19?? chrysler sunbeam no 2 (+½ )

[hairymel]

i have been a bit unmotivated since the last update


in local news Paul decided not to roller paint his beetle.

spaying outside caused a bit of consternation amongst the locals

so we built a makeshift spray tent.







it seemed to contain the overspray fairly well although paul emerged looking slightly smurfy


i have also built a ghetto style version of tonybmw's bender and had finally got to have a play with the tig and arc functions of my 3in1.

i can now weld unsuccessfully in 3 different disciplines ;D


breaking news:

my personal scrapyard stock of projects had started to disappear under brambles so they have been dug out this afternoon for a bit of landscaping to take place.











patina






anyway this evening i thought i had best do something to the sunbeam



template of the other rear arch lip laboriously cut from sprinter bonnet and reversed'

frankenrepair reshaped to the template.




sort of fully welded.





it all started reasonably well but rapidly went downhill




the weld beads started to puff up and sparkle and appeared very porous.

i tried everything but it just got worse





luckily before i lost the plot completely all became clear when the shroud properly fell to bits





i had another (fairly melted) shroud to hand so rather than making a load of grindy noises i took a crack at the bits i cut out earlier.









de-skinning the sprinter bonnet is coming along nicely



total time spent (not including gardening and carpentry) 116.5 hours

total spend £1271.50 (not including welding 'consumables' from ebay and tins of spaypaint from the pound shop )

[hairymel]

Aug 14, 2010 10:13:26 GMT bstardchild said:

....nightmare....SIP.....mig welding forum...feed brace and wire liner

its possible that the first slip on this slippery slope i find myself on was when i googled 'sip faulty wire feed' and found www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php

it started an enthusiasm for welding 'projects'

Aug 16, 2010 18:52:46 GMT @volksangyl said:

Presumably you still have to cut out the rear light holes and the fuel filler hole after you've done this repair? We're not going to recognise it when it comes off the spit you know, it'll look like a proper car again.

if only that was all i had to do, i guess i am only 20% of the way through the repairs to the bottom 6 inches of the car

i think that it may look a little bit 'different' when finished,

possibly not in a good way ;D

[Deleted]

Any progress is good progress! Great to see work progressing even if your tools are rebelling.

[mk2dk]

Hi hairymel
Your welding looks very good. Keep up the good work.

[hairymel]

Aug 22, 2010 7:32:01 GMT mk2dk said:

.....
Your welding looks very good....

only because of my poor photography

[grizz]

You continue to amaze me.

[hairymel]

did a bit more today


jacking point closed up




welds ground off as necessary





random application of etch and weldthrough primer then random rattlecan and seam sealer





tack tack tack fail to save pics tack tack tack




started with 7 or 8 tacks and then tacked in between.

rinsed and repeated until the weld was continuous

failed to save pics

and then ground flush




end piece welded




and ground off





had to tidy away my automotive litter in the yard.

unfortunately i did too good a job and i seem to have gained enough space for another 2 cars.

must resist temptation



for the moment


a message from the gods informed me that a sunday roast (duck yummy ) was waiting for me, so play ended for today


total time spent (including watching a lot of paint dry ) 120.5 hours

total spend £1271.50 (not including duck based 'consumables' from the coop )

[qwerty]

This thread is great!! I love the updates so keep them coming haha.

[Deleted]

2 cars, or one really big car....

This side's looking good.

[gurnersimps1963]

Its coming along nicely Mel,nice to see You got Your mojo back, keep it up mate.
Neil

[tofufi]

Wow.

Astonishing stuff, keep up the great work!

Love the write up, too

[hairymel]

yesterday i was struggling to get going on the wheel arch fabrication.

i drew along the curve of the n/s arch and made some paper templates from these lines.





i cut out the (very wrong) bit of arch i had fabricated with the lower quarter repair.

i have previously looked at the arches from my scrap front wings for a repair section and also tried to replicate tonybmws arch repair panel with no real success

still with no clear idea of what to do i barreled ahead with a variation of something i have done before.





forging ahead i bashed the first bend into the 'panel'


my enthusiasm for bashing was tempered slightly by the realization that it was going to be fairly difficult to join the cuts cleanly


the final icing on the cake was my usual stupidity - i had bent it the wrong way ;D







drained of all enthusiasm i went home.

.
.
.
.
.
.




today i revisited the problem and came to the conclusion that another bit of sprinter bonnet would be a better starting point






variation on a theme





the rough shape is there but a bit more work is needed





this seemed a convenient point to clock out for today


i am fairly happy to have something to put in the hole but will have another look at it with fresh eyes next time


total time spent (using every available surface as an anvil ) 124 hours

total spend £1271.50 (no panel beating tools available 'til next payday )

[hairymel]

Aug 22, 2010 22:07:30 GMT @volksangyl said:

2 cars, or one really big car....

my workmates noticed the extra space had appeared.

they seemed most surprised that i didn't have another "rusty piece of ****" turning up.



admittedly the temptation is there



but not the funds ;D

[BenzBoy]

To be honest, when you started this thread I did doubt that it would be possible to get this car back into a useable condition, but you're bloody flying through it! I continue to be amazed, this is one of my favourite build threads on RR.
Keep up the good work, this is an absolutely heroic resto!

[tri]

Leg. End.

Bookmarked for a brave brave man.

[hairymel]

this afternoon i was mostly playing with my tig again

after i had melted my biggest tungsten i thought i should carry on with the wheelarch.

tack tack tack




bzzzt bzzzt bzzzt





grind grind




grind




examine





fettle (bash bash bash)





trim trim trim (and infill the biggest gap)





had a bit of a sit down and a couple of cups of coffee and a fag while examining the situation





a bit more trimming and a little bit more fettleing to do .... next time




total time spent (not including electrode melting ) 126.5 hours

total spend £1271.50 (not including postie gifts - mig shrouds,tig adapter and wire brushes )

[hairymel]

thanks for your comments benzboy and tri

[hairymel]

bored of wheelarch pictures?

then rejoice that my phone is not saving half the pictures i have taken

anyway - here are the new batch of pics that all look the same ;D



i trimmed the repair some more and started to tack it on






been wanting to try this since i saw it in tonybmw's thread

take one big gap and a bit of ali bar




weld weld weld





excess material trimmed off




looking a bit like it




fully welded and ground back

there was a small bulge in the arch profile so i cut a slot , gave it a gentle tap and then rewelded it



ground off



arch edge is not quite parallel to the car at one point

so a similar but vertical slot, hammer, weld and grind





it was at this point that i realized i had forgotten the holes for puddle welding the panel to the inner arch/wing

the makita soon sorted that out for me





not a million miles away from the right shape,

looks like all of the bad bits are below the finished level :- only a few kg of filler needed


need to tidy up but its pub o'clock ;D





total time spent (giving panel beaters nightmares ) 129 hours

total spend £1271.50 (super skint )

[Deleted]

When you see all that fresh metal back in there it really doesn't look that bad anymore

[skinley]

The words 'legend', 'hero' and 'epic' just don't seem enough. keep up the good work. That rear arch looks spot on to me.