Underbody

[Slow progress]

Just got the quote from Fettle & Finesse for full underbody clean, strip, rust proofing, painting of components and rebuilding everything. c.£3.9k all in

Does that seem reasonable?

Thinking of booking in for November

 

[Slow progress]

That includes rear axle off, all suspension off, exhaust off etc and each item prepped and put back. Any frame or body rust corrected

 

[NickReilly063]

The only issue is after that amount of spend (Good or Bad in people's opinion ) is that you are basically making your car unusable in our lovely rainy country - I have done the same - ish with mine and I'm loathed to use it just in case it get's ruined which i know is very Sad for such a great little driver's car -

Most of the work is labour intensive - how many hour's have they quoted and does that include all new parts etc -

 

[Slow progress]

 

[photo_ed]

The problem with these sorts of jobs, and the estimates that go with them is, it's very easy for things to escalate. Fettling around at the underside will potentially lead to the discovery of other areas which need attention, and whilst one thing is being done it starts to make sense to also tackle the other stuff.

I'd be fully prepared for the final bill to be a percentage more than the initial estimate, and thus budget accordingly. If I'm honest, to me that estimate looks reasonable given the labour involved, but reckon it could be very easy for it to be more, by a couple of grand or so when all done.

Also, as Nick says, sometimes going to the lengths of showroom / concours restoration can also change how the car is used, depending on how precious the end result makes you feel about the car. I know this feeling myself with my 200 Cup, it's quite low mileage and is more or less how it rolled out of the showroom nearly 14 years ago, thus I often find myself not using it as much certainly as I used to (it used to be our daily driver), and in a way that is a bit of a shame. It's also the reason why I keep my Trophy as a 'drivers' example, it wears it's age in places, thus I'm not that precious about it which means I can enjoy the thing to it's fullest if the mood so takes. The contradiction in our fleet though is our 1965 Mini Cooper, which although being very near concours condition gets used the most and the fullest of all the fun cars, but that's probably because I can do virtually all the upkeep on it myself which does away with potentially expensive labour costs.

It depends on what you want out of the car I guess. But with any deeper restoration works, it's very rare that you'll see that money back on resale, Harry Metcalfe's Lancia Fulvia Zagato rebuild being a prime example of this.

 

[hoolio]

How much did you think it was going to be? It is a fair old wedge of cash and as Ed mentions, that price is just a quote, it does not include any new parts that might need to be replaced.
Having said all that. The cars are close on twenty years old and if the work is good, you are effectively ensuring (hopefully) another twenty years.£4K over a number of years doesn’t seem all that bad.
And as for making it unusable? I fancy most of the these cars left are now mostly fairweather rides and I think there is nothing wrong with that. Choosing when you go out for driving‘s sake alone is where most of the fun is.

 

[photo_ed]

I fancy most of the these cars left are now mostly fairweather rides and I think there is nothing wrong with that. Choosing when you go out for driving‘s sake alone is where most of the fun is.

Very, very true and very well put.

 

[Slow progress]

I’m in the fair weather camp!

It’s about getting it to a state it’ll be good for another 15-20yrs.

I think I will bite the bullet, but want to enjoy it this year before it goes in for 3wks!

 

[Titan]

Be very interesting to see the final results if you go ahead with that, under the skirts project, so to speak

I think doing something like that to the underside, is not all that far off tackling something like an engine bay
and making that look near concourse again.
It can escalate really quickly, with the unintended cost escalation along with it.

I called into a detailing place a few years ago with my 205.
The fella who owned the place, was telling me about another customer who also had a 205 Gti.
He reckoned, he was about £10/15k into rebuilding the engine and replacing and getting every nut and bolt plated
in the engine bay, along with making everything new and shiny looking, and he still hadn't finished the job.

I'm sure it would have looked a million dollars when finished, but I would also guess that car was mostly
kept inside, under lock and key.
Its always hard to find the middle ground, having a car looking like you want it, while also letting the other,
non-OCD hemisphere of your brain, to chill out and allow you to freely use the thing.

I would have been of a similar view years ago, often, to my financial detriment, throwing stupid money
at a car, trying to make it as new and perfect as possible and never seeing even a fraction of that back when,
eventually selling it on.

So now, if the car runs well, looks pretty reasonable and presentable, not concourse by any standards, I'm usually happy enough.
But, that OCD devil can stick its oar in my ear, every now and again....still

Call it getting sense along with a decent dose of ageing

 

[Slow progress]

I get that, for me it’s tidying it up for longevity not about keeping it perfect for ever.

Plan is to keep for the long term, we’ve put a lot into the car and know its history so on the way to forming that bond

 

[AlexRae]

I went through this very thing and agree what has been suggested, costs can certainly escalate along with the other things that will need doing. Even if they don’t you feel like it’s needed while everything is off to save on labour costs later down line..

 

[AlexRae]

I went through this very thing and agree what has been suggested, costs can certainly escalate along with the other things that will need doing. Even if they don’t you feel like it’s needed while everything is off to save on labour costs later down line..

I did the following
Subframe removed, fully stripped back and then re-galvanised, the wishbones at same time, including new balljoints. rear main crank seal while subframe is removed. Sump gasket done at same time.
strip back, treat and coat the front chassis legs too.

Front ARB bushes and refurbishing ARB itself and going with Powerflex polyurethane. While doing ARB im doing steering rack bushes -Powerflex again.

Steering track rod inners - genuine Renault. Once all work has been completed, four wheel alignment is getting done to get it setup and driving as it should.

Front top mount inserts that were missing when bought from RPD too.

Brakes - Front to rear brake lines, new brake flexi's all round, clips and brake fluid. Then Front calipers inc refurbishing the carriers.

Exhaust mount rubbers

Front outer CV boot kits for both sides.

Gearbox end cap - while subframe is off inc box oil not essential but why not.
New clutch new AC condenser and AC gassed

Rear beam removal, stripping and powdercoating

While rear beam is off, rear floor/chassis legs stripped back, treated and coated all cills strengthened

 

[NickReilly063]

Top work Alex and the only way to do it properly - sounds like a mirror image to what I had to do to mine

 

[BenG]

How does the underbody of the car look currently?

I did a fair amount of work tidying up various components to mine a few years ago but none of it included work on the actual body of the car, mainly because there was nothing wrong with it, there was a small amount of rust starting to show at the rear, around the exhaust hangers, but nothing to worry about. The main work was replacing or powder-coating / painting main components. There’s a lot of work involve in doing the work that has been quoted but it is rather expensive, on the other hand, if you're not in a position to do it yourself then you have no choice but to pay the premium if you think the work is required. If you love the car then it’s worth every penny. Go with your gut instinct.

#266 Suspension/Transmission Rebuild

#266 Suspension/Transmission Rebuild 2017/2018 Last year in March, I decided to refresh things a little by having the Dampers refurbished, they were well overdue and after seeing some of Rik’s work I couldn’t resist having them done. I put the car on the lift and set about stripping it down. I...

cliotrophy.co.uk

 

[AlexRae]

How does the underbody of the car look currently?

I did a fair amount of work tidying up various components to mine a few years ago but none of it included work on the actual body of the car, mainly because there was nothing wrong with it, there was a small amount of rust starting to show at the rear, around the exhaust hangers, but nothing to worry about. The main work was replacing or powder-coating / painting main components. There’s a lot of work involve in doing the work that has been quoted but it is rather expensive, on the other hand, if you're not in a position to do it yourself then you have no choice but to pay the premium if you think the work is required. If you love the car then it’s worth every penny. Go with your gut instinct.

#266 Suspension/Transmission Rebuild

#266 Suspension/Transmission Rebuild 2017/2018 Last year in March, I decided to refresh things a little by having the Dampers refurbished, they were well overdue and after seeing some of Rik’s work I couldn’t resist having them done. I put the car on the lift and set about stripping it down. I...

cliotrophy.co.uk

I guess it just finishes it off after doing all components