767 replies to this topic

[Chris1992]

slacking with the updates. poor effort... 

 

right, I'll kick things off with our new welder, or should I say jigsaw puzzle....

 

 

 

sorted

 

 

 

then decided to just dive straight in with it and weld up the hole in the bulkhead.... yeah because that went really well....

 

started off with a cardboard template

 

 

 

then made a steel patch from the template

 

 

 

and then successfully completed what is probably the worst welding job man has ever seen...

 

to all experienced fabricators reading this, i can only apologise

 

this was after grinding it down

 

 

 

 

ah well, the way i see its solid, and its not a structural panel so its nothing a bit of fiberglass matting behind it wont fix.

 

next it was time to address the big hole i made in the sill, so same process again.

 

cardboard templates

 

 

 

followed by metal patches

 

 

 

except this time i recruited some professional help, in the form of forum member 'Artful Dodger'.... what a lovely chap

 

and what a lovely job he did

 

 

 

and after a bit of grinding

 

 

 

bit of stone chip and it'll be lovely jubly

 

 

moving on from that, i then did some work on getting the grille to fit

 

as you can see from the pics it was a bit of a rubbish fit

 

 

 

so armed with some pliers, i went on a bit of a bender. (pun intended)

 

managed to get it to fit much better, although it needs a dash of filler now 

 

 

 

much better

 

next up was the bonnet. started off by drilling out the spot welds that hold the front lip on so i could convert it to the MK1 style

 

 

 

bit crusty, but it cleaned up fine once i went over it with a wire brush

 

 

 

then it was time for more bodywork. initial rub down

 

 

 

followed by just the tiiiiiiniest amount of filler...

 

 

 

working my way across

 

 

 

not looking too bad. feels pretty flat so thats good.... back when the car was painted and shiny, the bonnet looked like had been caught in a hail storm...

 

 

 

 

then decided to get the front splitter mounted up

 

so out with the hack saw

 

 

 

rough as nails to begin with

 

 

 

but it got better... ish

 

 

 

and there you have it

 

 

 

couldnt resist a little mock up with the bonnet, bumper, grille, and arches

 

 

 

and lastly, i did a bit of fiberglass work to the arches to make them curl round the body at the front a bit better. 

 

 

 

the arches have actually come a lot further, but didnt have any pics handy, so ill post updates on those next time 

[leadly]

Good progress mate.

 

 

With regards to the holes around the bulkhead piece you welded in. I'd get hold of some copper pipe, flatten it and hold / clamp it behind the holes, then you can fill the holes with weld. The weld  wont stick to the copper either. Really handy for welding right at the edge of a panel as well.

[Will16]

This is going to be a new breed of awesome when it's done! Love the look of the front mate

[minimissions]

Wow this one has come along nicely keep the pics coming loving the chin spoiler ;)

[Jared Mk3]

Loving the look of that front end!

[Rocket.]

I'm already liking the look of this !

 

Same colour ?

[Ben_O]

Good progress mate.

 

 

With regards to the holes around the bulkhead piece you welded in. I'd get hold of some copper pipe, flatten it and hold / clamp it behind the holes, then you can fill the holes with weld. The weld  wont stick to the copper either. Really handy for welding right at the edge of a panel as well.

I would cut it out and have another go.

 

You will regret it if you don't. I think it might be ground down a bit to far around the welds to be able to fill the holes in with the copper pipe trick. i think you will just end up chasing the holes.

 

That's the great thing about this sort of welding and fabrication, if it goes wrong, it's easy to just have another go

[James_eaton_thewholething]

I love the grill. I'm not usually a fan of the front splitter but it actually looks really good on this. Going to look goo when it's finished

[Chris1992]

thanks a lot chaps!! as some of you may have seen in the bodywork section of the forum, ive had a bit of a mare with the filler primer ive used over whether its going to react with 2k or not, but the majority vote seems to be that it'll either be fine, or a few coats of epoxy primer should sort it. 

 

 

I'm already liking the look of this !

 

Same colour ?

 

thanks mate. yep, it'll be going gloss black again 

 

I would cut it out and have another go.

 

You will regret it if you don't. I think it might be ground down a bit to far around the welds to be able to fill the holes in with the copper pipe trick. i think you will just end up chasing the holes.

 

That's the great thing about this sort of welding and fabrication, if it goes wrong, it's easy to just have another go

 

 

 

I am toying with it, but in my haste, I've already slapped a load of fiberglass behind it. its solid as a rock now and just needs some filler in the holes, so I may just leave it. I know its not really the correct way of doing things so you will have to forgive me for this!   luckily this is the only welding that the car needs

[JayBox]

Wow. Love it. Wish I had my old City E to play with.

[Chris1992]

Wow. Love it. Wish I had my old City E to play with.

 

thanks mate! never too late to get another! 

[Chris1992]

EDIT - 25/09/2020 - If you're currently reading through this project, I humbly apologise for the offensive and reckless amount of filler you're about to see. I was young and stupid, but luckily a few posts later you will see that I cut it all out and welded fresh flat metal in instead, so I evidently came to my senses! Now, where were we...

 

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Update time!!! Its been a while, so I should really have got more done than I have, but anyway!... The main news is that I have got it booked in for paint!! 2nd weekend of January is my deadline to have all the prep work done, so I need to get my arse in gear!!

 

This is part 1 of this update, I've got a bunch more pics but haven't got time to upload them just yet.

 

after stuffing a tone of fiberglass matting behind every hole in the bulkhead and inner arches, I went nuts with the filler. I have now committed to doing a completely smoothed bay and tucking the wiring away as much as possible.... Because show car yo!!!

 

In the beginning, there was much filler, followed by much sanding.... The weird vertical trench things on either side of where the recess for carb was have been packed with fiberglass before the filler went on. 

 

 

 

Trying to get the bulkhead as flat as possible. Still needs to be built up a bit more.

 

 

Its getting there!

 

 

 

I know this is looking rough as hell at the moment, but bare with me on this! Its come a long way since these photos, as you will see in the next update, when I get a chance to upload the pics. 

 

Moving on. the boot lid still needed removing, so got that out the way.

 

 

 

Then it was my birthday at the end of November, and my dad got me the perfect prezzie!!!

 

Twin 1 1/2" SU's! all in working order, just need tarting up a bit.

 

(EDIT: these are 1 1/4" carbs, NOT 1 1/2"... brain fart... my bad!!)

 

 

and then to round things off, a nice big box from Minispares 

 

 

 

Inside we have.... Spax adjustable lowered shocks (early Christmas prezzie), new front bumper, bump stops, stainless slam panel plate, gas strut kit for the bonnet hinges, front seam cover, and rubber trim to go round the grille.

 

 

 

Hang tight! More coming very soon!! 

 

(Merry Christmas!!!) 

Edited by Chris1992, 24 September 2020 - 11:58 PM.

[Ben_O]

Looking good but all that filler will crack in no time i'm afraid.

[Chris1992]

Looking good but all that filler will crack in no time i'm afraid.

 

I've heard mixed things to be honest    some people have said it should be fine, and others have said it'll shatter as soon as I run over a pebble... this maybe a mistake, but I'm a bit too far into it now, how much will the bulkhead flex? Will it really be enough to cause cracking? There is no filler over any panel gaps or joins, not like when I de-seamed it before, and the seams didnt crack (somehow) after a year of daily all weather use. 

 

Maybe I'm in denial... ah well, I guess I can always vinyl wrap the bulkhead if it does crack slightly. 

[1984mini25]

 

Looking good but all that filler will crack in no time i'm afraid.

 

I've heard mixed things to be honest    some people have said it should be fine, and others have said it'll shatter as soon as I run over a pebble... this maybe a mistake, but I'm a bit too far into it now, how much will the bulkhead flex? Will it really be enough to cause cracking? There is no filler over any panel gaps or joins, not like when I de-seamed it before, and the seams didnt crack (somehow) after a year of daily all weather use. 

 

Maybe I'm in denial... ah well, I guess I can always vinyl wrap the bulkhead if it does crack slightly. 

 

 

Not only that, but all that filler will weigh a ton. You better off getting a large steel sheet the size and shape of the bulkhead and welding it over the top of the existing bulkhead, as one large panel. Ideally it would be better to chop the bulkhead out and then weld in the panel, but plating over it would be easier, neater and take a hell of a lot less filler and tidying up after.

Edited by 1984mini25, 24 December 2015 - 05:45 PM.