Once the engine bay was finally prepped and tidy I gave it a coat of 2pk sealer

Once the sealer/etch had dried I have it a dry sanding and hit it with 2pk primer filler

I spent a good afternoon beating the 7 bells out of this guard and it finally came good, on some small areas where the panel has stretched causing a easy pop in/out I tried a method of drilling a small hole of about 5mm and mig welding it up hoping the heat will pull the wobble tight again , it helped but not a cure .
I didn't worry about the crease that's noticable in the pic cause I'm fitting mk1 twincam flares, once the old factory arch is removed it'll make the panel more pliable

I've fitted twink arches to plenty of cars over the years including Dat1600s and Toyota Celica TA22 . Fitting them to the van will look standard but unless up against another you prolly won't know.. the patches of filler are only light layers. Arch is on for test fit before the full installation

Floor was swiss cheese so that came out



Kept finding brittle rust and the hinge post was bad

I made up the inner sills using my folder to get the creases correct and match the original. While doing floors I decided to open out the tunnel a little bit wider but not too much using CAD Cardboard Aided Design !

Then transfer to metal and weld in

Next was drivers floor and part of the wheel well needing attention

Great work Marty!!!

Thanks Paul 😀
That's the floors all sorted out and primed

First coat of primer went on mainly to cover any bare metal

Speaker holes in doors is not a Good thing so making replacement pieces was required, a little finishing filler and good as new!


Underbody deadner was applied to the whole undercarriage once any loose old stuff was removed.... This is why I rotisserie my projects, make the whole repair process so much easier

The passenger outer sill was rotten, I decided to cut the whole length out and weld new sheet metal in, it was also treated in the sill cavity to stop any further rust from breaking out

Obviously some filler was needed for this one, rather filler than rusty holes !

Moving onto the the load bay, I only welded the holes caused by the mattress that was in there

.. And gave it a couple coated of 2pk primer..

not much left to go Marty!
the back floor turned out like a bought one.

Thanks Deano, I was lucky it wasn't used as a regular lugger or the deck could've been riddled with dents/holes ..
The barn doors were actually in excellent condition, with minor lower dents that I easily sorted

Same with the front doors 😀

I gave the shell another flat back and applied a second coat of primer, starting to get more enthused now!


In the meantime, I hunted the gummy ads for a pinto that was either built or buildable, found this a few miles down the road for only $400 , fully built bottom end with all ARP studs and bolts, balanced etc, came with a ACS 6puk clutch and a set of new cam rockers, spray bar and loads of spare bits... Bit of a win there !

Gave the block a few coats of light blue, which was going to be color of my Anglia some 10yrs ago, paint is still good to use but wouldn't use on the body now



Here's the inside of the block


New clutch that came with it..
I estimated about $2000 for a decent rebuild so this was a super cheap deal... The seller said his missus was sick of seeing it on the shed bench so it had to go, I was happy to help save his marriage by accepting the engine haha...

Trip to the paint place for $500 worth of 2pk paint, reducers , harders and clear. Only painting the inside parts as I find it easier to store or work on ...
So glad the engine bay is done, they seem to take the longest of all areas to repair