Talbot

Just a couple of thoughts:
That's not a lot really.  Rust looks spectacular when it has run a meter up a sill, but in reality the time it takes to sort an entire rotten sill vs a "50p sized patch" is completely disproportionate. As Juular mentioned above, it's not the actual act of welding that takes the time, it's the stripping out of the interior, the cutting back of the rot, the fabrication of replacement/repair panels and making them fit, the making sure you don't set fire to anything (trust me on that one) and the having somewhere to do all that work.  The actual *welding* bit is maybe 5% of the overall process.  Probably less I would not recommend learning to weld on rusty car bodywork.  It's one of the most difficult things to weld.  Access is often terrible, you have old paint/underseal/primer/etc. floating about, the fit of the panels is often rough, you're usually having to weld upside-down, and can never quite see what the hell you're doing.  Workshop welding on a bench on thick (5mm plus) sections is where you ideally start, and then work towards more difficult stuff.  To say "i'm going to learn to weld on a rusty car" is like saying "I'm going to learn to drive (from scratch) in a formula 1 car.  On a racetrack.  During an active race." Whilst I am in absolutely no position to take on any projects at the moment, I'd say that with the interior stripped out, a new sill available and a load of sheet metal (plus maybe a box-and-pan folder), that's maybe a couple of days' work to sort.  Especially if you have access to the 2-post lift it's currently on.  Makes life about 9.74 times easier.

It's the perfect excuse to learn to weld. As others always say it's not the welding, it's all the messing around to get to the point of welding that's the time consuming bit. Note I didn't say difficult, because separately the tasks are pretty simple, it just takes 40 times longer than budgeted for when you put them together. For example I'd be taking the seats and carpet out from what I can see.
Can you still get outer sill panels for these? That looks like the most annoying bit to fabricate. The rest would probably just be the odd bent bit of 1mm steel.
Overall I don't think it's a full on resto project, probably about average for something that age.
Get it fixed I say!

well, she's going to get a rather large surprise.  If she'd been reasonable and apologetic, I'd have offered to fit a second-hand bumper at cost.  Now, she's getting a quote from mercedes for a brand new bumper and their labour to fit.  And two other quotes from people I know who run bodyshops.  If she sees change from £1k for this she'll be lucky.  She won't like that, but tough shit.  If she ignores me, I'll just engage the police and claim direct from her insurer.  Utter cowbag.

Begone, pea shooter.
 

 
Had to retap one of the threads on the head as idiot here used a wrong thread pitch manifold stud off another car.  
 

 
CHONK PIPE
 






 
It won't start now as I've fucked up the idle screws and choke position, and it got dark. So I'll have to wait till later to annoy everyone.

Bcoz Sprotscar.
I think this is fast becoming the car with the most difference between "how it looks" and "how it is mechanically"

Bcoz Sprotscar.
I think this is fast becoming the car with the most difference between "how it looks" and "how it is mechanically"

Bcoz Sprotscar.
I think this is fast becoming the car with the most difference between "how it looks" and "how it is mechanically"

Bcoz Sprotscar.
I think this is fast becoming the car with the most difference between "how it looks" and "how it is mechanically"

Bcoz Sprotscar.
I think this is fast becoming the car with the most difference between "how it looks" and "how it is mechanically"

Bcoz Sprotscar.
I think this is fast becoming the car with the most difference between "how it looks" and "how it is mechanically"

Blimey that is a long glowplug.  How wide is the head??

Bcoz Sprotscar.
I think this is fast becoming the car with the most difference between "how it looks" and "how it is mechanically"

Bcoz Sprotscar.
I think this is fast becoming the car with the most difference between "how it looks" and "how it is mechanically"

Bcoz Sprotscar.
I think this is fast becoming the car with the most difference between "how it looks" and "how it is mechanically"

Some more stuff tackled. Trying to keep in my head all of the things I thought about fixing while on the Rustival trip. Writing notes? How quaint! Just stay awake at night trying to sift through jumbled thoughts until 3AM.
It would probably be good to sort out the broken headlights.  Brief recap. A few weeks ago I fitted a latching relay which allowed me to control the full beam entirely through the flasher stalk instead of the antiquated floor switch. This worked brilliantly until it didn't.  Turns out that £3 of Chinese "INDUSTRIAL CONTROL" electronics aren't suited for, you know,  anything.  So the PCB basically melted (it wasn't even carrying notable current).  Before the Rustival trip I simply reinstated the floor dip switch to get us on the road.
Turns out I wasn't wrong to try and get rid of the floor switch because as soon as it got dark, I went to switch between main and dip on a dual carriageway and lost all headlights. We pulled into a layby, consulted the wiring diagram, and crimped a couple of wires together so that we had headlights (but no mains).
Time to fix that permanently.  
The solution here is to use a 'proper' relay, in this case one designed for an old VW bus / beetle. The relay number is DNI 0127. There are also Meyle and Durite equivalents, so they are easily come by.
Step 1, remove floor switch and hurl it into the depths of the garden.
Step 2, crimp spades on the end of the wires to the floor switch.  Also tee-solder the smaller red wire into the bigger one, as that's more structurally sound than crimping two wires into one spade.

Step 3, RELAY

Here is the pinout.

And here is what that looks like in real life.

Step 4 : Replace the fuse you blew because you forgot to disconnect the battery, and touched the permanent +12V against the metal dash. Oh wait, there's no continental fuses left..  

So it turns out this lighting setup is even better than the one I set up previously with the INDUSTRIAL CONTROL relay.  
- When the dipped headlights are off, the flasher stalk operates as a main beam flasher.
- When the dipped headlights are on, the flasher stalk toggles the main beam on and off like a modern car.
- The relay also serves the purpose of being a relay for both the mains, flasher and dipped.  So it takes away the load from the light switch, provides full current to the headlights (brighter!)  plus it means I can remove the flasher relay and wiring in the engine bay as it is no longer required.
So far this seems a far more robust and efficient setup, time will tell.
Engine and gearbox mounts replaced.  The gearbox one was particularly hanging and the propshaft was bouncing off the bottom of the transmission tunnel.

A set of high performance air filters attached.  The purpose being twofold. The generic SU HS6 pancakes I had on would sometimes smack against the clutch master cylinder reservoir on hard cornering or acceleration.  I also felt they were strangling the engine as they were so thin and miserable looking.  These by comparison are offset specifically to fit the Amazon, and are significantly more chunky.

 
Y THO   |  Y THO

 
Test drove this and was quite impressed.  The wishbone poly bushes have sharpened up the steering a fair bit. The engine and gearbox mounts have changed the gearshifts significantly, and overdrive seems to snick on in a much more dignified fashion. 
A little bit of the induction roar from the pancakes has actually disappeared, but it still sounds great when opened up. I'll take it.
Next up, I'll be fitting the sports exhaust, more polybushes, and doing a number of electrical upgrades to make it more reliable.

It'll either make it a bit better (gummed/siezed ring) or worse (broken ring)
There's so little left that this can be!!

Round a mate's last night, talking to his daughter (late 20s, hairdresser).  She was telling me that she'd spent several hours that day replacing a front lower arm on her Audi (2003 A4 Avant) in advance of its upcoming MOT, and she was complaining about what an utter bastard the front suspension is to work on on those cars.  She also replaced a rear arm which was a piece of piss by comparison, although she did say the bush on the old one fell to bits as she took it off.
There's still hope for the next generation I reckon.

It happens a lot. Was discussing it with some colleagues and we're wondering whether its an in joke with broadcasters. Something like if you lose a bet, you have to call him a cunt on air or something. 
 

As am I, as the post I removed was from another member.  If Sheefag liked one of your posts,.I can see no reason it wouldn't take you to the post in question.
The post I hid had no likes or reactions, and isn't even adjacent to any of your posts...
Dunno.

I noticed.  Cheeky bugger!  I'll add it to the tally.

Wonga incoming.

I shall echo all of the above comments, as they are very much in line with my experience.
The comment that I did not have the same experience needs expanding on:
I simply did not appreciate that the procedure here was to pay for a Gaydon ticket, and then you had to book something extra on a completely unrelated platform.  I did not watch any youtube videos about this process, as I do not subscribe to any of the youtube-based organisers of this event.  I've very little interest in youtube subscriptions tbh.  Equally, I don't do Facebook for very much more than local marketplace, hence did not read anything on there about the booking process.  As far as I was concerned I'd paid my money for a ticket, and that was that.  I'm there for the show, not the Anti-Social Media experience.
The blokey checking tickets on the way in (after absolutely no queue, which is bloody excellent!) was remarkably non-understanding of this, as when pressed for "where are you parking?", my reply was "I've no idea, that's up to you isn't it??".  After a somewhat drawn out back-and-forth, I got a remarkably rude "well, I'll let you in, but next time, fucking sort yourself out will you"
Quite frankly I'd have happily run him over after a comment like that.
As it happens, I had every intention of needing to pay for my additional passenger, but I never did in the end.  Even the blokey on the museum desk didn't want to take my cash.  So I spent it on other things at the event.
Excellent event.  Much more laid-back and pleasant compared to FOTU.  Youtube stage with amplified people was easily avoided and I met a lot of friends I haven't seen in a very long time.  It was quite remarkable spotting how many (mainly Citroen BXs) cars had been on my driveway some 15-20 years ago.
Only other comment was my not really understanding why some sub-5-year-old cars were in the display areas.  I'm glad there's no strict age limits, but a BrandNewCar is rather pointless being "displayed" in a slot where something MuchMoreInteresting could be.
But I will definitely be back.  Especially if the booking method is simplified.

The space just happened without any particular intent. Glad to have an AS representative next door.

Homeward journey in the Amazon went well. It absolutely tanned the M6 north. Without the pressure to get to a destination intact, we both opened it right up and enjoyed it. @Ronkey wanted inspiration to get his finished. Get stuck in, because it'll be worth it!


A couple of stops for coffee, but mainly to tip jerry cans into the frustratingly small fuel tank. That fuel tank seemed increasingly small on the way back as with the car being pushed hard, let's just say the earlier 34mpg was a distant fantasy. But who cares!

Stopped off at @warninglights place for a cup of tea, and to poke round his collection of really interesting Volvo projects. The Laplander is something to behold and is already looking like a completely different beast to when he got it. I won't give away anything, but this is going to be brilliant.
Lolvo meets Volvo.

And home.

I enjoyed every minute of driving this.
It was comfortable, surprisingly rapid, and with very few modern touches, totally capable. With the longer diff installed the speedo no longer over-reads like most cars, and a 70 on the needle is a true GPS 70.
As such it felt like we were flying past the traffic.  It was keen for more, and without trying you'd notice you'd drifted up to GPS 80 and it had plenty left without being remotely loud. And that's before you flick the overdrive off, where you get a surprising burst of power available. 
The K cam and overdrive puts this right in the sweet spot for motorway driving as it's at the foot of the powerband. Having that at the flick of a stalk means you can really piss off middle lane drivers who don't want to move, but don't like being overtaken by a 60 year old shack.  Tough!
I am surprised Volvo never offered the M41+OD+1.41 axle combo in production cars, because it's just so right. It does rob a fair bit of your 0-60 and standing starts aren't as lively, but the K cam more than makes up for that, you just hold the gears a little longer.
Rustival was fun and I would do it again. The very best part of it was seeing people, @Talbot, @chaseracer, @mat_the_cat, @Puglet @Sunny Jim, @Six-cylinder, @Mrs6C, @Andyrew.  Thank you all for such a brilliant weekend. What a great bunch of lads.
Enjoyed the autojumbles, perhaps a little too much as we came home with a set of four Lucas driving lights.
 
The enjoyment of the trip spurred me into getting some more things sorted on the car, so I have now spaffed the best part of a grand on a branched manifold, sports exhaust, a better intake, and a full set of polybushes, plus a load of electrical parts to try and fix niggles and improve the (still bodged) lighting.
To round things off, when I got home I had a nice surprise waiting in the form of a Professional Prat.

I shall echo all of the above comments, as they are very much in line with my experience.
The comment that I did not have the same experience needs expanding on:
I simply did not appreciate that the procedure here was to pay for a Gaydon ticket, and then you had to book something extra on a completely unrelated platform.  I did not watch any youtube videos about this process, as I do not subscribe to any of the youtube-based organisers of this event.  I've very little interest in youtube subscriptions tbh.  Equally, I don't do Facebook for very much more than local marketplace, hence did not read anything on there about the booking process.  As far as I was concerned I'd paid my money for a ticket, and that was that.  I'm there for the show, not the Anti-Social Media experience.
The blokey checking tickets on the way in (after absolutely no queue, which is bloody excellent!) was remarkably non-understanding of this, as when pressed for "where are you parking?", my reply was "I've no idea, that's up to you isn't it??".  After a somewhat drawn out back-and-forth, I got a remarkably rude "well, I'll let you in, but next time, fucking sort yourself out will you"
Quite frankly I'd have happily run him over after a comment like that.
As it happens, I had every intention of needing to pay for my additional passenger, but I never did in the end.  Even the blokey on the museum desk didn't want to take my cash.  So I spent it on other things at the event.
Excellent event.  Much more laid-back and pleasant compared to FOTU.  Youtube stage with amplified people was easily avoided and I met a lot of friends I haven't seen in a very long time.  It was quite remarkable spotting how many (mainly Citroen BXs) cars had been on my driveway some 15-20 years ago.
Only other comment was my not really understanding why some sub-5-year-old cars were in the display areas.  I'm glad there's no strict age limits, but a BrandNewCar is rather pointless being "displayed" in a slot where something MuchMoreInteresting could be.
But I will definitely be back.  Especially if the booking method is simplified.