1972 Fiat 130 restoration-More welding

[mirafioriman]

Some of you have seen this already. Started repairing the rear screen surround recently (did the front last Christmas).

Pictures of the work so far:

www.dropshots.com/130man

[mirafioriman]

Been cracking on with this. Just about finished the welding on the passenger side and got some filler on today.

Largest repair section clamped in place.....


Seam welding of the repairs complete. Had to make this area in lots of small sections as it is a triple curvature and I don't have a shrinker/stretcher.


Welds ground smooth.


Finished off today by getting a second layer of filler on. It is now starting to take shape.

[trigger]

That's a fair bit of welding to do there!

[xbo11ox]

Aye caramba! Great to see this car getting the tinsnip/mig wire action it deserves!

[mirafioriman]

Been doing a bit more. Passenger side now looks like this:



More to do but I'm getting there....

On the other side:



Removed the upper piece to create access. I hope to be able to re-fit this piece below:



As it is a complex shape where it meets the bootlid.

Finally today I cut out the rot from the bottom panel and it is now just about ready to start welding in the new steel.



Thats all for now folks ;D

[DutyFreeSaviour]

Kudos for taking on that - my Alfa has similar at the front screen and I've been putting off even looking
Once you're done I'll drop mine off

[mirafioriman]

Nice offer, but unfortunately after the rear screen I have four doors, a bootlid and a pair of front wings to weld up! Oh and then a couple of other Fiats and Mercs to do. I have enough work to keep me busy for a lifetime!

[HoTWire]

It is great you are doing the work .. Fiat 130 Berlinas are an excellent shape. It is a shame they are not more common/less rusty as they would make an excellent low rider I think.

[mirafioriman]

Been working on it again today ;D



First repair section welded in.



Second section in place.



Spot welded first.



Then seam welded and ground off.



First screen surround section clamped in place.



Welded in and ground off.



Next section welded in.



Final section welded in.



First coat of seam sealer applied over zinc rich primer.

Thats what I got done today ;D

[mirafioriman]

Been at it again ;D



Welded in a couple of strengtheners and then the join between the two sections.



While the seam sealer dried I cleaned out the boot......



And hoovered the boot mat. Don't have a before photo, lets just say it looks much better!



First of the scuttle panel sections seam welded back in place. The inside was quite corroded so I ground it off and gave it two good coats of zinc rich weld through primer.



Decided to remove this section completely as although it was not holed it was heavily corroded.



First curved section seam welded in place.



Large flat section clamped in place.



And seam welded...

Finally feels as if I am getting there On the rear screen surround at least!

[milfordcubicle]

Great work, looks like very technical/fiddly stuff.



You should post up some photos of the whole car, what a handsome thing!

[mirafioriman]

A quiet day today only a little done. I hope to get a much better day at it tomorrow ;D



I removed the original paint and any surface rust from the rest of the scuttle panel.



Then gave it a good coat of zinc rich anti-rust primer to protect it.



Then finally applied some seam sealer to the seams below the grilles in the middle of the panel after a de-rusting session with a wire brush in the drill.

[mirafioriman]

Paint on the inside of the box section:



Took ages to dry so I started on the bootlid:



Rotten all the way along.



Previously repaired with fibreglass.



Fortunately the rot did not extend too far and I soon got back to shiny steel ;D



Fibreglass off ;D



Just a little rusty



I'm working on one side at a time so I can see what it should be like ;D I removed the rot from the outer skin.



More of that hard foam in there again



Inside edge cleaned back to solid metal.



I then zinc primed all the bare metal to protect it until the work restarts.

Off to spend some money tomorrow on some more fresh steel ;D

[mirafioriman]

Drivers side welding finished today! Also got some more done on the bootlid which is my next challenge ;D



As it was.



Good coat of zinc anti-rust primer to protect the inside.



Panel tacked in place.



After a bit of pressing and hammering, seam welded in place.



Repair ground off. (Sorry about the poor photo.)



First skim of filler on. I think this side is going to be much easier to get right and I am happier with the quality of the repair on this side. I guess practice makes perfect ;D



First bootlid repair section clamped in place.



Tack welded in position. Tomorrow I hope to have a go at making the outer section. This is going to be tricky as it has two folds

[mirafioriman]

More on the bootlid today.



Rotten section removed where the bootlock mounts.



Bootlid without it.



Repair section marked out.



Repair section cut, drilled and folded.



Tacked in place.



Outer section trial fitted. This was the second attempt as the first was not quite the right profile.

Hopefully tomorrow I hope to get the bottom edge completed.

[Neil]

nice progress!

[xbo11ox]

Class in a glass, this warms my heart to see!

[mirafioriman]

More bootlid repairs:



Rust removed from rear corner.



New section welded in.



Rot removed on the other side.



New section tack welded in place.



New sections seam welded in. This took ages as I had to work a little at a time to minimize distortion.



One side ground off.



Rot on the other corner was worse.



Rot cut out.

I actually got a little further and began remaking this corner but no photos yet. More tomorrow ;D

[Paul H]

Wow - seriously impressive work and dedication! Really looking forward to the next update!

[mirafioriman]

Bit more done today.....



Internal strengtheners spotwelded to the new sections.



Other corner repaired. Not as neat as I would like unfortunately some filler will be needed here.



Outer skin neatened up with a repair section trial fitted.



Repair section welds ground off.



All sections coated in zinc rich weld through primer.



Including the underside. Welds have almost disappeared. May get away with just some stonechip on the underside followed by the original colour.



First coat of seam sealer on. This is as far as I got today. Seemed to spend most of my time waiting for paint and seam sealer to dry

Tomorrow I will hopefully get the outer sections on. I have to decide whether to use lap joints or butt weld them in. I would like to butt weld and then grind off to minimise the amount of filler I have to use but, there is no access to the rear of the panel, so clamping is going to be awkward.