19?? chrysler sunbeam no 2 (+½ )

[Em]

Good God, what an epic project!

It's a brave man who takes on a project many people would consider well past saving, fantastic work and enough respect for coming so far so quick!

Will be keeping and eye on this one...!

[Torquesport]

Really good work, keep it up and you'll soon have a winnah!

[sowen]

Absolutely heroic work there

*thread bookmarked*

Definately an inspirational build thread. You don't seem to be put off by what you've taken on, knowing when to walk away then when you come back you get it done as if there wasn't a problem in the first place.

Keep it up

[hairymel]

since the last update i have mostly been avoiding working on the car

i have tidied my part of the unit twice, fitted a microwave and fridge, messed about with my tig and started a magazine library at the unit

car related purchases include another set of tyres (£45 delivered) and a nos series 2 headlamp (advertised as a horizon lamp so £15 delivered for poor quality wobbly children's play pony compost )




some of my previous 'repairs' are showing signs of flash rusting so i went around the car sploshing rustbusting paint on any bare metal.



there is a small rust hole in the arch



the front of arch lip has also rusted out






i took the opportunity to try out my 'dremel' substitute i received a few Christmases ago.

verdict :- it did the job but i wish the inlaws had spent more than a fiver


cut cut cut



tack tack tack



grind grind grind






the inner lip was also rotten so i cut that out too




inner lip repaired



outer repaired and spotted to the inner




ground back and painted with 'stuff'

fairly pleased with this repair as it doesn't really show ;D

unlike the rest of it lol





i did want to move on to the other rear arch but i cant turn the spit around cos someones put a spraybooth in the way

the only thing that is relatively easy to work on is the rest of the rear quarter, something i had not been looking forward to

i cut a chunk out of the middle of the filler and then set about it with a nibbler and a power file







while i was at it i had a look behind the air vent trim.

hilariously enough it was full of filler which when removed revealed this





i still cant photograph the dent and distortion, trust me its quite big/bad





there are 3 options here.

1. try to make acceptable what is there already.

2. make a repair panel including the filler section.

3. fit a new rear quarter.

1 is probably wishful thinking, 2 is way beyond me and 3 is £400-500

i chose 1 with 2 as a fallback position.

3 is not an option









as usual for a sunday, roast dinner stopped play here



total time spent (giving myself nightmares about panel beating ;D ) 134 hours

total spend £1331.50 (still super skint, not including rust preventing paint and a new toffee hammer )

[Deleted]

As you know, I'm a huge fan of this build thread, it's just a shame that grey paint hides dents so well because it's disguising rather too well what you've done there which looks pretty hefty as repairs go. Keep it up, you're earning those roast dinners you know.

[sheffieldcortinacentre]

cut a piece of wing from another car with a round filler hole, or go look at whats avl at a panel place , mk3 fiesta's rot bad around filler & a repair piece is avl.

[hairymel]

Craig

the filler cap is a very close fit in the filler hole and I think it might be difficult to get a close enough match, let alone to the curve of the wing.

I would like to have a scrapyard trawl but the only yard left nearby is a bit unfriendly and very pricey.
the nearest panel place is 1 1/2hr round trip and they are fairly unhelpful on the phone!
your neck of the woods seems better served all round.

whatever I do will end with troweling filler on this area

the best I am hoping for is to get some of the shape back

if it needs cutting out and a repair panel fabricating/sourcing so be it, I have only lost a few hours garage time and will know better next time , maybe

to be honest I am glad to have done anything, even if it is all wrong



volksangyl

I cant tell if you are complimenting or criticizing my workmanship

I think I might have drunk too much coffee ;D

either way I am glad your cars getting back in one piece , it must be a great buzz



everyone else

thanks for your kind (pre update ;D ) comments

[Deleted]

I'm complimenting, don't worry. I don't think I have any reason to criticise what you've done.

[hairymel]

bl**dy hell... i thought i was the only one stupid enough to be up this late on a school night ;D

its ok m8 i'm not worried

just having trouble with my reading comprehension

tbh i would prefer a bit of solid cussing, it might gee me up a bit ;D

[gurnersimps1963]

Dedication to the cause mate! well done Mel!!

[hairymel]

thanks neil

must stop drinking coffee now, i need to get to bed so i can be late for work ;D

[sheffieldcortinacentre]

shame theres no way of getting a paten of size/shape as could prob find you something new or used.

mates workshop has a steady stream of scrappers.

[hairymel]

not to worry Craig - i have filler ;D

[tonybmw]

Just caught up with this thread, excellent stuff, bookmarked now and look forward to updates

Tony

[hairymel]

everyone else went home early today, and after a while of feeling lonely i clocked off and forced myself to pop next door and have a look at the sunbeam.

i finished welding the cuts i had made previously and sploshed some rustbuster on the bare metal



still quite ugly but hopefully it will come out ok in the end.
even if not, its nearer than it was


i still am unable to turn the car around cos of the 'spaybooth' so i started on the front of the rear panel.

the weld extends 3-6 mm past the panel (where the door was cut out)
and the panel bows outwards up to 6 mm.
the panel is actually wrinkled at the waistline




i started by grinding the weld down to the level of the return and then took the high spots off the weld on the panel face.





i then cut at the most distorted area and had a bit of a bash near the flange.

much more of the distortion eased out than i expected





tack tack tack




grind grind





splosh splosh





still needs a bit of work above the waistline (right way up ) and the wrinkle is still there but below finished level.

all in all i am fairly happy with it so far.
this bit has come out better than expected for the minimal effort i put in

getting close to home time so i investigated the cracked paint/filler in the rear arch.

a bit of chipping and chiseling later ;D



not a replacement arch as i guessed earlier but a dent the size of an old 10p coin and a bit of corrosion around the cracked areas but no real horrors so far




total time spent (drinking coffee mostly ) 136 hours

total spend £1331.50 (need more instant coffee, still super skint, not so skint i cant buy nice coffee though )

[BenzBoy]

I don't think there's anything wrong with a bit of filler, as long as it's not trowelled on over lacework steel!

You do realise that if you bring this car to the next Retro Rides Gathering, you won't need to buy any drinks the whole weekend?! ;D

Excellent perseverance, one of my favourite builds on here!

[Tim]

Truly inspiring :-)

[BenzBoy]

I tell you what though, I'd hate to keep a running total of how much money I've spent on my cars! I think I'd end up crying in a corner thinking about the Porsche I could have bought, and I do things on a shoestring! ;D But that's just me.

[Deleted]

I think you're too critical of your own work, this is some epic saving you're doing and when you get to the point that you're looking at paint prep, all the minor imperfections you're seeing can be got rid of fairly easily.

[hairymel]

tonybmw


this is all your fault you know


I don't believe I would have even contemplated starting this project if it wasn't for your 'making panels' thread.

I cannot put into words how inspirational your work has been to me.

thank you Tony
.
.
.
I think ;D



benzboy

I have always hated filler both in principal and in practice.
when I started, my inner child told me I would rapidly become proficient at metal shaping and my car would be dent (and filler) free.

the loudest voice I hear in my head right now is the one that gets high on the smell of polyester resin



I can keep myself in beer but kevfromwales has promised me a icecream(with flake) if I bump into him at the gathering




tim

thanks




benzboy (again! post counts aren't everything you know ;D )


on my camper build I regretted not keeping a record of what I had done and how much I spent.

that was probably under budget and easily met the first deadline I had set myself.


this time I think am certain I will be way over budget even with huge amounts of cheating (not including cost of tools, rent and a lot of other expenses I would otherwise would not have incurred)

I have missed my wildly optimistic finish deadline and my rapidly recalculated timescale has also gone to rat poo

not to worry though if the choice is between

1. a nice lotus sunbeam I have to look after for the next owner

and

2. something that is mine that I can do whatever I like with

I choose something that looks like number 2 ;D

why buy a Porsche when you can have 10 more rusty and unreliable interesting cars?



volksangyl

I don't have your skill or patience with paint, I understand how much effort it takes to get a good finish. I forsee myself throwing lots of cash at cheap power tools to obtain an appalling paint finish

my worst nightmare is ratlook style being deeply out of fashion when I finish ;D