Club 80-90 Forums

Well quick update while i watch the f1 qually
holes to be made in the inner sill to puddle weld the sus mount

using a Qmax as they make a neat hole

I wound the mig up so got a reasonable grab im cutting off part of the edge of the sill for reasons that i will show later

dont like welding upside down and cackhanded but... also shows the heat transfer from the welding above

so I have two more main components to fit and then the jp and mounting will be good,

oh and its important like very important to get the new mount in exactly the right place or camber/track the lot will be m iles out and there is only so much adjusment to be had
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I'm learning loads watching it being put back together

LittleMissSunshine wrote:I'm learning loads watching it being put back together

So, you'll be buying a project and some welding gear then Helen
Looking good, innit?

well to continue on from the last picky i have made this little bit

it fits here, nice decent gauge of steel, the 2 holes spot through into the inner strengthening part,it looks a bit complex but makes sense when you get into it.

welded in place along the lower inside

this is what it now looks like , it gets its final strength from adding the outer part to form the box

and from the rear, this is the part that also usually rots but to a lesser degree than total suspension failure as here

this is normally all one bit, but i cut it off earlier due to rot and access issues, it also spots though to the new rib i have just added

and now welded back in, you will note that the built in lip part that the lower edge of the wing welds to is missing , i do this because it is nigh on impossible to get a good weld into the confined sharp angle, if you check your own van you will see its a right lumpy affair in that area, so this way I add a small strip after, its a much neater way to do it.

this is done now, ready for body type stuff to fit, oh the little bit of the bottom of the C post is to sort

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I know it's been said before but what you have done there is brilliant-makes me happy to know that all is not lost when tin worm strikes!!
David

Well the sorting the welding type stuff is the best bit, always happy to do that side and let you do the bit of filling and finnishing
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A W E S O M E...

Well decided to rattle the sill side off today.
this is the last little bit at the front, you can see the burn marks from the jp support bracket welded inside the outrigger(will take a clearer picky tomoz)

the rear i have added a bit to the bottom of the C post and closed it to the inner strengthening plate, the open bit on the bottom left is as built

could be prettier but i will leave it be
So I cant go much further untill i have sorted the rear panals as its too easy to get the faces of the panls wrong,so on with unpicking stuff
start with marking up the spots that you can access from the outside, you dont need to use spot cutters here ,just drill right through, it will become apparant later

inside view of same

here you can see the 1/8 holes that are through ther rear wing and into the C post. feel free to drill these straight through.

next pair are both drilled through with 6-8mm


and after a bit of easing with a very sharp edge it comes away

then depending on how well you drilled through then this is next

So cleaning up now and will sort the rear 1/4 and then fit the wing and work forwards,trial fitting all as we go so it ends up straight.
mm

as ever...
thanks for taking the time to document these... It is facinating.
cheers
James

I've actually learned a bit here. I only have an arc welder but I'm sure some of the principals are similar, such as the drilling of holes then 'puddling' the weld in. Then again I might nake a hash of it. Each to his own, I wouldn't dream of taking on a full resto though.

Well there are many reasons for doing this but one of them is to get the fixing(spot) near to edge of the panal,if you just took the route of tacking the inside edge thern you would loose a great deal of the structural strength and also the seam woiuld tend to be more open as opposed to a nice tight clean one . you really dont want to fill them with filler.sealant or anything else. just paints and a thin film of sealant at the end prior to topcoating.
this applies also to letting in rear arches ect , worst is when you see the seams migged on the outside and then ground back
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metalmick8y wrote: worst is when you see the seams migged on the outside and then ground back
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I've done that with an arc welder. I've learned better since Thanks for sharing your expertise, but don't expect a challenge will you.

Id welcome it in so far as i would be really happy if all these ramblings helped somebody as opposed to being a 'questionable good read'
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I know I have said it many times, and without starting to sound like a stuck record, praise has to be said, your progress, work, and fabrication work ceases to simply amaze me mickey mate