Midas Cars Forum - www.midascarsforum.com

Passenger door ready to be attacked, including...



...very ugly looking door plate.



This screw was a pain. I cannot thank the inventor of Molegrips enough.

Frame is finally off this one too!



Repaired door plate in stonechip.

Isn't it amazing how one small tiny little thing can make your life a misery? When I was taking the car apart, the screw for the passenger window winder was seized and no amount of impact drivers, Plusgas, grinding or heat would shift it. I drilled the head off it to get the winder handle and then the door card off with a view to drilling it out at a later date. That later date has arrived. 3 broken drill bits later plus a LOT of bad language and still only part of the screw has been drilled out. I at first though I would just replace it with a standard Ford part (Fiesta Mk1 or 2), but of course Midas redesigned it slightly by chopping it about and re-brazing with a piece of triangular steel. So out came the drill again, this time a bigger drill bit, and I drilled out the rivets holding on the winder wheelbox. The "new" Fiesta winder should arrive in the next few days, so I will do the same to that, and rivet the new wheelbox back on.

In the meantime, I gave the winder mechanism a new coat of primer followed by a squirt of satin black. I would have masked the wheelbox anyway so it won't be an issue. I also straightened the driver's door frame where I'd bent it on removal. An easy few taps of a hammer on wood had it back into perfect shape. I also removed the window tack rubbers. You can see from the pictures that it *MIGHT* need replacing...

Wiper wheelbox removed from winder mechanism...



Because this little so and so was causing me a lot of grief. I'm gonna throw it in the bin!!



Primed winder mechanism awaiting paint (Apologies for poor pic)

I'm not sure this will go again...

I now had two doorframes sitting around so I thought I had better do something with them, and that something was sand them ready for paint - they were looking a little tired. They are incredibly light (aluminium I believe) so attacking them with the wire brush on the angle grinder was out of the question. No, instead I went for the mouse - it's an ingenious little sanding device that oscillates rather than spins. A bit of 120 grit and all was nicely keyed for a new coat. I wiped them down with a white-spirit soaked rag then left them to dry, before a final wipe with a tack rag. I then gave one of the frames a coat of primer. I only did one as I hardly have any space!!

First frame sanded and put out of the way so...



...I could get on with the other one. Mouse on bench is an awesome bit of kit.



First frame primed. It's hung upside down on the bar because that bit goes inside the door so any hanger marks will be out of sight.

Something has been bothering me about this project for a while and that is the fuel tank. There is a small filter in a van tank near the bottom in the middle which is virtually inaccessible, and when I sealed the tank I also managed to seal this. It is virtually impossible to remove at the best of times, but covered with Frost's finest tank sealant it wasn't going anywhere! I have also noticed that there is a horrible section on the tank floor which has made my mind up for me. This tank will not be used. However, I have stumbled across a bargain. When I was at Brooklands Mini day the other weekend one of the autojumble traders was selling a van tank for the princely sum of £35. Considering what they usually go for I was gobsmacked. The inside looked in really good nick and although it had a dent, there was no way I was going to turn it down so it came home with me.

As with most things Midas-related, it is not a straight swap. You need to lop 2 inches off the top of the filler neck. Having marked it up, I grabbed my trusty hacksaw and set to work. All went without a hitch and some gentle filing made sure there were no sharp bits for my poor dainty fingers. There was a bit of a problem with the tank though and that was the paint. The guy I bought it from had it on a van he'd restored and just swapped it out for a new tank. He'd then given it a coat of "paint". I think it is fact more like tar. I got out the most horrible stuff I could find (Halfords equivalent of Nitromors from about 10 years ago!) and coated the top of the tank with it. I then spent the next hour and a half with a scraper getting very messy indeed. I wiped it all down with white spirit afterwards but it still needs a good going over with the wire brush. And I still have the bottom half to do. Lovely.

In the meantime I found a place to hang the already painted frame, then sprayed the other one with primer. Onwards and upwards!

Sealed filter. It was going nowhere. Tank wasn't "right" either so I will get rid of it...



...and it will be replaced with this.



Marked up, first cut made.

No use for a van anymore!



Half the "tar" removed. More work needed.



2nd door frame primed. 1st one in the background.

I have finally finished removing the horrible tar-like paint from the other half of the tank. I think the vendor slapped it on quickly before bring it down to sell as it was still tacky when I bought it. It didn't help that it was very thick in places. I am forever grateful for paint stripper and my trusty scraper. The top I was wearing can probably be turned into rags now though... Once the paint was off I gave the tank a wipe down with white spirit to remove any traces of stripper, then gave it a tickle with the wire brush on the grinder to remove any stubborn bits. Another wipe down was followed by a couple of coats of primer - quite difficult when you can't hang it up...

Finally got the last of the "tar" off. Yummy.



Primer on both the top...



...and the bottom. Paint to follow.

Personally I wouldn't bother with that filter as it's only fine mesh. A good quality aftermarket inline 1 is far better in my opinion

Trouble is Wolfie I can't get it off - very difficult to reach and it's covered in sealant on the "old" tank. Oh dear... Plus I have an in-line filter to go in the fuel line just after the tank