Brilliant Orange Project, bodywork advice

[937carrera]

11 months on and I have been able to return to my project camper.

I continued working on the rear battery box and decided that I would remove the front section as well, preserving the upper tabs in place. Progress so far today

Top left tab exposed, battery box metal remains above



View from the wheelarch to the tail light



What I cut out today



And a first trial fit for the replacement panel



Are the (fillet ? ) pieces available that go vertically from the wing to the battery box or do I just have to make one from sheet steel.

Similarly, for the horizontal surface.

I did remove the rear light unit to look at the other side, it seems there should be a horizontal piece, but as this has already been "repaired" (it looks OK from the inner wheelarch / underside) I don't know what the correct construction should be. The orange is the inside of the sliding door as the rear wheelarch has holes in it after a tickle from the grinder.



Looks like I now have both battery boxes to do, but the left hand side will wait until the wheelarch etc has been removed. Much easier access.

[multisi]

The vertical fillet is the lower part of the d pillar, just make your own. AH Schofield make the horizontal panel to join the corner panel and the horizontal part of the inner rear corner, Brickwerks stock them as filler panels. Page 2 of repair panels section.

[RogerT]

PM sent

[937carrera]

Some further progress today, thought I would post it while the tool batteries are recharging (cuppa for me too)

I thought the battery box was fixed to the tabs by a couple of little plug type welds, which I had drilled out. In the process of removing the rest of the old metal I discovered that there are also some well disguised spot welds

One on the outer side - not particularly visible, ot's between the drilled hole and the hole I am in the middle of drilling for a second plug weld



and two on the inner side. One has been drilled out at this point, getting ready to do number two which is to the left of the hole.



By the looks of it I have been a bit enthusiastic removing some of the old battery box (and the outer tab) so will need to make some small pieces to connect to what remains of the old flange to the new metal. I now know that the intention is that the repair piece is supposed to be butt/seam welded to the original piece. Something else learnt today ..... I think

[937carrera]

I finished removing the old metal from the inner tab and clamped the repair panel in place.

View from the rear



View from the wheelarch



Underside from the wheelarch to the rear valance



I'm parking this for now as I need to source the additional repair fillets. I could also need some advice as to the best method to remove the light rust on the inside of the existing panels and the surrounding body parts which you can see in the picture above. It is abrasion with grinder / flapper disc / finger file, chemical with some sort of rust converter or something else ?

Next post will be the next challenge

[937carrera]

Here's a picture of the drivers B post & jacking point which I attacked with a cutting disc some time ago.

I already have the repair jacking point from Alan Schofield, but I think the first thing I need to do is cut out the patch that has already been welded in as I doubt it is of the correct thickness. It wasn't on the sills which had already rusted through at the repair point and has already done so on the crossmember.

I believe there should be a number of layers of metal in this area to create the necessary strength and they need to be done in the right order.

[937carrera]

Already attacked it and got most of the duff metal off, I'll continue tomorrow. I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad that the previous repair didn't extend to grinding the welds down.



I went looking for my jacking point repair piece and couldn't find it

So I then decided to unwrap the new sills that came from Schofields and have been in their wrapping ever since they arrived. Not only were they in there, but they were already attached to the new sills.

Oooh nice shiny metal, so it looks like I'm attempting the sill repair now, which probably also means fitting the new lower body panel that goes between the B post and the wheelarch. More shiny metal, so I need to decide where to start wielding the cutting disc and how the lower panel will be attached.



Getting into some meaty work now

[multisi]

The lower part of the inner B post has rusted away, that's where all the strength comes from in that area, you need to do something with that if you are going to use a jack in the future.

[937carrera]

The lower part of the inner B post has rusted away, that's where all the strength comes from in that area, you need to do something with that if you are going to use a jack in the future.

I was planning on cutting out the existing patch and butt welding in a new vertical piece into place before fitting the new sill.

Does that sound like a plan ?

[937carrera]

After beginning to understand how the various parts stitch together I have decided to remove the sill to provide better access.

This is the starting point, now, where are all those spot welds hiding

[937carrera]

Drilled two out but I'm finding it difficult to locate the welds so decided to remove part of the inner sill, cut through the mounting face and then I'll try and work my way along, finding the spet welds as I go.

Not too keen on the condition of the outer floor now I can see it.

[RogerT]

Wire brush on a drill or on a grinder takes off just enough to let the welds show up.

[100leelee]

Wire brush on a drill or on a grinder takes off just enough to let the welds show up.

Was a struggle for me. I cut the inner sill, leaving the mounting face still spot welded to the floor. Then used an 8mm drill bit to find the first weld, then peeled back the strip of inner sill with pliers, this then highlighted the next weld. Was quickest way of doing it.

The B posts on mine were not so bad. Luckily could reuse the main strengthened piece, the piece with a fork like end through which the jack would pass. Lots of pieces to make up on the b pillar, unless you buy a complete new one..

I always tried to leave solid steel in situ. Make sure it's steel though. Mine had far too much filler/under seal which I removed..

Try to do one area at a time, or at least I thought that best..

[937carrera]

Interesting, that was what I decided to do but I have probably left too much metal on the vertical face to be able to peel the strip back for now.

I'll try the wire brush method tomorrow, but having used the fingerfile to remove the black slap I might have removed my ability to find the evidence. So I have a plan A and a plan B.

Looking further back along the sill, it seems I shall be forced into removing the trailing arm to fit the complete sill. Correct ?

[multisi]

Have you opened up the area above the rear jacking point ? If your b post is bad then the rear jacking is most likely to be as well. Hats off to you for this resto, most people would have run away screaming !