Club 80-90 Forums

An artist at work

Just when you thought you had seen it all...

Mirror welding trots along

awesome

well how else would i do it, poke the torch in there and waggle it about hoping ? seen enough of that on areas you Can get to.
as an aside , years ago before mig ,( bm) i used to weld exhaust pipes on minis and 1100's usually and to get to the top part with them still fitted you had torch on one side rod on the other and your sprog holding the mirror its not that hard you jusyt have to discount much of what your eye tells you,so weld blind and use the mirror to show where you are only..
just back from a very nice trip to liverpool before the traffic got up, more later
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Nice work Mike

nice up her when its empty and not horizonntal sleet 9 am

so after this escapade,,
i thought a quick tidy of a few odds seeing as its sunday.
lower front panal has already been removed, thankfully not been at it with a welder, plenty of schutz and the like though

hide the problem and when it recurs hide it again,

used a wood chisel to knock the worst off then out with the grit

up both seams/lips whatever

i will post this while pb unlocks itself
gave it a treat
so just got to prep the lower now by drilling it to spot through and fit it. then i think i may stripper the rest of the front as its so thoick with crap and its loose as well so not worth the risk.
taking a scrap bit of panal and a door to my mates this week to get it dry iced and see what the result is and work a costing so that will be entertaining
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well lower front drilled and faces sanded clean and test fit

lower os corner, i will run a disc over the areas to be spotted

same on the upper jopin

a couple of spots on the toip and grips to the bottom now time to check the grill is correct, bit awkward if you later find its not

now fully welded

i drill 7-7.5mm holes for this, i have found in the past that with a 6mm hole there is a tendancy for the weld to puddle up and fill it before its really burnt into the panal below so it lookss like a weld but isnt...also take care to keep a bit away from the edge as nothing looks worse than a nibbled away lip thats in full view and i aint filling it with pod.

finger sander will have it flat in no time
seam is nice and tight, i will run a bit of braze into the top bit thbat is under the grill as i dont want flexture here and thence parting of the seam

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well just the A posts to sort, there is so much paint and goo up front here that its got to come off, lucky i have stripper mixed for me that works , contrary to what some folk think it is a very useful tool used correctly.

reduced to this

and other side

you will note at the arrows you can see where the factory coat has been sanded away yet the stripper has left it intact..result.
the posts are in good order, the o/s has a small area in the usual place and will soon be dealt with.
I have stripped the lower bit further round as its all thick underseal and will get in the way as i finnish the n/s
this is the rear ding , i chisseled the filler out will pull it out and that should bring the 1/4 back into line

there is a little bit at the bottom of the valance,usual place and this

the rest of the seal reccess is fine, so this will be a nice delicate repair
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well back to hacking off again

whats happened here is they have cut the top part of the old wing off and left some arch to aid the use of sikaflex to bond the panel on bodgers, there is a small bit of plate added, well a few bits

they've been a bit adventurous as i found some pop rivits,no idea why ,
this bit just fell off

they had tacked it but it didnt adhere to anything, one saving grace is that the C post is mint
next few are the bits of plate cut away

and filler and stuff scraped away,its had about everything thrown on/at it

they got this far so might as well have done it right
white bathroom sealant in here

and this is what happens when you cut the old wing off without thuinking and looking and checking

right lunch over , found some other issues that require the knife
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Well jp area cleaned back ,not much work needed here

cut the crap off and now back to a decent base to work from

measurement for the cover fixing as its going to have to come off as there are issues

its parralel to the upper point i measured from so happy it will go back to the right place dont6 chance memory

this is the 'issue'

no point leaving it as its not "Hal" and wont self repair.

gore

so all off,
its not bad under here, if it was a panalvan conversion it would be much worse as all the condensation of the glass would have made its way past this area

down my mates and fold some up out of 1.25mm

what you have to remember is the part you make needs to be the same size so as to be let in and butt welded, do not make it an oversize unless thats how your going to do it, and no its not getting glued in

here we are sat something like,

like this

have made the rest of the arch bits ready,just got to decide on the method im using to attatch the upper part near the window as there is still some rot to remove there:lol:
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I'm starting to think its more rust than van!!

Neat and tidy... and it looks so simple when all the crap is removed, but removed so that the repair is easy

great stuff matey

Indeed ,never be scared to cut rubbish out, just think about what and Why. and measure and take pickies,got to get the runners etc down to my mates to blast then treat it all.
it will then be a pleasure to recreate it all
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I am fabricating patches for shepsters van this Saturday. His van had an epic MOT fail
I'll be using the MM method of preparation for puddling.

What's best abrasive to clean up an area before welding, is it a wire wheel?

Ahhhh mr shepster picky ??
twisted wire on the angle grinder shifts a lot but have a hold on it as it grabs easy
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No pictures yet
the worst areas are where the rear arch joins the engine deck and the flat plate under the vents
I have that wheel in my armoury..thanks Mike