 Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:46 am Post subject: |
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| I've stripped the glass and interior out of a 33 to enter it in a demolition derby, but I never went as far as the electric window motors etc. I got all the glass out without busting any (except for one piece I deliberately smashed for fun), and I don't recall it being difficult.
But what I did do is cut the seals around the front and rear windows, since I had no intention of putting the car back together. How do you get a front windshield out of a series 1/2 without breaking anything? Mine has rust around it which really should be sorted before it gets bad. |
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| Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Hi Edward
Thanks for such a comprehensive reply. We did meet once, I don't know if you remember - I came over to talk about 16v engine swaps and you had a look at my rear disc conversion (I've got a red car, loud exhuast, private plates). I'm near Cardiff airport, close to Barry - I'm in regular contact with Alex about various stuff and might pop over to Clevedon to see him soon about some parts (you're just round the corner aren't you?). Thanks for the advice about the glass, just what I needed - I think I'd leave the screen to a professional windscreen company perhaps! I'll perhaps come anfd have a look at your car in the couple of weeks or so if thats ok? Thanks again Rich |
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| Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Rich,
Where abouts in south wales are you - I am just over the big bridge and need to go to Wales shortly. Always handy to know of people near by. I have stripped many cars down to bear rolling shells and built them back up as track cars. Stripping them is the easy bit. I try and make mine as light as possible to improve performance on the track. Saying that I do tend to leave most of the items in place on the underside. If you wanted to see a stripped working car then you could make your way over here. The engine is out of mine at present so can't come to you. To remove the black rubber and plastic from the window surrounds, the rubber just pulls out with a bit of careful tug. The black plastic is also a push fit and can be carefully levered / pulled away. I tend to use a flat bladed chizel to start with. There is also a metal divider if I remember, the ones that rust near to the bottom of the glass. They are held in with serated retaining screws at the top of the door, when looking down from above the door and a 10mm nut somewhere lower down. It could even be under the bottom edge of the door. For my cars I normally unbolt these and throw them away as I use polycarbonate later over the whole window frame. I hope that is the window guide you are talking about, as it may have been the one that holds the glass in place. That one is another technique. You have to take off all of the 10mm bolts and then with a bit of brute force push the stud and hole far enough apart to let the glass drop carefully into the door. you can then rotate the glass 45 degrees in the door and lift it out through the aperture that it normally fills. One you have done the first one the others are easy. With regards to looms, dashboards, brakepipes these are all fairly straight forward, unless you have a series 3 and the front screen is bonded in. This takes upto about 2 hours to carefully remove. I use a variety of blades and a serated cheesewire to cut through the bonding agent. There are also a couple of firm plastic blocks to cut through that are put there as spacers, between the glass and the frame. Series 2 cars are much easier and it is just a rubber gasket rolled over the glass and a metal rim. Let me know if you are serious and perhaps we can either speak on the phone or you can come and have a look at my mainly stripped car and I can talk you through the process. Edward. |
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| Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 2:16 pm Post subject: Anyone stripped a car to a bare shell? |
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| Hello all
I want to get my car resprayed in the near future and thought that the only way to really do it properly and eliminate all rust was to get the shell dipped. I've found a company that does it in Dudley, Birmingham(www.surfaceprocessing.co.uk) - their process gets rid of all paint and rust without hours of sanding etc. They can also galvanise the shell and other parts (cost is about £750). I would have thought that painting a bare ready prepared shell would be relatively cheap. I therefore wondered how easy it actually is to strip a car to a bare shell - how do you remove wiring looms, door glass, dash, brake pipes etc? I had a play with stripping a door and can see how to remove a lot of the stuff but how does the window guide come out? Any help would be greatly appreciated Ta Rich |
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