Just needs a bit of a tidy up and onto the other pillar which is a lot worse.

Only one way to cure it and that is to cut it out and replace it with some new metal.

Windscreen Frame

Then onto the windscreen frame. A real pain in the ass, more rust that I hadn't expected. As soon as you put a grinder and rotary wire brush to what looked like a bit of surface rust this happens.

New metal welded in and ground off.

Rot cut out.

Front bulkhead repairs

Still working on the front tub and still finding rot.

This is on the back of the bulkhead, below the parcel shelf. This has rotted through form where the heater mounts on the front of the bulkhead and where all the crap gets in through the fresh air intake mesh. It gets trapped holds all the rain and finally rots through. The front side was a bit fiddlely to repair, but this bit was straight forward.  

A lot of rot was cut out and replaced with new metal. I measured the positions of the brackets before they were removed, so for now I will just tack them in position, until I am happy  that the holes line up with the side rails.

Front tub mounting brackets

Started on the front tub. I've got all new mounting brackets, but first I have to cut out all the rot. It is bad on both sides. The main problem is that every thing in this area is shaped and not just flat plates. It's important to keep measuring and do one side at a time so you have something to refer to. Also as you start chopping lumps out you can easily lose your way. It has got to be solid and accurate because this will have a big effect on how the doors hang, and ultimately open and close.   

The chassis is finally primmed. Apart from replacing the side rails the chassis is very sound and original, and because of this I have a good reference for the positioning of the body mounting brackets on the front and rear tubs. After placing the chassis on blocks I positioned the front and rear tubs using the chassis as a jig, and then tac welded the mounting brackets in place. 

Although the wishbone brackets were in good condition I have replaced them with the Canley ones with extra positions for lowering the rear of the car. A better option than using spacers under the rear spring. 

And after hours and hours back to bare metal with new side rails fitted. If I did it again I would get it sandblasted.

This is the rear section a bit of surface rust but very solid and a nice metalic ring to it when tapped. I did make enquires about getting it blasted but quotes of 170 pounds, plus delivering and collecting I thought I would do it the hard way paint striper, scrapper. angle grinder and wire wheel. 

Replacement Chassis

Apart fom not welding the outriggers properly he had gone mad with the welder and plated up all around the the chassis where the diff  and leaver arms mount. It would be to much work to cut all the plates off and I would never know how bad the rot was or wasn't and it would always be on my mind. I intend to uprate this vitesse and take it out on the occasional track day so the structural integrity is paramount. I started to look around. A rebuilt one from the trade I was lead to believe would cost anything from 900 pounds plus, which was a non starter. Good unmolested chassis are very rare especially vitesse rotoflex chassis. 1360 ones come along on the odd occasion but all the chassis tend to rot in the same place, where the diff mounts.  I ended up buying all new outriggers and side rails in anticipation and finally a decent 1360 chassis was won on e-bay. I new there would be a lot of work in cutting all the rotoflex mounts and brackets off the old chassis to convert the 1360 to vitesse mk2 spec but I didn't have a choice. Before I got  a chance to start a correct spec chassis appeared on e-bay so after a few e-mails to make sure it was sound and that there was no evidence of crash damage I felt confident the seller new exactly what I was after and by his answers new what he was talking about. I was wining the auction at 50 pound, but with a few seconds left as usual there was a flurry of bids. I was going to win this regardless and was very happy with a 100 pound winning bid. Collected the chassis the next day. You never know until you see with your own eyes what you've bought, and I was very pleased. All original outriggers that had never been replaced and no welding anywhere. The side rails were a bit rusty and although useable I intended on replacing these as this area has to be solid if you ever want to get the doors to open and close properly.