Zodiac Rebuild

[Father Ted]

Haven't reported much on this lately but I am still working on the Tedmobile when I get a chance. I have now completely stripped the interior to reveal the floor.



It's not too bad. The worst rust is this hole under the seat on the passenger side.



This is the only section of the floor that is double-skinned. Ironically it seems to have a "strengthening" piece underneath the seat mounting that has trapped mud and rotted through. The driver's side looks like it is going the same way.

Also found a small hole in the rear passenger footwell.



And I have been stripping the paint. This is going to be a VERY SLOW process. I have been using a hot air gun on the bootlid but didn't want to risk it on the roof in case it melts the headlining which I hope to save, so I have been using paint stripper.



Modern paint stripper is rubbish! Nitromors has changed its formula and doesn't work. I have been using B&Q own brand but you have to leave it overnight for it to have any effect. The car has been re-sprayed twice to my knowledge so there are a lot of layers of paint to remove.

Someone on the Zephyr/Zodiac forum recommended "Langlows" paint stripper but I can't find a local stockist.

[Father Ted]

Been doing some more paint-stripping today. I have realised that the modern chemical stripper does work if you leave it on the paint for a couple of days so am using that on the roof.




Did a bit more of the boot with hot air gun.



In places where there is just the original paint, such as under trim which was not removed when the car was last repainted (in 1985!), the paint is so thin that it can just be easily sanded off with P60 sandpaper.


Also cleared the remainder of my rubbish from my mum's garage and found this camshaft that I had forgotten I had.




It had been in a leaky damp garage for over 10 years and had some surface rust but cleaned up quite easily. It looks OK to me but I don't really know. Hopefully one of you helpful chaps who actually knows what he is talking about can advise if this is useable?




As well as the camshaft and various other bits I found these 2 oil cans, which must have belonged to my late father. They are almost certainly at least 60 years old but both work perfectly, even before I cleaned them up.

[Father Ted]

Today I pushed the Zodiac out of the garage so I could do a bit of work on my Triumph.

Here is a rare photo of them together (they don't really like each other...



With the car out in the sunlight I could get a better look at it and I think I have confirmed my suspicions that it was in a serious accident when it was fairly new.

A judge at a show first drew this to my attention when he pointed out that the offside "A" post looked as if it had been repaired.

When I took off the "B" post trim I found that the post itself has been welded near the top. The other side does not have this welded joint.



Today I noticed that the insides of the nearside doors are painted in body colour, but the insides of the offside doors are in primer - and the soundproofing pads have not been fitted.





So I think that the car has had major repairs to the offside, probably when it was fairly new as otherwise it would not have been worth doing.

Also I have always known the nearside rear wing has had some serious panel beating done to it - wonder if it was all a result of the same accident?

[Father Ted]

I have now finished stripping the roof and the bootlid.



I thought the corners of the bootlid would be seriously rusty as the paint was beginning to bubble there but they are not too bad.





Progress is very slow. Stripping the paint is taking forever with paint stripper and hot air gun, and I am worried that the hot air will distort the panels. It would be much quicker if I could use a wire brush in my angle grinder but that is too noisy for suburbia!

I am seriously considering having it sand or shot blasted. Does anybody know how much this costs?

[Father Ted]

More progress on the paint stripping. I have found that the modern paint stripper DOES work, if you leave it on the paint for 24 hours before you try to scrape the paint off.

I have now stripped the OS rear wing.



Bottom corner is not pretty.


Wheel arch is good, which is unusual for one of these



Odd place for a small hole. On top of wing, just behind rear door.



However, there has been some previous "repairs" where the wing meets the sill.

This took some removing.



It was a solid lump of fibreglass. I had a new sill fitted not long after I bought the car and they obviously found that there was not enough metal to weld to at the rear end.

They did make one repair section.



Unfortunately they adhered it to the car with filler and fibre glass, rather than the more conventional method of welding. Needless to say this was done by professionals.

With all the filler gone, this is what is left.



Actually not too bad for one of these, most are a lot worse.

[Father Ted]

Haven't done anything at all to the Zodiac for a while, but did some more stripping yesterday...



Rear valance is surprisingly rot-free!



Especially when compared to the lower corner of the rear wing next to it.



I have realised that if I continue to try to strip all the paint myself I will never get this car back on the road, so today I went and had a chat with a company that advertises in "Practical Classics" who will completely strip and prime the body, inside and out and underneath, with weld-through primer. Expensive, but probably worth it just to save a lot of time.

However, they need the body to be completely stripped of all other parts, and not a rolling shell, as is at the moment. So I need to remove all the suspension etc, and the headlining.

[Father Ted]

On Sunday I removed the headlining, nasty fiddly job, and I didn't manage to get it out intact so that is more expense buying another one. Not unexpected, it is nearly 50 years old.





Also it looks as if the headlining has been refitted or replaced in the past. More evidence of major repairs ?

2017 edit: East Kent Vintage Trim now stock the headlining. Just need to find someone local to fit it when the time comes.

[Father Ted]

Still trying to remove everything from the body shell so it can be taken to be blasted or dipped (not yet sure which).

Today I removed the steering. Someone once told me that you could pull the steering box through the hole in the bulkhead into the passenger compartment, which means that you don't have to take the steering wheel, gear lever and indicator switch off the steering column.

They lied.

Anyway, I eventually got it all out OK, and the slight leak from the steering box seems to have stopped the area behind it from rusting. I have found somewhere local that can blast the body shell with soda (baking soda apparently!) which will not distort the panels. I am waiting for them to come back to me with a quote.

[Father Ted]

Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2014

Today I went to have a chat with the company that does the shot blasting.

They did not recommend soda blasting, as it is VERY expensive and leaves a residue which, if you don't completely remove it, stops the paint from sticking properly. They use mainly iron filings, which are much cheaper partly because they can be re-used.

They showed me a Rover P6 that was being stripped and the results did look impressive.

[Father Ted]

Still removing everything from the bodyshell so it can be taken away and blasted to remove the paint.

Just about removed everything from the front end now.



Off side front suspension turret looks rust-free.



Near side is unfortunately holey.



Hopefully there is enough room to get a MIG torch in there...

Various forms of brute force and ignorance used to remove track control arm bushes.



I got a complete set of front suspension bushes at Beaulieu but will have to find somewhere with a press to fit them.

[Father Ted]

More progress.

Removed the rear axle & springs.



Just a few bits to take off and I will have a completely bare shell ready to be blasted - once I have worked out a way of moving it...

[Father Ted]

As well as stripping the car I have also been accumulating parts.

My latest eBay purchase was this pair of custom made stainless steel exhaust manifolds.



The originals always crack at the corners of the holes.



I have welded them in the past but could not resist the new stainless steel ones.

Trial fitted one just to make sure they fit.



Nice and shiny!

[Father Ted]

Car is almost completely stripped now.

Engine compartment doesn't look too rusty at first glance...



But the inner wings have had some welding in the past.









Not pretty - seems solid but I suspect will need some serious attention when all the paint (and probably filler) has been removed.

[Father Ted]

Having visited the NEC show last week I am being led into temptation by the companies who strip car bodies by dipping them in nasty chemicals.

I think I have I have now removed everything from the body that is not metal, rust or filler.

Two of the last things I removed were these rubber bump stops for the rear suspension...


Both been there for nearly 50 years but one is completely perished and the other almost good as new!

I bought a pair from eBay a few weeks ago, advertised as being for a Mk2 but they look the same as my Mk3 ones.


I have owned this car for over 30 years and soon after I bought it I realised that the nearside rear wing had seen some serious panel beating, presumably after an accident, and was missing the big bracket that supports the spare wheel. A few months ago I bought one that had been hacked off a Zephyr that was being scrapped, and this afternoon spent some time cutting off the surplus bits of Zephyr and trial fitting it.



I have not had time yet to unpack the present I bought myself at the NEC show...

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[Father Ted]

Zodiac is now stripped to a bare shell.



It is residing on the trolley thing that I bought at the NEC, held on by some ratchet straps, waiting for me to get my finger out and arrange for the shell to be taken away and stripped.