What the hell!

[Not Happy Jan]

thought you said you hadn't done this before ,

Just dreaming about it all the time!!!

[TTV6FC]

Nice work Nick.I'd be putting some form of brace across your door gap before you take out too much more as it is really easy for the dimensions of the A>B pillars to change and this will make reinstalling your doors very difficult indeed.Keep up the pics.Jamie.

[Not Happy Jan]

OK Its time to get back into the project!
Got a rotisserie and have mounted up the shell

Took a look at the bottom of the A pillar / sill section and it is decidedly different to other similar sections that have been posted
This is mine

and this is taken from another project ( apologies to the owner for not naming the source)



Mine looks completely different and am after some advice as what to do. I think that I  should cut out the crappy old repair and redo it in one section as well as fix up the gap in the leading edge of the sill. The rest of the sill is not too bad except for another old repair section at the rear wheel arch section. 



My big dilemma at the moment is do I persevere with the rust repairs, fork out for a MIG welder ( I'm retiring the TIG. Too hard) which will be about 1K or get the repairs done professionallly  (2K quote) and start from there. Personally I'd like to do the rust but am just wondering whether its more than a novice should take on!
Nick

[BLOK]

Great to see you getting into it Nick ,Mate if you get the mig go down to your local industrial area and look for fabricators or engineering shops and ask can you grab some scrap metal from there bin and every chance you get practise playing around with different settings ,just run welds ,get on the internet and youtube has demo welding lessons .You have my number so dont hesitate to ring for advise.You want to be confident that you are doing the job properly ,  Practise will give you confidence to tackle your pride and joy and if you stuff some thing up just cut it out and do it again ,when you get started there will be no stopping you cheers Gary

[Ed]

Nick,

Just have a go, MIG welding is quite simple, once you understand the machine settings as Gary said.  If prior repairs are well done, solid and not just overlaying rusty areas then they are generally OK to leave, however if they have been done poorly then they must come out, as they are probably at the end of their life.

If you decide to get a MIG, then keep in mind, the cost of the machine will be recouped when you use it to make other things besides the car.  I use mine to fab up all kinds of stuff around the house and even tools/stands for the garage.

Nice rotisserie, despite my last statement, I'm still trying to decide if I should build one or buy one... I like the hydraulic rams of the bought ones as I mostly work alone... and the price of castor wheels makes building one not so cheap... unless anybody knows of a good place to get castor wheels cheap?  I was quoted $120/wheel from Richmond Castors.

Cheers

Ed

[FCRB26]

Next door at the scrapyard at work has a pile of big heavy duty ones you could get cheap but postage would kill you.
My mate just bought the blue ones out of the mags you see seems ok but $1200 is a bit steep.

I can cut the the brackets to mount on the bumper bar mounts i have them in the waterjet for mine.

[Not Happy Jan]

Thanks Ed Gary and Pete
It's always good to get feedback and advice, and encouragement !!! Brackets are good. I did TIG up some mounts and they are working fine
Looks like its off to the tool shop! Keep you posted.
I'm thinking about a Lincoln 180C unit or a unit like Keith's ( Effcee)
Blok trade a day's lesson/welding for the TIG?
Nick

[BLOK]

 :)Let me know when you get it and ill come down and spend a weekend getting you started on the right track

[FCRB26]

I sell and use migomag 190,s and 220,s very well built unit and around $1300

Lincoln is a good unit dont buy any of the ebay crap migs uni mig or CIG all the cheaper versions run  very poor transformers they are like a ticking time bomb just waiting to die ...

[FE 4 ME]

Hey Nick,
   just starting to check out this thread on your new project...looking at the chrome on the doors...is that a original chrome line ( rare ) or it's a personal taste that was put on before you got it...

im looking forward to reading on

have fun

FE 4 ME

[Not Happy Jan]

Hey fe 4 me
I have been told that it is an original line and yes quite rare. Have not seen one like it.

Hopefully more updates soon

[FE 4 ME]

Looks Great ...are you guna keep the same colour tones ??

doin good

FE 4 ME

[BLOK]

Did you go to the Hastings car show in your new wagon

[Not Happy Jan]

Sure am... I really like the panama red and india ivory. Its a great combo I think!

[Not Happy Jan]

Hey Blok
I went to the show and shine but to tell you the truth it was a little dissapointing . There was not one FE/FC this year and probably about 30-40 cars in total. 4 FJ's and all with hoods down
Mine is getting picked up tomorrow so I'll have it next week. although I do not want to get too excited as I reakon that it will not serve me as a club car as I had in mind. It will just have to wait and be a template to get the special back on the road. then maybe 1 x stocky and 1 x modified....

[Not Happy Jan]

Got the new welder. I like it
started on the fender

Had been brazed before and more rust.
Repair section.


New section in and ground off.


I'm very happy with the result.

[JB]

Which welder did you end up getting in the end?

[Not Happy Jan]

Hi Jason
I ended up getting a Transmig 175. It was on special up here. I was going to get the lincoln 180 but the other was a great deal.
More photos to come.

[Not Happy Jan]

Im going to get some good work out of that welder.

I knew that the front section of the sill and the bottom of the A pillar was a bit ugly. So I flipped the shell to have a good look.
Pretty ugly. The previous repairs were pretty slapstick to say the least. I could not work out what went where and i'm dreading having to fabricate it all up new again. I think that im going to replace some sill section too inner and outer.
Who do you line up the holes for the subframe and the panel. CAn you drill them in when it's all lined up / Any ideas

I think that im going to replace some sill section too inner and outer
 
Then I started to take a look at some of the previous repairs and it just got worse.
Whoever it was had just welded over rust holes with plates. Very Dodgy to say the least. It means that I can't trust any repair that has been done before and i'm going to have to check everything.

And.. Voila. look whats hidden underneath.



Floor pan just welded over hole.

Some thing is very dodgy on the other side too, check out those two bolts left of the support.



Got a bit more cutting to do

[mcl1959]

The best way to keep bolt holes aligned is to make a metal jig which you drill a guide hole in BEFORE you remove the old metal. The jig is made so that it is clearly marked where it would be attached to a sound piece of the body with self tappers for instance - ie further up the A pillar. This enables you to remove all rusty steel and refabricate and then attach the jig to the car and drill a new hole.
You can spend some time making a jig like this but it is invaluable in the long run because you know that the hole is in the right spot.

Ken