Small (or maybe not) project. 91 elan

[Tuga2112]

Hello everybody.

This is my first "real" post, in my intro post i mentioned i bought a 91 elan.

well, here's more about the car.
I got it as a bargain, the engine runs nicely although it appears to rev slightly too much when idle. (around 1.4k rpm).
Power steering works, but it doesn't seem to work at 100%, it makes some noises when parking on sharp turns. also, when at good speed it feels heavy, i have read about it and people say its meant to.
Brakes work.. but it seems like they only respond very late when pushing the pedal, not sure if thats normal for this car.
Suspension seems good. although the front springs are quite rusted
Interior is in bad shape. The door cards look bad, specially with the carpet sides. the driver seat has some damage which i don't know how to describe. The speakers need replacing, they work... but when putting the volume up sound gets very distorted. the car came without floor mats, for the moment im just gonna get some home bargain rubber floor mats to make due.
Exterior.
The paint is/was cracking all over the place, in some parts it just completely peeled off. according to the previous owner the car was painted by a neighbor of another previous owner, looking at the cracks i believe it, but i think there's more to the story than that, the cracks appears to be from extended exposure to sunlight. I have seen that kind of damage in Portugal. the plus side is that i cannot find any body damage that needs repairing, the alloys are beautiful and in almost new condition and a nice detail is that the tyres are brand new.

So i need to bring back the shine to the toy.
My plan is.
1 - Paint it Norfolk Mustard Yellow. (got the paint, code A64 men at the shop said its "Norfolk Camel Yellow" lets hope its the tone im expecting)
2 - fix/replace the rubber seals on the door/window.
3 - brakes and power steering. confirm if its meant to work the way it is and fix if needed
4 - start driving it. (cant wait for this)
5 - upgrade Radio for something nicer. (most likely with a screen)
6 - (assuming radio will have a screen) bolt in the rear a camera.. "why ?" i'm a programmer, the question is "why not?"
7 - any other cool mods that i see posted, (possibly something to help visibility when the hood is up.)

BIG EDIT
In order to try to organise this post a bit, I now have 3 lists.
the leisure doto list
this list is mostly changes that do not have any effect in running of the car.
the the "must be done" list
this list is mostly things that had to be done for the sake of either keeping the car running safely or keeping the car running or making the car look at least road worthy.
the "unlikely to happen in the near future due to costs"
this list is self explanatory

Green is for completed task,
Yellow is for task done but will revisit as results are not satisfactory
Red is for task not done

Leisure list
Upgrade front speakers,
Upgrade Radio unit
Modify fascia panel to host a 2din radio unit.
remote keyless entry
brake light integrated in the spoiler
remote boot release system
gas struts in boot
gas struts in bonnet
door ghost lights
improve lighting when doors open, probably with LEDs,
add buzzer sound when door is opened and lights are on
add wind deflector (may even consider rollbar)
New electric telescopic aerial antenna for the radio

Must do list
Paint yellow.
fix radiator wiring
fix driver side brake caliper being stuck
remove outdated alarm that is malfuncitoning
new weather seal
new seals around the window, B post and overhead.
fix exhaust leak
(MOT)improve power steering feel (swap pump and new fluid)
install some king of manual override control over the radiator fans
restore driver seat, or at least repair some of its damage
Repaint replacement alloy that was purchased to pass MOT
(MOT)new rubber dust boot in driver side front track rod
(MOT)new rubber dust boot in driver side front lower ball joint
(MOT)new passenger side headlamp
improve handbrake performance, (advisory in the last MOT)
replace brake fluid tubing underneath the car (advisory in last MOT)
treat rust in the hood frame and repaint it

unlikely to happen in the near future due to costs
upgrade exhaust.
everest chip.
front brake upgrade
rear brake upgrade
private plate

Also, here is another list of the things that have been done that had to be

Part of this post is to show some of the work already done, show progress in future replies, get as much help as possible and any information i can get.
I'm thinking i can (if people think its a good idea or ask) put in "how to" guides with pics over the bits and bobs i'm working on.

firstly some pics of the car when i bought it. (coming soon, need my dad to email them from he's mobile.)

-----

These are some pics taken today. (can someone tell me why spoilers dont work ? and how to resize ?)
(apologies, i noticed when uploaded the pictures the quality is really bad)

Front pic


Rear driver side
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Front driver side


----

other pictures, these are more of notes, calls for help.

rear light earth wire, when removed the rear left laps, i noticed this blue wire was there in one of the screws, i assume is a earth connection, i wonder if this is meant to be there ?


Dificult bit to sand out at the sides of the windshield, i wonder how to spray paint it later (suggestions welcome)


A small detail i noticed and though it would point out.
When removing the boot lid i noticed the light was always on.
so i removed one of the pins going into the sensor. this should keep the battery alive



EDIT
imageshack changed their terms and my free account no longer allows to direct link the image to external sites (although there is ways around it) so i had to re-upload everything to tinypic,

[Tuga2112]

this time scaled down the pics in order for them to look half decent.

front of the car as is right know. i have sanded almost all of it a hell of a lot because the paint was really bad.


this is a pic of an area where i havent sanded the cracks yet, it shows how bad they were. but the worst of it was in the bonnet, im hopping my dad got a good picture to show the state it was.


after removing the driver side doorcard (and breaking the "orange" clip) i decided to take a pic of the card. the bottom carper was glued in with some contact glue (hope thats the right name) i decided it looked really bad so ripped it off and im planning to replace it with something that looks less.... cheap... the vinil pads in my celica look really nice after 16 years, so im considering replacing with vinil, maybe leather, any suggestions or links for other people that have done such job are most welcome.

the upper panel also looks pretty cheap when its placed,



now, the reason i took out the door card was expecting to get easy access to the rubber seals (which are pretty much desintegrated)
sadly after the door panel was out i realised i was no closer to get access to the rubber seals and with a destroyed "orange" clip plus a door card without carpet (not much of a loss that one)

so here's a couple of pics of the door trying to get to show one of the screws i would like to get access to.



and finally just a random pic of the rear driver side after sanding. if you pay close attention you can see a completely different tone of blue on the hood cover panel. this had the paint in perfect condition up to the hood seal and then all cracked like the rest of the car.

the car appears to be originally of a lighter metallic blue colour and then repainted with the darker glossy blue.

[Fredjohn]

Welcome to the forum and by the looks of the pictures you have quite a lot to do.

Couple of comments for my 2 P worth.

Don't remove the door seals (those on the door below the card) until you have replacements. They are totally unobtainable, unless you are lucky or can find a substitute and get them to fit. Last time a brand new pair were on ebay 12 months ago, the seller refused £1000 for them.

The orange clips are readily available. The carpets were always glued on. I redid mine with HD spray glue from a local upholstery firm, although you could also use double sided carpet tape.

The power steering is relatively heavy at speed and does gurgle/whine/hiss on full lock. Well mine's like that anyway! Check drive belt tension and tighten if necessary, drain the fluid and put new fluid in. Job I need to do to.

Brakes need to be well serviced, especially if they are the original set up. Make sure all the sliders are free (should be able to move by hand), make sure pistons are free and not seized, get some decent pads (opinions vary on the choice) and bleed them umpteen times to get all the air out. Then bleed them again! Also check the brake proportioning valves are OK. They can be removed, stripped and cleaned, but the workshop manual says don't open them. See WikiLEC for advice on this procedure.

Also give WikiLEC a good read, as well as the numerous threads on here. There is a load of information and very few problems have occurred that aren't covered somewhere by someone. But ultimately don't be afraid to ask.

Have fun with the work and we look forward to the day you report your first drive: it'll have been worth the wait

[epipete]

IIRC these weatherstrip screws can be accessed by small holes in the inner door panel, the glass needs to come out though, there is a DIY replacement method in the Wiki (link here http://wikilec.9600.org/index.php/Door_ ... therstrips )

I believe that PNM are marketing a replacement strip if you prefer see there website PNM Engineering - Lotus Elan M100 Door Top Weather Seals (pair) - £ 84.00 - Part Number PNMB0772K

Wonderful thread on repairing door glass here (will explain how to remove it) viewtopic.php?f=32&t=20999&hilit=Window

It is also worth looking at SJ Sportscars Website for parts - they will also supply your orange clips!

For interest, look at projects in the Index page, it details many folks efforts and Jeemy's is enlightening viewtopic.php?f=79&t=20848

Pete

[Gazza]

Looks like a Pacific Blue car possibly sprayed Midnight Blue?

[Tuga2112]

Fred

Thanks for the info refering the door seals, when i wrote window/door i was trying to say the seal betwen the window and door (now i know its called a wastegate) but that made me pay attention to the door seal itself.
its not in good condition but i reckon it will last for long enough for me to figure out a way to diy a set from other parts.

going to order a few (6) orange clips tonight.

The brackes (according to previous owner) have been recently rebuilt (not sure what that means, i don't think it means actually making new casts of metal does it ?)
i have no idea what are the brake sliders, but i suspect when i get there ill figure out what to do (or may just ask)
I have seen a post/how to bleed the brakes, so im sure ill be able to do that in the fullness of time at the appropriate juncture (aka when i start driving it).

I had a look at wikilec, i like particularly the this post. very informative post.

Pete.

thx for the info refering the seals, that was my main consern at the time of posting. its really good to have access to the info required to fix the issue. the replacement strip price is rather steep, im going to try to improvise something for the time being as i already have a huge bill on equipment. (ramps, air compressor, stainless bolts & screws, paint, primer, compressor tools you can imagine.)

Gazza

I think your right. a hell of a mess with paints in the car. and i have to admit, i'm not gonna help to it... you know what they say, "If you cant beat them, join them!"

As a added note.

in the wikiLec i cannot find any posts on how to remove the front light pods in order to repaint the car. also had a look using the search page and no luck.
if anyone knows of a post that can help feel free to forward it. I have read the manual, but its a bit confusing to me.
when i looked at the pods, both main beans are plugged using sa connection. in one side, the other light (dont know the name) is plugged with some rubber "thingy", i gently tried to pull it hopping to be a connector but wasnt sure so didnt pull much, it didnt came out, on the oposite side its lconnected using wires, i cant see anything else but i think its directly connected.

i don't know much about electrical wiring, i can connect wires and i suppose i can easily extend that knowledge to adding connector, but i don't know if i should be touching those or cutting them loose.

The car has a cobra immobilizer, i only have proof of it being fitted, no clue what will happen if the batter is disconnected. Any suggestions ?

I have been sanding down paint only to the point of having smooth surfaces, this is what a friend recommended, are you guys in agreement with that ?

Tomorow ill take a couple of pics of the boot lid, spoiler and rear bumper, those are all off already and sanded (not sure if enough for some of them) just to show, the plan for tomorow is to remove the light pods, assuming tonight i get enough info about them to do it.

[dapinky]

Hi,

A few comments which you may feel are worth something, or may be worth absolutely nothing - so take what you wish, and feel free to disregard the rest....

As far as the lamp pods go - they are (usually) really easy to take out - the procedure in the manual is pretty spot-on....

Best way (that I have found) is to raise the lamp unit by hand (turning the black knurled knob on top of the motor) - this means you can see everything easily without having the lamp burning you!
Undo the rod which joins the motor to the light pod (just one of the bolts through the link pivot).

Undo the 2 bolts which hold the pivot to the front bodyshell - there will be a quantity of washers under each bolt to set their position in relation to the bonnet height - these washers are sort of 'U' shaped, so may just drop out if you aren't careful. Make a note of how many are on each bolt to aid reassembly.

Unplug the wires to the back of each light unit, and lift away the pod.


For the front bumper - the bolts are straightforward, but a bit hidden...

You need to take off the front wheelarch liners (and then the nuts are obvious).

Once you have raised the headlamp pods (or even better, removed them) the 2 top bolts are obvious.

The bottom ones are a bit hidden - you need to remove the big rubber grommets in front of the oil cooler and charge cooler radiators and look into the dark void.

As with the headlamp pods, the bumper will have various thicknesses of washers to get the position correct on re-fitting.


The tricky bit on your car is the paintwork - and I'm no expert on fibreglass, but can happily repair and paint metal with cellulose paint ('coz I'm an old git!)...

...as such, the advice I give is 3rd hand from the guy who is re-spraying my car for me (and he IS an expert in fibreglass)....

....Without knowing your experience/abillity/luck anything I say may be right, wrong or somewhere between - also, much will depend on your time/budget/final expectation...

Basically, any paint job depends on a sound foundation (quality at finish, and ability to retain that quality) - in theory, the best foundation is to sand it back to the original gelcoat - but by going back to sound paint is possibly enough - as if you go through the gelcoat, you open another can of worms.

Having removed all of the crap paint (including as much of the layer which has reacted in some way with the old paint as you can see), you ideally need to 'seal' it with a good 2-pack primer/filler.....then rub it down to as smooth a finish as you can get - it may take many layers depending on your levels of skill/luck etc vs. expectations..

Appling the colour base coat is the easy bit - just make sure you follow the maufacturers quantities for mixing and drying.

Finish off with lots of good quality lacquer.

Common pitfalls include drying the paint artificially with too much heat (high-bake oven, infrared heaters, hot air etc) - this WILL cause the glassfibre to off-gas and in time, tiny bubbles will appear in the basecoat. (That is what has happened to mine, anyway).... and before you ask, I don't have a clue what is considered 'too high' a heat, but my man doesn't use any artificial heat (at this time of year), but consequently, his jobs take more than 5 days (or even five weeks!) - if you want it done quick, there will be quality problems in the medium/long term - but it'll look smashing to start with

In my case, I've gone as far as removing everything which I can get off the car (even bits which will never get seen) to make the painting as straightforward as possible (or at least, the preparation for the painting) - the actual painting is the easy bit!

[tb10]

Good God Dave......................How on earth do you reply in such detail AND keep the Elan on the road?

Most impressed..

[Tuga2112]

Hello again,

First of all, thx Dave for the info. I have joined the forum to learn as much as possible before digging into any work, you may think your saying too much but any small detail is welcome, so feel free to add as much info as you want.

Fred.
When you refer bleeding the brakes, do you mean normal bleeding procedure or the more detailed one that is in the wikilec ?

Refering my level of skill/luck
I consider it low, previous DIY on cars is very limited, i have fixed exhausts in 2 different cars a toyota yaris and a ford ka, have removed and refitted front bumper on MGF and daweoo leganza, in the same yaris i have readjusted the position of the little unit that recharges the battery as it was going loose in the auxiliary belt, in my current toyota celica i have replaced the antenna mast twice, fitted a 2 dim radio and a rear view camera, changed the front speakers I have also done a couple of oil changes , bleed brakes on both the celica and MGF and have released stuck caliper in the celica once.

Budget.
Well, i'm trying to get it done as cheaply as possible while keeping the best level of quality i can. I dont have a good income and considering that i had to spend a lot of money in the car, insurance, air compressor and other tools, you can imagine the budget can stretch but its very dificult to put a value to it. I would like to get everything for up to £1000, this is including tools (but not the car.) so far i have spent around £450 in paint, primer, compressor, compressor tools, sanding paper stainless steel bolts and screws and car ramps. I already had a good toolbox (250 pcs) and an hydraulic jack from the previous DIY.

Expectation.
Best i can get with the budget i got. if the car ends up looking like any other used 10 year old car that has been looked after i will be happy.
I'm aiming for a paint job that will last at least 3 years before needing to be re-done, hopping its done to a standard that will not look s**t, if its 98% smooth with an odd bit in the tricky areas i'll be happy.

I have in mind that my budget is very restricted and my level of skill lacks a lot, but i can do it this way now. and then in a few years after this current run as a practice run, i can do it again with high quality paint/primer and more skill, (you guys get the idea)

This Elan is my first real project car, everything else was just a small odd job here and there. in short. apart from swapping wheels around and jacking the car everything else is new to me.
Taking the car apart is something i am ok with, im more worried about putting it back correctly , I have NEVER done any paint work, neither with spray or brush so that is what scares me the most.

this is the following update.

I got the light pods out today, no big issues, just the usual not understanding clearly instructions which i am used to. (technical terminology about cars is not my strong point.)

I will be posting a how to remove the pods with pictures because i believe it can help others. I know i would have felt more comfortable doing it if i had seen one.

I have had some help from john (on private email) referring the removal of the bumpers, it was enough to get the rear one out. but i am not comfortable tackling the front one with that i can see.

i have looked around the bumper and i know now the position of 4 bolts.
2 are the height adjusters just next to the wheel arch
2 are just under the light pods. (upper fixing nuts)

John sent me this picture from the manual with he's annotations refering areas of the missing bolts i cannot find.


Sadly following he's annotations i am still unable to locate the missing bolts.
I suspect i have found the 2 lower fixing nuts, John refereed in the annotations that i would get to the lower fixing nuts from the wheel arch but i dont think there's a way to get there, instead i found something while looking under the bumper that i think its the nuts im looking for.

In the following pictures you will see what im talking about and you can confirm if im correct.




Back on the topic of the light pods, here's a pic to show the paint job under the light pods. the same light blue metallic color shows up, one thing that i'm concerned about is that it appears to be very easy to over-paint that area, i don't think it did any harm previously, but its always better to ask before diving into the job.

[dapinky]

The bolt you indicate looks about right to me - but it's hard to visualise from this angle.....

I've got a picture of the bumper off the car (stolen from different thread - courtesy of Wayne) which shows the fitting you need to get to....

[Tuga2112]

thx dave.

That makes me 99.9% sure i have found the right bolt.

maybe tomorow we will have a [how to] on removing the front bumper

Im off to write the one on the light pods.

[Fredjohn]

With regard to bleeding the brakes, doing it with two people, one operating the pedal, one on the bleed nipple with a non return valve bleed pipe is (was) the normal way.
A better way (IMHO) is to use the Gunson Eezibleed system. This uses air pressure from a spare tyre to pump fluid into the master cylinder. So all you need do is open the bleed nipple to bleed. No pedal pumping, no desperate opening/closing of bleed nipple. And you can do it single handed. See ebay for one here

But it still needs to be done several times to get it clear of bubbles. I jacked up and supported all 4 corners, took all the wheels off and just went round corner to corner bleeding each calliper in turn. All you need is to top up the spare occasionally and keep the filler bottle full of fluid whilst bleeding.

Also if you haven't already, download the workshop manual AND parts catalogue from the link above. The parts catalogue is very useful for seeing how things look in situ and how it all goes together.

As a general source of parts try the following (in no particular order)
LEC parts for sale
Lotus dealers
SJ Sports Cars
Paul Matty
PNM
DVB Breakers (stevestrange on ebay)
ebay
SJ are useful as they have an online "look up a part" system with prices, where available!

Good luck.

[Tuga2112]

Fred,

Thankfully i already have the ezbleed system. i used it in the past in the MGF. Im glad to hear from you mean it the simple way to bleed, it should be a easy job, i saw somewhere another more thorough way to bleed the brakes which after a quick glance through the guide seemed extremely confusing.

any particular reason why jack all the 4 parts of the car ? (is it a must, or its as good as to do it 1 at the time?)

Is there a way to jack and put the car on a stand ? i have This set from halfords but the jack doesnt seem to fit in nicely in the jack parts of the car, also how can i make use of the axles ? i would feel safer under the car if it was being held by the axles instead of the jack for obvious reasons.

[Fredjohn]

For jacking up the car see WikiLEC Jacking Points. There are 4.

If your trolley jack is too high to get under the car, get some chipboard panels about 1ft sq by each wheel and drive onto them: that'll raise the car by 3/4" (1 board) or use 2 boards if necessary. Use trolley jack to raise car then put axle stands in the appropriate place.

I lifted all 4 at once because it was then quicker and easier to do the bleeding bleeding. You don't have to keep lifting and lowering each corner every time you bleed. Simples

Oops a meerkat crept in...

[Tuga2112]

Hi everyone again.
before going into the progress report.

Fred, thanks for the jack positions, i made use of them today already.

today's progress (or lack of)

first attempt at taking the front bumper out.
after roughly 90 minutes of hammer, spanner, and WD40 I have successfully broken one of the lower screws, and bent the other.
the height adjusters came out fine. and i found a couple extra screws that need to come out before the bumper started to shake.
there are still more screws to come out, i have no bloody idea where. its going to be another entertaining afternoon tomorow.

for everyone else reference, here's a pic of someone else's car with pointers of rought positions of the screws i took out today


on a side topic (as this project is full of them) PAINT and PRIMER
in the lotus manual it says 2K hardener used in the ICI 2 pack acrylic polyurehtane systems contains isocyanate
now after some research (which happened before i have seen the manual lol) i have found out that this particular substance can cause ashma and cancer, and is generally not good for you.
there are masks in ebay that last for arought 30 hours that can keep you safe from that.

having said that.
when i bought the primer the guy at the shop gave me a etch primer (he said its the type of primer used in fibre glass, which i assume the knoweledge comes from boats?) and he told me the paint he sold me does not contain this sustance and all i need is simple mouth filter (like the ones you see in poundland)
the paint is mixed with some harneder and thinner, and he also said there is no need for laquer as theres the harnedener in the paint plus its a glossy type not metallic.

this information seems to contrast with some i have seen but the etch primer i have seen over the web that people tend to use it for fibre glass.

is anyone capable to shed some light into this topic ?

[Piperman]

Hi its not my old car last owner was canadian diplomat, your paint should be sunset yellow a68 i think really bright colour ,you need a decent primer not 2pack to dogey to spray ,plenty on net regards derek

[basher]

Hi Tuga,

Interesting the problems you are having with paint as I had the same too.
I was told (and I don't know how true it is) that etch prime primer shouldn't be used as it eats into the fibreglass and weakens it. Useful with metal to protect it, not so much with fibreglass? Others said to use it. Wasn't convinced either way in the end.The trouble I find with the internet is often you get too much information and it's conflicting and it leaves you torn as to what to do.
What they do seem to be in agreement on is that 2 pack is nasty to work with and you need proper PPE to use it. I was thinking of going with cellulose paint in the end as it's easier to work with apparently and I have tinkered before. There are companies out there that will mix to your paint code and even thin it for you. If you need it, I'll dig out their ebay details.

As regards the mask, you only get the one set of lungs, get yourself a decent one that is designed for the job like you initially thought. If nothing else it will give you piece of mind while you work. I bought a 3M one for around 30 quid.

Let us know how you get on..

[Tuga2112]

Hello again.

Basher,
Thanks for the tip, because i already have bought and paid for the primer and paint im a bit reluctant in not using it. there is a possibility i will just paint with what i've got and in a near future go through it again. honestly i am not expecting a great job as my first paint job (one of the reasons im going for a cheap setup) so the likeliness of going through it again next year or in 2 years time is rather high. I posted the questions to see if there was a lot of mixed opinions or a very fixed approach. apparently not many of the people in the forum have attempted this kind of project in the past.
I never seen any references to PPE, no idea what that means, will google for that in a minute. refering the paint, its the same issue. already got it in the garage. i just went to a paint shop that had competitive prices in ebay, walked through the door and asked questions, the guy at the other side seemed very sure of he's knowledge and since nothing he said conflicted which what i read (i mean, from the things that everyone agreed online) i assumed he is correct.

Piperman.
are you sure about the color code ? in this web site it says that code is pacific blue
I bought A64 as i saw in here, here and here it was the colour i wanted. when the man at the paint shop told me the name was "camel yellow" i just asked "is it a dark-ish tone of yellow?" he said yes and i was convinced enough to buy.

as usuall, now today's progress report.
Today spend 2 hours around the same bolt. very frustrating.

pics of the evil pair of bolts.




i have got myself a set of sockets designed to remove rounded bolts, however theres no socket that can get a grip on these bolts because the amount of bolt comming out is not "deep" enough for any socket to get there, spanner wouldnt get a grip of it either.

thinking of getting HSS drill bits... anyone think its a bad idea ? maybe a cheaper alternative? maybe a better approach ?

assuming no comments aganist the HSS drill bits that will be my first thing to do tomorow morning, theres a screwfix on oposite side of town .

[dapinky]

Tuga,

The 'PPE' referred to is 'Personal Protective Equipment' - in the case of painting, it covers overalls, face mask and gloves.....

...for the bolts you refer to, if it was me (and it was a couple of months ago!) I'd use an angle grinder to cut the top of the bolt off and then pull it out the other side - it's a standard M6 threaded bolt with a nylock nut on the other side - nothing fancy about it.

[Tuga2112]

Tuga,

The 'PPE' referred to is 'Personal Protective Equipment' - in the case of painting, it covers overalls, face mask and gloves.....

...for the bolts you refer to, if it was me (and it was a couple of months ago!) I'd use an angle grinder to cut the top of the bolt off and then pull it out the other side - it's a standard M6 threaded bolt with a nylock nut on the other side - nothing fancy about it.

thanks Dave, ill try that before the trip to screwfix tomorow. the other side bolt, i didnt properly to get access to the oposite side but it didnt seem to be easy to access to get a spanner there . (im thinking about reassembly now, as i got a funny feeling the angle grinder will work )

referring the PPE (yes, i will get to the state of using technical words all over the place like you lot), the £20 mask in here seems to be the most likely option to get. (however i will double research about the primer/paint i have at the moment see if there is any risk or not)