Thread: Jim's s3 109

Look forward to witnessing her resurrection to former glory.

To keep the ball rolling,
First thing i needed to do was work out why the gearstick was spinning around in circles. After taking the cover off I noticed the grub screw was missing, upon further investigation i found it. It was lodged in the groove that it looks in to. I managed to get it out but both threads were screwed. To fix it I got a short bolt and shaped the end slightly, re tapped the thread and whack in the bolt which worked great.
Now that I could drive it properly I went for a few test drives to see how it ran. All gears worked fine tested high and low no problems. Brakes are gone the resevoirs disintegrated and the jump pipes are rusted. Everything else worked as it should except the heater blower which turned out to be a blown fuse.
Next was to get it in in the shed at start the work. It was a squeeze but I got it in.
Stay tuned
Cheers Jim

Keep it coming mate.

My first job was getting the roof off so I could get it in and out of shed easier. Nothing too difficult in taking the roof off. I struggled to get the windscreen bolts out. I think I couldn't find my 1/4" ratchet or the correct spanner. Got there in the end easy enough, hardest bit was getting it off. The wife and I slid it off the back onto a cart, then I held the end up while she pulled the cart. I kept it like that for a few weeks and drive it around the paddocks it was good weather for it.
After having my fun the real work began. Off came the doors to get them out of the way. Then the floor panels and gearbox cover, all came off fairly easy. The hardest part was removing the seat box, a few bolts had to be drilled out. The ones holding the tub to the seat box along the bottom had to be cut off, I cant remember why I think it was just way easier. Once all that was off it revealed it fuel tanks. Both where filthy on top covered with red sand and dirt, and the drivers was fairly rusted. So I knew they both had to be taken out for further inspection, but I'll get to that.
Cheers Jim

And a few photos of the seat box removal and the fuel tanks.
Cheers Jim

Good work Jim!

Next was getting the tanks out, most of the bolts where rusted. As I said before the tops were covered in dirt well so was in between the tank and the bash plates. Turned out most of it was bulldust and sand that had hardened with moisture over time. It had caused plenty of rust so the tanks mounts were rubbish.
In the end I cut most of the mounting pieces with a recipro and grinder. I plan on folding up some sheet to re mount the tanks like they originally were. The old mounts and bolts where to far gone and the drivers tank had massive holes in it. The passenger tank is a much thicker steel and was salvageable. The tap to switch tanks is down on the seat box, is that the normal way they switched tanks?
Next was getting tub off, again I just cut most of the bolts most were too far gone. Removed the gas tank from the back also. The tub was pretty heavy to get off but basically walked it off the back. Found a rubber shim on one side I think it's to level the tub up.
After getting the tub off I gave the chassis a good scrubbing to see how it is under all the dirt and oil. The chassis was full of sand and dirt it took a long time to clean it all out. Hopfully it was protecting the inside not destroying it lol. No rust chunks came out just red dirt.
Excuse the photos they weren't to show, they were for my own memory.
Plenty more to come, gonna have to get the tablet out soon to take some updated photos.
Cheers Jim

From memory Jim on my S2 each of the aluminium brackets underneath the tub have a rubber gasket of sorts. I suppose it is to keep the tub even and prevent metal on metal rubbing.
Looking good.