Practically Classics Forum

Not considered a 'proper' classic by some but it is by me.

My original plan was to go for a Europe tour in the summer of 2011, but I don't think this will really be possible. So after a holiday in Plymouth in the summer of 2010, I decided to take Oliver (the Jag) off the road to attack all the rust before it gets more serious. There isn't much rust and I'm not aiming for a concours winning car, so a good colour matched spray can will do me to blend in the repaired patches.

Being young (12 yrs old) the D&T department in my high school have given me access to their equipment, so at lunchtimes I can go there and get on with refurbishing various parts that I can't do at home.

This was Oliver before the resto started:


And below are some pics of the work that needs doing:

An update for today:

I've got most of the rear end rust removed, grinding it down & treating it with converters. Pictures below, filler should be going on soon as I can get mum down to the local Halfrauds to get some.

From this:



To this:




To this:




And so it's safe and doesn't get damaged with the wire brush, I removed the rear bumper chrome and it was in surprisingly MINT condition underneath, with only a few little rust 'spots':



Which left Oliver looking like this today:



More pics tomorrow, hopefully of removing rust around the C-pillars and rear window surround. BUT I have one question, how do you remove the little chrome finishers & the plastic in the picture below?

kamilb1998 wrote:the rear bumper chrome and it was in surprisingly MINT condition underneath, with only a few little rust 'spots':

I'd be surprised if it wasn't - it's made of stainless steel.

Luxobarge wrote:

kamilb1998 wrote:the rear bumper chrome and it was in surprisingly MINT condition underneath, with only a few little rust 'spots':

I'd be surprised if it wasn't - it's made of stainless steel.

Judging by the state of the underside of my front bumper chrome, I really don't think it is.

Some more from today:-









And I made this too:-

Haha I love the last two!!!

Hi Kamil. those rusty bits are nasty! The ones around the windows especially, you can see where someone did a rubbish job before and it just kept rusting away underneath. You really need to take the glass out to sort it properly.

It's always difficult with these jobs to decide where to stop it turning into a full welding & respray effort! the car looks great though, good for you for tackling the rusty bits before they get any worse!

pryantcc wrote:Hi Kamil. those rusty bits are nasty! The ones around the windows especially, you can see where someone did a rubbish job before and it just kept rusting away underneath. You really need to take the glass out to sort it properly.

Seconded, in spades. Trust me Kamil, I've been doing this for many years, and if you don't take the glass out and do it properly it will not last. That rust needs cutting out and welding - ask me how I know.....

pryantcc wrote:You really need to take the glass out to sort it properly.

He's right, it should be possible (but be very careful) to remove the glass yourself and have someone with the correct equipment come and bond them back on for you once the welding and painting has all been done.

pryantcc wrote:...the car looks great though, good for you for tackling the rusty bits before they get any worse!

It certainly does, and the minor inconvenience of cutting the screens off now will be well worth the time and effort when you have a car that, for relatively little work, will soon be in showroom condition again.
It's a bold choice for a home resto and the end product will be a stunning car, you're a lucky fella.


Sorry Rick, but that took me so long to type with one thumb that I thought I'd just go right ahead and post it even after seeing that you'd got there earlier! (fingers intact but bruised following an incident involving my spare Dolly axle and a sack barrow with a faulty hub bearing......)

JPB wrote:[Sorry Rick, but that took me so long to type with one thumb that I thought I'd just go right ahead and post it even after seeing that you'd got there earlier!

Hehe - just goes to show that great minds think alike John....

Agree with you about taking out the glass, I've done this before, a call to your friendly Autoglass rep and they'll happily bond it back in for you, not too expensive either. So long as you make it clear that you don't hold them responsible for breakages, they may well be happy to pop round and take them out for you too - they have some clever cutting wires (a bit like cheese wires) that work pretty well, although a bit time consuming.

I honestly can't see how that can be repaired properly without glass removal, but I grant you that it might mean that the "light restoration" bit of this thread title might seem a bit mocking once you get stuck in.