Bianca Body Work

[Brumby Kid]

Ok so this is my new build thread for Bianca my brumby.
Yes I have named her Bianca, the name is Italian for Pure, and White. She is a pure bread Subaru, and also happens to be white. So it works well
So this thread is for the body work side of things, and later on I will make a thread for the mechanical side of things.
(I am writing this as if it was 6 months ago, ie everything is good)

So here she is pretty much as I got her.



I have 4 Sunraysia style Rims measuring 14" with 13" tyres, I recently found out that they are 13" rims. Rims aren’t measured on their diameter.
I have bought some used Subaru chrome centre caps for these as you can see.

Here we have her standard alloy bar with the two narva spotties that came with her. They are awsome, so much better than the standard globes!!!:mrgreen:



Other features that she came with are, a 12 volt power outlet in the tray, RMW seat covers, and a 12 volt power outlet behind the seats.
Her condition is pretty good, runs ok. Interior is fine except for the seats As all Brumby’s are.
She has been repainted, VERY badly by the previous owner, and the torneu has rubbed on the outside of the tray. the tray is in an average condition.
Only surface rust which is nice.
I had been looking for about 6 months, and then this one popped up in my area. Not the best, (I would've liked a targa top). But she is good enough. Mechanically A1

Me and dad have been using her for golf gear to protect his STi.

[Brumby Kid]

Oh and she has central locking, which I didn't get the remote for untill just recently.
So she went to the local Subaru service center, nothing unusual, just the in 5/10 000km this needs doing.
5 weeks later my mate turns up and wants to have a look, as you do.
he opens up the air filter.



And we find this sludge, EVERYWHERE



Ask the neighbour (mechanic) and get the bad news, head gasket, welch plug, or cracked head. It was traced to the return pipe from the drivers side head. Along with other symptoms. So drivable but for how long? $2,500 for a head gasket, and upwards for a head. (from Subaru) F**k we can't afford that!

So we cleaned it out and thought we would give her some time off, her very hard weekly run:rolleyes:. Soon the oil started to become milky, so we disconected her.

[Brumby Kid]

So while she was in the shed, looking miserable, I had a brain wave. (Yes unusual and probebly dangerous)
My Paintwork is allright, and could be better, surface rust etc.
So, there are 9 panels in the tray that can be unscrewed and taked out.
I thought, why not learn how to paint, and treat rust?
So I did.
We found the original paint code, went to various car shops and started collecting paint, and equipment. I was lucky enough that in one shop i found a guy that used to work in a hotrod style paint shop. I was sceptical of the "extra" stuff he sold me for after the paint had dried, but SOO worth it. (Thanks Nick!)
So, i started by sanding both sides down,
On the back it had more rust than the front so i smothered it in rust killer.







Then i used a general white paint, to try to inhibit rust a bit more.



On the front I sanded the rust and dobbed some rust killer on the bad bits.
I didn't smooth out too many dents, just the really bad ones.



Then it was off to be primed and Top coated. And my 3 stage system of...
Water rubbing compound,
Liquid wax,
And carnuba wax
I am only using premixed cans at this stage, but its getting annoying so a compressor and gun is on the wish list.

[Brumby Kid]

There is something Very pleasing with finding perfection, and completing something yourself, and I did both:mrgreen: All 9 Panels have since been finished and work on the tailgate and tray has begun:)







Hard to tell by the photos but there is no orange peel, they're very shiny, i love it, and the best bit is i did it myself:mrgreen:

[Brumby Kid]

So the tailgate and tray where next on the list.
For these i found a special primer, that has extra pigmont, so that it fills in small scratches and makes a smoother surface. Putty Primer, filler primer, same thing. Its often coloured.





The Yellow is the primer, it is now white, I just don't have any photos.

Now we are pretty much up to the present. Currently, They are both finished the painting, but not the final 3 steps.

I have also bought a ute liner from clark rubber, it has holes in it so that it can breath.
The wheel arches are next for the tray.

[Silverbullet]

Looks like a great job on the tray panels, I'm envious of your lack of rust around the windows

About your coolant/oil problem, if it's a head gasket it won't cost $2500 if you can afford to have the car off the road for a few days/week. The way I did it is remove all the external engine parts yourself, and inlet manifold. Then take the engine out yourself, stick it in the back of another car and drive it somewhere to get the gaskets replaced. In that state it only takes 2 people to move the engine by lifting. Might be tricky-er if you have powersteering and A/C, do you have those?

Yeah I know, bodywork thread If you can do as good a job of the whole body paint as you did on the tray you're all set.

[Brumby Kid]

Yeah, im going to do it all myself, with the help of Mud King Hopefully.
Yeah that was subaru's quote with labor. Its been off the road for about 4 months, I did most of this ages ago (in the last 4 months)
Thanks, yeah slowly im going to be doing everything. Haha yeah as far as i know there is no rust around the windows.
At the moment i have a solid body with bad engine. Hahaha

[NachaLuva]

Congrats You've done a great job on the panels. The time & care you've taken to do it properly i'm sure will reward you well into the future...

[El_Freddo]

At the moment i have a solid body with bad engine. Hahaha

Which by all accounts is not a bad place to be with a brumby!!!

The work you have done looks great. I'm really wanting a brumby now - its been on my wish list for a very long time and I just missed out on one on fleabay that was in vic that I could afford - NEVER trust ebay timers!!!

Keep up the good work, I look forward to the progress on Bianca

Cheers

Bennie

[Brumby Kid]

Thanks guys, Yeah good body, bad engine isn't so bad. Yeah it does take a lot of time, but as you said it is very rewarding. More later on today.

[1111giles]

Looking good ! The engine is ''easy'' to fix compared to a bad body so you are on the easy side here with this car.
Keep the images coming

[ScubyRoo]

Nice work with the painting mate!

All you need now is an EJ! Seriously, put at EJ18 or 20 in there... legal and awesome! You can get a full engine and computer from a pick a part for half of what subaru quoted you to fix your old EA... DO IT!

[Brumby Kid]

Yes an EJ is very tempting, I did a poll on it on here, and it was for the EA81 with upgrades, and I think thats what i will do... Well for now anyway.
More pics later tonight.

[Silverbullet]

If you did an EJ conversion you couldn't drive it legally until you are off your P's...which is about 2 or 3 years after you get them at the moment

Hey where abouts in SA are you anyway, I could probably lend a hand with your engine out if you need it

[Brumby Kid]

Considering im not even on my L's. Yeah im happy with just the EA81. It will be plenty. When she was sick, but still on the road, she did 100 with ease. So when shes healthy, and mods, I will be very happy.

[Matt]

Nice name choice lol :P

[Brumby Kid]

Nice name choice lol :P

Thanks, You too!!! Did you see my reason?

[guyph_01]

Your pm box is full,
Let me know if you want or need anything off that brumby. Its going next week.
Thx

[Matt]

Yes i did, i just liked the name, no research done.

[Brumby Kid]

Yes i did, i just liked the name, no research done.

Hahaha, yeah, i had a few names (can't remember them now)
and this one stood out and had a reason :P.

Why do we name our cars?