852 replies to this topic

[JonnyAlpha]

Good work going on here! :) just noticed your from braunton ! Not far from me in woolacombe !

There's a few of us around, I did try and set up a monthly meet last year but had no takers, maybe this year, always happy for anyone to come around and have a natter in the garage.

[JonnyAlpha]

Had an hour today, sharpened some drills and had a go at removing the wing.

First out came the head lights, on doing this I noticed that the RH (Drivers) Head lights is different to the LH side different lens??

First I took the chrome / rusted cowl off (single self tapping screw).

Next I removed the three self tappers holding the headlamp to the body, the LH one came off OK but some Bast**d has fitted the RH one using rivets?!?@?£?$?@?

 

 

Drilled out the rivets and the headlamp was free.

 

These headlamps are not like the ones in the Haynes manual they are a sealed metal dome and there is no obvious way to remove the wiring, the LH one had bullet clips further along the wiring and an earth lead connected to a plastic connector so that came off easy enough:

 

 

The LH one had to be cut off :-(

 

Once the headlamp was out I started to try and remove the wing:

 

 

I drilled out the spot welds along the top edge and ground down a small seam weld by the bonnet hinge:

 

 

But I am at a loss at the moment regarding how to drill out the spot welds on the Inner Flange that sits under the headlight and inside the outer wing, there is not enough room to get my drill on all of the welds. Gonna have to put some thought into this.

 

 

Back at it tomorrow.

 

 

[Ben_O]

How about a small burr in a drill? Then you can grind the dimple of the spot weld to free it

[Minidarren83]

Unless your keeping the wings and front panel just cut it out

[1984mini25]

Cut the wing along the front panel seam with a grinder about half to a quarter of and inch above the seam. Then with the bulk of the panel/wing removed you can either grind off what's left or have better accesses to drill out the spot welds.

[Ben_O]

Unless your keeping the wings and front panel just cut it out

 

 

Cut the wing along the front panel seam with a grinder about half to a quarter of and inch above the seam. Then with the bulk of the panel/wing removed you can either grind off what's left or have better accesses to drill out the spot welds.

He is re-using the wings.

 

another way would be to cut the flanges off from behind and then make new ones to graft onto the panels if the carbide burr doesn't work

[JonnyAlpha]

Could try out my new Air Die Grinder, I guess it would take a short spot weld drill bit?

[JonnyAlpha]

Well I went to buy a Tungsten Burr from a local shop Taylors Fasteners, they only sold individuals and once we worked out what one he checked the price - £35 not inc VAT - so I left it!!!

 

Anyway I thought i'd try with a 6mm drill in my Die Grinder, it started off OK but either something was wrong with the Grinder or the Compressor as it just kept running out of air. It's a cheap Toolzone RA Die Grinder but it says its only 4CFM, my compressor ran my HVLP Spray Gun??

 

Anyway I tried using a paint scraper to get through the seam and it worked OK I then used a Hacksaw Blade as suggested on here and it did the trick to a degree.

 

 

It went off kilter a couple of times and was pretty hard going but I got there in the end.

 

I had a bit of trouble with the slug of weld where the wing is joined to the face (top RH corner) but managed to get the wing off.

 

On inspection of the wing and the face that was left it came off without to much damage, i'll have to repair both in a couple of places but all relatively easy, but then I had a look around the Scuttle ................................

 

 

[JonnyAlpha]

As you can see I managed to drill a bit of some of the spot welds out:

 

 

Looking very sad for itself now :-(

 

 

Inner wing is OK here:

 

 

This flange will need repairing:

 

 

The wing is not that bad:

 

 

The flange on the wing will need repairing in a couple of places but the only real bad spot was under the Headlight:

 

 

Then a view under the Scuttle :-(

 

A lot of rot in the Inner Wing where it meets the Bulk Head:

 

 

I then placed the Scuttle Repair over the area to be removed to check the fit, not too good at all, it will need a lot of fettling and the outer flange is way bigger, Nasty kink in the corner too:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bends just aren't as sharp.

 

I marked the outline of the Scuttle Repair and then cut most of it out, what was underneath was a bit of a shock to be honest :-(

 

 

Then I located the spot welds along the window ledge and hole punched then and made an impression with a 6mm drill.

 

Then I drilled out the spot welds with an 8mm spot weld drill bit and split the seam with a screwdriver and off it came:

 

I was getting a little depressed seeing all the rot and repair needed so I cleaned up the upper area and slapped on the Flitch Panel:

 

 

There that's better

 

I take it the shiny area is part of the Inner Wing and I need to cut out all the rot and make a filler piece to meet up with the Flitch Repair Panel?

 

How do I remove the large plastic container that sits between the two flexi pipes? It goes into the engine bay?

 

Also the door step has had a pretty dodgy repair and I had to make a small cut to slot the Flitch in place, how should this area mate up and look?

Edited by JonnyAlpha, 25 April 2015 - 06:41 PM.

[JonnyAlpha]

In this pic you can see how the Inner Wing has rotted away, you can also just make out the top two bolts with what looks like remnants of the original Inner Wing. Are these bolts supposed to go through the four holes in the Flitch Repair Panel as shown in the second pic underneath?

 

Another question - is the Scuttle Butt welded at the inner edge or joddled and seam welded?

 

 

Also here are my Headlights, nothing like the ones shown in my Haynes Manual (which is for the correct vehicle - I think).

 

 

 

[JonnyAlpha]

Here's hoping the LH side isn't as bad but I doubt i'll be that lucky

[evansisgreat]

 
I take it the shiny area is part of the Inner Wing and I need to cut out all the rot and make a filler piece to meet up with the Flitch Repair Panel?
 
How do I remove the large plastic container that sits between the two flexi pipes? It goes into the engine bay?
 
Also the door step has had a pretty dodgy repair and I had to make a small cut to slot the Flitch in place, how should this area mate up and look?

The shiney, or primered bit will need a little filler piece yes, you might also need one at the top where the flitch repair panel meets the bulkhead under the scuttle.

The plastic bit under the wing is bolted (no doubt with nice duty ones) in the passenger compartment, next to the pedal box. Of feeds fresh air to your heater.

I won't answer question 3 as I haven't made this repair yet, sorry mate.

Edited by evansisgreat, 25 April 2015 - 07:36 PM.

[Stu.]

Hi Jonny, I think you'd be better to butt weld the repair joint so you can use some inter grips. Go really slow with the welding and dont let it overheat otherwise it'll distort.

 

Impressed with your careful removal of the wing. Very tidy.

 

The four holes in the flitch repair needs to be lined up with the existing air vent holes. Good luck with making that good. I think I'd just replace the inner wing, but I guess you could just as easilly patch repair.

 

I think I'll follow your project. Looks interesting.

[Minidarren83]

Don't use any of the holes on that flitch repair to align it they won't meet up lol. Non gen ones are notorious for poor shape and holes in the wrong place and they don't have the top piece that meets the bulkhead under the scuttle so you will need to make that first

[JonnyAlpha]

Don't use any of the holes on that flitch repair to align it they won't meet up lol. Non gen ones are notorious for poor shape and holes in the wrong place and they don't have the top piece that meets the bulkhead under the scuttle so you will need to make that first

So what do I need to do, weld up the holes and drill some new ones?