591 replies to this topic

[stuart bowes]

it was getting a bit late to make noise.

 

I swear if anyone ever invents the silent grinder they'll be in the money lol

[colinf1]

my tank has rot around the filler neck as well, is that common then

 

I was thinking ditch it and get a new one (of all the things it's best to just replace..) but have you seen the price, jeez

 

once you welded it up are you going to get it pressure tested or something, im thinking maybe if I do go down the repair route maybe it's one I should just get professionally done to be on the safe side.  but in theory there's no reason I can't just weld it myself though right

 

As the rot was only around the filler neck, I was confident enough to do it myself, as fuel would be lower than this point so wouldn't need to pressure test it. I also cut the neck off above the existing weld bead, then welded the new neck piece to that weld bead reducing any chance of blowing through, the pipe was also a bit heavier at ~2mm wall thickness vs the 0.8mm of the old one, which helped too.

 

I guess any water that gets in around the rubber seal will sit under the foam ring that goes around the neck, causing the rot to start there.

[colinf1]

Got passenger waist rail welded in place, the made a start on the boot floor. Very hard to get the drill at a good angle along the rear bins, so sliced along the seat with cutting disc, then cut out sections of the boot floor.
Trying to cut around the brackets was taking way too long, so chopped them out and remade them.



Still have drivers side to cut out and clean up, small repair needed in middle of boot hinge panel, but should hopefully have a test fit of the panel tomorrow.

Crusty...



Lots of rot cut out...



A previous repair...



Using 3mm steel....



Bracket remade.. Pretty close...

[colinf1]

More cutting and grinding today, there's a lot of surfaces to prep where the boot floor needs to touch.

A few repairs to the hinge panel, one in the middle, then one on the passenger side corner.



Then a test fit of the panel, pretty much spot on at the first attempt. Tried on the valance and closers, closers needed a bit of work, but there nearly there. Took it out to drill for some plug welds, then back in, check alignment and start welding.



The high temperature today didn't help the spot welder, plus I was pushing it quicker than what it's recommended duty cycle is, got a bit of discolouration on the arms and machine went into cool down mode for an hour or so. Had a cuppa tea, then done my plug welds and spot welder was ready to go again.





Just along the heel board, rear bins and middle stiffener then that's theaim panel in, then time to get stiffeners and valance on...

Edited by colinf1, 14 August 2022 - 05:34 PM.

[sonscar]

Nice work,spot welding looks very good and original,Steve..

[Viktor]

Looking good Colin. Have you tried the rear subframe? When I did my boot floor it needed a bit of adjusting.

 

Cheers.

 

Victor.

[colinf1]

Hi Victor, no I haven't tried the subframe in it yet, but I have set the holes to 599mm from the heel board as per the original dimensions as per this diagram, hopefully that will be close enough 🤞



I have the subframe at work where I am going to tack it to a metal bench to allow me to replace the upper panel without it going out of shape.

[colinf1]

Another day on the boot floor, finally finished it! Seat base was a right pain to get to spot weld, as there isn't enough clamping force with the longer arms. Also not much room to swing a hammer to get the lip on the heelboard to come up slightly.
Managed to get there in the end after lots and lots of sweating and swearing!

Seat back to floor also repaired, lots of ugly welds here, but its all about strength here and its going to be hidden. I'll grind it down slightly, but not going for an invisible repair.



I had used up all my off cuts of materials, so had to take a cutting from passenger quarter panel...



Plan is to get subframe strengtheners and brackets on, then valance and closers, then move onto quarter panel...nearly there...

[colinf1]

Took it easy today as my back is still rather sore from yesterday's welding/fighting with the spot welder.

Made a small patch to finish the wheel arch, some nice welds on this and only 1 small bit of blow through. Yet to be ground down...



Also got the drivers side scuttle closing panel in, it needed a lot of fettling to get anywhere near right, but its in now, I'll be sure to get plenty of seam sealer around this entire area and use my extended nozzle and get plenty of paint in there.



The gauge on the gas has dropped a good bit, so think it's nearly gone, hopefully it'll last til I'm finished...

[colinf1]

Small bit of progress today, concentrating on finishing the rear end. Picked up a small sheet of 1mm steel for the strengthener in between the floor and closing panel. Easy enough piece to make as there's only a slight fold on one piece. Held it all in place with bolts til it was welded in.

The arms wouldn't close fully because of the boot opening lip being bigger than the space between arms when fully closed and button pressed. But, I extended the longer electrodes fully, then loosened off the handle spring to let me get the upper arm into the boot, then lower arm positioned, pull them together as tight as I could, then press trigger with the tip of my finger and it welded fine. Repeated this process another 10 or 15 times

Then put on valance, and offered up closing panel, needed slight adjustments, then welded that in place also.

Next up was the curved section of the closing panel, a cardboard template, then salvaged the last good piece of metal from the old battery box. Cut and folded, fettled slightly and welded in place.



And with valance offered up again to check fit...



Now to repeat it on the other side....

[colinf1]

Feels like I've been stuck doing the back-end forever, we had no electricity yesterday so back to it today.

Got the closing panel on opposite side done, then valance put on. I made sure to get some paint in the corners, I'll get more in there through the opening on boot floor.



Then got the arch bracket on, linished back and also got battery box welded in. Just have the small corner pieces to put on the underside.



Passenger side needs small repairs to the arch tub, then arch bracket and fuel tank bracket welded in and that's the rear end done.

[colinf1]

Not a lot done this weekend, remade the fuel tank bracket as the old one is too far gone on the underside.

[colinf1]

Got the fuel tank back from being powder coated, looks pretty good.

[colinf1]

Small bit of work done on door frame repair, carefully cut out the bad patch with dremel, being extra careful around the roof lip.





New patch offered up and then mostly welded in place, need to flat down the welds but much too noisy to use grinder any later than 8.30pm...

[colinf1]

Patch on drivers door frame finished off today, lots of careful grinding to get it nice and flush, will only need a small skim of filler...



Then got passenger rear wheel arch tub repair done, linished it back but seam sealer and stone chip should blend it in...



These small repairs take a lot of time, but that's another 2 marked off the list...