Chevette Project

Bet you're glad you were wearing glasses too! ;)

Serves you right for tinkering with the manta 3 hours before an exam :p We're sooooo close to getting the engine started.. I think if we were given an hour tops and she'd be purring (or growling with a lack of exhaust!)
 
Wow, didn't realise how long it was since I posted in this thread. The engine was running a month or two ago, very loudly since all the silencers have holes a good 3" square rusted in the bottom of them. It does move under it's own power now though. I've also learnt to weld kind of poorly since I started this project. We've found 8 or 9 bits of rust which need patching. 2*wing tops where the outer and inner wings bolt together, 2*floor patches, a patch between the footwell and A-panel, two patches in the sills and one near the fuel tank. Of those I've done the first 3.5.

One of the wing tops. Painted up in hammerite rust beater. Think I might have to put a top coat on that.

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The A-panel.

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The O/S which is half done.

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Still soldiering on. My target to get it finished is the 8th of august when the MOT on the Chevette runs out and that gets the same treatment. Then I need to start swaping engines about. It's certainly been a hell of a learning experience so far and I've got the confidence to tackle a few more jobs on the car now.
 
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One more picture that didn't fit in my last post. Todays welding, not too tidy, but seems to do the job.

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Also is there any chance a passing mod could change the thread title to "Manta/Chevette Project" please? Wouldn't want too mislead people now would we.
 
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I'll race you to the end!

A word of warning with that Hammerite rust beater, my panel wipe (which is a weak solvent that's not designed to soften primer when you wipe it over before topcoating) takes that stuff clean off. Basically I'm questioning how suitable it is to have underneath other paint as I don't think it sticks on too well and will probably leach into the paint you put on top.
 
Genuine question. Since you're swapping the engine, would it not be better to stick something in that pushes out a few more ponies? 90bhp is dire.

Or maybe I'm just not getting it?

Looks like an awesome project :cool:
 
Scuzi said:
Genuine question. Since you're swapping the engine, would it not be better to stick something in that pushes out a few more ponies? 90bhp is dire.

Or maybe I'm just not getting it?

Looks like an awesome project :cool:
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tut scuzi its not like you not to read the whole thread, its only two pages! :p
 
Id sooner use some rust eater after abrading all the loose rust off with a drill/wire brush and using some zinc primer like davids 182. Dries like a rock. Then cover with something like Hammerite underseal (the one with the added waxoyl)
 
I'm always paranoid about paint coming off. Invest in decent acid-etch primer, it's well worth it. Much more economical to get it in a large tin and spray it through a compresser and gun though, the aerosol ones don't last very long.
 
Biffa said:
tut scuzi its not like you not to read the whole thread, its only two pages! :p
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/goes back over thread without skim reading...

Oh yeah :o
Sorry, I didn't notice that!
 
ci_newman said:
Come on dave, get cracking :p Only 14 days til the MOT runs out on the shuv..

Sell the manta, buy an MR2.. you know you want to ;) :D
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Heh, go on then, I'll swap you.

TBH I know nothing about paint. What I'm doing at the moment is trying to keep the rust at bay as much as possible. As you can see from the first pictures there's a lot of other painting do do as well as just sealing up my welding. Is acid etch the best stuff to use then?

My house mate as a 3HP compressor so I could get a spray gun and give the rest of the stuff I do a going over with that. I've been using zinc weld through primer on the under side of these repairs where I won't have access once the welding is done. *Goes and looks up davids 182*
 
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Fantastic little project there, I almost picked a Viva from ebay, but ended up getting my Spitfire. :)

I hope the rust doesn't prove too much hard work (never had all that rust to deal with personally) and when she is going again and looking good, I'll race you in my Spitfire :) (though I'll probably lose haha)
 
w000000000000000000000000000t!!!

Passed the MOT today :D :D :D .

Advisories on condensation in the head lamps and worn ARB bushes and a rusty rear arch. It's made me a very happy bunny. Now all I need to do is get some paint on it so it has a chance of passing next year. I seem to be having auto-choke problems too, on the way home it would start idling at 2000rpm for no apparent reason, not sure what that's about. I'll try and get a weber on there ASAP and that should get me more power, a manual choke and better MPG.

It's now running calipers from a Calibra and vented disks from a Carlton so the brakes should be a lot better than the standard ones, plus one of them isn't seized.

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I need to get a gearlever gaitor before I die of CO poisoning too:D.
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Might have to start doing some work on the Chevette again soon.
 
Legendary skillz0rs there.

Like HTW and I said on RR - cover it in ankhor wax and rock the GM Hoodride look ;)

*n
 
penski said:
Legendary skillz0rs there.

Like HTW and I said on RR - cover it in ankhor wax and rock the GM Hoodride look ;)

*n
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It would then fit in with all of the other cars living at his house and estate :D

Looking good Dave, just dont give up on the Shuv!!
 
I think I'll just paint it at some point. I'm still not convinced of the brilliance of this ankhor wax stuff. My petrol gauge seems to have died at some point as well, should make actually driving places a bit scary:s.
 
on the way home it would start idling at 2000rpm
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Air leaks into the vacuum side of the induction system are just about the most common cause of high idle speed - could be worth looking into :)

Spray WD40 or similar on the inlet manifold, gaskets, rubber joints and so on - if it settles down then that could be the issue. Might be that a rubber hose has split somewhere too.
 
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Lashout_UK said:
Air leaks into the vacuum side of the induction system are just about the most common cause of high idle speed - could be worth looking into :)
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The idle's settled down a bit now having clocked up 2000 miles.

That however is inconsequential as I have now bought a cav SRi ready to donate an engine to the manta cause. Soon it'll be running 130bhp, not a huge amount but it's pretty much a 50% increase. It'll also provide a better fuel economy and have no crappy carb to worry about. Yay:D.
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So the chevette project's going well really. It's still sitting in the garage, but now I've realised just how rotten it is and I can't be bothered to fix it:(, the manta was getting done when I was conveniently unemployed.

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Incidentally, I found an ignition barrel in the hole in the last picture, I'm not quite sure how it got there, but it was very rusty.
 
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