1992 2.1 Sd Auto Estate

[Dieselman]

The front bumper outriggers needed some repairs, mainly due to the wheel-arch liner rubber bung being missing.

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Cut-out plated and sealed

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I also wire wheeled the wheel-houses and applied seam sealer to areas where it had come away. I also welded the lead edge of the A pillar where the metal layers are only sealed with seam sealer...which breaks down and allows water into the A pillar and front jacking point areas.

The steering gear heat shield clip was missing so I made one from a bit of stainless spring wire. The wire gauge is slightly thinner, so hopefully it will stay in place, if not I'll make one from some thicker metal.

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Also finally managed to look at the paint code and Rp number

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[Dieselman]

The front wheel-house was treated to primer.

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It was time to deal with the vampire bite in the right headlamp glass

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On stripping the unit I noted the reflectors were quite dusty, so washed them out with soapy water, rinsed and dried using warm air. Avoid touching the silvering, it will come off, as the aluminium has oxidised somewhat.
I washed both units out. Only pics of R/h one here.

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Note: The internal polycarbonate headlamp lens goes smooth side out for Lhd, patterned side out for Rhd.

I also found the previously missing power steering ram nut under the R/h headlamp.

[Dieselman]

A bit more done.
Painted the primed sections in two coats of top coat, made complete headlamps up and refitted them and the bumper support bar.

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[Dieselman]

More done, starting with panting the lower part of the sills in black, which took 4 coats to cover the primer and white paint.

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Next I fixed the locating spigot back onto the ECU box after it broke off when removing it, drilled and screwed in a self tapping screw, then glued with epoxy adhesive.
I also trimmed the spigot barbs so that it no longer jams really hard in the grommet, which is what leads to them breaking off. With the engine and cooling reservoir installed you can't access the grommet to lubricate the spigot when removing.

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I tested the pressure in all the spheres and found most to be approx. 40% down, though on re-gassing one front corner sphere ruptured, so I fitted a pair of new ones.
Reassuringly, it had the correct spheres installed in each location. Bear in mind, for the rears estates have different specification spheres than saloons, due to the rear ram piston sizes being larger: 400cc @ 40Bar corners, 500cc @ 40 Bar centre.

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Due to being an automatic, with A/c the pressure regulator is more challenging to reach.

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The best way is to remove the plastic air pipe that runs from the turbo to the inter-cooler.

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After fitting the spheres I removed and cleaned the Lhm reservoir and filters, using petrol.
Dirt from the tank.

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Filter unit removed from the tank, then filters removed and cleaned.

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After re-installing the tank I filled it with 4.5 litres of Lhm and bled the system and brakes.

I spent some time pushing out the dent in the rear left door. I'm not really happy with the result, but it's a lot better than it was.
I should have made up a tensioning bar to stretch the door skin prior to pushing the dent out. I might revisit this sometime.

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I painted all the rear box section joints and any areas where coatings were coming off, sprayed rust-proofing into the sills, A pillar, B pillar and main underbody box sections, then installed the body plugs with underseal to create a full seal.
At some stage I'll drop the rear subframe and paint it.

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Rustproofing required access via the inner sill body plugs, so now that is complete I have started installing the interior, the carpet and front seats are in.