Found Object

[ardiesse]

December.  Either 35+ and humid, or 18 and raining.  But this afternoon Mister J. Pluvius got distracted, so I zipped in the missing part of the wheel arch return -



and primed the inside.

Rob

[Errol62]

Nice beads mate!

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[FireKraka]

Really nice work Rob I have to tackle that area on my FB Wagon inner and outer both sides unfortunately I don't think mine are going to look as good as yours there.

Neil

[ardiesse]

. . . and the inner RHR quarter panel is repaired.



Am I relieved or what . . .

There's no substitute for fitting the parts carefully before you fit them.  Because when you fit them prior to fitting them, they fit, and only take minimal adjustment when you're welding them in place.  But the inner wheel arch repair got me.  It was too big, so I trimmed it, and then there was some form of hiccup in the spatio-temporal continuum, and the part which was too big a minute earlier fell through the hole, and had gaps a couple of mm wide.  No great problem, though.  I could bridge the gaps with weld.

Next: holes in the inner LHR quarter panel.  I am seriously considering postage-stamp repairs for these.  Fabricating the complete inner quarter panel repair was worthwhile, but time-consuming nonetheless.

Rob

[Errol62]

Good to see you back on the job.


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[ardiesse]

One step back and two forward (part LXXVII) -

I discovered rust holes in the lower part of the LHR wheel arch.  Of course, they didn't look all that big when I stuck a screwdriver through, but then as I pinged rust scale off, and chased holes, it all grew a bit.  To the point where it would have been wise to cut the return off the wheel arch, slice out the rotten bit and replace it.

I chose the way of folly.  But with persistence and a few thumbnail-size pieces -



- and it cleaned up OK with the die grinder.

Rob

[ardiesse]

This is the LH inner rear quarter panel, the one which I thought was sound.  But after scraping off body sealer, and a lot of wire-brush work, this is what it looks like:



It's cratered from this side.  So it rusted out, not because water got in from the boot, but because of layers of mud on the underneath.  Did I say "postage-stamp repairs"?  Well, they are now going to be Post-It Note repairs.



The first of (probably) three repairs.  Donor piece: an offcut of an unused part of a Rare Spares floorpan.

And now the afternoon thunderstorm with optional hail has rolled in, right on cue . . .

Rob

[ardiesse]

LHR inner quarter panel, second repair -



And third repair -



Strange.  No afternoon thunderstorm (yet).

Rob

[Jolls]

Love the work, I have a very small amount to do in my ute. I think this approach is the way to go.

[Errol62]

We had the lightning down here instead. I want my summer 😢.


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[ardiesse]

Rain Stops Play.

That's just about a given.  But it held off long enough so that I could go in with a MAP gas torch, wire brush and dental pick on the front right part of the boot pan, revealing -



Confirming my suspicions really.  The car spent too long outdoors with the driver's front corner facing downhill.

But hey, it's only sheet metal, and I have a welder.

Rob

[ardiesse]

I guesstimated the dimensions of the repair piece, cut it to size, folded it, hammered in the drain slot (the one which got spot-welded shut at the factory) and made a first attempt at the curve up.



Because the top side was rusty, I couldn't see where the spot welds were.  I worked from the underside with a pair of outside calipers to mark the welds' locations, and drilled them.  Then made my best guess at the cut lines.  The short transverse cuts at front and rear I perforated with an 1/8" drill (yes, slow and laborious).  After some trimming, the repair sat in position, well enough form the profile of the curve and put in some tack welds.



I welded up the drain slot and curve, dressed the welds and painted the under- and inside.  Meanwhile I swept a layer of fine dust out of the box member and breathed some paint into the inside while it was open.  Then drilled the repair section for plug welds.  Final trimming, clamps to hold the section in place, and the serious action started with Mister MIG -



There's still about a 4" section not welded.  I need to cut out and replace a rusted-out section just to the left of it.

And I even beat the afternoon thunderstorm today.

Rob

[ekute]

You’re doing a great job Rob. Plenty of patience happening there, keep it up -then you can start at the other end again 😁


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[ardiesse]

I snuck in a couple of hours late this afternoon, and here's what happened -



Rob

[Errol62]

Very enjoyable Rob.


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[ardiesse]

. . . and today I zipped in the remaining weld on yesterday's repair, and found a couple of pinholes close by, which I filled in.  Then I drilled a couple of rows of spot-welds and removed the bottom of the rear box-section to gain access to some rusted-out parts of the rear boot floor pressing.



Rob

[Jolls]

Will there be any original steel in the vehicle by the time you are finished? 

[ardiesse]

From floor level down, not much.  Most of the LH sill is original, though.

Roof, subframe skirts, firewall, pillars, swinging panels, rear quarters from bumper level upwards.

[ardiesse]

Fuel tank flange and part of rear box section repaired.



The spot-welded seam between the boot floor and bottom part of the box member hadn't been sealed, and mud got in underneath through the gap at the tank corner, leading to the inevitable.

Rob

[ardiesse]

Rain Stops Play.  This is, of course, because there's a cricket match at the SCG.  This is as far as I got -



Scope-creep yet again.  A few little rust holes became five repairs, of which three here.  The others tomorrow (fingers crossed).

Rob