Rear inner wing

[jimyboyle]

I am gradually working my way round the rust on my 2 door and have reached the rear inner wing. The flange is of course really rusty and I have a new rear half to fit. Some one previously has welded on the plate repair that seems to be a quite common repair. The question is since I am in no hurry and replacing a lot of parts should I grind it away and start fresh

[jimyboyle]

this time with photo[frame][/frame]

[bmcecosse]

Looks ok to me - leave it be !

[kennatt]

It would look better with the weld ground flat,but then depends on how well its been welded,has there been enough penetration,looks a bit like just stuck on to me,the weld dosen't look flat enough in the photo to have penetrated,also whats underneth, from the photo it looks to be lap welded not butt welded,so has enough rusty metal been taken out underneath. Still ok to leave like that ,and depends to what standard you want the fishied car to be.If it was mine I would be cutting it off and butt welding a new bit in,then with a bit of grinding off it would never b e seen,and you would KNOW there no rot underneath to bite you in the XXXXXX later on.But could be butt welded difficult to see,if it is then just a flattening of the weld would clean it up a bit.Just me , but I detest being able to see so much weld,just looks like a bodge.If a butt weld is done properly,and then cleaned up it should look like the original ,you shouldn't be able to see the join.

[jimyboyle]

Quite a lot of cars being restored have this "repair" and a section is available, is it just a repair panel for a rusty wing or is it meant to re-inforce this area.

[taupe]

Jim

If you are replacing the rear part of the inner wing anyway I would remove that old repair.

There should also be a heavy plate over the outside of the rear spring mount and you should really fit one of these. Its quite common to trim off the end of these which has a big hole for tying the car down in ship transit as it can be a rust trap, but the rest of the panel gives a lot of strength to the mounting as its nearly twice as thick as the chassis here.

This is the part





Taupe

[ASL642]

I always wondered what that hole was for!

[jimyboyle]

Thanks for the advice, I think I will cut it away and see whats underneath, then get the heavy plate for strength

Jim

[MarkyB]

Why not drill a hole in it to see if it's a plate?
If it isn't squirt some Waxoyl in and seal with a grommet.

[jimyboyle]

you can see to the left of the bump stop I cut out a section because it had holes, there is a lot of surface rust inside so maybe taking the plated bit away is a good idea

[jimyboyle]

I have cut the plate away and although it was quite solid it had been put over the top of the remains of the rusty inner wing so I am glad i removed it.
The metal behind the bump stop is holed and rusty and proving difficult to repair, since I now have access to the area inside the box section where the bump stop is welded to the inside would it be a good idea to just cut off the bump stop, do a solid repair to the underside and then weld it on again

Jim

[bmcecosse]

Yes!

[jimyboyle]

Thanks for the short but prompt reply!! I will remove it today, one day I will have the confidence to just cut bits off without asking.

Jim

[kennatt]

I have cut the plate away and although it was quite solid it had been put over the top of the remains of the rusty inner wing so I am glad i removed it.
Jim

Yes thats exactly what I suspected you would find,Can't understand why people do it,The bulk of the work is in the welding so why just stick a plate over the top,Just as easy to cut it and butt weld a new bit in.
As an asside,(You may do this anyway)what I was shown many years ago by one of the best coachbuilder /welder who we ever had in the family garage ,was to spot weld a small strip of metal onto the inside of the original along the cut line,so that the new bit laid up against the strip and close to the cut,this held the new bit in line with the small overlap,then when you weld along the cut line you are actually welding three bits together. It makes for a very strong join and limits the blow holes that you somtimes get. Then when you grind up the weld you are not actually reducing the strength very much.
good luck with it

[jimyboyle]

I will try that as I patch up this area, the bump stop came off much easier than I thought, new patch ready for the welding to start then gas ran out.