691 replies to this topic

[alchall]

Looking excellent!

 

I had the same issue with my rear seam. I just made up some new sections and welded them in. It came out fine.

 

You will easily be able to do the same with yours.

 

Keep up the great work

 

Ben

Thanks Ben!

 

I made a start, then decided I wasn't happy and had another go, not quite finished but much happier with the result....

 

First job was test fit of new panels....

 

 

 

Then whipped them off again and fitted the companion bin, although for some reason I don't seem to have any photo's of that so I'll post one another time.

 

On my first attempt I trimmed the rear panel a little so I had nice straight lines to work with, welded in some new metal and bent to shape using some slits to aid with getting the bend in the panel.

 

 

 

The result didn't look too bad but on close inspection there were a couple of little issues, first the shape wasn't a 100% match for the quarter panel and second the welds were very close to the bend, this second issue had two side effects, one was that the bend didn't have a sharp shape to it and the other being it was hard to adjust to get the shape to match the quarter panel.

 

 

So I decided to cut out further up into the rear panel, use a larger piece of steel, and cut more slits and this worked a treat.

 

 

After the first insert I went even further in with the cut out in the rear panel which made the job far easier.

 

The very top part looked like it would be trickier than it turned out to be as I would have to first shape the new piece to match the shape of the waist around the rear of the car, I was however able to make this up fairly easily and it worked at the first attempt.

 

 

 

 

 

It's fair to say I'm pretty pleased with this result but I do still have to grind the welds back and clean it all up (only done the face that meets the quarter panel for now to get it to fit) but it looks like this is going to be good, I also test fitted the quarter panel after each new section as I worked my way up the seam so it also now fits perfectly too.

 

 

Took me a few hours over a couple of days to get to this point but at least I am now happy with the result, didn't see the point in settling for something that I wasn't entirely happy with.

Edited by alchall, 29 August 2017 - 08:40 AM.

[Ben_O]

I welded on my quarter first and then made the seam up on the back panel after.

[alchall]

That was going to be my original plan but decided to do it this way to give me good access to tidy everything up inside, down side I guess was it was fiddlier to get the curvature right.

[James_eaton_thewholething]

Looks like you have done a decent job on it though

[minimissions]

Nice work this is seriously taking shape now :) cant be much more to go? :)

[alchall]

Looks like you have done a decent job on it though

 

Thanks! I think you are right, will find out for sure when I've ground the welds down but will probably do that once I've welded the quarter panel on as it will add stability and make the job easier to do.

 

Nice work this is seriously taking shape now :) cant be much more to go? :)

 

Thanks and yes it is I'm nearly there now with the main body shell, this is the almost the last major panel left to do, just the rear valance left after this. I then just have some bits and bobs such as brackets to fit, holes to drill, holes to fill (going to close up all the drain holes in the floor pan for example) and seams to seal, no doubt this will all take a bit of time.

 

I then have doors to re-skin, I'm expecting to have to patch or replace the bottom edge of the doors too as there had been a lot of water ingress in the doors, the bonnet needs to be patch up at the front too but the boot is perfectly fine, just needs it's two layers of paint stripping back. I'll then be ready to prep for paint.

[minimissions]

Fair enough still a fair amount to get through but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I only have driver side inner sill and doors to sort on my sidewalk then like you say all the little jobs that take time etc...

[alchall]

Fair enough still a fair amount to get through but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I only have driver side inner sill and doors to sort on my sidewalk then like you say all the little jobs that take time etc...

 

Would be very easy to imagine those little jobs will be done really quickly but I suspect not, I'm also going to test fit some bits and bobs to avoid having to make any alterations once painted.

[I hate Brian]

Hi great work enjoying the thread

[minimissions]

 

Fair enough still a fair amount to get through but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I only have driver side inner sill and doors to sort on my sidewalk then like you say all the little jobs that take time etc...

 

Would be very easy to imagine those little jobs will be done really quickly but I suspect not, I'm also going to test fit some bits and bobs to avoid having to make any alterations once painted.

 

Yeah I no what you mean. Hoping that they little jobs dont drag. I will be doing the same a sort of dry build like you say to avoid any probs after paint.

[alchall]

Hi great work enjoying the thread

 

Cheers 

[Marco1972]

Hi

Just read through your entire thread
Excellent work especially as it's your first one
Well done and keep up the good work

Mark

[alchall]

Hi

Just read through your entire thread
Excellent work especially as it's your first one
Well done and keep up the good work

Mark

 

Thanks Mark!

 

I couldn't do this without the help of this forum so it's nice that my own work gets a bit of attention and hopefully it can also help others who are new to this as I am!

[LAYZeBOY14]

Hey 

just spent the last few hours reading this whole project thread and WOW 
as a first timer the work you've put into this is fantastic will be keeping a eye out for completion :)

enjoy the outcome !

 

[alchall]

Hey 

just spent the last few hours reading this whole project thread and WOW 
as a first timer the work you've put into this is fantastic will be keeping a eye out for completion :)

enjoy the outcome !

 

 

Thanks mate!

 

And how spooky, I was literally just reading your project thread, amazing how much better condition yours started out in, mind you, mine does have an extra 90K miles under it's belt.