mirafioriman
Posted a lot
My next project.......
Posts: 1,361
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Aug 26, 2009 22:17:25 GMT
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Nearly finished the inner wing now, although today was not without tribulations. More of this later.... Modified end of box section. Trial fitted with just two or three spot welds. After checking I added some more. Now fully welded in. Spot welded all along the top and some runs of weld with the MIG along the bottom. Captive nuts for wing fitting removed from the old panel. Then the disaster! Checked the wing again... Totally wrong. Far too high along the bonnet line! As I said previously I had tacked it in place and checked the fit before seam welding. Don't know what I did but it was well wrong So I cut it and welded it again lower. My lovely neat job became decidedly average. The passenger wing is also very rotten along its mounting (pictures to follow) which does not help. Anyway carried on priming and seam sealing the bulkhead area from the outside...... And the inside. Also from under the bonnet. Tomorrow I hope to get the mounting holes drilled and the captive nuts in place, apply a second coat of seam sealer to ensure the area is totally watertight and then give the inside a good coat of blue smoothrite to match the floor.
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
My next project.......
Posts: 1,361
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Aug 27, 2009 20:13:17 GMT
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Got the second coat of seam sealer on and the bulkhead painted with smoothrite Then made a start on the first of the doors. Started with the front passenger door. Just like the bootlid it was full of fibreglass and filler The truth is revealed! Full of that hard foam stuff again. Silly design with no sign of drain holes. Sorry for the poor photo, this is the rot removed from the bottom of the outer skin. Then removed the bottom of the frame. First section tacked in place. Just to make it more difficult the door seal is attached to the door not the aparture so I needed to make the channel for it to sit in. Here I spotwelded another angle section to it to make the channel. Trial fitted a section of seal in place. It is a little loose, but once the outer skin is clamped over the channel will be slightly smaller and the seal should be a tighter fit. This is as far as I got as I now need to fold the outer skin repair section to shape and it is too long to fit in my metal folder. I'm off to get two 4 foot lengths of angle iron in the morning to use as a folding device.
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Aug 27, 2009 20:39:02 GMT
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Thats some rot in that door, not sure I would have attempted to save it.
Shame about the wing fitting, but bet you wont make that same mistake on the other side
Looking forward to the next update
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
My next project.......
Posts: 1,361
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Aug 27, 2009 21:11:10 GMT
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I do have another set of doors, but they are not in the same place as the car so I decided to try and repair these if possible. The passenger front did not look too bad so I decided to do this first! Don't really want to scrap any panels unless I have too as they are so rare. You are right about the wing mounting on the other side! You learn from your mistakes. The door is getting tacked together first and then fitted to the car and checked more carefully this time! Problem is the rear door is bulging with rot and as you will see when I upload the photos the front wing is in a really bad way. Not sure what I'm going to line the repaired door up with! The sill I guess...... The two biggest problems I finding is that nothing is flat, everything seems to be a slight curve and the metal is so damm thin it is a real challenge to weld neatly.
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Aug 27, 2009 21:26:21 GMT
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I would definitley do a joddled joint on the door skin, you really risk putting too much heat into it otherwise. either welding it or grinding it
Personally I would rivet the joint first to keep it in shape and then weld it a little at a time.
I have also heard that if you do the joint as a curve instead of a straight line, then this can help minimise distortion, but I have never tried it yet.
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
My next project.......
Posts: 1,361
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Aug 27, 2009 21:38:04 GMT
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The repair panel I have for the outer skin comes ready joggled so I plan to do this type of joint. Fortunately there is a big access hole to the inner door so I should be able to clamp everything up, tack weld and then seam weld in short runs with cool down time in between. The same with the grinding. I have started to grind a small section and then leave it to cool before carrying on. Hopefully I will have another update tomorrow!
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
My next project.......
Posts: 1,361
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Aug 28, 2009 20:42:03 GMT
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Almost got the passenger door bottom done today ;D Outer repair section shaped and trial fitted. From the underneath.... Fitted the door to check the fit. Looked good but will be checking again before I weld everything! Next the rot at the rear of the door frame... Cut all the rot out.... First repair section welded in place. A few more sections grafted in. The seal channel has a square corner (checked the drivers door) so this made it a bit easier. Trial fitted the outer repair panel again. There is some seam welding and grinding to shape to do on the corner and then I will tack weld the outer section in place and do another trial fit to make sure everything is as it should be before seam welding.
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
My next project.......
Posts: 1,361
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Aug 30, 2009 21:45:50 GMT
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So got the first door done today (bar seam welding two sections) and started the second. Seam welded the corner. Ground it off. Gave everything a good coat of zinc rich weld through primer where the outer skin is to be folded over to protect it. Fitted the outer skin repair panel, folded over the edges and tack welded the join. Then removed the second door. Guess what! It was covered with fibreglass over the rust Fibreglass removed! Rotten section of outer skin cut away and the paint and filler removed. Bottom of frame removed. Some of this was solid, but I just decided to get rid of the lot. First repair section tacked in place. This door also has a few holes in the skin that have been filled over. I will remove all the paint before I paint it as I don't want any nasty suprises appearing anytime soon. Also made some progress on the electric windows. When I got the car only the drivers front worked. I used my power probe to power up the passenger front today and that worked, so the fault must be wiring or switch related. Then I tries the passenger side rear. Nothing When taking the door to bits I found the switch in the door was not connected to the multiplug Connected it and tried it again. It worked. So now at least I know three out of four function The windows are a little slow, but a good strip down, clean and re-grease should sort that ;D
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Aug 30, 2009 22:20:27 GMT
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Excellent work and great progress, am I right in guessing that the other 2 doors might need the same treatment
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
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Aug 30, 2009 23:51:22 GMT
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I think so! After this second door I think I am going to do the second inner wing/bulkhead area next before I do the other two doors for a little variety!
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johnrh
Part of things
Posts: 958
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Aug 31, 2009 17:16:07 GMT
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Great work on a lovely, rare car. It's a long time since I saw a 130 in the flesh and I'm glad that yours is being saved.
Anyway - could be worse - at least it has a floor!
Keep up the dedicated hard work.
John
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
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Posts: 1,361
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Aug 31, 2009 19:09:46 GMT
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Thanks for the complements. The floor pan is actually pretty good thankfully. Unlike the outer panels. Had a day off today. Back to it tomorrow.....
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DutyFreeSaviour
Europe
Back For More heartbreak and disappointment.....
Posts: 2,944
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Excellent work rate - despite the small error - we all make 'em and at least you noticed it and rectified it now! The doors really look like a nightmare - kudos for ploughing on and getting 'em done. Good luck on the other side
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Back from the dead..... kind of
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
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Thanks. Work rate will slow down shortly as I am back at work soon. But at least I should have some money!
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Speedle
Posted a lot
Need a Country Rock band in the Hampshire Area? https://www.facebook.com/DirtRoadDiaryUK
Posts: 2,221
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Sept 1, 2009 12:29:49 GMT
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some serious skills there mate bloody ncie work! keep it up!
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Siert
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,104
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Sept 1, 2009 15:02:03 GMT
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Some people can do anything Amazing job!
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
My next project.......
Posts: 1,361
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Sept 1, 2009 19:42:56 GMT
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A mini update. Did not get much done today Eventually got back to shiny metal on the corner. Repair panel made up. And tacked in place. Stupid mistake time again spot welded it in slightly the wrong place so had to drill them out and do it again. Have to hide that with a bit of filler Also got the seal mounting strip spot welded in place today but forgot to take a picture. Will get one tomorrow when I (hopefully) get the outer skin repair panel shaped and tacked on and see if the door still fits the car!
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
My next project.......
Posts: 1,361
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Sept 6, 2009 20:08:36 GMT
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Mini update after more than a few days off! After trial fitting I discovered the gap along the bottom of the door was not even. Too big at the rear. Took it off and repositioned the skin mounting strip. Then finished spot welding it in place. Then I trimmed back the original skin to the right place and gave everything a good coat of zinc rich weld through primer. There is still a bit of corrosion inside. I used Bilt Hamber rust remover gel on it after cleaning it up with the wire brush before I painted it. Hopefully that will slow it down...... Then cleaned the paint off and got it ready to tack weld in. I stopped there as I need some different clamps. The front was a bit tricky with the welding clamps I have to I'm off to get some G type clamps tomorrow to try and make an easier and neater job of it. I also started the other inner wing today but no pictures yet.
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Sept 6, 2009 20:14:26 GMT
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Nice update
A good lesson there, Its very important to make sure that your parts fit right before welding them up, even if this means fitting and refitting the panels a dozen times
That Bilt Hamber stuff is great, I thoroughly recomend anything in their range
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mirafioriman
Posted a lot
My next project.......
Posts: 1,361
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Sept 9, 2009 21:39:48 GMT
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Another mini update: Bought some more clamps. Thought these would not be big enough and I would have to modify them but they (just) did the job. Clamped up the skin section with the clamps Tack welded in place. I added some more tack welds after this photo and then trial fitted it. The fit is pretty good and it should be OK with a little more fettling. Finished off by beginning to seam weld the repair section in. A little at a time with time to cool to try to prevent distortion. The repair section is a little distorted in one area due to the folding process but a little filler should sort that once I complete the welding. More soon!
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