Good news/progress and some more questions (should this topic be moved to the new restoration projects group, at least till I get past the point of rebuild?)
The first chassis rail fits, though the floor has to be cramped down by 1/4" at the front. At the rear, it seems like the replaced xmember end was put in a little wonky. The grey rod through the front suspension mount lines up almost perfectly and suggests that the nearside leg is a little twisted/s(h)agged. <br>
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<br> Is this normal/OK?<br>
I am also having to mess about with the bulkhead xmember to chassis plate. This includes replacing some of the bulkhead xmember, which was like paper. This is an awkward bit, any advice?<br>
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Am I OK to weld up in this position, or should the new plate be behind the xmember seam? Should I MIG/spot weld or seam weld this panel to the xmember? The inner plate of the xmember is pretty rusty, but this seems more like surface rust, so the dip-n-coat plan will hopefully deal with this issue.
The boxing between the bulkhead and engine bay is pretty rusty at the base (where it joins the chassis rail) - can I just cut small sections out and reweld/reconstruct the flanges, or should I be more radical here?<br>
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As far as order of rebuild goes, here's my plan:
1. dry fit (as above)
2. Repairs to existing panels (xmember, chassis leg boxing flanges
3. Drill out spot weld holes for MIG, clean all seams, spray with weldable zinc primer.
4. Weld it all up
Is this reasonable? I think I will get the car dipped and such, so I'm not so bothered about superficial rust/paint on the shell.
Finally, as a sign of things to come, here's some rust in the seam - above the rear wheel arch, below the rear window<br>
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Fun, fun fun! I'm feeling pretty positive at the moment, but I have had some bad days in the last couple of weeks (especially when looking xmembers!) It's only by reading this forum for the last year that I've summoned up the guts to do this restoration, so thanks to all of you.
