393 replies to this topic

[deebo]

more amazing work as always and that little guide will come in helpfull to a lot of people too

dom

[myredmini]

Looking very good, what spot welder are you using out of interest ?

Dan

[grahama]

Hi,

As has been said before, fantastic repairs, invisible, love to have the time / talent !! Keep progress comming and as Hugh said roof guttering repair is a hard one to get looking good, and yours is great.

Graham

[craigr91]

Sorry be a noob but how do you prepare you metal, do you use a sanding disc on a angle grinder?

What's the differance between grinding disc and cutting disc?


Sorry for asking

by the way, your work is outstanding :) keep it up :)

[minifcd]

Thanks Dom and Dan. Dan its a Clarke CSW6T spot welder from Machine Mart. Does the job well but it will get a real testing when I get to do the roof!

Thanks Graham, the trouble with the roof gutter is it curves two ways. It has the rolled edge and the curve that follows the roof. Small sections aren't too bad but I'd hate to have to do any bigger repairs.

Hi Craigr91, if you mean cleaning the paint from the metal, I use wire wheels on drill, sanding discs on drill and Strip and Clean discs on the angle grinder. To grind down welds I use flap discs on the angle grinder, 40 grit and 80 grit. If by grinding disc you mean the thicker 6 mm discs for angle grinder, I don't tend to use them that much. I find flap discs much better and give a smoother finish. Cutting discs are usually a lot thinner, 1-2 mm and are more brittle so should only be used for cutting. Hope that answers the question.

[craigr91]

Yeah thanks, cleared a lot up for me :)

[danny79]

Amazing built, looking forward to an update.

[MiniFTW]

Your work is simply incredible! Very inspiring stuff. Cannot wait to see more on this build!

[minifcd]

Thanks Danny79 and MiniFTW. I've got a few more photos to post but need to upload more from my camera. I meant to update this at the weekend but did some more work to it on Saturday and then went to Bingley Hall show on Sunday so didn't get the time. Not a very interesting update but just shows how the rear panel, lower repair turned out.

Just to recap, this is the repair from page 1.


With the welds dressed back and blended with the DA sander.


Had a few spots of rust that the repair panel didn't quite cover.


So just drilled out the rusty bits with a large drill bit, but not drilling right through.


Then just welded the holes up.


The finished repair.


This is the passengers side as well.


Then added a fine skim of filler to level up.


Not much i'm affraid but i'll try and get some more pictures uploaded soon.

[2-alex-2]

thats amazing work you have done there keep it up

[grahama]

Stop with the invisible repairs !!!! Making me look like the amateur I am !!!

Bloody great work.

Graham

[bcjames]

Wow, this is incredibly impressive! Your fabrication, welding and finishing is spot on. I looked in at the latest post and had to sit and read through the rest of the thread!

[minifcd]

Stop with the invisible repairs !!!! Making me look like the amateur I am !!!

Bloody great work.

Graham

Sorry Graham, i'll try and tone it down a bit. I'll post some out of focus pictures if that helps!

Thanks 2-alex-2 and bcjames for your kind comments.

[tiger99]

Amazing! I have just read right through your build, and it is absolutely first class. Every piece of metal in its correct place, even the reinforcing piece between wing and A panel (smallest panel on the car?) which is very important, but most people forget about. More stiffness means less flexing, which means less stress-related corrosion, paint cracking, water getting into the seam and causing corrosion, etc. The front may not fall off without these little bits, but it will last longer with them. I really like to see details like that being done properly.

This is the build which I will be using for reference when I start my own. Not sure if I will be able to shape the metal bits so accurately and use so little filler, but it is a standard to aim for.

Keep up the good work! I am sure we all await seeing the finished car with considerable interest.

[minifcd]

Thanks tiger99, those reinforcing pieces most probably are the smallest panels, but only take a few minutes to make and do add strength to the seams. I read about them in a restoration manual and so thought i'd best put them in. Ok, next update. Here I started removing the paint from the drivers side rear quarter down to bare metal. I found a few small rust marks under the paint but nothing too bad.


Then started to deal with another rusty hole on the drivers rear quarter above the window.


Pieces made up and welded in.




I've not ground them down yet so will show that another time. Next I decided to have a go at the drivers rear window repair. I had actually attempted this previously with small lengths of angle but was not happy with it. So after how the passengers side turned out, I decided to chop it out and start again. New waist rail temporarily clamped in to align repair piece.


A new piece folded in the metal folder and tacked in.




Small piece made for the front and tacked in.


Welded up.




I've not got a photo of it ground down yet but with the welds being that bit closer to the curve, it's a lot harder to get right. If you ever have to do anything like this, try to keep as much metal as possible from a curved edge. I'll add a some more in a few days.

Thanks.