Bobs front end stripped down ,, start date 01/11/12

Well winter is here and like every winter the R comes off the road to have money thrown at it in bucket loads .

Since import in 2000 it has had a 3 year winter cycle
First winter was a hassle coz it had every thing done

WINTER 1. Centre floor pan strip underseal clean and reseal inside and out and replace things
i.e brake and fuel lines

WINTER 2.. Rear full strip of EVERYTHING remove underseal clean and reseal replace drop links ,brake lines , axle oils , etc

WINTER 3.. Front full strip of EVERYTHING bar engine remove underseal clean and reseal replace drop links , track rod ends , ball joints , Bushes etc

This winter it's the fronts turn again again
so planning on starting when the tax runs out .

My plan of action is to remove
Bumper , Wings , headlights etc
Then shocks , brakes , hubs , wishbones , anti roll bar, cusco 4 point brace , ETC
I have just orderd some DINITROL products for undersealing etc .
last time the front was done we had all the wishbones ,roll bar etc powder coated
See pic below



If im honest it hasn't lasted like i thought it would so im gonna strip em and hammerite them in gold


I Will update this thread as i strip down and rebuild and will keep you informed as to my tips of areas to clean and rust proof


These are the only pics i've taken from last years work

that looks like a very nice ex system rob
was it on the car when you bought it?

Bought the car from my freind who'd had it from import .
I had alot of imput when he was buying things and it was my idea to get the 3inch front pipe built
So yes it was on the car when i bought it .

Was built by pipewerx near burscough in lancashire cost about £350 from turbo to cat
Full 3inch front pipe .

Good luck mate, I'm just about to start the rear end of mine so any tips you can give? Any bolts or bits I should be replacing while its all down.

PARTS TO BUY
order new nissan clips for the metal brake lines they are pence each same as micra clips .
New drop links and anti roll bar bushes about £40
If your feeling flush rear axle bushes
Last year i put new discs pads and calipers on aswell as handbrake cables and brake lines
total for this lot was about £450
Decent rust protection . I always use dinitrol underbody wax/underseal and cavity wax

Only advice really is take your time and clean everything as you go .
Get it as high as you can if your working on the floor
Spray all the axle nuts and bolts with WD40 a couple of weeks before
Use a grinder with wire brush attachment to clean up once stripped and make sure you wear goggles

I wish i had: a) somewhere to do this, b) time to do this, c) the willingness to do it

Well it has begun...
Up on stands , Wheels off , Bumper off , wings off , headlights off , Brakes stripped , struts removed ,
Removed arch spats from wings .

Ordered new
Nissan oil filter ,
Fuchs Titan Race Pro S 10W-50 Ester Synthetic Engine Oil

Done abit more on this today but forgot to take any pictures until it was to late ..

Removed the sill covers . Checked the sills they are in mint condition .
(will take pics next time i take the car cover off)
Stripped the rest of the suspension down , cleaned , painted and refitted some of it .
Stripped the underseal off and prep'd it for re-sealing

The only pic of todays work was after i'd put the car back to bed

Nice work mate i take me hat of to you working out in the cold it was freezing today i was welding up a rover front end this afternoon after about an hour i couldnt feel me pinkies thank god i got aload of inside work next week lol what intercooler is that?

Did some more today
lovely and warm -2c when i went out this morning ..

Cleaned all the old underseal off the other day
So today gave the wheel arch a good coat of DINITROL





Gonna clean the sills and give them a coat of underseal before i put the side skirts back on



Clean'd the antiroll bar and gave it a coat of hammerite



Few pics of the underside





anybody wanting to buy the good stuff this is what you need

looking good matey. its bloody horrid working on the car in the cold. keep up the good work

Ive got a big tub of waxoyl black do you rate the dinitrol over the waxoly rob?

waxoil dries and eventually will crack allowing moisture under the underseal .. dinitrol has almost self healing properties and also never dries out fully . If it gets scratched it will blend back into itself and heal the scratch ..
I also use Dinitrol cavity wax

Oh bugger i got the wrong stuff then lol well i only undersealed it last year so il just redo it

Is that an rs 500 style front mount?

Really impressed with your efforts so far mate, sod working outside in this weather.

Its a pace front mount kit.. iirc it was about £800 .. Sits where the rad is supposed to be and Moves the rad backwards towards the turbo and has slim line fans to replace the standard fans ..

Never seen a bigger cooler on an R

Washed and then undersealed the sills




Bolted on the drivers wing on and started to rebuild the o/s/f
Gotta finish building it up then can turn it round and start on the passenger side

Next job is fit the suspension with new strut tops then the brakes etc ...

Looking good mate those seals look straight not seen a clean one like that for a while lol. ... You got new strut tops in the end with new bearings?

While i was cleaning i noticed i had scratched the wing

So got my painting head on and set about fixing my damage





I think i may have found somthing im really good at .
You can not tell the wing has been painted

That is the drivers side done .
Just need to wait for a wheel arch liner to turn up then once the passenger side rebuild is done put the ARB back on .....

Then i put her back to bed

lookin good fella I think we all wish we had the time n space to do this to ours

getting harder and harder to find the motivation to finish it before christmas was -3 when i went out this morning .
Looking more like it'l be feb before it's done

Its hard to just keep the motivation full stop let alone in the freezing cold you could always clear out the garage rob put a heater in there happy days

Bob. Great car and project writeup. It's really great to see someone go into detail with the rebuilding and pictures to explain. Really interested to follow in your footsteps and read the rest.

Jay

Well it's been 2 months since i even removed the covers from my Beast ..
I need to get on with it this month because i have a date in my diary for the start of the new time trial season .. first trial is the 3rd march ..
Watch this space boys ..

Its pretty much the same for me havnt done anything ...due to work commitments its amazing how months go by so quick .... what trials is it for rob ..?