Woody my 72/73 bay window resto project .......an epic tale of rust.......

Thanks mate

theres plenty more ;D

..........5th april 2011...............

last bit from the week end and the start of another "how to"

I've decided to do the rear O/S arch next, then the chassis tops, then the battery trays and then the rest of the outer rear panels.

having chopped off the outer arch (as there was a few small rust bubbles) I realised I'm going to have to do some repairs to the inner arch



Its not too bad but there are a few holes - the black is paint where I had wire brushed off some surface rust to see how much I needed repair, I wanted to protect it again now it was bare metal

I'm going to make a repair panel for the inner arch, there is a few ways of making this bit, such as beating a flange around a curved edge .....but I've yet to master that art so I'll show you how Im going to do it.

I started off with with a length of 1.2mm steel approx 1.5mr long- I was given this with a lip already bent into it, so although the lip is a couple of mm narrower than I would like Im going to use it because its free. There is a bit of surface rust which I will clean up at the end.

This is the off cut so you know what Im talking about



next I offered it up to the inner arch making sure it would cover the repair along the top of the arch opening and marked where it would start to bend. I then made some straight cuts down to the lip from where it would start to bend ...like so



I then clamped it on top of the inner arch at the furthest end from the bend Im making and gently pushed into the corner, I could then get another clamp just in front of the bend



you can see that as the panel is pushed into the bend, the straight cuts I made open out into triangular gaps and allow the metal to be bent into the shape of the arch

 

Next I got another clamp on just where the bend starts



but you can see that the bottom still wants to come in a bit as its sticking out too much



so I cut into the lip slightly like so



this relieves the tension in the metal enough to ease the bottom in a bit using a wide jaw clamp and by hand without buckling







to get the curvature even tighter and closer to the original gently hammer the lip and side of the repair









looking much tighter now

 

plenty of claps supporting the panel in place are essential, you also dont want them clamping too tight other wise the repair piece will not move when you try to form it to shap - too loose and the repair panel will fall off.

Obviously all this cutting has made the repair piece very flexible but very fragile. The more cuts you make the smoother the curve will be but be careful not to weaken it too much at this point.

So to firm it all up I tack weld at the end or the slits along the bend, the trick here is to use a low power setting .....blobby welds with poor penetration are perfect here as you dont want to weld the new repair over the top of the rusty bits.....we will be grafting it in



that should hold the shape of the bend if I have to take the repair bit off at any time.

next I use a large pair of long jaw grips like these



I adjust them so they dont clamp the new repair to the original so you have to use your hand to grip the panels together and not the "lock" on the locking grips, and gently work my way over the top bit of the repair where it starts to curve back to start forming it to shape. The key is to gently roll the grips in the direction of the bend and not just clamp them straight down - sort of gently rock the grips so the metal slips a little between the jaws

 

next I make some little filler bits for all the gaps



I find it easier to form the metal before welding in the filler bits although keep adjusting/ hammering the panel as you go



thats a few of them welded in.

then a few more welded in and trimmed down a little (always make your repairs bigger than you need so you can adjust as you go)



as the weekend time was nearly up I had to finish there, unclamped it now it has its rigidity back, and held next to the original to compare profiles



not bad so far - still a little bit of work yet





next weekend I will clamp it in place again and do any more tweeks nesecary and weld part of it properly from the rear. I still need to form part of it into the seal channel though so I wont weld it all completly

so tune in next week for another installment

 

April 7th 2011........

I got a couple of hours done today so I was back to the rear arch repairs.

I clamped it up to the bus and marked a bit more to cut off (still leaving it larger than I need) Then I decided to bend the long straight bit to slope back in.

Just having the lip on the bottom at 90 degrees would have meant the inner repair would want to go straight up like the outer panel so this bend was needed. Not sure if you can make it out in the photo



you can see the profile getting closer



trouble is now I've bent the long bit when I clamp it up the bottom is now out slightly



clamping it tight so its in the right place



throws the straight bit out



holding a straight bit of metal against the long bit you can see that I have curved to repair slightly when putting in the last bend



so I put a couple of slits in the lip to bend it straight again



and clamped back on the bus.....

 

after another 3/4 hr of bending and tweeking, bending one bit would throw it off some where else I decided that it was close enough and I would do any more tweeks after I welded it up.......which I did, ground them down and offered it up to the bus again





the welding had distorted it slightly so using my long jaw clamps I "rolled" it back to close to the right profile. I meantioned in the last post how I did this, I tighten up the locking clamp so I cant lock it, so I can only use my hand pressure to clamp down. I then start with the jaws 90 degrees to the repair piece like this



and then roll it upwards to bend the metal in like this





doing this all around the area you want to form

next I scribed around my repair peice and removed from the bus so I could see how much I had to play with

 

Obvoiusly I can only do so much with the rotten bits left on the bus, so next I cut out the rot well within the line I had scribed around the repair piece and removed it carefully as I may have to refer to it as a template

....this is what I took off



from here.....



and laying over the out side of my repair bit



pretty close, but it looks even closed laying on the inside of my repair





really please with the shape so far

next I clamped the repair back on the bus ....you can see that now I have removed some of the rot, the repair sits slightly differently against the bus.....



when I was happy it was in the right place I scribed the back of the repair along the lines of the rot I had cut off. removed repair from bus and cut just out side the lines, offered it up again to check, cut a little more off until I've got this...







you can just about see that the panel is just about cut to size, its actually still a little big as it is still clamped over the old panel at either end as can bee seen when I lay it against the bit I cut off



thats as far as I got today, tomorrow I've got an exam so Im hoping to get a bit more done after that tomorrow afternoon

 

April 8th 2011.....

today......

I bent over part of the repair peice to lead into the foam seal chanel - not sure if you can see it very well in the pic....I cut most of it off in the end. Of course bending again twisted my repair panel so I had to make a few more slits to bend it back





at this point I decide to weld up the slits to stop it moving again but before I do I check against the old bit I removed



offering it up again to the bus and groping behind to mark for the next cut......at this point Id like to remind you that after cutting metal its a good idea to get rid of the sharp edges!!! I cut my finger tips several times.

once cut I clamped back on the bus to check how it fits







At this point I only take off a tiny amount at a time as each time I remove a bit and offer it up it sits slightly differently until you get it right all the way around
pretty happy with the fit now so off it comes for some wire brushing to get rid of any rust





finally I can tack weld it on







then weld properly







thats it for today, just got to finish of the last little bit at the end then tidy it all up

 

9th April 2011......

finished off the inner arch repair this afternoon

just had the little bit at the bottom to finish off so I made a slit here



and here



so I could bend it in and get that funny little point like the original



then weld up the cuts and grind down to shape



then cleaned up, a little more tweeking then a coat of epoxy mastic.....







thats pretty close to original I'd say ....phew

I've got to have a mamoth rust wire brushing session on the last few areas under the back at some point and inside the wheel arches only accessible from the petrol tank area. Might have a fiddle with the outer arch next or put one of the chassis tops on.

I've also got to do a bit of a rebuild on the MG's steering, both doors need replacing as they have massive holes in the bottom now so I might have to spend a few week ends doing that at some point.

so much work, so few week ends

 

As you can see that was a lot of work!!

ok so there are other ways you could repair it and perhapse do it quicker.

As I said though in one of the earlier reposts, having to do the inner tub repair, the mud guard bit and in a later post the seat belt mount and surrounding area.....it would have been quicker and easier to buy a complete rear arch tub :-[

Hind sight is a wonderful thing ;D

 

Or at the least an outer arch to make the inner from... I was just realising as I read that you spent about 4-5 whole days repairing the rear part of one inner arch. I bet you did the other side quicker.

And missing welding? Look what happened to me! I love it!

 

You'r right zed, it did take a while. And what with all the other bits I repaired to it the complete arch would have been the better option. Didnt think of using an outer arch either - especially as they are much cheaper than the inner arches

The other side was a bit quicker .....think its because I didnt stop to take so many pics ;D

I'd love to go into restoration as a buisness ....I think Im too slow to make a profit though!! ;D

 

couple of posts before I get kicked off the computer

April 12th 2011...........

didn't get an awful lot more done .....

well I suppose I did but it didnt feel like it

I started to finish the mud guard bit at the bottom....the bit I'd left sticking out to form to shape at a later date.......now was the later date

this bit here



so I made a template from the other side to see what the profile was



then flipped it over so it would be right for the other side



hummm....some thing not right there???? the panel I welded on looks too big???

I'd cut the new panel directly through the bend and welded it on where it should be ....just seems too long.

holding on the outer arch then confirmed it was too long



you might be able to make out from the last pic that the bottom of the mud guard is a little bit lower than the bottom of the arch.

So I marked where it should be using the outer arch as a guide then checking with the template. The template said it should be a little lower than the markings from the outer arch but I decided to go with the marks from the outer arch so I could be sure the 2 would fit together.

all in all I had to chop off about 10 - 15mm then re bend the little fold at the bottom, then fitted the outer arch to check.....much better



so , the rear arch........I'd meantioned that I'd already chopped up my panel when I did the sills :-[ well a little more chopping reduced it to this



the cuts were mainly from the top and the front as the lower front bit was chopped off last year and welded on :-[

here it is against the bus



and what was left in comparison to what Id already welded on



look away now if you dont want to see me doing it completely differently to every one else and will probably end up making a mess of things

I choped it down to graft into the area......remember what I said about making repair panels.........measure twice cut once......measure twice cut once (so important I thought Id write it twice) always leave repairs bigger than you need and trim down by little amounts until they fit.......



bugger :-[

yes I know...Im not going to be able to fill it with weld .....or filler

un detered I decided to joddle the edge and trim it so I could use some of the rear edge from the original for a good looking seam



joddled



then welded a bit of the cut off back on
/>

drilled some holes for self tappers, fitted quite nicely.......removed it from the bus.....then remembered Id not photographed it so here it is held roughly in place





lastly I had a 15mm gap in the middle of the outside of the mud guard so I made a bit and welded it in



I say lastly.......I then had a wire brushing session - last bits in the transmission area, wheel arches inside petrol tank area and the wheel arch than painted it all. only bits of rust left to sort out now are a few bits around the Y heater tube, wheel arch other side, suspension bits/trailling arms etc and then the rear vent ...........and obviously the stuff at the front which I've not really looked too closely at yet

going to be busy the next few week ends with other things but I'll still try to get a few bits done on the bus

 

......look what I did this afternoon



even taking my time it seemed to go on really well and quite quick, dont know why it took me soooo long on the other side. Hardly any visible distortion....I'm quite pleased.



my little mistake seems to have turned out good too



didnt get round to doing this last bit though as it stared raining



I had to stick a load of duct tape over it to keep the rain off :'( ...going to enjoy degreasing that to get some paint on

 

April 19th 2011.....

dispite having a long week end I didnt get as much done as Id hoped....I was waiting around for a new radiator for my MGB they were going to have it in Friday....then Monday now it wont be in untill Tuesday so I ordered one on line along with some other bits it desparatly needs :'( , so I couldnt really get stuck into a big job Friday in case I had to go and get the rad

painted the outer arch on Friday



Sunday I welded back in the petrol tank straps



then I started thinking about the rear vents....how am I going to get rid of the rust then re paint ??? I've kind of mentaly got hung up on this bit as I dont really want to put any of the other bits back on untill I've sorted it, heres some pics









its the bits at the top and the inner faces of the vents which will be the problem......dosent look too bad in the pics .......but I dont want any rust at all!!!
cut off a bit more of the rear corner



going to cut on the swage line I think ...but not just yet

managed to get the wire brush in here a bit



one thing Im not sure about so greatful for advice is how to fit the complete rear corner around this plate/panel



the original goes behind it and is spot welded, should I drill out the welds then tuck the new panel under and try to weld through the drilled out welds??, leave some of the existing panel behind and tack weld along this bit?? or weld on the outside (I left part of the old corner incase) either way access will be difficult



lastly, dispite not wanting to put any panels back until the vents are sorted........







and also (not VW) I re skinned a door for the MG as the one on the car is nearly hanging off!!





finished....apart from paint

 

april 28th 2011.....

Dont seem to have got much done dispite being off work since Friday.

Friday I shot blasted inside the rear vents as best as I could and got rid of the last scraps of the engine lid panel.





and the other side







not great but its the best its going to get

this is what I used...



a hose on the end of the shot blaster and a wire brush welded to a bit of stud bar so I could reach the hard to get to bits with my drill

before I get too far along, last week after putting in the chassis top I decided to give it a coat of paint to protect the bare metal, I didnt want to use my epoxy mastic here as it goes on a bit thick some times. In actual fact the paint showed up all the imperfections so I would have been better off using epoxy mastic as a high build primer then flatting it down



I hadnt welded the tab which connect to the wheel arch at this point



I had decided to weld from the wheel arch side as it would be neater



welded it up on Monday...I think



back to Friday and the last bits of hindge panel removed



and scraps of rear corner



more updates to follow.......

 

right, where was I ???? ah yes on to Saturday

Saturday, spent all day on a train (day out for My dad and youngest Diddymen as they both love trains) didnt actually go to anywhere in particular but they enjoyed it....didnt get any thing done on the bus though

Sunday.........

spent most of it with the welder in pieces it was refusing to work grrrrr I took it apart several times, tested it and couldnt find what was wrong.....I eventually put it back together and kicked it out of anger .....and it started working each time it stopped I had to hit it hard with a block of wood. It worked long enough for me to.....

Get the battery tray and chassis top on the off side welded on









then a little bit of painting before I ran out of epoxy mastic I knew I should have ordered some last week grrrrr. I also dont think I had enough hardener so the paint remained tacky for a few days.......no paint is really going to hold things up

Monday I ground down some welds on the battery tray and removed the last scraps of the rear corner...Im going to try to put the new one in under the inner panel like the old one was, not sure how successful it will be yet





welded up some holes where PO's had put screws through which popped out inside the vent areas





....still more to come

 

still 28th April......

Tuesday I spent some time on the MG, couple of hours to change the radiator and coolent pipes and give it a flush through ......wrong ...all day, the radiator didnt fit properly I had to modify the mount, the pipes didnt want to play ball either and when I did get the last one on I realised I hadnt put the clip on so I struggled for 30mins trying to get it off again. It put me in a bad mood the rest of the day (or what was left of it) picked up eldest Diddymen from school and we all went to toys R us as we owed them a treat for being good ....and to cheer me up I bought a radio controlled helicopter its great fun 4 channels, great control not bad for £40

any way I digress!!!

Today the Epoxy Mastic arrived that I ordered yesterday (less than 24hrs) so really pleased. So I got painting inside the vents and all the welded parts I had done in the last few days but before I did that I wanted to get rid of the last bits of rear corner which was welded on over the old one

heres how it was



....and I've just realised I've not uploaded those photos so maybee post them up tomorrow :-[

nearly for got, on Monday the other thing I did (I think it was Monday) was to start cutting the new rear corner





masked it off to give me a line to cut along



and ta dah.....



and holding it on roughly.....



going to have trouble getting in on as it is a tight fit





but you get the idea.

Tomorrow Im going to rebuild the MGB's front stub axle as it is seized and perhapse take off one of the old doors and try to trial fit the new one
but Im just about ready to fit both rear corners

and then I noticed the engine lid hindge panel is wrong.....I meantioned about it not having the seal lip but the cut out at the top is all wrong too

I'll explain it more when I next update through the week .......hope your all getting some done whilst the weathers good

 

What do you use to cut your metal? Your cuts look really neat and straight. I'm using an angle grinder or jigsaw and I can't seem to get a straight edge. Any advice?

 

1mm thk discs and mark a sharp line - you should be able to aim your grinder so one side of the cut follows the line withing half a mm at worst. Tip = new cutting disc cuts a fatter slot until you've used it just a little, so cut a few inches of scrap first if you have something delicate to cut with a new disc.