Overhauling no50 after finding nasty rot on bulkhead

[Richiem]

Guys, some of you might know that recently i had a big problem with water ingress into the front of my car.
Turns out water was getting under my carpets and making the car windows wet inside all the time. The sourse of this became obvious when i lifted the carpets and under foam and found this>

Become aware that this was alot worst on the other side


Seeing as it was a rather akward spot to get the right access to the decision was made to remove the engine/ gearbox/ transfer box in one go and get in there and deal with it head on!
Id like to add that I havent the funds and the experience to do this sort of job as well as some of my other buddies on here ( although i wish i did)) but i do intend on doing the best job possible!
Firstly , out comes the engine with many thanks to Martin P and my ford pal Mark.

[Richiem]

Then , once out , I see there was a whole lot of work to be done, time to get busy and sort the whole engine bay out.
Good time to be rid of the scrapping aircon pump and get all the pipework out ( clean up and replace) and get all the grim out from the places you never see.. All the foam sound deadening was rotten so that all comes out which will also show me the condition of the bulkead ect.


Also found more wrongly fitted gromits ect that were also probably adding to the water ingress problem>



New ac pump on order along with a new condenser after finding mine was held together with cable ties and all broken up

[Richiem]

Now im getting involved! steering rack out / aircon pipework all out / radiator out/ new water pipes ordered/ new gear linkage bushes ordered/ new wishbones ordered/ new subframe bushes ordered/

Proper gutted about the aircon rad! Something i never planned for! On a good point ive not spent to much labour wise and have been lucky to have Martin p assist with the hard jo of dropping out the engine and my pal Mark is doing all my wielding work as a favour he owes me for. Gonna get as many hours as possible on her each day as luckily i work night shifts so get a bit of daylight time.

[Richiem]

New aircon rad ordered today and the pipework for the aircon and powersteering system all cleaned up and made nice


Also bushes for anti roll bar turned up today!

[Richiem]

Was right gutted when i see it behind the pedals tbh, but it gave me reason to get the rest of the engine bay area a good sort out.. found several rotten bushes on engine mounts / brake lines/ rotten hoses , so glad i went in there now< Only ever done this once before on my 2nd turbo around 9 years ago so not a great deal of experience. Was quite happy that Martin P came down for the day on saturday and helped with the removal of the whole lot as i would not of been able to even start this job. Top fella

[KERR_SE9]

Well done mate, looks like a thorough job, got me concerned now, I'll need to check mine!!

[Richiem]

Ive seen 3 other cars just recently with the exact same problem John! Seems most likely caused by ouver spill from header tank or maybe brake res! The foam along the bottom of the bukhead/ chassis join seems to make this worst. Have removed it all now and im gonna use a different type sound deadening

[craigyboy]

Recently sorted that bit on mine,it seems a common problem.

[Richiem]

Some more bits arrived today and some more cleaning done and of course, more bits found broken!
Aircon condenser
Seems the bushes inside the tie rods are battered!

gear linkage bushes>

[Richiem]

Steering rack rebuilt with new tie rods and new track rod ball joints Also all the crap cleaned of and painted up nice

[rich30mex]

Nice work keep it up can't wait to see the finished product

[Richiem]

Not thinking its gonna look like yours will bud but it will deffo look alot better and last longer!

[rich30mex]

Not thinking its gonna look like yours will bud but it will deffo look alot better and last longer!

It's guna look sweet pal at least it getting done and not scrapped a lot off ppl would have given up along time ago
Well done

[Richiem]

Thanks richie! Got the wielding sorted today, quite happy with the results tbh, got all the nasty crap out and made fresh!
got some pictures to show how it developed >>

[Richiem]

Got some new parts arrived and ive also been right busy cleaning everything ( and theres a shat lot needs cleaning) including the brake lines and master servo ect as they were all starting to go crusty.. Starting to return parts to there original places now .. Got this exhaust which is a full stainless with a sports cat and its the style i wanted that was fitted to some of the le`s back in the day with the round exhaust ports! Cleaned up quite nice!



Had a right mare with the mission to restore the aircon as it seems i left some double hard to replace pressure washers on the old unit,, these washers go between the motor and the pipework and it got taken by the euro trash! i ended up having to order these 2 daft seals from the states so im waiting on these to return now to complete the kit.