306 Cabriolet budget restoration

steelsprings

Member
VIP Paid Subscriber
Fellow Frogger
Joined
Aug 22, 2012
Messages
91
Location
Gold Coast
Hi all, I have recently picked up a dark blue (MOGE) 306 N5 Cabrilet with RFV 2.0 98kw engine, ZF 4hp16 auto transmission and custom cream leather interior trim.
The bones are all there but it has somelight rear impact damage on the boot and panel above the bumper. It also has the standard small bumps and scratches around the car.
The top edges of the panels have clear coat peal and/or foggy clear coat. I suspect this is from a respray at some stage of its life.
The engine performs perfectly but has a slight pulley bearing noise.
The transmission performs well but drips some oil.
The electric soft top is not functioning. It does work manually.
The rear window transparency is barely see through.
The blue canvas top is in good shape except where something sharp has torn it on the LH rear quarter.
An incorrect battery was fitted causing bonnet not to close and arcing Correct DIN 55H battery now fitted. And incorrect battery terminals modified to give clearance.
The A/C and blower fan didn’t work. Found to be a short between the fuse box and blower motor.
The front end was clunky and handling was terrible. This was found to be a loose ball joint on the LHF.
I’ll be addressing all of these issues over the coming weeks.
Good points
New supercat V rated tyres
No rust and mostly very straight
No AL4 transmission
New front brakes.
 

Attachments

  • 49A3F73E-1A82-48C0-8767-734A5C22D97E.jpeg
    49A3F73E-1A82-48C0-8767-734A5C22D97E.jpeg
    33 KB · Views: 137
  • 32AA3928-F3F5-4A8D-8EF4-39126D2E5F5E.jpeg
    32AA3928-F3F5-4A8D-8EF4-39126D2E5F5E.jpeg
    25 KB · Views: 134
  • 16596297-E603-4001-9970-698119895B40.jpeg
    16596297-E603-4001-9970-698119895B40.jpeg
    25.2 KB · Views: 130
  • 0E0744C7-1EC1-412A-9F83-13026F519AEF.jpeg
    0E0744C7-1EC1-412A-9F83-13026F519AEF.jpeg
    37.6 KB · Views: 141
nice, i too have one like it in diablo red but manual, all fixable. Ask away on anything but but the transmission, It can be converted to manual if you want too, its mostly there,.
 
Doing some cosmetic work trim panels painted with VHT Hood bumper and trim paint to prevent greying.
 
nice, i too have one like it in diablo red but manual, all fixable. Ask away on anything but but the transmission, It can be converted to manual if you want too, its mostly there,.
Thanks
Not so different from sedan and hatchback mechanically, So easy to work on.
No need for a manual conversion as this one has a ZF not the AL4. A few prongs and a service kit will cure any leaks and ensure a long and trouble free life.
Cheers
 
Clear coat removal with Perspex scrapper.
Doing some cosmetic work trim panels painted with VHT Hood bumper and trim paint to prevent greying.
pictures
 

Attachments

  • 549F7AEF-E9E1-42B6-824F-870C08952D99.jpeg
    549F7AEF-E9E1-42B6-824F-870C08952D99.jpeg
    46.6 KB · Views: 122
  • E038958A-9BAC-495D-B775-9427AD794385.jpeg
    E038958A-9BAC-495D-B775-9427AD794385.jpeg
    47.5 KB · Views: 119
Before and after pictures on LHF fender, sub standard clear coat removal with an acrylic scraper.
 

Attachments

  • 890B8FEF-03AE-4534-9AD8-E2B73F14E3A8.jpeg
    890B8FEF-03AE-4534-9AD8-E2B73F14E3A8.jpeg
    27.6 KB · Views: 148
  • D58673C9-EE19-4B0E-BE5B-CA69475FC4CD.jpeg
    D58673C9-EE19-4B0E-BE5B-CA69475FC4CD.jpeg
    24 KB · Views: 153
Before and after pictures on LHF fender, sub standard clear coat removal with an acrylic scraper.
Awesome difference, is the 'after' photo aleady sprayed with new clear coat?
Can you explain how you removed the old clear coat, searching for 'acrylic scaper' only finds cooking utensils :)
 
Awesome difference, is the 'after' photo aleady sprayed with new clear coat?
Can you explain how you removed the old clear coat, searching for 'acrylic scaper' only finds cooking utensils :)
Scrapper is basically a bit of Perspex with one end ground to and edge. I found the deteriorating clear comes off easily as it has poor adhesion to the base coat and is very brittle.
 
The 'after' photo looks nice and shiny, is that with just the clear coat scraped off and a good wash or a wee bit of wet sanding of base coat and a wash? How will you apply new clear coat?
I have a Fix Or Repair Daily Territory with clear coat blistering off and UV dulling the paint so am very interested in the details :)
 
Glossy paint on bonnet and boot that had a few small chips through to the original paint. Picked at the edges the defects and the paint peeled of like sunburn on pommy tourist after a week in the Queensland sun.
Found some ordinary repairs on the bonnet under the peeled topcoat. Have now sanded coated with some black epoxy etch primer, some primer surfacer, then more black epoxy etch primer. Bonnet is ready for topcoat after a light sand and a good clean.

I’ve managed to get the rear damage on the boot back into a standard shape so panel gaps and contours resemble the original shape.I’ll finish panel work and etch prime today ready for filling tomorrow.
Also had some success with the electro/hydraulic roof managed to get it working after replacing boot switch and doing a reset.

Next job is remove the soft top and take it off for a new back window some repairs and some new stitching.
While the roof is being repaired I’ll sort a few minor oil leaks and service the transmission. I think the main oil leak is from the kick down cable seal, it should be easy to sort when the sump pan is off.
 

Attachments

  • 99104778-873B-40DA-A29C-DD3D5DBED5CA.jpeg
    99104778-873B-40DA-A29C-DD3D5DBED5CA.jpeg
    22.6 KB · Views: 135
  • 476D896F-92B9-4A02-8B45-C8A35BB2B31F.jpeg
    476D896F-92B9-4A02-8B45-C8A35BB2B31F.jpeg
    22.4 KB · Views: 128
  • 7EDEDE8F-BEE5-4AC5-86D4-DB2EB028CDD5.jpeg
    7EDEDE8F-BEE5-4AC5-86D4-DB2EB028CDD5.jpeg
    30.7 KB · Views: 132
Who will be doing your sticthing? Nice work indeed.
 
Hey steelsprings do you know where the car came from?

There were 2 blue cabs parked outside my work on the northside up until the end of last year. They looked almost identical except one was a bit ratty and I remember cream seats. The owner had 1 set of plates and drove both cars around at different points in the day.
 
Hey steelsprings do you know where the car came from?

There were 2 blue cabs parked outside my work on the northside up until the end of last year. They looked almost identical except one was a bit ratty and I remember cream seats. The owner had 1 set of plates and drove both cars around at different points in the day.
Picked it up from Victoria Point.
The story was it belonged to an old bloke that lived on Russel island and he was going to a nursing home. Strange as previous cancelled rego came up as motor dealer.
 
Who will be doing your sticthing? Nice work indeed.
Talked to a motor trimmer I’ve used before but he’s not interested unless it’s a full replacement.
I’m toying with the idea of making a screw together alloy frame to clamp the PVC clear to to the canvas top. I may need to use some type of plastic on the lower half to ensure sufficient flex. If it all works out I’ll keep the all details look at making it repeatable on other tops.
More to follow.
 
Looks like this should work for back window replacement.
 

Attachments

  • B558B803-1237-4F00-82A0-EBEE70AA5016.jpeg
    B558B803-1237-4F00-82A0-EBEE70AA5016.jpeg
    26.9 KB · Views: 108
Not quite unless your good with zips and a sowing machine! Get onto fleabay they are there, did mine that way.
 
Not quite unless your good with zips and a sowing machine! Get onto fleabay they are there, did mine that way.
Hi Mathew,
No zip on this one so not quite so simple, also the stitching is all brittle I lent on the window and it came unstitched and fell inward.
The trimmer I spoke with said they need the old clear in as the normal process is to stitch h a new one in and then cut the old one out to ensure the tension is right.
So I’m planning on using a thin rubber U moulding and hidden rivets. Not a simple task to get right and have looking ok. It should however alleviate the need to remove the top from the frame.
 
Look carefully, I suspect there is one in there. I'd b e very surprised, what year is yours? Mine is 2002 and has a zip.
 
Top