1498 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

Continuing on from last time, i thought it was the best time to get the whole of the bones of this side of the car stripped back to bare metal and primed up.

 

As you can see, it's a cross between old paint, e-coat, zinc primer and spider tracks of rust here and there. also, there was quite alot of burnishing to the paint and previous zinc primer from welding which has to be cleaned back as you should never prime over burnt paint.

 

A few before shots of the areas to tackle

 

 

 

 

 

 

I knew this was going to take forever and i wasn't looking forward to it because of all the tight places that needed attention. I just wish it was possible to leave everything bare metal so i don't have to keep zinc priming after each session. That way i wouldn't have to keep removing paint again and again and it also seems a bit of a waste.

 

Anyway, my first weapon of choice

 

 

This will be used for the larger areas and the smaller filament wheels, cups and wire brushes will be used where necessary.

 

so after several hours of boredom, i had it back to bare metal and all cleaned up nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next i returned back to removing what was left of the back flange of the quarter panel from the back panel.

started off with this

 

 

I knew the bottom of the back panel was beyond saving so i have a new one. Just as well as it was full of filler.

 

So the first stage is to use the flap disc to take off most of the remaining panel to get this

 

 

There is no point trying to find and drill the spot welds as there are many and they are small, close together and most are right on the edge of the lip making it very hard to drill them.

I like to grind them.

 

So the next stage is to find an edge of the flange with a small screwdriver and bend it round

 

 

Then i use a thin grinding disc in just that section to thin the flange out until it goes blue.

Then you can break it and get a pair of cutters on the edge and tear it off gently breaking the welds as you go. If you grind far enough, they should pop easily.

 

 

If you don't go far enough, you will bend or tear the flange you want to keep.

 

Here you can see the bottom half peeled off and it coiled up towards the bottom of the picture.

 

 

I won't worry too much about removing it carefully at the bottom as that section will be renewed anyway.

 

And here is the top section peeled off too

 

 

Then just a whiz over with the flap disc again to remove the heads of the spot welds

 

 

You can see at the bottom of that picture some holes in the flange which is a perfect example of how the flange will go if the welds are not ground back far enough in the first place.

 

Then i just ran the filament brush down the back of the flange to remove rust and paint

 

 

And here is everything primed up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By no means an exciting update but non the less, a job that needed to be done.

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[Carlos W]

Excellent as ever Ben (apart from the dirt on your camera lens)

[Ben_O]

Oh bugger, i just noticed that i didn't put the stitch weld in the inside of the companion bin where it meets the arch.

 

Now ill have to remove the paint again to do it. AARGGHH! And it was a pain to remove it the first time...

 

 

[Ben_O]

Excellent as ever Ben (apart from the dirt on your camera lens)

Ill have to give it a clean

 

Cheers

[Hendred]

Loving the cleaning attachment (weapons as you call them!)

[Ben_O]

Loving the cleaning attachment (weapons as you call them!)

They are really good.

 

I still prefer the plain flat one though, the one in the picture attached to the drill is ok, but not as good as i was expecting it to be.

 

The filament cup brush and stick? brush shown in one of the pictures on the floor are USELESS!!

[Hendred]

Just trial and error with attachments

[deepee71]

Hi Ben, I never noticed the stitch weld where the rear wheelarch meets the inside of the companion bin when I removed them on mine?

[Ben_O]

Hi Ben, I never noticed the stitch weld where the rear wheelarch meets the inside of the companion bin when I removed them on mine?

There was one on mine. I left part of the old one on the companion bin to remind me. Lot of good that did

 

Goes here

 

 

Cheers

 

Ben

[CBJ805T]

 

Loving the cleaning attachment (weapons as you call them!)

They are really good.

 

I still prefer the plain flat one though, the one in the picture attached to the drill is ok, but not as good as i was expecting it to be.

 

The filament cup brush and stick? brush shown in one of the pictures on the floor are USELESS!!

 

Hi Ben, 

 

Which filament cup / brush / sticks would you recommend? not sure which one you are saying is useless, but I'm thinking of getting myself some

 

Also, just wondered if you ever found that spare spot tip dresser - if so, send me a PM if you would be interested in selling it?

 

Cheers

 

Chris 

[Ben_O]

Hi Ben, 

 

 

Which filament cup / brush / sticks would you recommend? not sure which one you are saying is useless, but I'm thinking of getting myself some

 

Also, just wondered if you ever found that spare spot tip dresser - if so, send me a PM if you would be interested in selling it?

 

Cheers

 

Chris 

 

Hi Chris.

 

I started off by buying the 100mm flat brushes which are excellent

 

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item27c84efa57

 

Then i bought this set

 

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item43ad3b0971

 

But the cup brush and end brush don virtually nothing so i wouldn't buy that set again although the free set of wire brushes were very good.

The flap brush was ok but not as effective as the flat one either

 

Just stick to the flat 100mm ones, they are great.

 

Ill PM you about the tip cutter

 

Ben

[Stu.]

Good work there Ben. Right in the middle of it now eh

[Ben_O]

I'm a bit disheartened today But ill get to that in a bit....

 

First on the agenda was to have a good look over this reclaimed quarter panel. It was a bit bent at the back along the seam where it meets the back panel so i decided to start there and straighten it out.

at this point, im still debating over whether to use it or not...

 

Anyway, clamped to the bench

 

 

 

and here is the piece i added many moons ago

 

 

You can't see too well in the pictures but it is pretty buckled up the back edge from removal and storage ( i tripped over it on the garage floor last year and put my boot right on it  )

 

So i ground the welds back and straightened out the bent bits with a hammer and dolly. I will give it a go over with the bodyfile once the panel is fitted to pick up any highs and lows and sort those out then. I can't file it now as i can't keep it still enough on the bench.

I want to try and avoid using body filler on it so it needs to be spot on.

 

 

Now time to clamp it back on the car...

 

 

It fits lovely everywhere. The drilled spot weld holes along the top of the panel even line up with the corresponding drill marks on the waist rail.

 

and the back edge which looks and feels lovely and straight again

 

 

 

I'm not worried about the drill holes in the flange as ill just use them to weld it to the back panel and linish it all up lovely after.

 

Door back on...

 

 

The rear gap is really tight but that is fantastic news for me because i can now get away with fitting the door with NO SHIMS!!! 

 

Here it is with no shims

 

 

and bare metalled on the edges to get a better idea

 

 

An overall shot

 

 

And now for the problem.....

 

I decided at this stage to try the door rubber and even with the old worn out one, the door doesn't close right up unless I slam it with all my weight.

 

Bummer...

 

Here are a few shots of the rubber fitted

 

 

 

 

 

Now as to the solution, i think the problem lies with the front of the door frame below where the window frame starts. It looks a funny shape and someone has defiantly been there before because the welds look a bit rubbish.

If i slip the rubber back off around that area, it closes easier.

 

For the sake of interest, i slackened the bottom hinge nuts off which caused the door to spring out. I then tightened the nuts again and tried the door.....

 

Better.

 

But this has left me with this...

 

 

But as you can see, the arch lip on the A panel looks like it needs to go in anyway to match the one on the step so what i am thinking of doing is this.....

 

 

Cut along the red line with a cutting disc and then let the bottom in to match the lips together and also fix the door to a panel gap. It will work but it's still daunting cutting this expensive panel again.

 

More later...

 

Ben

Edited by Ben_O, 06 May 2015 - 03:53 PM.

[Stu.]

That's a bugger Ben. Will you have to cut the edge of the door check post too or is there a bit of a gap to move the a panel over a bit once you've cut the inner wing? 

[Ben_O]

That's a bugger Ben. Will you have to cut the edge of the door check post too or is there a bit of a gap to move the a panel over a bit once you've cut the inner wing? 

There is a gap between the flange where the a panel folds round the hinge panel and it looks to be about the right width to allow it over the perfect amount. 

 

I'm thinking now that it should have gone right over in the first place but there was no physical way of it going over any more because the toe board and the hinge holes wouldn't have lined up.

 

Cheers

 

Ben