Yoshi

Sadly I don’t have the space for a welder. I either work on the side of our quiet road or in the alley next to the office (private).

I could do the welding at the office I suppose but would rather get it done right

Popped up to the local garage, they estimate around 3 hours work to get it done. The price comes in at the top end of what I wanted to spend so I am happy with that.

Thats with me removing the bumper and panels for them. Said I dont want anything painted ect as I will manage all that which I would want to do anyway. Hopefully get a slot next week for them to do it.

Wow, it took 2 MONTHS for the garage to get their asses into gear and complete the welding. It was booked in with them as something to do on the side, keep my costs down. But really, 2 months for what equated to 5 hours work.
Oh well, its done and I have my baby back.

Wheel Arch:


Inside of the Arch


Not the cleanest, but I think thats due to them not having the right welder. The outside was sealed in something, in black, and no idea what it was... so covered it in Waxoyl like I have been doing the rest of the under side. Completed the underseal of the rear arches now and as much of the rear as I could reach without too much trouble.

Had to get an MOT while it was with them as it expired... passed with no advisories.

Next up, a lot of sanding. I have decided to sand the inside rear back to bare metal, repair all the little holes with epoxy (with a steel filler) and respray it.
After the inside is done... wire brush the underside of all that and waxoyl the remainder of the underside of the car, which is basically a stripe down the center.

After this I am going back and forth trying to decide how to deal with the removal of the rear plastics. They are gone, and I dont want them back but I do want to kit out the rear for camping. Its a toss up between going all wood paneling and fiberglassing it. The storage box system I want to build will be wood. But I want to replace the side plastics that covered the front seat belts and think that using the bits I have of it (just goes past the seat belts) I can make a new panel that hugs the wheel arch rather than taking up a ton of space like the original one did.
Fairly certain its going to be fiberglass, as from a weight point of view this would be the best bet. And I think it would look much better with the curved lines around the front seat belts, all the way round to the rear door. Along with a "bin" for the back, to keep moisture away from the metal.