Glenn,
I was in the same boat, I bought my Spitfire for $1150 CDN and had to get a new
waterpump on the first day. Instead of going to the 'pros', I decided to learn
to MIG weld. I bought a Clark 100E ($600 CDN after bottle rental) with a spot
welder attachment and spent an hour getting tutored from a fellow club member
and then practiced for an hour. I bought the higher priced panels from Moss and
was quite happy with the fit and finish. Keep the tub on the frame and do one
side at a time. Make a brace across the door opening to keep things true. It
took me 120 hours over last winter to replace inner, outer and strengther sills
on both sides, as well as rebuild the O/D tranny, change all the bushings to
nylon (Spitbits), new rear spring (still sags), new front springs and
adjustable SPAX shocks on all corners. This winter I plan to get the car soda
blasted ($300 CDN) and finish filling in the rust holes in the front valance
and trunk. A local private car painter will than finish the bondo work and give
it a coat of Jaguar Snapdragon Yellow for about $700 CDN.
I also use Yokohama 509 185/60/13 tires on TR7 rims. The car won both first and
second in class at the National VTR Convention Autocross at Hudson this year.
Dave Terrick (fellow lister) has the first place trophy.
Doug
'78 Spitfire
'87 Crown Vic S/W (tow car)
'78 Fiesta (race car)
Glenn Trunnell wrote:
> Listers,
>
> I'm in a dilemma and I'm seeking some advice. I bought my '76 Spit about 4
> mos. ago at the "bargain" price of $1100.00. It seemed like a good idea at
> the time. The car had been sitting for about 3 years but started and ran
> although it wasn't driveable. Since that time I've rebuilt both master
> cylinders, installed a new water pump, replaced the brakes, rebuilt the
> carb, replaced both speedo cables and put a new coil, crane ignition system
> and four new tires on the car. My investment to this point is right at
> $2000. Now the dilemma, whilst doing this work I discovered that the
> frame was severely rusted, I didn't know enough at the time when I bought
> it to check this, as my previous cars have been MGs or American cars and
> this is the first car I have ever seen with a rusted out frame. Undeterred
> I bought a parts car to get a decent frame and managed to break even by
> selling almost every part that was on the parts car. I just got the frame
> back from being sandblasted and painted and it looks great. I ordered
> about $400 worth of bushings, shocks and a new rear spring and was planning
> on building up the suspension and then transferring over the drivetrain and
> body. Since I was going to have the body off the frame I thought that this
> would be a good time to get some body work and painting done. The tub (to
> me at least) is in good shape, it's been painted several times and the
> paint is chipping. Also the drivers side floor is gone and the outer
> rockers have pin holes in them. The rear wheel arches are also showing
> some bubbles and there is some other minor rust. I went to a paint shop
> that specializes in restorations, their estimate for the job....$4000!!
> Thinking that these people were truly insane I went to Maaco..their
> estimate: $3000!!
> So what should I do? I truly can not afford 3-4k worth of paint and
> bodywork and my talent is mechanical not bodywork and paint. I also do not
> know how to weld. My concern is that I'm going to end up with car that I
> can neither afford to fix nor be able to sale. Should I try to part the car
> out and recoup my investment that way? Does anyone have a rustfree tub they
> want to sell? Does anyone want to buy a great little project car with a
> new frame?
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks,
> Glenn
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