The Story of Snow White - LC80 Build Thread..!

[Matt Wright]

AWESOME write up! AWESOEM pictures Great job! Keep going.. She'll be the pride of the town soon

 

[Gary820]

Looking good, it's making me want to take seats out etc for a good clean up as done the bits you can see.

 

[Caron De Kock]

@Doodle – Hmm, was thinking of trying to get Snow White ready for Lincomb, but now I am not so sure,


@clivehorridge – ahh, bless – that is a wonderful exception to the rule..!


@Matt Wright – Thanks, a long road ahead but enjoying every moment!



@Gary820 – I am glad I have taken all the seats out, given her a good clean out and gone back to basics, it gives me a better understanding of how everything inside fits together.

 

[Caron De Kock]

Next step (pun intended) was to remove the side steps so at the body shop could easily get to all places they needed to.

This nut drove me nuts..!

Passengers side step removed

Gutted to see the hidden tin worm has been chewing at the passenger’s side sill

Rear wheel arch

Little did I know that the drivers step would give me hell...!

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One of the nuts was totally rusted on

despite my best effort and WD 40 it wouldn’t budge

Finally removed the step, though the rear fixing bracket had to remain

Drivers side tin worm damage on the rear wheel arch

Decided to remove the plastic wheel arch trim to see what else lies beneath

Why are the bolts so dam hard to get to...!

Drivers side rear wheel arch plastic trim removed not looking that bad

But passengers side rear wheel arch - It appears that there was and "event" and that someone has bodged it back together to hide the damage

Major surgery completed, we now trying to work out which plastic wheel arches to use as the some of the body connectors were broken beyond repair – hence the big blobs of black goo to keep them on.

Started to clean off the dirt but our poor little Karcher broke down in the process

Snow White was due to go to the body shop the next morning so I had to remove all the body parts, interior trim and seats from inside her. The weather was cold and windy and just when I started to work, it started to snow....! Her name fits her very well in weather like this.

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Finally all naked and bare inside Snow White - just dont ask where all the parts are being stored inside the house ..!

Before Snow White goes off to the body shop, I did an oil change as we had no idea how old the oil was or when it had last been changed.

The power steering fluid was a bit low, so a quick top up was required

The rear passenger tyre had a slow puncture and needed some air just before we left, however, can you spot the problem..!

Yep - the value broke off, leaving Snow White with an instant flat tyre..!


So it was a quick wheel change..! No – we did not do it in 2.5 seconds like in a F1 pit stops , more like an hour after lowering the spare wheel, jacking Snow White with the standard jack supplied, using brute force and the breaker bar to get the stubborn wheel nuts off..! Then the wheel would not come off the hub so a 4x4 piece of wood was used as a persuader..! That worked..! I think Snow White was upset with me as I had told her that going to the body shop was like going to the dentist for root canal work .

Airing up the spare tire using the 12v air compressor

Spare wheel on, rim not looking too pretty at all but at least she is ready for the bodyshop now..

 

[Matt Wright]

Wow.. You barely have any rust on her.. A few spots! Looking forward to seeing what they fix.. I want another 80 to work on now!

 

[Ben]

I'm enjoying your thread Caron.

What are the body shop going to be doing?

 

[Caron De Kock]

@Matt Wright - you should see what has been lurking behind the front drivers wheel arch

@Ben - thank you, I have to say your thread build has been a total inspiration for me

 

[Caron De Kock]

I ran out of time to remove the front plastic wheel arches before Snow White went into the body shop. I did find out the way to remove them was by the indicator and would like to have done the work but time was against me.


I drove Snow White over to see “Uncle Tim” at the body shop after remembering to bolt down the drivers and passengers seats first . It was really strange driving with no interior trim at all and very noisy, especially as the parts I was taking with were rattling away in the back. The goal was to remove all the rust and to restore her back to her former glory. I said goodbye to her before leaving which was strange after becoming so attached to her in such a short period of time.


We visited Snow White as her front wheel arches had been removed and there was more rust hidden away than initially expected

The front wheel arch was rusted near the mud flap area and by the headlight area as well. A couple of options were considered, new wing and respray - or to cut out and weald in new pieces which is the option we went for in the end.

We reakon Snow White must have been parked in a river causing the rust problems

 

[Caron De Kock]

Here is a couple of video's taken by Marius of work being carried out at the body shop - for a better quality video go to the full HD quality option if your internet and computer allows you

http://youtu.be/J4ob1wfFFP4

http://youtu.be/Xwj4gPEZjBU

 

[Caron De Kock]

Here is a couple of video's taken by Marius of work being carried out at the body shop - for a better quality video go to the full HD quality option if your internet and computer allows you.

 

[Caron De Kock]

Sorry folks, been a bit slow on updating the thread . Further pictures of Snow White at the body shop...!

Front headlights has been dismantled to gain access to the bolts that need to be removed to take off the plastic wheel arch. Not the easist way I have to admit and very fiddly ..!

The big blobs of black gloo was a bugger to get off, in the end they resorted to grinding it off

What was learking underneath the wheel arch..!

Front passengers side plastic wheel arch removed - what colour is that..?

Removing the dent was next on the list. This reminds me of the time I told Snow White she was going in for root canal work - now she definatley wasn't happy with me..! I did explain to her that she was going through the pain to look beautiful again .

I left Snow White behind being lovingly cared for by Uncle Tim & Co and told her that she would be home very soon - as it turned out, work took longer on her that expected.!

 

[Geert]

If only I knew before that you could loosen the front wheel arches behind the blinker...
I hurt my arms pretty bad by reaching the tiny bolts through the holes in the engine compartment...

Snow white will look good in the end. Beauty hurts

 

[Chris Green90]

Hi Caron, any news on how she's getting on, Not heard anything for a while

 

[Caron De Kock]

Hi Caron, any news on how she's getting on, Not heard anything for a while

Hi Chris, things have gone a severe pear shape at the moment as my father is seriously ill, I have been so stressed with no time to spend on Snow White which is a shame. If all goes to plan, hoping to make Lincomb though

 

[Chris Green90]

Sorry to hear that Caron. Hope you are both OK and my thoughts are with you both.

 

[Shayne]

Best wishes from me to Caron i hope things turn out well .

 

[Olazz]

 

[grantw]

Lol - awesome.

 

[Shayne]

Buy that man a pint lol

 

[TonyP]

Nice one