my new integrale

[Kevinlincs]

Thanks for the votes of praise guys, very much appreciated.
I have indeed questioned my sanity many times over this car but the simple fact is it is a car that I coveted for some time, not just integrales' but this very car with it being a local car to me. Eventually I was lucky (?) enough to be able to buy it from the owner, the only owner of it from new!
Plus of course I just don't have the funds to buy a solid one, and all this work is really only costing me my own time....

If you are all keen on more pictures I'll keep posting..

The inner wing had a couple of holes in it which rather than patch up I chopped a 4" wide strip out, as you do 

[Kevinlincs]

A new section for the inner wing made up then the lower section of the inner face to link up the two sections.

[Kevinlincs]

The strut top area had some fairly well established rot in it. I'd searched for another inner wing or strut repair panel but none available. I ended up getting an HF turbo shell that was in a much worse state generally than my car believe it or not, but actually had good strut tops!

[Kevinlincs]

Quite a drastic chop and in a really high strength area but if I was to save the shell then drastic repairs were needed. If the chassis number wasn't stamped on the corner I'd have replaced the whole section but I needed to keep the original corner with the correct number on...

[Kevinlincs]

I braced the area and then made up a fairly crude alignment tool that would use the passenger side holes and other key points so once in place I could sit the new section where it should be..

[Kevinlincs]

Once happy I could replicate the alignment then a batch of brave pills were downed and the potentially shell running moment came where I chopped a lump out. In reality it's just another piece that needed repairing, everything can be made strong again, just making sure things are in the right place is key!

[Kevinlincs]

The old section was just too bad to repair..

[Kevinlincs]

The section from the HF was cut to suit the hole size, fitting it onto various planes helps gain some strength of repair, more pieces will get added at a later date.

[Kevinlincs]

Starting to get it welded in

[Iggy65]

Wow, that's some serious restoration of a piece of major structure! True dedication Kevin, well done.

[Kevinlincs]

Where it all met the A pillar needed some repairs to make good again, the box section piece being removed to gain better access

[Kevinlincs]

The little box bit got fitted back in then to pretty much complete the repairs there, for now.

I'll leave it at that for pictures tonight, don't want to bombard you guys with pages of stuff!

There are worse bits to come I promise you 

[Kevinlincs]

Wow, that's some serious restoration of a piece of major structure! True dedication Kevin, well done.

Thanks, it has been a trial!

[DavidLaver]

Love that wide strip let in.  Epic job on the strut top.

[Rob]

Well done Kevin, with the amount of work that you've done on your integrale I reckon you could have your own TV series! Until then keep posting the pictures & text as it's interesting to see it gradually coming together. You definitely saved this car from the scraper & for that you deserve a big pat on the back. It's easy to buy a nice shiny integrale & keep it up together but buying one like yours & putting your heart & soul into it is certainly 'character building'. Keep up the good work fella  .