Traveller Restoration

[Neil MG]

Made a start on the blasting, but unfortunately am stopped now pending some dry weather. Bad news is there is none forecast, possibly rainy days into June...[frame][/frame]

[Neil MG]

Also took a picture for BMC regarding the crossmember welding. I have just replicated the factory spot and stitch welds as shown.[frame][/frame]

[rogerowen]

Made a start on the blasting, but unfortunately am stopped now pending some dry weather. Bad news is there is none forecast, possibly rainy days into June...[frame][/frame]

Time for one of these?

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... bo#p464371

[rogerowen]

Also took a picture for BMC regarding the crossmember welding. I have just replicated the factory spot and stitch welds as shown.[frame][/frame]

Excellent work - I'm avidly following this. For the cross member to the floor can you explain how you are spot welding please.

[Neil MG]

Hi Roger, after cleaning the paint etc. off the inside of the floor pan the spot welds are quite visible. It seems that quite a bit of pressure was used in the factory to get the floor panel and crossmember flange to fit together, so they are quite "deep". I drilled the welds out from inside the car with a 6mm drill bit. I drilled more holes in the new sections of floor. After fitting the new crossmember I plug (MIG) welded from inside the car. It is very important that you practice your plug welds first to make sure you have good weld penetration. The welder setting needs to be quite high and you need to experiment a bit with trigger time and settings. If the setting is too low the joint will be weak, too high and you will blow holes. I personally do not recommend any weld through primer on the rear panel for plug welds. Note that the crossmember flange is thicker than the rest of the panels, so a higher setting can be used.

[rogerowen]

Thanks Neil, that's very helpful information!

Cheers.

[bmcecosse]

Thanks Neil for that Xmember picture! How much of a problem was it for you to remove the old Xmember??

[Neil MG]

Thanks Neil for that Xmember picture! How much of a problem was it for you to remove the old Xmember??

It was quite straightforward and relative to removing any of the other rusty panels it was not a problem. It would be a lot more work if the chassis rails were not also being replaced. So much so that I would not recommend it!

[bmcecosse]

Well - my chassis rails are not being replaced - so I will just need to work round about them - carefully!! Thanks again for helpful pictures and much 'encouragement'... Roy

[Neil MG]

Well yesterday was the first dry day for a week and another one is not on the forecast so I was extremely fortunate to get the blasting finished and the body back inside![frame][/frame]

[Neil MG]

Plenty of spinning on the spit and blowing with the airline to try and get all that glass media out of the nooks and crannies...[frame][/frame]

[rogerowen]

Plenty of spinning on the spit and blowing with the airline to try and get all that glass media out of the nooks and crannies...[frame][/frame]

Good blasting job - hope you have a blast suit! I'm pretty sure this would cost in excess of £500 if farmed out. What media are you using?

[George Smathers]

Neil,

Very clean looking. I'm sure your wife is complaining about all the dust but now you'll have a solid base and will never have to worry about hidden rust.

George

[Neil MG]

Good blasting job - hope you have a blast suit! I'm pretty sure this would cost in excess of £500 if farmed out. What media are you using?

I try to remember to squint when I am blasting so it doesn't get in my eyes and next time I might wear long sleeves and gloves...

Seriously I have an air fed blasting helmet together with overalls, work boots and welding gauntlets. I am using glass blasting media.

[Neil MG]

Neil,

Very clean looking. I'm sure your wife is complaining about all the dust but now you'll have a solid base and will never have to worry about hidden rust.

George

The dust and blasting media goes absolutely everywhere! Luckily the wife is away at the moment!

The good thing about blasting is that it not only removes all the rust and paint, but it also provides a great key for the primer. I am using an epoxy etch primer that should give a very good bond. It is interesting to see how the different paints and metal surfaces react to the blaster. Some of the repair panels have absolutely no paint adhesion whatsoever.

[horologiumwatches]

Wow a brand new shell!
Fantastic job. I can't wait to see you building this one up. I'm sure your attention to detail is going to be just spot on. Is it going to be standard, concourse or modified?
Tommy

[rogerowen]

Good blasting job - hope you have a blast suit! I'm pretty sure this would cost in excess of £500 if farmed out. What media are you using?

I try to remember to squint when I am blasting so it doesn't get in my eyes and next time I might wear long sleeves and gloves...

Seriously I have an air fed blasting helmet together with overalls, work boots and welding gauntlets. I am using glass blasting media.

You nearly got me there for a moment! I've only done a tiny bit of outside blasting using an old full-face bike helmet - Never again!

When you say glass - do you mean the recycled type? It's a lot cheaper than glass bead.

[Neil MG]

Wow a brand new shell!
Fantastic job. I can't wait to see you building this one up. I'm sure your attention to detail is going to be just spot on. Is it going to be standard, concourse or modified?
Tommy

It will be built as original (1965) apart from the following:
Old English white with red interior, Newton Commercial seats and early wire spoke steering wheel
Midget 1275 engine with standard (1098) carburettor and exhaust
Frontline Ford type 9 five speed gearbox conversion
4.5" wheels with front disc brakes, remote filler, servo, cunifer pipes and silicon fluid
Alternator, heated windscreen, electric screenwash, roof mounted aerial and door mirrors in quarterlight panels.

[Neil MG]

You nearly got me there for a moment! I've only done a tiny bit of outside blasting using an old full-face bike helmet - Never again!

When you say glass - do you mean the recycled type? It's a lot cheaper than glass bead.

Yes, it works out at about 28p per kg delivered. I recycle several times, but will probably still take 200-250kg by the time I have done all the panels, suspension, etc., etc.

[Neil MG]

Back in the shed and completely covered with epoxy etch primer...[frame][/frame]