1971 fiat 850t 3 years in and still welding

[grumpybadger]

There's no surprises in this update as I've made mention of most of whats happening next.

The van has now been moved to the other side of the garage to allow access to the final arch to be replaced, this one.



Not only has it rusted through and been repaired multiple times, it has also suffered accident damage.
The previous owner told me all about this as it occurred shortly before the van was parked up.
They reversed into a low bollard causing the dent in the bumper, then grazed as wall as they were pulling away, removing a chunk of filler and creasing the panel at the same time.









As I knew it was a full restoration it didn't bother me at the time especially given the areas significantly worse.
However having repeatedly tried, and failed to weld onto fiat metal in the last few years this has now become a scource of many a sleepless night.

There is a tell tale in the corner of the tailgate as to just how out of shape the van has been knocked






The tailgate sits flush for about 85% of its perimeter but this one corner sits proud. It caused all sorts of issues when I did the roof but I decided to leave it and push on.

I've said all along that the nearside was the better side in terms of rust and I stand by it. Where this side is rusty, the otherside was none existent.

I had harboured high hopes for the lower corner, thinking some of it might be salvageable.



Rusty, but complete.

[grumpybadger]

All hopes quickly dashed once I'd cracked it open like an egg



And then peeled it.
Like an egg








A random bit of "shell"



Part of me does have some admiration for whoever done this, it has taken some skill to get this much filler looking like it did.

It's short lived when I realise that you only build this level of skill with a lot of practice.
Still with out these repairs this van would have been scrapped a decade ago (and the rest).

I need to save the lourves as I don't have a plan to accurately recreate them and although they're buckled they don't have a lot of rust






So off comes the whole panel




I now have access to everything I need to look at properly.
I had hoped to save most of the inner arch amd wheel well as the other side was a real pain


Nope, not happening
I had also hoped to save the bulk head ends



These are pitted and whilst I could save them......

Surely some of the lower corner and battery tray is useable







Well thats going to be a big hole.






And it's not done growing yet.

[glenanderson]

😱

Dear lord!

[horrido]

Woah! Damn.

[teaboy]

That’s really bad.
Having said that, I have absolutely no doubt that you can fix it.
Every time I look at the wheel arch panel you did on the other side I am amazed at how good a job you did.

[vitesseefi]

Sept 29, 2024 18:28:10 GMT glenanderson said:

😱

Dear lord!

Quite……. 😳

[crockpot]

You have bigly brave pills. Most would run away (well, me).

[vitesseefi]

Oct 1, 2024 7:47:39 GMT crockpot said:

You have bigly brave pills. Most would run away (well, me).

Yeah….. I’ve brought a couple of real basket cases back from the brink but this is on another level. More a jagged outline than a vehicle!

Great skills and impressive tenacity!🙂

[darrenh]

[grumpybadger]

Lots of encouragement, all very much appreciated.
I think it's important to mention that I spend very little time thinking about the finished van and focus mainly on one or two small areas at a time.
Fix enough small problems and you eventually end up fixing a big one.

Like this area.

Having already done one side I figured there was no point in dissecting this side carefully and went in hard









Thats halve a wheel well,
inner arch,
Inner and outer rear corner,
And the battery tray
Most of this is fairly solid and there are sections I could have patched and made good.
But honestly it's a hard argument to make when one side is all new metal.

The area I really needed to do is this


This is the closing plate over the spring, shock and bump stop mount and is then reinforced with a 1.5mm plate.






The strengthening plate is actually still in reasonable condition but the closing plate in the middle of the sandwich is shot













It did however reveal some of the cleanest and healthiest metal on the whole van.



A good clean up and we can start rebuilding



Check out my onlyflange page for similar content.

[danknight]

great work , this is the equivalent of tally ho on youtube lol

[Tylerman]

Oct 5, 2024 8:28:17 GMT grumpybadger said:

Check out my onlyflange page for similar content.

Impressive work no doubt.  I trust that the onlyflange charge will show up as hardcore porn on my credit card statement so my wife doesn’t suspect I am looking at vintage Fiat pictures again.  

[grumpybadger]

Tylerman,
Naturally we wouldn't want anybody thinking it's as unnatural as this.

[grumpybadger]

When I did the floor and sills I also did the closing panel and part of the inner arch liner.
I had poor access and could only reach it from inside the van.
As a result it needed redone





I knew when I did a lot of this I might not be happy when I came to do the arch repair



It was pretty poor and would have been a nightmare to weld, fortunately I new actually welded it to the outer sill.




The arch liner on this side is a simpler panel so I attempted to do the far side in one panel



And the new sill closing panel



A rough attempt to line up the back end



And a loose fit of the trip hazzards second born



And then I can start building in from the outside





Once I have a liner tacked in I can remove the sections of the shelf area







Yes I know that hole was big enough to begin with.
Now I have the vast majority cut out and a plan to replace it the scrap can go out



It looks brutal and I never intended to go this far but a closer examination reveals that it was shot so better to replace than repair.











I still have half an eye on potential engine upgrades so scrimping on areas than could use additional strength may as well be done now.
And on that subject the older 19mm antiroll bar bushes are shot and very expensive (£30 each)
A cheaper alternative is order a late model 22mm bar and four bushes from Slovenia for half the cost.

[grumpybadger]

Progress continues at a reasonable pace and as the inner arch gains strength, attention turns to the extremities of the surrounding bodywork.

The localised nature of some of the rust spots continues to impress


What started as a minor rust repair quickly grew to a whole panel seam



This is in fact a triple seam and I suspected the middle sheet was rusted



It took some digging out but



The section next to it had more localised pitting, exactly the same as the otherside



Another example of how handy the three in one metal machine is


Neat folds and curves with no hammer marks
I started to prep the other parts ready fo re assembly this included the last of the new old stock panels bought from Italy three years ago.
Off with the transit primer



There was no sign of these worms on the surface.
Into a deox bath that had been used to do the rear springs and a quick wire brush




Then protection



I needed to save the lourves and had hoped to straighten the panel and save that too but I decided to just replace the damaged section as I suspect it woukd have been a nightmare to straighten only to warp when the mig hit it.
I would have done the whole thing but I doubt I could have done a convincing job on the lourves, so they were caked in paint stripper and put in a bag for a few days





Then into the remains of the deox.
The rust was pretty stubborn and took several rounds of wire brush and deox before I was happy enough to weld a preformed flange to keep the shape and also form the new seam



And then into zinc rich primer




And then a trial fit.

Reasonably happy with the fit though the patchwork nature of this panel isn't ideal at least I know it can't be any worse than the others.

For now welding continues on the arch and bumpstop mount before I'll weld this panel up fully and that only leaves the tailgate and surround before bodywork can commence.

[DWDarkWheels]

Popping in to offer respect for saving that. I've recently admitted defeat by a rusty thing that's only rusty underneath. Your thread started with rust in the roof.