RS3100 restoration
RS3100 restoration
well, I have been lurking long enough, so I thought I would contribute with a restoration thread...or actually, the finishing of a restoration!
A little bit of back ground...
I've had my RS3100 for 7 or 8 years now, purchased way before the prices got out of hand. It was a sound car with an MOT and I had it on the road for a number of years. I always knew I wanted to restore the car to it's former glory, as it was beginning to show it''s age and a few issues would need attending to. This was going to be a full strip, soda blast back to the bare metal and start from there.
Here at the AVO show when it was at Stanford hall. This is the Ford owned capri 280 and the guy standing there is Jeremy Walton, author of a few capri books
Looks really nice!
but in detail getting a little dog eared..
plus some other issues that I knew about, so let the strip down begin!
Floors pretty good, but some interesting patches in the normal places
front passenger foot well
looks good so far..but the wings and top plates have to come off:
oh dear, knew this was coming, indicated by local swelling of the top plates:
These can hide a lot of issues. Ok on top, but underneath..
inner strengtheners removed..
the whole front end looking a little sad..
rust lurking under the rear panel
so the next step, lets get it soda blasted and see what that reveals...more soon!
Once a shell is down to this level, it can actually be lifted by two people, one at each end.
A little bit of back ground...
I've had my RS3100 for 7 or 8 years now, purchased way before the prices got out of hand. It was a sound car with an MOT and I had it on the road for a number of years. I always knew I wanted to restore the car to it's former glory, as it was beginning to show it''s age and a few issues would need attending to. This was going to be a full strip, soda blast back to the bare metal and start from there.
Here at the AVO show when it was at Stanford hall. This is the Ford owned capri 280 and the guy standing there is Jeremy Walton, author of a few capri books
Looks really nice!
but in detail getting a little dog eared..
plus some other issues that I knew about, so let the strip down begin!
Floors pretty good, but some interesting patches in the normal places
front passenger foot well
looks good so far..but the wings and top plates have to come off:
oh dear, knew this was coming, indicated by local swelling of the top plates:
These can hide a lot of issues. Ok on top, but underneath..
inner strengtheners removed..
the whole front end looking a little sad..
rust lurking under the rear panel
so the next step, lets get it soda blasted and see what that reveals...more soon!
Once a shell is down to this level, it can actually be lifted by two people, one at each end.
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Re: RS3100 restoration
Yours is probably the first RS 3100 on the forum? looks nice even before the restoration
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Re: RS3100 restoration
Hi,
Beautiful car. It looked nice enough before, I can't wait to see the "after" photos!
Andrew.
Beautiful car. It looked nice enough before, I can't wait to see the "after" photos!
Andrew.
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Re: RS3100 restoration
Very nice car you have there. Quite a few threads making me jealous recently!
I'm shocked by the strut tops appearing in such good condition, hiding the sin underneath. I daren't look at mine!
Very interested to see the progress, please do keep us up to date.
I'm shocked by the strut tops appearing in such good condition, hiding the sin underneath. I daren't look at mine!
Very interested to see the progress, please do keep us up to date.
Re: RS3100 restoration
now at the soda blasters, here is the sight that greeted when I arrived:
turning the car over...
Looking preety good at this point. A few areas to be repaired, but no huge suprises here!
Overall, very please with the process and the condition of the car. This should dispel any doubts about soda blasting removing sealer and underseal. This car was covered in at underneath, but you would never know it looking at these pictures.
Here's a video of the process.
The first stage is just fine soda, almost like talcum poder. This takes the paint off, but not the rust. You can see how it leaves the panel, compared with the area underneath that as also be blasted with a more aggressive media to key the surface and clean way any rust. Notice how the angle of the nozel is kept mostly at a very low angle to the body work. Even with this process, you can damage panels if you are careless, but with sand blasting, due to it being far more aggressive, panel damage can occur due to careless use and pure heat build up in a panel. Touching this panel the second the soda was turned off revealed a cold panel, no heat build up whatsoever.
Here you can see rust around the holes for the fake vents. This will be cleaned off with a more aggressive media:
Here is the general view of restore a ford. they have since moved.
Lots going on, with 2 RS3100's nearly completed, an escort mexico, 2 mk3 capris and a Mk 1 GXL capri. Elsewhere there is another RS3100 awaiting attention and a mk 1 granada estate awaiting an epic rebuild. Stuart also has three other personal projects that he never really gets time to work on.
another view. To the right is the spray booth.
so here is my car, all etch primed up and looking pretty good..
There are lots of small areas that have come to light, as well as damage. You can see some perforation where the screen pillar meets the scuttle, so this will be opened up for investigation. You can also see a dent on the screen pillar.
Here you can see some leaded repairs to the wheel arch, so not as clean as the other side, still excellent considering the cars age!
Not really visible is that the seam where the rear quarter joins the wing is holed, so where the panel forms a flange that fold horizontally to meet the top of the sill, there is some corrosion to the extent that the flange doesn't really exist, so this flange will be remade when the new sills go on.
The inside has been blasted and primed as well. some light coming in at the passenger side at the end of the sill. The sills will actually be replaced, inner and outer, as they are ok, but the flanges where they meet are swelling, so as I'm not planning on doing this again, the sills are coming off.
More smaller areas to be done, but to be expected..
I was concerned about how the roof had been fitted, but other than just being tacked here...not a big issue to correct, really happy with these
It's difficult to see but there are some sizable dents in the bonnet on the passenger side. I could start looking for a new bonnet, but being such a big panel, these are easily damaged. I've bought two bonnets for my mk 2 capri, only to find they have lots of ripples in them due to bad storage, so I'll keep an eye out for another bonnet. I could find a second hand one that once blasted, could be worse than mine, while my one has the merits of otherwise being fine and rot free, so pending another excellent bonnet coming up, then plan is to repair this one.
Finally, and difficult to photograph, both rear quarters have very subtle dents below and to the rear of the rear quarter windows, so these will be looking at. My fear of having to replace rear quarters has been placated, as otherwise, these are very good. With rear quarters fetching up to 2k a side, this would put a serious dent in my budget if these were needed.
Drivres side sill and bottom of the A post. the decision was made to replace this bottom section and the whole inner sills. I've used original Ford outer sills, express steel panels inners, which really are an excellent fit.
Here the inner sill is off and the scuttle to A post flange has been rebuilt, ready for the new A post lower section
while here's the area where the scuttle and floor overlap, so this needs cutting out and remaking..
all done. Should look pretty original here, as Stuart has recreated the overlapping edges as per the original panels.
another multi layered area, the seat mount..
spt welds drilled out to release the reinforcing plate below.
and the rusty metal cut out
New plate welded in and reinforcing plate underneath re-spot welded into place
Another area at the back, just forward of the front rear spring mount. Another double layered area. This one has a large patch over it in the original photos.
so once again, cut out the rot.
and replace with new.
New inner sill in place
but the base of the outer wheel housing needs attention as well.
so this is dealt with before the new outer sill can go on
new inner sill from inside the car
New outer sill in place along with the A post repair panel, sourced from express steel panels. All the welds are but welds, so they can be ground down and new and old metal blended into one..
Another view of the outer sill. The bottom rear quarter to sill flange has been remade, butt welded with the thinest skim of filler to make the finish perfect.
It's a similar story on the passenger side, so lower A post and sills, plus small floor repairs..
off with the inner sill..
The same story with the seat mount..
New metal and bottom plate re-spot welded into place..
and a similar repair at the back, forward of the rear spring front mount..
and then this mess in the passenger side foot well. I say mess, but I'm sure most have seen a lot worse!
Sections cut out, including another small section.
and the floor to scuttle seam recreated.
inner sill now in.
and finally outer sill
Follwed by the lower A post repair panel
Anoter area of pin holes on the drivers side A post...
Cut it out and replace
Finally, the roof drilled and plug welded to attach it more securely at these points:
Passenger side strut top. Removing the top strengthener plate revealed an issue underneath, so this needs cutting out..
so this was cut out, all the rust you can see was removed, weld through primer applied and a new plate butt welded into place. Stuart does his repairs like this as they create an invisible repair and leaves no place for rust to hide as can happen if lapped repairs are carried out.
and the repair in place
Here you can see thatt the inner wing stiffener has lifted (the battery tray is on the other side of this) and as ever has created a rust trap. Quite a common capri issue.
so off it comes. Oh dear...
Hmm, this won't be going back on then!
From inside the engine bay with the battery tray removed. There is another repair near the chassis rail. This will be sorted out soon as well.
So the whole section is cut out. You can also see that the reinforcing section below needs attention. the other side of the patch you can see in the previous photo...
A new section is made up and welded into place...
and a new strengthener made up to match the original panel. This will be plug welded into place, with the welds matching the placing of the original welds
strengthener in place
Now that section of the inner wing to chassis section is cut off...
inside the section of chassis and it really is in great condition in there!
The front valance/panel and front box section has been removed. The front panel will be going back on, as it's in great condition, not to mention new ones going for £500 plus!
New half of the cross member in place. It's all primed and sealed, just as Ford would have done. Had they been bothered! />/>
This shows the new fromnt half of the cross me,ber in place. It's not welded to the drivers side inner wing just yet, as we are look at replacing the inner wing on that side, as it's quite a bit worse than the passenger side.
Cross member spot welded in place.
turning the car over...
Looking preety good at this point. A few areas to be repaired, but no huge suprises here!
Overall, very please with the process and the condition of the car. This should dispel any doubts about soda blasting removing sealer and underseal. This car was covered in at underneath, but you would never know it looking at these pictures.
Here's a video of the process.
The first stage is just fine soda, almost like talcum poder. This takes the paint off, but not the rust. You can see how it leaves the panel, compared with the area underneath that as also be blasted with a more aggressive media to key the surface and clean way any rust. Notice how the angle of the nozel is kept mostly at a very low angle to the body work. Even with this process, you can damage panels if you are careless, but with sand blasting, due to it being far more aggressive, panel damage can occur due to careless use and pure heat build up in a panel. Touching this panel the second the soda was turned off revealed a cold panel, no heat build up whatsoever.
Here you can see rust around the holes for the fake vents. This will be cleaned off with a more aggressive media:
Here is the general view of restore a ford. they have since moved.
Lots going on, with 2 RS3100's nearly completed, an escort mexico, 2 mk3 capris and a Mk 1 GXL capri. Elsewhere there is another RS3100 awaiting attention and a mk 1 granada estate awaiting an epic rebuild. Stuart also has three other personal projects that he never really gets time to work on.
another view. To the right is the spray booth.
so here is my car, all etch primed up and looking pretty good..
There are lots of small areas that have come to light, as well as damage. You can see some perforation where the screen pillar meets the scuttle, so this will be opened up for investigation. You can also see a dent on the screen pillar.
Here you can see some leaded repairs to the wheel arch, so not as clean as the other side, still excellent considering the cars age!
Not really visible is that the seam where the rear quarter joins the wing is holed, so where the panel forms a flange that fold horizontally to meet the top of the sill, there is some corrosion to the extent that the flange doesn't really exist, so this flange will be remade when the new sills go on.
The inside has been blasted and primed as well. some light coming in at the passenger side at the end of the sill. The sills will actually be replaced, inner and outer, as they are ok, but the flanges where they meet are swelling, so as I'm not planning on doing this again, the sills are coming off.
More smaller areas to be done, but to be expected..
I was concerned about how the roof had been fitted, but other than just being tacked here...not a big issue to correct, really happy with these
It's difficult to see but there are some sizable dents in the bonnet on the passenger side. I could start looking for a new bonnet, but being such a big panel, these are easily damaged. I've bought two bonnets for my mk 2 capri, only to find they have lots of ripples in them due to bad storage, so I'll keep an eye out for another bonnet. I could find a second hand one that once blasted, could be worse than mine, while my one has the merits of otherwise being fine and rot free, so pending another excellent bonnet coming up, then plan is to repair this one.
Finally, and difficult to photograph, both rear quarters have very subtle dents below and to the rear of the rear quarter windows, so these will be looking at. My fear of having to replace rear quarters has been placated, as otherwise, these are very good. With rear quarters fetching up to 2k a side, this would put a serious dent in my budget if these were needed.
Drivres side sill and bottom of the A post. the decision was made to replace this bottom section and the whole inner sills. I've used original Ford outer sills, express steel panels inners, which really are an excellent fit.
Here the inner sill is off and the scuttle to A post flange has been rebuilt, ready for the new A post lower section
while here's the area where the scuttle and floor overlap, so this needs cutting out and remaking..
all done. Should look pretty original here, as Stuart has recreated the overlapping edges as per the original panels.
another multi layered area, the seat mount..
spt welds drilled out to release the reinforcing plate below.
and the rusty metal cut out
New plate welded in and reinforcing plate underneath re-spot welded into place
Another area at the back, just forward of the front rear spring mount. Another double layered area. This one has a large patch over it in the original photos.
so once again, cut out the rot.
and replace with new.
New inner sill in place
but the base of the outer wheel housing needs attention as well.
so this is dealt with before the new outer sill can go on
new inner sill from inside the car
New outer sill in place along with the A post repair panel, sourced from express steel panels. All the welds are but welds, so they can be ground down and new and old metal blended into one..
Another view of the outer sill. The bottom rear quarter to sill flange has been remade, butt welded with the thinest skim of filler to make the finish perfect.
It's a similar story on the passenger side, so lower A post and sills, plus small floor repairs..
off with the inner sill..
The same story with the seat mount..
New metal and bottom plate re-spot welded into place..
and a similar repair at the back, forward of the rear spring front mount..
and then this mess in the passenger side foot well. I say mess, but I'm sure most have seen a lot worse!
Sections cut out, including another small section.
and the floor to scuttle seam recreated.
inner sill now in.
and finally outer sill
Follwed by the lower A post repair panel
Anoter area of pin holes on the drivers side A post...
Cut it out and replace
Finally, the roof drilled and plug welded to attach it more securely at these points:
Passenger side strut top. Removing the top strengthener plate revealed an issue underneath, so this needs cutting out..
so this was cut out, all the rust you can see was removed, weld through primer applied and a new plate butt welded into place. Stuart does his repairs like this as they create an invisible repair and leaves no place for rust to hide as can happen if lapped repairs are carried out.
and the repair in place
Here you can see thatt the inner wing stiffener has lifted (the battery tray is on the other side of this) and as ever has created a rust trap. Quite a common capri issue.
so off it comes. Oh dear...
Hmm, this won't be going back on then!
From inside the engine bay with the battery tray removed. There is another repair near the chassis rail. This will be sorted out soon as well.
So the whole section is cut out. You can also see that the reinforcing section below needs attention. the other side of the patch you can see in the previous photo...
A new section is made up and welded into place...
and a new strengthener made up to match the original panel. This will be plug welded into place, with the welds matching the placing of the original welds
strengthener in place
Now that section of the inner wing to chassis section is cut off...
inside the section of chassis and it really is in great condition in there!
The front valance/panel and front box section has been removed. The front panel will be going back on, as it's in great condition, not to mention new ones going for £500 plus!
New half of the cross member in place. It's all primed and sealed, just as Ford would have done. Had they been bothered! />/>
This shows the new fromnt half of the cross me,ber in place. It's not welded to the drivers side inner wing just yet, as we are look at replacing the inner wing on that side, as it's quite a bit worse than the passenger side.
Cross member spot welded in place.
Re: RS3100 restoration
These are some photos I took while delivery a new inner wing. The drivers side really need a lot of repairs, so the decision was made to replace it.
Rebuilding the top rear section of the inner wing where it meets the scuttle area
and further along on the inner wing up to the soon to be wing hanging rail.
New battery tray and tray support in.
Another area repairer where the scuttle ends curve around and go vertically down. You can just see the welds at the bottom of the vertical part where it meets the spot welded seam. And of course, another small section to repair
The passenger arch cut out, so this and the area where the rear quarter joins the sill will be replaced. The outer wheel house will have to be repaired first, however.
Bottom of the inner wing now all repaired. This reinforcing section was cut off (see pictures in the previous post) and separated from the panel behind (what was left of it) and repaired. The panel behind all repaired with new metal and the reinforcing section re-welded back to the car to create a seamless repair. It's this sort of thing that makes Restore a fords work top notch in my eyes.
Driver side inner wing shows a very similar patch as we found on the passenger side. Due to many other issues with this panel, the whole inner wing will be replaced on this side. It's just far more economic.
Just one of the areas that means the inner wing will be replaced. If it was just this area, it would be repaired, but there are a lot of issues dotted around the wing, so while I'm all for keeping as much as the original shell as possible, this just made sense as I'd picked up a new panel recently.
Another area to be repaired, along with replacing the wing hanging rail. This was full of lead.
Rebuilding the top rear section of the inner wing where it meets the scuttle area
and further along on the inner wing up to the soon to be wing hanging rail.
New battery tray and tray support in.
Another area repairer where the scuttle ends curve around and go vertically down. You can just see the welds at the bottom of the vertical part where it meets the spot welded seam. And of course, another small section to repair
The passenger arch cut out, so this and the area where the rear quarter joins the sill will be replaced. The outer wheel house will have to be repaired first, however.
Bottom of the inner wing now all repaired. This reinforcing section was cut off (see pictures in the previous post) and separated from the panel behind (what was left of it) and repaired. The panel behind all repaired with new metal and the reinforcing section re-welded back to the car to create a seamless repair. It's this sort of thing that makes Restore a fords work top notch in my eyes.
Driver side inner wing shows a very similar patch as we found on the passenger side. Due to many other issues with this panel, the whole inner wing will be replaced on this side. It's just far more economic.
Just one of the areas that means the inner wing will be replaced. If it was just this area, it would be repaired, but there are a lot of issues dotted around the wing, so while I'm all for keeping as much as the original shell as possible, this just made sense as I'd picked up a new panel recently.
Another area to be repaired, along with replacing the wing hanging rail. This was full of lead.
Re: RS3100 restoration
the inner wing has been blasted and etch primed, so re assembly time. It was a new panel, but very surfacy...lots of surface rust, so it was dis assembled and blast cleaned.
Inner wing all etched..
and the kit of parts that make up the inner wing
all welded back together
Top plate ready to be refitted...
and it's back on. The way the panels line up is out of out control really, but left it as Ford left it!
Fianally all done! Probably the best [protected inner wing out there, assembled with weld through primer and etched primed throughout.
So now for the inner wing to come off..
Certainly some rust in there...
so cleaned up and primed
but before the inner wing goes on, this needs sorting out first!
Inner wing all etched..
and the kit of parts that make up the inner wing
all welded back together
Top plate ready to be refitted...
and it's back on. The way the panels line up is out of out control really, but left it as Ford left it!
Fianally all done! Probably the best [protected inner wing out there, assembled with weld through primer and etched primed throughout.
So now for the inner wing to come off..
Certainly some rust in there...
so cleaned up and primed
but before the inner wing goes on, this needs sorting out first!
Re: RS3100 restoration
The inner wing is now on..
and time to test fit the outer panels...
The wings are just held on with self tappers
The rails will be properly repaired.
....and everything looks really good. It appears to be freaking Stuart out, as normally, just placing the panels on, no panels held under tension using grips etc, it doesn't normally happen. Clearly, given the good/bad balance of the universe, someone must be having a pig of a time somewhere else in the world aligning these panels! />
top of the A post, rust cut out
and a repair plate let in...
Then there was this rust damage to the scuttle/windscreen pillar area
This is a multi layered area, so cutting the top layer off reveled more rust
which needed to be cut out
lower layer rebuilt...
and then to top layer repaired...
Another area earmarked for repair
removed...
replaced
The wings, while they looked good on the car were badly pitted and tere was even some perforation going on...that wont do!
so in true restore a ford fashion, the effected area was cut out and new section made
very neat job
The wing rail also needed repairing, so the bad areas cut out..
and new metal let in..
and before the repaired wing goes on, time to seam seal the under wing area
Same issue on the drivers side wing...
so once again, a repair panel made up...
and all neatly butt welded in place
Stuart is very good at making these panels, replicating the original folded over seam and dressing the welds in the back of the wing as well..
Dificult to tell, but my bonnet, while sound, corrosion wise, had a number of dents, so very serious, so Stuart has been pulling them out, using a spot welder that welds a stout wire to the panel, allowing him to pull dents out. It's a long process. You have to chose your pulling points carefully, trying to reverse the damage in the right order..
and finally, while I was drinking beer in Germany, Stuart was getting the wings back on and finishing off the bonnet work. There appears to be a lot of filler here, but it's extremely thin.
Here we have the inner rear arch wheel house repaired...
and this is how Stuarts gets those factory correct rear quarter to sill joins...plus the outer arch repaired. Obviously Stuart has run out of paper at the new place, so I'll have to bring him down a note pad to use!
arch all done, but quite a lot of damage on this panel which has taken some effort to get sorted.
but it's nearly there
Now Stuarts just showing off. These gaps are clearly manufactured. Ford didn't get them as good!
the metalwork is almost done, so time to seal up the seams underneath. I know it's not original, but this car is to drive and I don't want water/moisture getting into these seams and ruining all the good work.
so next up, get it ready for priming
and as Stuart said, looking sweeeet!
Once the outside is primed, time to get the anti drum pads in and ready to paint the inside...
and time to test fit the outer panels...
The wings are just held on with self tappers
The rails will be properly repaired.
....and everything looks really good. It appears to be freaking Stuart out, as normally, just placing the panels on, no panels held under tension using grips etc, it doesn't normally happen. Clearly, given the good/bad balance of the universe, someone must be having a pig of a time somewhere else in the world aligning these panels! />
top of the A post, rust cut out
and a repair plate let in...
Then there was this rust damage to the scuttle/windscreen pillar area
This is a multi layered area, so cutting the top layer off reveled more rust
which needed to be cut out
lower layer rebuilt...
and then to top layer repaired...
Another area earmarked for repair
removed...
replaced
The wings, while they looked good on the car were badly pitted and tere was even some perforation going on...that wont do!
so in true restore a ford fashion, the effected area was cut out and new section made
very neat job
The wing rail also needed repairing, so the bad areas cut out..
and new metal let in..
and before the repaired wing goes on, time to seam seal the under wing area
Same issue on the drivers side wing...
so once again, a repair panel made up...
and all neatly butt welded in place
Stuart is very good at making these panels, replicating the original folded over seam and dressing the welds in the back of the wing as well..
Dificult to tell, but my bonnet, while sound, corrosion wise, had a number of dents, so very serious, so Stuart has been pulling them out, using a spot welder that welds a stout wire to the panel, allowing him to pull dents out. It's a long process. You have to chose your pulling points carefully, trying to reverse the damage in the right order..
and finally, while I was drinking beer in Germany, Stuart was getting the wings back on and finishing off the bonnet work. There appears to be a lot of filler here, but it's extremely thin.
Here we have the inner rear arch wheel house repaired...
and this is how Stuarts gets those factory correct rear quarter to sill joins...plus the outer arch repaired. Obviously Stuart has run out of paper at the new place, so I'll have to bring him down a note pad to use!
arch all done, but quite a lot of damage on this panel which has taken some effort to get sorted.
but it's nearly there
Now Stuarts just showing off. These gaps are clearly manufactured. Ford didn't get them as good!
the metalwork is almost done, so time to seal up the seams underneath. I know it's not original, but this car is to drive and I don't want water/moisture getting into these seams and ruining all the good work.
so next up, get it ready for priming
and as Stuart said, looking sweeeet!
Once the outside is primed, time to get the anti drum pads in and ready to paint the inside...
Re: RS3100 restoration
back to the booth on the roll over jig to apply stone chip onto the underside. Notice how Stuart masks up the edges of the lower panels as well to protect them.
and then on top of that, we have colour!
colour under the arches..
and of course, inside!
and the boot area:
and right undermeath the rear parcel shelf
Well, Stuart has been busy. He's got the axle and springs on and all painted (these were blasted with the shell what seems like a looong time ago. Looking good now. I hope he doesn't actually put it on while the car is at this angle!
He's also painted the engine bay, making sure it gets paint everywhere you can see and all those places you can't:
Masked up and ready to go:
then for the top coats!
Looking very nice. I went down to have a look and drop off the petrol flap, so a few more pictures, We unwrapped the engine bay there and then and it was all looking superb in the flesh!
and a birds eye view...one of my doors in the background.
and then on top of that, we have colour!
colour under the arches..
and of course, inside!
and the boot area:
and right undermeath the rear parcel shelf
Well, Stuart has been busy. He's got the axle and springs on and all painted (these were blasted with the shell what seems like a looong time ago. Looking good now. I hope he doesn't actually put it on while the car is at this angle!
He's also painted the engine bay, making sure it gets paint everywhere you can see and all those places you can't:
Masked up and ready to go:
then for the top coats!
Looking very nice. I went down to have a look and drop off the petrol flap, so a few more pictures, We unwrapped the engine bay there and then and it was all looking superb in the flesh!
and a birds eye view...one of my doors in the background.
Re: RS3100 restoration
The doors are now painted
and we open the booth doors and behold!
she's rolling on her wheels again!
front suspension all painted and polybushed..
Rear shocks painted and on...
the sight that greeted me on Sunday morning...
all safely tucked into the workshop garage...
I know I should have done this before, but time to look at the engine:
Right, thought I would start on that big lump that keeps wanting attention every time I go into the garage...
Let the strip down commence. There looked to be some leaking of the inlet manifold at one point, plus some 'interesting' plastic chips in the sump...hmm could have been from a past cam wheel, as this one looks fairly new, but it won't be going back on the engine...I've sorted out a steel item.
heads off...lots of coking up in there, probably indicative of lots of short journeys.
Definately +60 thou pistons in there, so a 3098cc capacity...and not much room for reboring, should this be required. I know that +90 pistons were available and Burton do some slightly bigger than 60 thou pistons as well.
I have a growing mountain of 'bits' Some will be reused, others will be binned.
Big end shell where you can just about read 'STD' so good to see, should a regrind be required.
Just the cam and crank in the block. The jounals look good, but will be checked to see how round they really are, but they all look good on first inspection. The crank spins very easily in the block which is a good sign as well. No tight spots etc, but we'll look at the mains and see what they look like, as well as the thrust bearing.
no lip/wear ridge and still honing visible, indicating a fairly recent hone.
I need to check these bores for size and ovality and take it from there.
The cam retaining screws were a bit mangled, but cam out ok. I'll see if I have better ones in a spare engine.
so I'll take the cam and crank out and decide where I go from there after some measuring. I may well get the head faces machined to clean, just to make sure they are straight.
and we open the booth doors and behold!
she's rolling on her wheels again!
front suspension all painted and polybushed..
Rear shocks painted and on...
the sight that greeted me on Sunday morning...
all safely tucked into the workshop garage...
I know I should have done this before, but time to look at the engine:
Right, thought I would start on that big lump that keeps wanting attention every time I go into the garage...
Let the strip down commence. There looked to be some leaking of the inlet manifold at one point, plus some 'interesting' plastic chips in the sump...hmm could have been from a past cam wheel, as this one looks fairly new, but it won't be going back on the engine...I've sorted out a steel item.
heads off...lots of coking up in there, probably indicative of lots of short journeys.
Definately +60 thou pistons in there, so a 3098cc capacity...and not much room for reboring, should this be required. I know that +90 pistons were available and Burton do some slightly bigger than 60 thou pistons as well.
I have a growing mountain of 'bits' Some will be reused, others will be binned.
Big end shell where you can just about read 'STD' so good to see, should a regrind be required.
Just the cam and crank in the block. The jounals look good, but will be checked to see how round they really are, but they all look good on first inspection. The crank spins very easily in the block which is a good sign as well. No tight spots etc, but we'll look at the mains and see what they look like, as well as the thrust bearing.
no lip/wear ridge and still honing visible, indicating a fairly recent hone.
I need to check these bores for size and ovality and take it from there.
The cam retaining screws were a bit mangled, but cam out ok. I'll see if I have better ones in a spare engine.
so I'll take the cam and crank out and decide where I go from there after some measuring. I may well get the head faces machined to clean, just to make sure they are straight.
-
- Posts: 603
- Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2010 7:45 pm
- Car(s): Car
Re: RS3100 restoration
Awesome mate. That is going to be brilliant. Love these cars, just look so right. Looking forward to seeing the end result. Well done. knock out!
- Craigorypeck
- Posts: 2338
- Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 1:45 pm
- Car(s): Mk III Capri- 2.0 YB cossie lump with eaton blower on bike carbs. Problem... its 4000 miles away.
MK1 resto- 2.3 Turbo or Charger, both probably
Chevy Cobalt - Location: Canada
Re: RS3100 restoration
HOLY MOLY...
This is pretty spectacular, being done right too.
I'll just go back to plodding away in my garage
This is pretty spectacular, being done right too.
I'll just go back to plodding away in my garage
Re: RS3100 restoration
Well, all this was some time ago, so I need to bring this up to date...
I've done the brake lines now. One of my pet hates at shows is brake lines that aren't even slightly straight, so I was determined to try and do better with mine.
I refurbished all the rear hand brake components. God I hate the mk1/early mk2 set up, but I have to keep this car standard.
I borrowed an original brake line and copied it, after a fashion..
and the loop part, which was tricky. I've seen these with various configurations, but liked this style the best
Engine bay lines, copied from my originals...which weren't bad, but when you have a shell like this, you start to look at everything that goes back on under the microscope and ask yourself 'is it good enough to go back on?' it's a bit of a curse!
I made this small part twice, so it matched the drivers side!
So, when I picked up the car, the boot wasn't done. Picked up the boot and spoiler only to find they no longer fitted together well...
I had both the boot and spoiler soda blasted. The boot was quite badly damaged and had to have a lot of work done to shrink the skin back to make it tight. While not 100% sure, I suspect that a combination of damage to the boot and spoiler caused this...although it could have been the spoiler was off for so long. Having done this, I would recommend anyone looking at soda blasting to leave the boot, bonnet and roof out of the process and strip these by hand.
So, talking with Stuart at Restora a ford, we came to the conclusion that we'd have to bond the spoiler on. This is not an ideal situation and is one of the things I'm pretty upset about, but I also have to be pragmatic about this things. It doesn't look like it's bonded on as there is still a nice seam where the spoiler joins the boot.
but looking good. To be honest, the spoiler thing really bugged me for a while and shut the garage door on this for a good few months, doing very little. Sometimes, you do have to take a break, plus I have other stuff going on in my life...but then this is a hobby, not an obligation!
This pretty much brings the project up to date.
I've dropped the gearbox, bell housing and few small other bits off to be painted black, while I get on with the engine.
The engine went to Burtons for machining work...who actually use Rick Wood for their Essex work. The block was cleaned, honed, I have new forged pistons and some CNC ported heads. The CNC part just means that as they are done by a machining computer, they are all done identically and to a repeatable standard. The crank was also cleaned an polished, but did not need a re grind, so standard bearings. I can honestly say I've never had an engine black back from machining as nice as this.
Even though I have every confidence in the machining work, I still check these things.
so, the bottom end parts..
Forged pistons and my micrometer to check the journals. All spot on for a standard crank.
The block ready for fitting bearings for the mains.
Main bearings. Carefully unwrap them. I needed to use a knife, but you have to be really careful you don't mark the bearing surfaces when you unwrap them!
Here are the main bearings. Make sure they have 'std' on the back if you need standard parts and check for defects that could cause you problems with a tight crank. very light scratches are ok, but if you can feel it with your nail, you should take them back. These were all fine. Before fitting them, clean the main bearing carriers and the backs of the shells.
Number 4 bearing in place
and the reciprocating cap with bearing in place
Now you should not need to do this, but since I have the measuring gear, I spend a couple of hours last night measuring the the journals and installed bearing dimensions and calculating the oil clearance after torquing the mains caps down. The results were fine, but I record these for the future.
you can see I'm running between 0.0015 and 0.0025 bearing clearance. 0.0015 is about as tight as I would want it, so I'm happy with these!
So this is how I left it last night, all bearings installed and checked.
I've done the brake lines now. One of my pet hates at shows is brake lines that aren't even slightly straight, so I was determined to try and do better with mine.
I refurbished all the rear hand brake components. God I hate the mk1/early mk2 set up, but I have to keep this car standard.
I borrowed an original brake line and copied it, after a fashion..
and the loop part, which was tricky. I've seen these with various configurations, but liked this style the best
Engine bay lines, copied from my originals...which weren't bad, but when you have a shell like this, you start to look at everything that goes back on under the microscope and ask yourself 'is it good enough to go back on?' it's a bit of a curse!
I made this small part twice, so it matched the drivers side!
So, when I picked up the car, the boot wasn't done. Picked up the boot and spoiler only to find they no longer fitted together well...
I had both the boot and spoiler soda blasted. The boot was quite badly damaged and had to have a lot of work done to shrink the skin back to make it tight. While not 100% sure, I suspect that a combination of damage to the boot and spoiler caused this...although it could have been the spoiler was off for so long. Having done this, I would recommend anyone looking at soda blasting to leave the boot, bonnet and roof out of the process and strip these by hand.
So, talking with Stuart at Restora a ford, we came to the conclusion that we'd have to bond the spoiler on. This is not an ideal situation and is one of the things I'm pretty upset about, but I also have to be pragmatic about this things. It doesn't look like it's bonded on as there is still a nice seam where the spoiler joins the boot.
but looking good. To be honest, the spoiler thing really bugged me for a while and shut the garage door on this for a good few months, doing very little. Sometimes, you do have to take a break, plus I have other stuff going on in my life...but then this is a hobby, not an obligation!
This pretty much brings the project up to date.
I've dropped the gearbox, bell housing and few small other bits off to be painted black, while I get on with the engine.
The engine went to Burtons for machining work...who actually use Rick Wood for their Essex work. The block was cleaned, honed, I have new forged pistons and some CNC ported heads. The CNC part just means that as they are done by a machining computer, they are all done identically and to a repeatable standard. The crank was also cleaned an polished, but did not need a re grind, so standard bearings. I can honestly say I've never had an engine black back from machining as nice as this.
Even though I have every confidence in the machining work, I still check these things.
so, the bottom end parts..
Forged pistons and my micrometer to check the journals. All spot on for a standard crank.
The block ready for fitting bearings for the mains.
Main bearings. Carefully unwrap them. I needed to use a knife, but you have to be really careful you don't mark the bearing surfaces when you unwrap them!
Here are the main bearings. Make sure they have 'std' on the back if you need standard parts and check for defects that could cause you problems with a tight crank. very light scratches are ok, but if you can feel it with your nail, you should take them back. These were all fine. Before fitting them, clean the main bearing carriers and the backs of the shells.
Number 4 bearing in place
and the reciprocating cap with bearing in place
Now you should not need to do this, but since I have the measuring gear, I spend a couple of hours last night measuring the the journals and installed bearing dimensions and calculating the oil clearance after torquing the mains caps down. The results were fine, but I record these for the future.
you can see I'm running between 0.0015 and 0.0025 bearing clearance. 0.0015 is about as tight as I would want it, so I'm happy with these!
So this is how I left it last night, all bearings installed and checked.
- Fordoholic Nick
- Donator
- Posts: 6206
- Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2014 3:40 pm
- Car(s): Ford Capri 2.0 Laser,
Ford Fiesta 1.6 TDCi - Location: Enfield, London
Re: RS3100 restoration
Absolutely Stunning RS3100. No other words
What a superb restoration thread to. You really get a feel for the work you done on it. Its looking incredible. Think you may need a large trophy cabinet
Cant wait to see it when finished. Nice one.
All the best
Nick
What a superb restoration thread to. You really get a feel for the work you done on it. Its looking incredible. Think you may need a large trophy cabinet
Cant wait to see it when finished. Nice one.
All the best
Nick
I was born a Fordoholic, They'll bury me a Fordoholic...
- MattMe
- Donator
- Posts: 569
- Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2014 10:43 am
- Car(s): Mk3 2.8 injection
Previously owned:
Facelift Mk1 V8
Mk3 2.0 Laser
Mk3 2.8i
Re: RS3100 restoration
Amazing.
I share your feelings, if not your skills, for brake pipes. That'll be a job much further down the road for mine.
I can see this being one the best Capris out there once it's done.
Please do keep us to date with any work. Loving the pictures and reading through the descriptions of it all.
I share your feelings, if not your skills, for brake pipes. That'll be a job much further down the road for mine.
I can see this being one the best Capris out there once it's done.
Please do keep us to date with any work. Loving the pictures and reading through the descriptions of it all.
- 3 Litre Power
- Posts: 471
- Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 4:41 pm
- Car(s): 1975 Capri II 3000 Ghia factory manual, 505k kms, Sunset Red, BVR, B.I
1988 Ford Escort XR3i Cabrio, 177k kms, Red, Black Top ( Daily ) - Location: In the garage...
Re: RS3100 restoration
Absolutely amazing
My Mk2 Capri Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FordCapriMk2
Oil and Coolant guru
Finnish but born and raised in Spain.
Oil and Coolant guru
Finnish but born and raised in Spain.
Re: RS3100 restoration
There are a number of superb cars out there, RS3100 and otherwise. I've not done this to what they would call concourse, as it's going to be far better protected than something that came out of the factory, so there will be people at shows who will say 'that's not right, this isn't right' etc, but I'm doing this car for me. I've added improvements where I can, like better flexible brake lines in the hopes of improving the distinctly marginal brakes, so it's going to be good, and hopefully up there with the best, so that's the aim. No matter what car, there will more than likely be someone with a bigger/brighter/thicker anorak! It will be driven and I intend to enjoy my hard work.
Glad people like the informative side. I always try and pass on what I've learnt over the years! I'll be detailing the Essex build up from here on it, so hopefully people find it useful. The aim will be to be dropping the engine in and get the gear box and prop all in during a week off I have coming up in Feb. I'll then need to concentrate on wiring and getting that all back in.
Glad people like the informative side. I always try and pass on what I've learnt over the years! I'll be detailing the Essex build up from here on it, so hopefully people find it useful. The aim will be to be dropping the engine in and get the gear box and prop all in during a week off I have coming up in Feb. I'll then need to concentrate on wiring and getting that all back in.
- 3 Litre Power
- Posts: 471
- Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2015 4:41 pm
- Car(s): 1975 Capri II 3000 Ghia factory manual, 505k kms, Sunset Red, BVR, B.I
1988 Ford Escort XR3i Cabrio, 177k kms, Red, Black Top ( Daily ) - Location: In the garage...
Re: RS3100 restoration
My Mk2 Capri Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FordCapriMk2
Oil and Coolant guru
Finnish but born and raised in Spain.
Oil and Coolant guru
Finnish but born and raised in Spain.
-
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 1:57 pm
- Car(s): 79' 3.0s Capri
Subaru wide arch H6 3.3 TT hatch Race car
Re: RS3100 restoration
Looking very good indeed.... Look forward to seeing future progress