Recent rot discoveries - now done..phew

Post by **chickenjohn** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:14 am

yes, cut the inner wing off in two steps for reference is the way to do it! I try and keep at least one old captive nut and have accurate measurements and a diagram of where the other bolts were.

Post by **Bluesman** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:20 am

As far as I have seen, it looks like the vertical ones (bottom 2, the middle one and the upper one in the corner) are in a 100% straight line?

That might just help a bit. Then, it is the matter of getting the correct angle of that vertical line - but that can be triangulated to the corner bolt hole and the foremost wing nut. Got it!
/R

Post by **chickenjohn** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:46 am

Yes, they are in a vertical line. There is also a certain amount of movement available from the big slot in the wing itself. The bolt (5/16" BSF, with 1/4 Whitworth head) should have a large washer between itself and the wing.

If you have complete inner wing (flitch) sections, then you could allways tack weld these to the car, offer up the wing, bolt on to check fit. If its out, then remove the wing cut the tacks and re-position before final welding in.

Post by **Bluesman** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:53 am

If there´s a will, there´s a way. I will know later this week. Gotta fix that internal structure stuff first, tho. Tnx! /R

Post by **Bluesman** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:41 pm

Update:

Today´s work was kindergarten stuff - measuring and cutting cardboard cards

and then trying to stitch them together inside a confined space.

The welds were not too pretty, but good enough for now.

Results today:
RHS hinge pillar bottom repaired, and anchored to the rest of the car.
Bottom corner where the bottom part of inner wing/kidney panel/flitch panel meet the foremost end of the outer sill - this area has now got some fresh steel to attach the remaining stuff to.

I also flattened the repair panels, cut them to fit well alongside the hinge pillar (still good metal there to weld it to). Offered up both sides without cutting anything just yet. Looks good.

The vertical row of wing bolts (on the flitch panel) are NOT in a perfect straight line, BTW. On both panels - and on the car - , the middle bolt is about 4 mm forward of the straight line. Good thing I discovered it before making assumptions

LHS bottom corner will follow tomorrow. Slightly more complicated (small bit of pillar bottom outside rotted), but OK-ish, now that I know how to fix it.

Flitch panels - or suitable parts of them - will be welded in on Thursday, with my personal favourite fire watch on site.

Cheers /Richard

Post by **Bluesman** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:53 pm

Phew - RHS done, apart from the smallest bit at the bottom where the wheel arch joins the floor (do be done soon). EVerything is there, just nee dto join the floor bit and the wheel arch.
Wing fits, door fits, it´s a bit high at the rear yet, but that can be adjusted.

It´s not pretty, but strong as a tank. LHS comes tomorrow.
And yes, those bent panels were a pain. A lot of money for a few wing bolt nuts.

Cheers /Richard

Post by **youngun** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 9:34 pm

Well thats not exactly shabby is it? Nicely done!!

Post by **chickenjohn** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 9:37 pm

Yes! Good job. Keep it going.

Post by **Spag** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:22 am

Going together well!

Post by **whenisayjump** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:23 am

I love pictures like this, I get to distract myself from work by mentally pieceing it all together. It's rather fun!

Keep up the good work! ...and lots of pictures

Post by **Bluesman** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:06 pm

Done. Phew. I estimate that I have used about 60 hours in total to think up, prepare and then finally finish both sides. Next time, I know what to expect, and will have the solutions at hand.

Good feeling to know that from the A posts forward, no MOT man of any kind will be able to knock a hole in this car. At least not in the nearest 10 years or so.

Today, I also had my first welding "hallelujah moment" - the perfect weld pool/seam. Only 10 cm of perfection, but still

Gotta go. Lotsa things need doing - the long postponed due-to-rot-discovery engine bay painting, for instance. Now, it can be done, since there is no welding whatsoever going on near the front end.

http://homeweb.mah.se/~lurija/lhs_painted.jpg

Cheers /Richard

Post by **alex_holden** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:12 pm

Well done!

Post by **Spag** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:14 pm

Nice repair sections.

Is that a mix of edited new panels, and some bashed steel ?

Post by **Bluesman** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:20 pm

I used parts of the flitch repair panels, but had to flatten (and cut)them as they were useless in that bent shape. RHS almost got a whole, but LHS was not as rotten high up, so I used less of the panel.
One wing nut broke (guess which one?) so I had to let in one from the cut panel. I managed to nick the alu tube for the wipers with a saw, but...hopefully no harm done.

The rest is all "homebashed" with paper/cardboard test bits.

Thanks for the kind words, all of you.

Cheers /R

Post by **chickenjohn** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:18 am

Yes, its great quality work! A pleasure to see.

Post by **MoggyTech** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:25 pm

Truly top quality work, nice to see in this time of bodges. Properly seam sealed and coated, that repair will last a long time. Well done.

Post by **d_harris** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:34 pm

I don't like threads like this, make me feel really inadequate - especially when I have been working on the same area.

Post by **chickenjohn** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 3:14 pm

Dont worry Dan- Bluesman's repair work looks really neat because he has ground his welds down. Grind yours down, Zinc prime, seam seal and paint and I'm sure they will look good too!

Post by **d_harris** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:23 pm

they will need a whole load of dressing to look good. My Welder is dodgier than a very dodgy thing atm. My welds are proper tough but really rubbish looking right now.

Post by **chickenjohn** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:27 pm

Get a soft abrasive pad for your grinder, 40 grit flap disk or a backing pad for 36 grit Zirconium abrasive sanding disks- they munch through weld and tidy it up in no time. Seam sealer halps neaten things too.