'91 SRi "Phoenix" project

[Telegram Sam]

I am proposing to resurrect a project that never got going a few years ago to restore a '91 SRi. Rust a. removal and b. prevention will be a major consideration. I'd appreciate any tips, recommendations, do's and dont's that anyone can pass on particularly in respect of which products / preparations give the best results using latest chemical technology (and which don't!)

I came across the Dutch "Rustyco" rust removal product and was impressed by the video on their website. I ended up buying a tub. First and second impressions are that it does remove superficial rust but only by using a lot more elbow grease than shown in the video, and anything more deep seated it finds hard to cope with. Has anyone else had experience of this, or something similar?

The project will involve taking parts from a '95 LSi low mileage (55 K) donor car. As a result there will inevitably be surplus and duplicate parts, some for the tip but others in perfectly serviceable condition. These may not however all become available at the same time and my experience of car parts logistics is zero. I am wondering how best to make what becomes available to interested parties with the minimum of hassle on either side.

[ilovedmymantas]

Welcome back Iain

Good to hear you're resurrecting your car There's a lot of catching-up to do!

I've been scanning your last posts and I'm a bit confused. What's changed, did you win a court case?

So many questions spring to mind. In the words of johnny 5,

Is this the same car you're getting restored?

… spoke to my MOT garage this morning. With a minimum of persuasion they agreed that if I presented them with an N-reg chassis containing an H-reg motor, they would test emissions according to the rules for the H-reg. Hopefully that was therefore a false alarm.
When I mentioned my intentions to Adrian Flux previously they seemed to be reasonably laid back about it. Full insurance disclosure is obviously the name of the game.

Making some assumptions, you may be able to transfer your sri parts to the better donor shell
I found this while browsing
https://www.theprivateplateco.co.uk/sup ... ion-plate/
https://www.theprivateplateco.co.uk/sup ... ber-v317-/

If I understand correctly you can retain your reg number and transfer it to your donor car ( it would have to be mot'd), then you'd have the bonus of driving a cavalier while you address any rust problems and change over panels & trims
When that's done to your satisfaction, change the engine and start phase two of the paperwork

[Robsey]

From my limited knowledge...

The original car suffered terminal chassis rot within a few years of a restoration.

As for the new project.
The plan is to obtain a new shell,
Strip it bare, and repair any corrosion issues.

Then once the body is okay, rebuild the newer car utilising many of the old SRi trims and parts.

In short, use the best parts from two cars to create one good one.

The problem here may be shell storage.
A large facility the size of a small aircraft hanger will be needed to work on the shell and store any parts in the warm and dry whilst the work is progressing.

[Telegram Sam]

Hi. Your latest summary of the situation sums it up nicely and saves me repeating things. In essence the project has been frozen for various reasons except that I now have what I believe is a suitable donor vehicle = N-reg '95 LSi @ 55k miles. (what is the donor and what the recipient is something one can argue over)

Finding temporary surplus parts storage should be more of a problem than finding a working area as far as can be foreseen, depending on how easy it would be to dispose of the former other than to a scrap metal dealer - which would go against the grain but might in the end be inevitable

The aggro of taking legal action against the restorer guy who ripped me off proved just too much in the end, I have to admit.

[Telegram Sam]

PS Tks for the info about the reg no palaver. I got on to the DVLA people way back then and came away thoroughly confused and concluded that such matters were best left to someone in the restorer community who knows his way around the minefield. Options such as swapping the chassis number cropped up in the discussions but not with DVLA.