quick 

[Ferrit]

Like my wallpapering, I bet you will be really good by the end of the project :-))))

[WestonE]

Good choice with the R-Tech. It is soo much better than the Clarke/Machine Mart items. Mine has let me get away with welds that would be impossible. Always check your settings on test pieces before doing real work. Thicker stuff is easier than thin for learning on.