S3 109 Safari project......

The top hat section was delivered today from YRM (great service as usual), which spurred me on to strip the second row floor down. I drilled out the rivets and spot welds holding the top hat ribs under the floor. Once it looked like Swiss cheese, I chiselled them off. I cut the new top hat sections to length, clamped them on and back drilled the holes through, securing with screw pins. After deburring and cleaning off the mating surfaces, the idea is to countersink the floor ready for csk rivets. Unfortunately I don’t have enough rivets, so will have to wait for them to arrive before completing.

Moving onto the crossmember, I took the old rusty one and screw pinned it back to back with the new one. This gave me a cut line to ensure the extension pieces will fit exactly when welded. After cutting, I cleaned up both surfaces, pinned them to the floor and welded the extension pieces onto the ‘new’ crossmember. I noticed a hole when cleaning it all up and dealt with that by welding in a section of fresh steel plate. After grinding the welds down flush, I gave it another rub down and painted it with Ku-Rust then galvanising primer. Looks fairly decent in my opinion. Better using what I have than spending a fortune on new bits….
I‘ll give it a couple of coats of black gloss paint once it all dries. So much work on something than will never be seen!!

After dealing with rust it was nice to fit a painted panel! Ive had the tunnel reinforcement for ages, so I ordered some new screws and washers, installed the dum dum on the back and screwed it on. Very satisfying!

Got back onto the second row floor today. I primed and painted the crossmember to get it ready for fitting to the floor. While that was drying, I countersunk the 3 strengtheners to fit countersunk rivets. Once I was happy with that, I put some purflex 40 onto all the mating surfaces to create a barrier and seal between the two different materials. A few pop rivets and 15 minutes later they were fitted.
I did the same with the crossmember and riveted it on too. I refitted the rubber pads too and that was it pretty much done. Or it would be if I hadn’t run out of rivets . Ordered some from Kay’s fasteners and they were delivered today, so top service as usual. Would thoroughly recommend them for stuff like that.

Back on bodywork today and moved onto the rear sill quarter panels. I started by sanding the paint back and uncovered some corrosion and minor holes on the front face. Obviously that can’t be filled as is, so I used some alloy plate and bonded it onto the back, then riveted the front face to ensure it never moves. I made the countersink deep enough to fill the heads of the rivets so you can’t see them. The minor holes filled nicely too. I used aluminised filler as it is much stronger than standard filler. Think it looks quite good. I dry fitted them after the repair and they fitted fine. I also had to trim the retaining lip for the door seals as I’m fitting defender ones. Ready for paint now

I've tried Tig filling but there's too much absorbed junk, but I have found the aluminium repair rods that you use a propane plumbers gas torch to fill holes and do quite good repairs on the aluminium. I've even filled a hole in the gearbox bell housing with them,and the finished result was undetectable.
Moving along well for you.

Wagon Loon said:

I've tried Tig filling but there's too much absorbed junk, but I have found the aluminium repair rods that you use a propane plumbers gas torch to fill holes and do quite good repairs on the aluminium. I've even filled a hole in the gearbox bell housing with them,and the finished result was undetectable.
Moving along well for you.

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I agree that filling with tig or gas would be better for this repair, but the situation I’m in with my garage means I don’t want to invest in new tools or materials and I’m time limited to get the Landy finished. I could buy new ones at over £80 each, but I’m not going to! . This repair will be fine for now and arguably much stronger than original. It is using the same type of aluminium sheet as original and the rivets are aluminium so should not have any differential corrosion issues. It looks a bit Frankenstein from the back but it won’t be seen anyway .

Been busy in the background, doing the prep work on the second row floor, toe board, tunnel and miscellaneous bits….
Got the painted bits back started putting it all together

Waiting on some floor fixings to fit the second row floor, but to do this I’ll need to drill the holes for the rear row of holes as the seat support panel doesn’t come with them. Must admit I’m not keen on drilling freshly painted panels but it has to be done

At least you are cracking on, mine is on hold at the end of the queue for available time, and money, at the moment

My 109 is waiting for me to finish the chassis and rebuild her. Although she was always intended as a retirement project, and I'm busy porting and polishing a new cylinder head for my 300 TDI pick-up after the head gasket started to go. However we're about to shopping in Gigi the 1974 S3, and she's always a joy to drive, and you will hopefully be driving aboot I na time at all

BikerB said:

At least you are cracking on, mine is on hold at the end of the queue for available time, and money, at the moment

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It’s always a juggling act, but you’ll get there. My deadline of losing my shed by August is driving me just now

Wagon Loon said:

My 109 is waiting for me to finish the chassis and rebuild her. Although she was always intended as a retirement project, and I'm busy porting and polishing a new cylinder head for my 300 TDI pick-up after the head gasket started to go. However we're about to shopping in Gigi the 1974 S3, and she's always a joy to drive, and you will hopefully be driving aboot I na time at all View attachment 312047

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Yeah, I must admit I’m really looking forward to the first engine start, then the first drive, then getting the kids out in it. I have to have it done by August, so fingers crossed I don’t hit too many stumbling blocks along the way….

I'm sure you will be driving about in no time, assuming you can find where you put all the bits . As you say it's the prep that takes most of the time, so hopefully it will be downhill from here on

Okay, so a bit more progress with the second row floor. I finally sorted out some fixings which along with the dum dum sealant allowed me to get it fitted. Obviously I had to drill through the rear step lip as that’s new material and you fit speed clips on it. I used a couple of rows of sealant to make sure that the rear floor won’t leak .

Next along were the small side panels

Thought I would try the seat box in but it’s not sitting just right. Think it needs some fettling! Just wondering if anyone has had any similar issues? I see that the seatbox is sitting on the chassis - see photo. Is that correct? As I don’t remember if it did when I removed it, help would be appreciated!

Finally, I was looking for some feedback on the finish of the second row grab handle! I had it galvanised, but the original colour is painted grey. Should I keep it galvanised finish or paint it?

I would keep the galv finish, if it looks good. You can clear coat then make it flat.
Just going to get pics of my 88 sear box which I rebuilt recently.

Thanks, appreciate the photos and the feedback. Does your seatbox bolt through onto the chassis bracket?