Rear end makeover - [FINALLY and TOTALLY DONE!]

Post by **MoggyTech** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:54 pm

Good to see another one being saved, rather than turned into a donor car. Maybe more would be saved, if the body panels on offer were a better fit

Post by **Bluesman** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:57 pm

Couldn´t agree more, MT. Have been doing a 9-hour stint in the garage today, had to give up before I bust a kidney...those rear inner wing repair panels..ghaa -- should NOT be allowed on the market. I will have to section them in order to get a reasonable fit tomorow.

The back end and RHS rear chassis leg went OK-ish, after all. Rear boot floor repair panel was also a misfit, but is still OK-ish. At the join with the box section I had to make a compromise. But it´s OK as is now.

Tomorrow - inner wing repair wrestling time, and hopefully the LHS rear chassis leg.
Yesterday´s prep session:
http://homeweb.mah.se/~lurija/rearend_2.jpg

Today´s results:
http://homeweb.mah.se/~lurija/rearend_1.jpg

Gotta go - cheers from here/Richard

Post by **MoggyTech** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:05 pm

Wow, just looked at your picture of todays work, very nice. That car is going to be tip top condition when you finish.

Post by **Orkney** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:55 am

That car is going to be tip top condition when you finish.

which is more than will be able to be said of Richard ! be a bad back or men in white coats carting him off in a straight jacket

Post by **MoggyTech** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:19 pm

Orkney wrote:
That car is going to be tip top condition when you finish.
which is more than will be able to be said of Richard ! be a bad back or men in white coats carting him off in a straight jacket

I've always thought restoring classics is a good form of exercise. Not to mention a good way to expand your vocabulary

Post by **ASL642** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:39 pm

Depends on what kind of vocabulary you mean?!!

Good luck Richard. Get another old lady back on the road.

Post by **Bluesman** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:48 pm

Hmm..I see you people having fun on my expense...straightjackets?

No way, Jose. We have our ways to let off steam up here in the cold north (we´re writing a blog about this resto, in Swedish)...and it´s just a car. A lump of rust, technically spoken. No brain.

It´s simple - muster enough determination and beat her hands down. No determination? She wins. No way this old lady is going to beat me/us.

That being said - here´s some comments on today´s work - sorry for the largish pics:

Panels. They can fit or not..or something in between.

After an hour or so of offering, bending, sectioning, snipping etc...this is what gets welded:

It doesn´t look too nice along the arch yet, but that will have to be forced into place later. Main thing now is to make the holes correspond to the round fittings, and match the lower edge of the chassis leg and the
rearmost bits.

Finished result - 3 full hours later:

At this point, I realized that it was +8 C outside, and that it was going to be a +5 C overnight too. Good day, IOW, for a thing I had in mind...I immediately cleaned up the shop somewhat, stretched my aching back

and did this instead:

Can´t have any more fun on a day like this. Instant gratification

That´s all. Tomorrow - same story on the LHS rear inner wing, but worse....

Ah..yes...forgot: WTF is HENRIC

and what is he doing in our Moggy?
Found this on the edge of the rear wing panel....

Have a nice weekend, good people! Cheers /Richard

/R

Post by **bigginger** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:54 pm

Henric is/was a supplier of (allegedly) rather good panels
a

Post by **Bluesman** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:18 pm

On March 3rd, I started this thread. Today 7 days later, I am proud to announce that the rear end is formally and officially DONE.

Including:
Wheel nut arches incl Q/P closing panels, both sides
Rear end repair panels, both sides
Reconstruction of bump stop buffers, both sides (nasty surprise)
Front section of inner rear wing, both sides
Rear chassis legs/rear spring hangers, both sides
Rear end of boot floor
Repair of tank recess corners (2 out of 4)

At the cost of 5 full working days plus evening time research plus parts...imagine the cost to have a pro fix this...ghaa...

Dang, I´m tired. Tomorrow, it´s regular work time again. Databse stuff, no manual labour.

Good night, folks. Cheers from Sweden /Richard

Post by **Orkney** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:21 pm

Beautiful work !!!!

Post by **Bluesman** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:25 pm

Thanks, Orkney - hopefully the wings will fit also

(just kidding, you bet I made sure before welding stuff....)

/R (having a glass to celebrate this major ordeal)

Post by **alex_holden** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:27 pm

Must be satisfying to know you've done the job properly. Now get a decent paint job and lots of wax on the underside so you'll never have to do it again!

Post by **MoggyTech** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:03 pm

Quality work, looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Post by **Bluesman** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:20 pm

Alex & MT - the outside won´t be fixed this spring, there´s no time and no will. We want a driver, not a concourse car. So there won´t be much difference to the "victory" Youtube video we so naively posted in October - but the SOUND of the chassis will be totally different! Instead of the "gnask", "frrh" and "thrpt" from newly poked and collapsing rust, there will be THONK THONK THONK, just like a 1950:s Russian submarine. That sound will amaze even the Swedish MOT guys, I am sure

And we will cruise in a car that is roadworthy - i e 100% better than last year (and the 30 years before that).

Missed the video? here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUKb99C3lSM

Post by **chickenjohn** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:32 pm

Orkney wrote:Beautiful work !!!!

Just what I was thinking! Great work! Impressively neat. Its inspired me to take a week off work and get the last bits of welding finished on "Dibble" in a concentrated 5 day session.

You wouldnt get as good a job as that from most pros!

Post by **Bluesman** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:37 pm

*blush*

Post by **Spag** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:42 am

Um, so what's next then ???

Post by **Orkney** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:49 am

I reckon they should raise the Titanic for him, lock him in an aircraft hanger for a couple of years with enough welding supplies & food (and beer of course) , He'll have it looking like new in no time

Post by **Bluesman** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:50 am

Good question, Spag. Since all this welding was a major detour to begin with, I guess we will pick up where we started in September/October - making this car into a daily driver again.

Probably the next step will be finishing the minimalistic floor patches necessary, then installation of seatbelts, followed by taking care of the underside (scraper, wire brush + basic rust proofing (zinc paint)). reinstating the engine + box (+ new clutch) into the (welded +painted) engine bay, fixing all electrics etc etc. Grille + bonnet fitting. Interior reinstallation and fix-up (sound proofing etc) will follow. Then - a frontend re-bushing, some wheel alingment work (on new tyres) and finally putting back the wings with fresh piping. Brakes are already renovated, just need a bleed.

At that point, we might consider her ready for a longer test drive that will probably reveal more work. Once that is done - MOT time. June, July, probably.

AFTER the MOT is passed, but not one second earlier, I will rustproof the chassis legs/box sections and underside.
Finally, the LHS door will get a piece of door skin let in to allow for a lock on the LHS. And to finish it off - a good round of touch-up paint and polishing.

That´s the sequence. Sort of. You never know, though.

Cheers /R

Post by **Bluesman** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:52 am

Hey Orkney - don´t overestimate my capacity. I freely admit that I am almost dead already from this adventure, no mistake about it. If someone ever mentions the R word hereafter, I will go bezerk.

/R