Gaz86's 1994 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo II RS

[Gaz86]

I got a pleasant surprise message from Neil at Donnellys on Thursday to say my order had arrived I wasn't expecting this to arrive until around the end of January/ start of February but the timing is great with 2 weeks off coming up. Thanks to @TheDaniel for delivering it to me It was a pleasure chatting to you mate. This lets me get cracking on with the rest of the repairs and leave the back end looking mint.

 

[Gaz86]

Another couple of oem items I picked up, second hand. My cooling fan was lost at some point last year when I stripped the car and was nearly for putting an aftermarket one in and my A/C fan wasn't looking the best so that's one thing less to restore . These popped up this morning in a WhatsApp group I'm in so I snapped them up. Both in excellent condition.

 

[Gaz86]

If only they made this I'd totally buy one

 

[Gaz86]

Thanks to @Neil@rockvale for the plates

Much appreciated

 

[Gaz86]

I have a few more updates coming over the next few days. The power steering rack is back from having new track rods and track rod ends fitted, it's currently sitting in primer awaiting paint. I have finished refurbishing the Cusco strut braces, they just need a slight polish to bring up some shine and I'm waiting on another small delivery from Japan. Will follow up with pics when they're done

 

[svensktoppen]

You're not hanging about, coming along well

 

[Gaz86]

You're not hanging about, coming along well

Thanks. I've only been able to get doing small jobs for the past month or so, partly due to waiting on the new rear panel arriving and partly due to having to look after our dog who just had an eye operation and I had been unable to go much further with my old angle grinder dying after 5 minutes so yesterday couldn't come quick enough

Today I got a good few hours on the car removing the old rear panel. It's now ready for the new rear panel to go in Will post some photos once it's in but I'm really happy with the progress.

 

[Gaz86]

Another delivery from Japan arrived this afternoon. Just some more bits to freshen up the underside such as new fuel line clips, fuel clamps, some spark plug clamps as the old ones had gone brittle and snapped and a new jack mounting bracket.

Just to give you an idea of how many new parts are going into this build, this folder is almost full now. I haven't kept a running record of what it's cost, I'm too scared to to be honest.

I'm back out in the workshop today grinding down flat the welds from the previous work and prepping the surfaces for an application of Bonda zinc primer.

 

[cauld1]

Trust me, do not do a running tally on costs as it's frightening usually. Good to have the receipts though!

Good progress on this, great to see it taking shape nicely.

 

[Gaz86]

Trust me, do not do a running tally on costs as it's frightening usually. Good to have the receipts though!

Good progress on this, great to see it taking shape nicely.

All being well you'll see a lot more progress over the next month or two. Hard to know where to draw the line with a project like this but I want to do the best job I'm capable of myself. The unfortunate thing about living out in the boonies is help is in short supply. @bigsigh isn't too far away and has been a great help when he's called round and having company definitely boosts morale too. You know yourself it's easy to get overwhelmed with something like this which adds an extra level of difficulty.

 

[svensktoppen]

Never ever add anything up, lol

Just savour the ride, build the car you want, and then enjoy it

It will never make any financial sense so don't even bother with that!

 

[EF Ian]

Who doesn't love receiving bags of new goodies.

I know the cost of the Datsun build to the nearest penny. But it might have been better if I did not. It could be useful for future projects though.

 

[Gaz86]

I spent a few hours today sanding down and coating the floor pan and the front sidemembers with Bonda Zinc primer. This stuff is non-porous so after a couple of coats this (in theory) no further corrosion can occur Shame they hadn't done this 30 years ago lol Will continue with the footwells over the next couple of days before moving onto the engine bay. I'll overcoat this with an epoxy primer in due course just as an extra precaution.

 

[Gaz86]

Another 5 hours today painstakingly stripping paint and seam sealer and coating the floor pan with the Bonda zinc primer. The areas masked off need a little repair done and will be done later.

 

[Gaz86]

A few before and after photos after refurbishing the power steering rack. Everything taken back to bare metal, etch primed and painted satin black, new track rods and track rod ends fitted and new Koyo decal added to complete the OEM look

 

[svensktoppen]

Crikey, that's literally like new

 

[Gaz86]

That's what I was aiming for

I almost had the strut braces finished too but had a little boob and now have to repaint one of the ends Easy fix, just need to get more paint. Will wait til the end of January though, I've spent enough of my December pay already and not even hit January yet

 

[Gaz86]

A couple of small patches to be done and thankfully I kept the floor pans out of the Proton so they'll match in 100% with the original. I have 4 coats of Bonda on the floor now. I'm going to take it right up to the roof with this. Roof skins tend to go around the support beams on these, thankfully mine are ok and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[EF Ian]

Nice work. This is coming on well. Plenty of hard hours being put in.


I'm looking forward to putting many hours into getting my engine finished in these next 2 weeks.

 

[Gaz86]

Nice work. This is coming on well. Plenty of hard hours being put in.


I'm looking forward to putting many hours into getting my engine finished in these next 2 weeks.

Thanks Ian I hope to get some more time spent on it this weekend and hopefully finish off the Bonda. Still have part of the boot area to do and I'll take it right up the B and C pillars to the inside of the roof skin to protect it on the inside where they're known to rust out along the support bars. Depending on how I get on with that I'll continue with cleaning out the wheel arches

 

[Gaz86]

After a few weeks of not being able to get working on the car I finally got around to test fitting the new rear panel. Drilled out the spot welds on a second hand rear panel to remove the rear light socket and cleco pinned it in place. Got it to within a millimeter of where it should be Will get this tacked into place and coated with Bonda before epoxy priming it all. Decent progress for a few hours work

 

[Gaz86]

Rear quarter test fitted and everything lining up as it should do. Small bit of trimming to do where it will join the existing panels before this is welded back in. Just rigging everything up first to make sure everything looks good Really glad I was able to get hold of a brand new rear panel, it makes such a big difference! Going to treat the rear of this quarter panel with Bonda too since these are no longer available.

 

[Gaz86]

Finishing off a very productive weekend, I finished coating the floor pan with the Bonda zinc primer with another few coats, taking it right up the B and C pillars and parcel shelf then moved onto the front passenger side wheel arch. This is only the first coat on the wheel arch. I plan to do another couple of coats, followed by epoxy primer and I'll finish off with some tinted Novol STP Flex with a textured white finish

 

[Gaz86]

Some supplies for the next phase of the evo restoration. The Novol range seems to be quite good and reputed in the restoration scene so I went for their Protect 360 epoxy primer. It has anti-corrosive properties so in addition to the Bonda Zinc primer I've used this should thoroughly seal the bodywork from future moisture ingress Today I applied the Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 to the front end to kill any existing corrosion, not that there was much but it seemed like a good idea to neutralise anything that was there before applying the Bonda and epoxy primer to the engine bay.

 

[Blackie]

I used Novol cavity wax for the inside of the sill’s on the Alfa after I’d them all welded up. Seems like good stuff when going in/on