No updates for a while, have been busy though. If I ever see another wire brush, bit of sandpaper, scotch pad or dust mask it will be too soon! Still a long way to go but I think I am ready to rebuild the front suspension. YAY.

Just the rest of the car to go,



Mighty fed up of rust, time for the good stuff. Better go and get the calipers out of the oven before the other half comes home from the shops.

This is the bit I enjoy, everything laid out ready for re-assembly, well, almost everything. Need to change two ARB bushes as I bought the wrong size. Waiting for new discs and two tie rods as I can't free the old track rod ends. I'm going cheap and cheerful on this, most of the new stuff is old stock, the brake pads cost the princely sum of £1.99.
New shocks, cheap ones, new top bearings but the rubber mounts are ok to re-use. New ball joints, lowering springs, brake hoses, new caliper pistons and new seals and dust covers, front bearings, bump stops and a complete set of Dai's polyurethane bushes and a set of Macs bolts.




Did my best with the old components. Sick of looking at them, not too happy with the rust removal and I know it will be back through the new paint soon enough but I just can't put dirty rusty stuff back on the car.



Very happy with the calipers though, these were filthy rusty and a real pain in the hole, days of wire brushing later and lots of faffing and a tin of caliper paint (plus 30 minutes at gas mark 4) to get them to this state.

Very happy with these, first time I've messed with calipers. I want to frame these, it will be a shame to have to put them under the car to get dirty again.

They look brand spanking new, good job. I too am loving the cheap 'new old stock' stuff on ebay. 99p ferodo pads and 3.50 for a pair of rear cylinders

Under the bench grinders wire wheel at work it took about 15 mins to take off the rust etc off my calipers ... I dont know that id have the patience to give them 'days of wire brushing', youre a better man than I

I've just read this thread, loving the work and the effort your putting in, can't wait to see what the end product is like.

I know what you mean about the cheap ebay stuff, it cost me the total of £3.50 to overhaul the drums (including new springs).

Ran into a few issues, the springs don't seat with the shocks I have and while I've read of a cable tie cure I have ordered a set of adjustables instead, currently somewhere on the Irish sea. Looking forward to getting the struts back together, in the meantime I have dropped the subframe and steering rack. More rust to clean and I may as well renovate the rack while it is off. Brake pipes need replacing too so I got some new stuff today. Never made brake lines before or touched a steering rack so looking forward to learning new skills.

This is turning into a complete nut and bolt restoration. I'm considering sourcing an engine to rebuild while I run with the one in the car and then swap them out. Getting ahead of myself now though. First, get her roadworthy.

Hi mate
Are you and mac competing to see who gets the first new 300 in 23 years

Cheers Mark.

Steering rack is done, looking nice but will have to wait for pics as my camera is at work. Got the brackets painted up but I am going to get the subframe blasted as I have no way to get between the two layers. Will be cleaning the radial arm mounts tomorrow. YAY! I love my wire brushes.....

Paint is so past it - go for powder coating!




And I went for a red finish on my calipers,



Keep up the good work!
Mac.

Nice but apparently powder coat is brittle and when chipped off rusts uncontrollably, its not really suitable for suspension on its own unless you galvanise as well.

The latest I found is 2 part resin with 93% zinc from rust buster followed by 121 mastic and then chassis black. Powder coat is so 1990s.

I'd also advise to bake the callipers before painting as the rust cells will still have moisture, but I must say you have made a good job of cleaning them. My sand blasted callipers got black spots after sitting a few days in the house, and the one I had painted (ran out of paint) blew bubbles when baking the paint.

Very tasty Mac. I will be getting the subframe, cross member and radial arm mounts blasted due to lack of wire brush access but not powder coated. I'm already over budget on this and here in Ireland the prices are plain ridiculous. Last night I was quoted €80 just to sandblast the subframe alone.

Hoping a place I deal with through work will do me a better rate.

Yours look spectacular. I'm off now to clean under the car ready for underseal, dirty job but it's finally stopped raining. Time to bite the bullet.....

Can you link me to your rebuild thread? I had a browse around but couldn't see it. Will check in to keep up with progress.

P.S. What are the two top row middle pieces and the bottom piece in the second picture? I'm assuming this is a different engine?

My thread for my 87 3door.
viewtopic.php?f=51&t=12113

Top two = rear engine mount brackets, bottom is front engine mount upper support bar for post 85 B14s.

Mac

i love POR15 stuff, brilliant for under car components.

.... how max power are you with red calipers, i thought better of you Mac

I am indeed a worm!

Quite deliberate - gives the "you've used the wrong shade of grey on the wheel nuts" crowd at VOC meets something to moan about.

Mac.

mac wrote:I am indeed a worm!

No, you're an old tart. Worms would use a respectable colour