What should be repaired first, Body or Chassis?

[cjl1281]

Hi Everyone,

I am currently restoring a 1975 Triumph Spitfire and I have almost stripped it and I'd like to know what is he best route to go down for the next part of the restoration, body repair first or chassis rebuild first. Ive seen people over on the Club Triumph forums rebuild the chassis before repairing the body but I've also seen it done the other way round. I'm leaning towards doing the body first as mine is pretty rusty and because this is my first restoration as well as being 16, I'm unsure.

Advice and opinions are welcome.

Cheers,

Conor.

[pauly22]

Engine and suspension isn't any use if the body rotten. Get the body welded up first

Where in Birmingham are you? I'm in Kings Heath

[dodgerover]

How bad is the chassis?
If it's started to sag then you are going to have nothing correct to go on starting the body first for panel gaps door openings etc?
That's my thinking anyway, I've got no experience with spitfires though.

[drake1994]

if the chassis is generally correct and not completely useless i would do the body first, so the body mounts are correct to the original chassis, least then when you do the chassis you can use the body as a reference

[Wilk]

Personally I'd do the chassis first as then you can be sure the body will be square and true when everything's lined up properly. Plus if it's your first build your metal skills will improve as time goes on so when you get to the areas that need a better quality of finish you'll be a metal master in waiting :-)

[cjl1281]

Thanks to everyone that's replied, I have now decided to repair the body first as it seems the most logical way to go.

[welshpug]

not if the chassis is bent from being weakened by corrosion, check that first, if its ok then crack on with the body.

[cjl1281]

Dec 20, 2016 0:50:57 GMT welshpug said:

not if the chassis is bent from being weakened by corrosion, check that first, if its ok then crack on with the body.

The chassis is 100% solid, just has a little surface rust and I did make sure it was just surface rust.

[ianperry3112]

Conor,

A suggestion: if the chassis is 100% solid and straight/square, you might want to consider treating it properly (Waxoyl or similar) while you can get at all of it, to make sure it stays solid and won't rot out.

Where are the rust problems on the body, and how bad? IIRC the worst places on the tub itself are the floors, sills and rear arches, plus the front valance quarter-panels also tend to rot out. The latter are easily replaced (steel or GFRP) as they are bolt-on panels, but the rest of it is all welding. The rear arches are mainly cosmetic but the sills and floors are vital structural members.

[cjl1281]

Dec 21, 2016 13:10:43 GMT ianperry3112 said:

Conor,

A suggestion: if the chassis is 100% solid and straight/square, you might want to consider treating it properly (Waxoyl or similar) while you can get at all of it, to make sure it stays solid and won't rot out.

Where are the rust problems on the body, and how bad? IIRC the worst places on the tub itself are the floors, sills and rear arches, plus the front valance quarter-panels also tend to rot out. The latter are easily replaced (steel or GFRP) as they are bolt-on panels, but the rest of it is all welding. The rear arches are mainly cosmetic but the sills and floors are vital structural members.

The chassis is solid but it has underseal painted in like tar which will be removed and I was thinking about putting an epoxy mastic on followed by paint to give it protection as the car is going to be my daily driver when it's finished.

The body needs the sills, rear arch repairs, rear lower valance, 1 floor repair, front quarter valances (fitting fibreglass) and I'm going to fit a fibreglass bonnet as my steel one is knackered and I think fibreglass will be best because the car is going to be used everyday. All inside of the sills ect will have waxoyl in them to help prevent rust occurring.

[voodoo57]

Chassis 1st always, this way you don't have to chase your tail if the panels don't fit because the chassis is out? Why disturb bodywork and risk damage to finished panels/areas if you have to keep jacking the chassis up to move it while you still have panels fitted?
Do your underside/floor work, be comfortable/confident with it, then progress from there?
if you have to go back.... Blame yourself.
get stuck in and get some pics up!

[ChasR]

The Spitfire is a strange one. They work as follows:

Chassis - It's more of a backbone structure in the Spitfire that holds the running gear in place and attaches that lot to the body:



The Body is also part of the structure on a Spitty, so the sills etc. matter more than they would on say a Herald.

That said, I would check the chassis first. Then I'd move onto the sills next.

Also, I'd see the fitment of the FG bonnet. I know Spitfire gaps are far from perfect but they can look it with an FG front end! But I can appreciate that a Spitfire metal front end is pricey! Just how badly gone is yours?

[cjl1281]

Dec 22, 2016 2:01:38 GMT ChasR said:

The Spitfire is a strange one. They work as follows:

Chassis - It's more of a backbone structure in the Spitfire that holds the running gear in place and attaches that lot to the body:



The Body is also part of the structure on a Spitty, so the sills etc. matter more than they would on say a Herald.

That said, I would check the chassis first. Then I'd move onto the sills next.

Also, I'd see the fitment of the FG bonnet. I know Spitfire gaps are far from perfect but they can look it with an FG front end! But I can appreciate that a Spitfire metal front end is pricey! Just how badly gone is yours?

As I've said, I've had a good poke underneath and the chassis is solid. My current bonnet is beyond repair, wings, inner arches, headlight brackets and the nose are shot and I know that FG bonnets can take time to get them to fit nicely and I'm willing to put the effort in because I'm on a budget and if the car is going to be my daily driver then I don't have to worry about it rusting. I'll take a picture of my bonnet later and post it on here for you to see.

Thanks for the reply and information,

Conor

[ChasR]

I'd read my thread on the MGB. The fitment was shocking of the wings and valance, so much that even my painter who had worked with FG for years said the wings were unworkable without the gaps being miles off or them all catching things. We didn't just see cars in a pub car park either for reference as my painter thought he was going mad. We went to shows including the NEC show, MG Car Club, MGOC and a few others as well ; we exhausted other avenues before delaying the inevitable. Out of all of the cars we saw I don't think we saw one which looked vaguely good despite people saying they looked fine and the gaps were good; maybe after 5 beers they were. Some came close to looking acceptable but then they caught the doors etc. Despite it costing me less in the end I know what I would have done in hindsight like another RRer on here did; make metal wings.

retrorides.proboards.com/thread/35563

Sorry if I am coming across a bit strong, but it really is tons, tons and even more work than you think to do it. You'd almost be better off making one yourself, but of course that has its issues. Ask RetroWarwicK and look at his thread on the Covin, and that is a factory kit car:

retrorides.proboards.com/thread/151985/1967-covin-nein12

If you do have experience of FG then I stand corrected .

[Deleted]

Where are you going to store the body once its done?

[cjl1281]

Dec 22, 2016 19:38:42 GMT ChasR said:

I'd read my thread on the MGB. The fitment was shocking of the wings and valance, so much that even my painter who had worked with FG for years said the wings were unworkable without the gaps being miles off or them all catching things. We didn't just see cars in a pub car park either for reference as my painter thought he was going mad. We went to shows including the NEC show, MG Car Club, MGOC and a few others as well ; we exhausted other avenues before delaying the inevitable. Out of all of the cars we saw I don't think we saw one which looked vaguely good despite people saying they looked fine and the gaps were good; maybe after 5 beers they were. Some came close to looking acceptable but then they caught the doors etc. Despite it costing me less in the end I know what I would have done in hindsight like another RRer on here did; make metal wings.

retrorides.proboards.com/thread/35563

Sorry if I am coming across a bit strong, but it really is tons, tons and even more work than you think to do it. You'd almost be better off making one yourself, but of course that has its issues. Ask RetroWarwicK and look at his thread on the Covin, and that is a factory kit car:

retrorides.proboards.com/thread/151985/1967-covin-nein12

If you do have experience of FG then I stand corrected .

Thanks for the information, it's much appreciated. I'll take a read of those threads over Christmas and I personally don't have experience with FB but the guy that's welding up my car does which is why I feel confident enough to use it.

Merry Christmas,

Conor

[cjl1281]

Dec 22, 2016 21:28:38 GMT @1300dolly said:

Where are you going to store the body once its done?

My dad's mate is doing the welding for me in his workshop and he's allowed the body to be stored there when I'm rebuilding the chassis at home plus he's allowing me to spray the car in his workshop.

[fad]

I thought the standard was to weld the body to the chassis all over the place, weld good metal over bad, and just keep going until you have a patchwork quilt with four wheels that the MOT tester has to pass because while he can see that it's utter dogsh!t, it doesn't fail according to the rules..? That's my experience with most "restored" things I've had the pleasure of buying :lol:

Enjoy it most of all buddy! Once it starts becoming not fun, take a break and come back to it.