Long time since I've updated this - I'm afraid I've found it much easier and faster to keep a diary of my work on the car on Instagram. But in a nutshell, since the above update,
@richiep came over shortly after that to help me remove all of the suspension from the car (in 33°c heat I recall!), and will be welding my BCs onto the hubs for me, and getting everything powder coated, ready for reinstallation later this year.
In the meantime, I've taken it upon myself to completely strip all 4 arches back to bare metal and give it a fresh underseal. I started the first one in mid November and I've only just finished it!
I have regretted the decision several times along the way, but now I've finished it I'm so chuffed with my work and pretty proud of myself!
Firstly, stripped all the old stuff off using a combination of angle grinder with poly disc, drill with wire wheels/cups, and dremel..
Then used Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80 on the few places with surface rust..
Then 2 coats of Bilt Hamber Electrox zinc primer..
Followed by 2 coats of Bilt Hamber Epoxy Mastic..
Then I redid all the seam sealer (after painstakingly picking all the old dry stuff out of all the seams)..
And finally this weekend, 2 coats of Dinitrol 447 (a rubberised stone chip finish). Really chuffed with how that came out, as I thought from the aerosol it would've been a smooth finish, but it's actually the same nice texture as from a Shultz gun (maybe slightly finer?), but it looks great!