'69 traveller rebuild

[Matt Tomkins]

Many of you may have seen my black saloon in the 'For Sale' section of this page[frame][/frame]

well, this is what is taking it's place...[frame][/frame]

1969 traveller which was just MOTed and a good running car when the pervious owner got a little carried away when stripping it for re-wood and decided it should all come apart.[frame][/frame]

It's amazing how big they are when in bits ;-)

Some of the Young Members' Register have already seen it[frame][/frame]

and a quick going over reveals only a small amount of welding should be needed. new tie plates, or repairs thereof; remedial work to some pin holes in the 'a' post; a small patch in the inner wing and a little hole in the 'b' post in the door shut. also, it seems one chassis leg has had some creative welding' in the past, too, so will need investigation.

As storage is at a premium i spent just under an hour yesterday hanging the wings, front panel and one door. the other will go on once it stops raining ;-)[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[Dean]

Nice one. Ten out of ten for enthusiasm.

Great to see it at the national..... perhaps...

[Matt Tomkins]

Nice one. Ten out of ten for enthusiasm.

Great to see it at the national..... perhaps...

haha thanks

Maybe not national... Term finishes just before MOT, then back from france for a few weeks before national. Hoping to have it done by end of september, depending on finances, work commitments and how far i decide to go with it.

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

Looks like you found a good project Matt. Did the wood come with it as well?

[Matt Tomkins]

Looks like you found a good project Matt. Did the wood come with it as well?

Sadly it didn't

So once PNX sells, it'll be a phone call to woodies

[irmscher]

Nice project

[Matt Tomkins]

flat packed traveller[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]
unsure why the voltage regulator was still connected with an alternator...
[frame][/frame]
loom was pretty old, and had been spliced into a fair few times. I decided to cut it and will replace it later.
[frame][/frame]
i retained it, connected up, to help with reassembly[frame][/frame]
top of the 'b' post will require some welding
[frame][/frame]
patch required on the chassis leg, but might make up a bottom channel section and replace along the length, getting rid of a couple of previous patches[frame][/frame]

cut the bolts holding the sill covers on, and the boxing sections are in good nick[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

water was getting in through the dips in the cover, so i decided to erect the roof[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

should this be connected to the bottom of the b post??[frame][/frame]

[Mark Wilson]

should this be connected to the bottom of the b post??

No - it just bolts to the timber. Remarkably good sills etc!

Mark

[Matt Tomkins]

well, i sold PNX, so could but a welder.
first bit of solo welding. a bit pigeon pooey, but cleaned up okay...[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[MarkyB]

a bit pigeon pooey,

Looks pretty good to me, all my nicest welds were in the wrong place

[Matt Tomkins]

a bit pigeon pooey,

Looks pretty good to me, all my nicest welds were in the wrong place

i've certainly got a way to go when it comes to getting the settings right, but as the first bit of welding i've done on my own, rather than the off little bit on a welder which has been set up for me, i'm quite pleased.
I just need the time to be at home cracking on with the rest of it, but sadly i'm back at university now and the project is taking a back seat.

[ASL642]

Not bad for a first attempt Matt. It's just a case of "practise makes perfect" You'll soon get there! Good luck with the next term.

[MechanicMichael]

Regarding welding.

I found I have my good and bad days even after 15 years.

I agree though good welds are in the wrong place. I find ones that are to be on show, don't come out good. Once that are to be hidden or ground flush come out the best.

[Matt Tomkins]

I managed to get home for the day yesterday, and while the sun was shining in the morning, i took the opportunity to crack on a bit with the traveller.[frame][/frame]

First bit i tackled was a bit of rot along the door shut line on the drivers' side. I simply wire brushed it off and filled the small gap with weld. It still needs grinding down[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

The B post on the other side was holey too, so i repaired that...[frame][/frame]
as well as the top of the roof line on that corner, under the T rubber.

before i then moved on to fitting previously missing caprive nuts to the bottom of the inner wing on the driver's side[frame][/frame]

Then, would you believe it, it fell over![frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

to reveal all manner of horrors!![frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

The rear floor piece had been replaced, and extended up the cross member without any thought to the join to the boot floor area.
I cut the repair out, and will make the floor a good solid piece before extending the cross member to meet it.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[Matt Tomkins]

sadly, at this point, rain stopped play[frame][/frame]

and, although i might be mad enough to change engines in a downpour, welding was a different story!

Once it fined off, i had lost too much light to be able to weld, so i disassembed the front suspension for cleaning, painting and reconditioning where necessary.[frame][/frame]

I rotary wire brushed the torsion bar, and painted it in silver hammerite. It was reasonably badly pitted, but i doubt this will be too significant wrt it's spring rate?[frame][/frame]

Next job will be to give the hub/upright assembly the same treatment. This will be black, though, and painted using this stuff: http://www.rust.co.uk/products/category ... sis-paint/

It's not cheap, but is ROCK SOLID, and requires an angle grinder to remove it. I will be painting the underside of the car with it too.[frame][/frame]

[Matt Tomkins]

nipped home for the morning this morning too. didnt get a lot done at all...
I trimmed the pannel to fir the hole with a small gap all the way around[frame][/frame]
before tacking it into place[frame][/frame]
then starting to fill in the gaps[frame][/frame]

unfortunately, th's here that i ran out of welding gas, so simply s;lopped some primer on to protect it until next time i'm home[frame][/frame]

Plan then it to finish seem welding this in all the way round, tidy it from the inside too, then extend the cross member to meet it.

I also needed to put some captive nuts into the botton of the pasenger inner wing.
i took the opportunity, while i had no gas, to cut and then start to drill out spot welds.

undfrtunately, the drill slipped and i ended up planting the drill into my hand. "Ouch!" i said, so it was off to the aptly named 'minor injuries' unit for a tetanus jab...[frame][/frame]

at least now there's been a hospital visit, i can claim the restoration to have started in earnest!

[DAVIDMCCULLOUGH]

I think you made that bit up just to include the picture Matt!!!! Only kidding hope it wasnt to bad....

My last minor injury involved an exploding gas lighter and some singed eyebrows and an even redder face than normal

[Matt Tomkins]

6 hours after going into a&e I'm finally Home.
Apparently I was very lucky. The x Ray showed . Was only a couple of mm away from hitting bone.
Have had a jab, a clean up and have a plastics appointment on Tuesday.
The joys of classic motoring!

[Matt Tomkins]

went home for dinner last night, so got bits and bobs done before heading back to oxford for work this afternoon.

I stripped in it's entirety the engine which will now be used for it, after the engine removed from it had been pressed into action in my saloon.

also made some repairs to the bottom of the inner wing last night, as well as adding the captive nuts.[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

before making up a repair section to retain the hinge plate[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

which i welded in this morning[frame][/frame]

before replacing the bottom of the inner wing section[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

which i then slopped some paint on to protect while i am away[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

I also started looking into chassis leg replacement...[frame][/frame]

it will also need a plate making for the bottom just in front of where the replacement panel mounts...[frame][/frame]

I just wish i has the time, or dry, lit, space to really crack on with it, but university is manic at the minute, so that has to come first.

Opinions wanted, also, on whether i use rustbuster clack 2k hard as nails chassis paint underneath and in the arches, or whether i go for body colour on their 2k epoxy primer with a stone chip of some kind, or just colour in the arches/inner wings?
not too sure...
It;s going to be in regular use once it's done, but i'm not afraid of a bit of work keeping it clean...

[Matt Tomkins]

it's been a little while since I last posted, and there has been some progress. Alas, i'm behind on where i wanted to be at this time, but the 'do it right, do it once' philosophy must be observed, and i've had a few other set-backs what with work, university and now a fault with my welder.
These things, though, are sent to test us, as they say...

That nasty chassis leg has now been replaced[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

the front of the sill, too, has had some attention...[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

and i've made a start on the outer sill, with all the welding from underneath now done on it[frame][/frame]

another hole in the floor has been rectified... one of several sadly....[frame][/frame]