My Austin Countryman Project

[swindrum]

I have dragged my Morris Traveller project home from where it has been languishing in storage for a number of years. After my divorce, the cars that were't sold, were stashed around the city and I am finding myself dragging them home and dealing with them. Sadly I had to sell my Jensen Interceptor last fall as I didn't see that I would be getting to it any time soon..

Anyhow, digressing.

About 8 years ago I had gotten to the point of stripping the car to the shell, and had cut off the front wings. I tossed the subbies on and dragged her home, here she is in all of her glory




Prior to storage, I had had brief access to a sandblaster, so I gave it a shot at some of the rustier bits, there was a very thick layer of undercoat in some spots, putiing bare metal into storage did the car no favours either. What can I say, I wasn't thinking straight back then.

[swindrum]

So the car has been in the shop since the summer, with the Race car taking precedence, I didn't get a ton done, but here is where we are.
First order of business was to get her up on the rotisserie.
I had cut a front floor panel to fit, but upon reassessment I realized that the whole right side floor should be replaced.


http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh22 ... 1w3mjr.jpg[/img]

The crossmember need a small repair

as well as the toe board


The floor panel is currently loosely tacked in.

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In order to get started on the A-Panel, the inner wing needed attention

The rusty bits were cut out

The requisite cereal box template was made

and a metal patch

I forgot to get a picture of the welded in repair, but I did the missing bit that goes under the inner a-panel as well....
Sorta visible here



Prior to fitting the A-panel, I hung the door in the opening and tack welded it in place so that the gaps were perfect all around, sort of...
The aPanel had a slight bulge towards the bottom curve and tightened up as it got closer to the bottom. So I cut a slit in it

massaged it into a better position and welded it up

I also wasn't happy with the curve of the door at the front corner

So a bit of grinding and a bit of welding took care of that

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The inner wing had another issue as well.
In addition to being covered in tar, it had been hacked away at some point.


Another cardboard template


and metal pattern, this time with some bending too!


and the repair was fitted

[swindrum]

A small repair was necessary prior to fitting the floorpan




The rusty scuttle panel was trimmed out and the repair tacked into place, the wing is massaged to get a good gap as well. I won't be doing any welding on the winge with the car on the rotisserie, the bonnet can't be fitted, so I feel like I would just be asking for trouble...





Around the back, I had lucked out on eBay and found a NOS rear load floor support panel. The car has been bumped in the back at some point and there is a lot of brazing and filler back there, so I was happy to get this piece


Cutting the rusty corners revealed a bit more than I would have liked


Before I cover that up with the side panel repairs, I have some work to do...


Again, I was lucky, M-Machine has just started producing the rear step that goes full width, so I got one, which arrived today. That leaves about 6" of the rusty load floor that will need to be fabricated.

[Craig]

Thats looking pretty good Sean !!

Could you explain the "Twin Tanks" ????

Just curious

Craig

[Rocket]

Nice work !

[swindrum]

A PO had installed an early internal tank with a switching valve in addition to the external tank. I will not be putting it back in...
I do like the idea of extended range, but I prefer the notion of having a usable load space.

[swindrum]

So I have been working, but not on anything too glamourous. Paint removal, everyone's favourite!

I started off with my tried and true method of a heat gun and razor blade scraper, I have done an entire MGBGT in a day with this method. It would appear that the most recent respray (+/- 20 years ago) was a VERY durable finish. The hear gun barely touched it, or the subsequent underlying layers...

Pulled out the big guns and bought a gallon of "Aircraft Stripper", this stuff makes your eyes water! Similar to your Nitomors stripper I believe.

At any rate it too 3 applications to find bare metal on the doors.



Here is the pile of scrapings, that is a 1 gallon tin of Marvel Mystery oil for perspective...

[InimiaD]

Good to see another Traveller being nursed back to life.
The Nitromors sold in the UK at the moment is pretty much useless compared to what was available in the past. All the "good" ingredients have been watered down due to regulations etc.

[NicholasUpton]

I have use the stripper and quickly covered with saran wrap and let it set over night, next day most of the paint comes off with the plastic cover.

[swindrum]

I have use the stripper and quickly covered with saran wrap and let it set over night, next day most of the paint comes off with the plastic cover.

Ah yes! I has forgotten about the plastic trick! It's been a while since I used stripper.
I have applied stripper to a portion of the roof and am heading to bed, we will see what sort of result we have in the morning.

[swindrum]

So I tried the plastic wrap trick and it would appear the the stripper available hers has also been neutered somewhat. The plastic was helpful, but I didn't get the results I had seen in the past with strippers. It still took a couple coats.

[rich@minispares.com]

The Nitromors sold in the UK at the moment is pretty much useless

when I paint strippered the bus (an EPIC process) I bought 25 litres of industrial paintstripper from god knows where.

I didn't bother reading the date sheet, why would I, im a man, I just brushed it on, and on, and on

three things became apparent very quickly...

1) the bus had a lot of layers of paint...

2) the chemical burns I got on my arms suggested that it was very potent and I maybe should have worn long sleeves..

3) the respitory problems that I had for about 6 months suggested that I should have worn breathing equipment.....

it was good stuff!!!!! - the paint hubbled and bubbled off like a witches spell


the green tin nitomors is utter rubbish now..............it wont even shift most stuff - at best you might get a bit of 'wrinkle finish' effect

[smithyrc30]

The Nitromors sold in the UK at the moment is pretty much useless

2) the chemical burns I got on my arms suggested that it was very potent and I maybe should have worn long sleeves..

3) the respiratory problems that I had for about 6 months suggested that I should have worn breathing equipment.....

That will be the Methylene Chloride.... It dissolves a lot of plastics as well as paint. Oh and polyester resin as well.

Taken out because of the environment loonies, who went on a campaign to get all chloro and fluoro compounds banned.

Didn't get toothpaste, water treatment, bleach or swimming pools stopped though.

I think you can still get it from chemical suppliers but be careful it is pretty nasty stuff neat. I think it used to be about 5% in Nitromors, can't remember now.

[coop12g295]

I've used Clostermann stripper,better than Nitro and on ebay

[swindrum]

I picked up a different brand of stripper after using an entire gallon of "ProForm" brand. The new stuff is called "Klean Strip" and contains methalene chloride, it works waaay better, a mask and fresh air are absolutely neccesary, this stuff is powerful! Found some fairly thick filler on the rear 1/4 and it chewed through it in 2 coats.

Now it's time to get out the hammers and dollys

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I have found a new scotch-brite pad that goes in my angle grinder, they come in various grades from coarse to fine. Once I have used the stripper, I go over the panel with the scotch-brite pad, comes up a treat!




I knew the filler was thick on the right side rear quarter, the car had definitely been bumped in the back at some point. There had been a bit of bashing to get the car back into "shape" but the filler was 1/4" thick in places. I have started with the hammer and dolly to get it better. Wish me luck!



After a bit of hammer and dolly work (I forgot to take a closeup "before" photo...


A little more, a long way to go yet...


I use a black Jiffy-Marker to locate the highs and lows, cheap and doesn't clog up the sandpaper. Looking at how roughly the panel has been hammered, I don't expect I will get it perfect, but I will use my shrinking disk as well to try to get it as smooth as I can.

[swindrum]

So, I am a bit of a dope.... I was rummaging through my paperwork the other night and it turns out, despite the bonnet badge being a Morris, the car is actually an Austin!

I did know this, but at some point forgot. I have asked Mark if we can change the thread title, but if not, do I start a new thread? Or just carry on with this one?

[NicholasUpton]

Be carful with the clean strip pads on the angle grinder, as they can act like a shrinking disc and cause panel distortion, that ends up being more work. We normally use holdtight 102 and water to scrub by hand after using the stripper, this will neutralize and protect the metal while you are doing body work.

Otherwise you are looking good. Keep the progress coming.