Project Big Blue

good job mate, well done, looks bang on...

good looking job there!

Looking good. Really good job done on the welding. Not to upset you at this point but how are the sills?

stutab said:

Looking good. Really good job done on the welding. Not to upset you at this point but how are the sills?

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Cheers for the comments lads. At the minute the sills aren't to bad, i don't think they're original but judging by some of the bodges i've found i will probably have to tackle them at some point in the next year or two.

Update!

The old girl is all back together now. After purchasing a replacement panel from a follow LZ member it now looks like this.



Took a little bit of time to line it up and get it square but got there in the end. I found working from the corner to the door helped to push the panel round to close up the gap between it and the door.

Got a few other bits done as well. Namely installing the newly purchased diffguards, jate rings, clear indicators and swapping out the original worn bushes in the trailing arms for poly bush replacements. Couple of photos to back up my words:









Gave the front bumper a chop a couple of moths ago but i don't think i mentioned before now.

Unfortunately no pics of the bush replacement as i just completely forgot. I ended up going with the drill and burn technique then hacksawing through the outer sleeve.

Found out my radiator is lacking most of its fins so that will be getting replaced soon.

Next on the list is to knock up a cover to stop all me valuables in the boot from being on show. Oh and because of the mis match in colour i'll be giving the beast a new lick of paint, roller styley. Will be going with battleship grey Not quite sure how much to order though. Anybody who's painted there's, how much did you use?

Few other things in the pipeline are a straight through exhuast. Thinking side exit as well. Better intercooler then, tinker with fuel delivery just to get a little more umph out of the engine.

Thinks thats brought everything up to date now!

Cheers Ben

Rather than replacing the radiator, try and get the existing one re-cored. Mine was crumbling too so I looked around and unless you are going to get an expensive Aluminium one, the only OEM style radiators have plastic tanks glued (badly) onto the sides rather than the original style welded ones which seem to be as rare as rocking horse ****. Cost me £90 to get mine refurbished.

Nice one, top welding repairs

godzilla84 said:

Rather than replacing the radiator, try and get the existing one re-cored. Mine was crumbling too so I looked around and unless you are going to get an expensive Aluminium one, the only OEM style radiators have plastic tanks glued (badly) onto the sides rather than the original style welded ones which seem to be as rare as rocking horse ****. Cost me £90 to get mine refurbished.

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I ended up buying one off the same lad i got the panel from which is said to be in good nick. Hopefully it'll just be a case of swopping out the old out. Thanks for the advice though, it's always good to know alternatives

Bit of an update also. 5litres of battleship grey paint has been ordered (hopefully be enough). The question is do i roller or spray it????? My mate has agreed to swap me his compressor for my welder for a limited amount of time so i might take him up on the offer. Only thing i'm concerned about is i have no spraying experience (other than cans of paint), anybody got any pointers or handy tips they can give me? Cheers Ben

If you spray, make sure the paint is thinned correctly and dont to too eager to spray to much at once. Do complicated bits before flat panels... helps reduce runs

b3nc123 said:

Bit of an update also. 5litres of battleship grey paint has been ordered (hopefully be enough). The question is do i roller or spray it????? My mate has agreed to swap me his compressor for my welder for a limited amount of time so i might take him up on the offer. Only thing i'm concerned about is i have no spraying experience (other than cans of paint), anybody got any pointers or handy tips they can give me? Cheers Ben

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I used to spray cars for a living,what paint are you using,what spray gun and where are you spraying it to??

fishlander said:

I used to spray cars for a living,what paint are you using,what spray gun and where are you spraying it to??

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I bought a tin of this Military Vehicle Paint 2.5Ltr & 5Ltr Cans - All Colours | eBay in satin.

The compressor i can get my hands on is a petrol powered 5.5hp 200l tank one like this Neilson 200 Litre Petrol Compressor £515.00 - Compressor - Petrol Workshop and Garden Tools - generators compressors garden equipment

As for the spray gun i don't think it will be anything special, probably came with a standard set of air tools. Is there a vast difference in finish between different guns? The landy won't fit in the garage so it will have to be done outside unfortunately!

Gun wise gravity fed is best,the link does'nt say what type of paint it is,i.e 2pack,cellulose ect.Have you got a water trap for the compresser??

A bit further down the page it says 1PK which i assume means 1 pack? it also states *Spraying - Thin 10-15% with our Military Vehicle Thinner but i assume i could just use ordinary paint thinners? i'll have to ask my mate if it's gravity fed gun and bout the water trap.

b3nc123 said:

A bit further down the page it says 1PK which i assume means 1 pack? it also states *Spraying - Thin 10-15% with our Military Vehicle Thinner but i assume i could just use ordinary paint thinners? i'll have to ask my mate if it's gravity fed gun and bout the water trap.

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1 pack is is fine and also spraying outside.You will need the correct thinners,also make sure you spray it at between 20 and 25 deg C and allow 5 mins between coats to flash off.

Cool, thanks for the advice mate. Just looked at the paint thinners they recommend and it sounds pretty generic to me Military Vehicle Paint Thinner - 1 Ltr | eBay I have saved my old panel so i can do a test run before i start spraying in sight hopefully everything will got to plan...

RE - the water trap on the compressor is it a must have or can i get away without it if it doesn't come with one?

You can get away without, depends on what finish you are after as no water trap or filter and you will get bubbles and bits in the paint

stutab said:

you can get away without, depends on what finish you are after as no water trap or filter and you will get bubbles and bits in the paint

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+1

b3nc123 said:

Cool, thanks for the advice mate. Just looked at the paint thinners they recommend and it sounds pretty generic to me Military Vehicle Paint Thinner - 1 Ltr | eBay I have saved my old panel so i can do a test run before i start spraying in sight hopefully everything will got to plan...

RE - the water trap on the compressor is it a must have or can i get away without it if it doesn't come with one?

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Use some fish eye remover

Thor1950 said:

Use some fish eye remover

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Yes forgot panal wipe and tack rag and also wet the floor down before you spray it.