Found Object

[Rod]

Hi Rob,

If Clay hasn't got an Inner Subframe bolt, let me know. I have four, from two subrame removals. However, only one of the four shows no corrison / rust. The other three have about 20% corrison mid shaft.

You are welcome to the good one.

Cheers Rod

[Errol62]

Sorry Rob I don't have any  spare.  They were all rotten except the Ute. I had bought a set for the van. Ended up using those on th e Ute. No we I am using the Ute ones on the van. Go fig  as they say.

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[ardiesse]

Thanks for looking, Clay.  But Kevin came to the rescue, so all is good.

Rob

[ardiesse]

Subframe off.  This is another thing where practice helps.
And, as advised earlier, I duly went nuts with the welder, then the grinder (shh - some of my welds were a bit on the ugly side.  Funny how the tighter the spot, the uglier the weld.)
Then some pressure-pak "Rust Reformer", and -



One (1) Acme No.1 Body Crossmember.

Then I centre-punched the spot-welds along the RH sill bottom, drilled them, and got out with the Spot-Weld Separator (patent applied for).



Don't you just love a good clear-vision sill?

I had a stroke of luck in the sheet-metal shop on Friday.  In the offcuts bin was a narrow strip of 1.6 sheet, and it was just the size I needed.  So the sheet-metal worker bent it to the right angle (not a right angle though).  Here it is, in place on the inner sill.  I need to slot and weld it for the drain slots (marked with chalk).



And then I decided that I'd had enough for one weekend and went inside.

Rob

[59wagon]

Nice work with the cross member Rob.  The pig on a spit is a real bonus for this type of work, hey?

Cheers,

John

[my8thholden]

hey Rob ..can we borrow your off cut bin , just what we need a bin full of bits that just happen to be right size..Vern

[ardiesse]

Vern,

To quote Daffy Duck:  "Out out out, down down down, it's mine, do you hear me? It's mine!"

Rob

[ardiesse]

The "clear-vision" part of the driver's side inner sill -



I cut the return off the inner sill, then clamped the repair piece in place.  I then ran the cutting disc along the top edge of the repair section.  This is better than chalk-marking, because all I have to do is cut along the bright line.  Here is the repair section tacked in place:



And then I "coloured it in".  It's a bit of a task when kneeling.  Many pauses to get up and stretch.



I'll dress the weld down a little, and put some paint on the new repair to stop it rusting as soon as I look away.

Rob

[ardiesse]

And now, one of the areas I'm not looking forward to repairing: the driver's side B-pillar bottom, jacking point and inner sill.  The first task was remove the bottom section of the division strip, so I could see what's underneath, and get some room to swing the angle grinder -



Not pretty.  There's very little anchoring the B-pillar to the body at the sill.  I figure I'll need to put some temporary patches in place to locate the B-pillar in position while I attempt the larger repairs.  I cut away more of the rusty metal, and then found the innermost U-section.  Here's one postage-stamp brace tacked in.  I put two more of similar sizes in the corners of the door openings.



Is it a coincidence that the inner U-section has rusted out uniformly to a height of 10 mm above the outer sill all the way around, or this how it's meant to be?

But all this is in preparation for the removal of the body reinforcement/jacking point under the body.  And here was one place where the worker on the production line was enthusiastic with the spot-welder.  Ten spot-welds attached the bracket to the floor stiffening member, and when I sanded the returns on the inner sill, there was a spot-weld every half-inch.  That's when I decided to change from drilling to cutting.  And where I couldn't get the cutting disc in, I drilled a row of holes and then chiselled through.  A quick cut through what remained of the floor, and -



- thus exposing the rust hole in the inner sill.

Who's cutting up a body shell at the moment?  I'd like a driver's side body reinforcement/jacking point bracket . . .

Rob

[DJ]

Rob, this thread is a bit like a novel you can't put down. Each episode displays yet another confronting challenge that eclipses the last, while drawing even more from the main hero in each episode. I admire your stamina - it would have driven me to tears by now. Thanks for sharing how it really is, warts & all.

[ardiesse]

I'm having to take the long view on this project: each task takes as long as it takes, which is about twice as long as I think it'll take.

And so if I hear complaints about the cost of a paint job, or a roll-in-drive-out restoration, I think, "Or you can do the job yourself.  Then you'll see what your time is worth."

Rob

[JB]

I always looked at it as the more you do the less you have to do approach... then I look back at all of the bits I have fixed and what has been achieved. But never look too far past the next job at hand. That is what the list of jobs to do on the bench is for.
Good work mate, keep at it as I think that the best part of the build is the build itself.

[Errol62]

Trivia time. I’ve got mainly FB and EK commercials as you know. They don’t have the jacking point. I assume it was because they came with the bottle Jack rather than the lighter duty but more refined scissor jack. This leads me to the conclusion that the jacking point doesn’t give much structural benefit, though every bit helps of course. Somewhere in my memory in the last few years I recall coming across a body that appeared unmolested, and only had the jacking point fitted on one side. It must have been the very early FB215 I cut up about four years ago. The one jacking point on the car was rusted out and I think discarded. Either that or buried under four years of accumulated parts.

What they did do to improve structural integrity in the FB commercial was to fit a full length third sill panel between inner and outer.


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[my8thholden]

Clay ..( Errol ) when you say bottle jack ,do you mean the screw jack that had the square drive on the handle ?

[Errol62]

Yes Vern. Commercials came with bottle jack and no body jacking point.

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[ardiesse]

Back again.  So there was a gaping hole in the inner sill, inside of the jacking point.  I'd made up a replacement piece before the skies opened.  I just had to put the final bend in it for the lower return of the inner sill, then I marked the cut lines with chalk and went in gingerly with the angle grinder (and drilled a few more spot welds).



The body didn't sag (that I can tell) with this piece cut out, so that's a bonus.

I was wondering what I'd do with the internal sill reinforcement, but with the inner sill cut away, it makes sense to repair the reinforcement from the inside.  I "repurposed" a left-over section of a Rare Spares no. 1 body crossmember, and massaged the ribs into it.

Working late into the afternoon isn't recommended.  I wasn't a fantastic shot with the hammer, and struck my thumb a glancing blow.  I didn't think much of it, until a little while later I looked and saw red stuff coming out.  Micropore tape to the rescue, and I kept going until the repair piece was shaped.  Here's the repair, ready to graft into place.



The outer sill allows me to align the repair piece.  This is one advantage of repairing from the inside.

Oh, and I went off to Rares and bought half a dozen seat belt anchorages, which have a surface area of more than 3750 mm^2.  I have to cut the driver's side B-pillar open to fix the rust, so installing the anchorages will actually be easier.  But on the passenger's side I'll have to drill welds and open up an otherwise sound B-pillar.

Rob

[ardiesse]

The reinforcement repair is welded in.

I marked up the B-pillar for the seat belt mounts (stole the measurements from my other FC), and made a useful discovery: on the top of the roof side rail directly above the B-pillar is a hole.  I fed a bicycle brake cable down the hole, and it didn't stop going in.  So I can feed a guide wire all the way down the B-pillar and pull the upper seat belt anchorage into position without having to open the B-pillar at the top.

Rob

[blacky]

Rob,  are the jacking points left and right handed or symmetrical ? I have the next couple of days off so i will have a dig around in EKmart for a suitable replacement

[Errol62]

Symmetrical.


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[my8thholden]

Rob ..Just something to ponder on , when discussing seat belt mounts with my inspection station guy ,he said if I put a mounting inside the B pillar he wont pass it because he can't see it ,he pointed out that there is a approved bolt kit for that purpose available ..We know he is refering to the rares B pillar kit ..which is not my preference ,but i went that way ,for several reasons ,the main one was I didn't need engineer for stock resto ,but would have to to get a inside pillar belt mount approved and  undercoat was about to go on body ...keep well Vern .