Silverbullet's resto: Bodywork

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:45 pm

Thanks Sam. I'll keep an eye out for around 100amp MIG. I used to have a small 'gasless' type from Ryobi but found that to be crap. I guess with the new inverter types, I should be able to get someone of better quality.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 4:07 pm

RSR 555 wrote:I guess with the new inverter types, I should be able to get someone of better quality.

Ah yeah? Sounds interesting

Don't want to sound rude, but less talk and more photos!!

Cheers

Bennie

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Wed Jan 02, 2013 5:14 pm

El_Freddo wrote:Don't want to sound rude, but less talk and more photos!!

Blah.. blah.. blah..

Yak.. Yak.. Yak..

BTW.. Stop spamming or I'm going to start calling you TOONGA #2

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Thu Jan 03, 2013 12:41 pm

Just a couple of shots of what I'm doing about the door...if only steel was as easy to work with as cardboard

In the steel version there are some huge gaps in the pic around the curvy bit, but these are just due to the steel springing away. Once I weld the opposite end and hold it still I'll be able to hammer it around to close the gaps and weld it shut. Musn't forget the bolt holes for the door either

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 2:34 pm

A bit more progess; this time in the window channel directly above the rusty wheel arch. I suspect this is the reason the wheel arch rusted so badly. For this patch I tried making a profile template, thinking about folding it up from sheet but thought that was too hard. So I went to the trashed drivers door (again

) and cut out a piece that I could use, adapted it to fit and used niterida's suggestion of tracing the patch before cutting the hole. Worked a treat! Best fitting patch so far.

This is the section cut from the sacrificial door

Rough patch shaped to the same profile

Ta-da! Fits very nicely. I left half of the hole for the exterior trim piece so I knew it's location, I'll grind out the other half of the hole on the patch side after it's welded in.

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:57 pm

How are you finding the welding on the outer panels on their thin sheet metal? Warped anything yet?

I hope you haven't warped anything as once it's warped it's near impossible to get rid of it! You can hide it with bog but if you're like me, bog is a very last option.

Keep up the good work!

Cheers

Bennie

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:33 pm

Despite all my pictures of patch panels, I haven't actually put welding torch to car yet

I only got the shielding gas today (D2 sized argoshield light from BOC for those who want to know) and have been practicing on my trashed door. I've got the settings spot on and cut out a big piece of the door to try and weld back on. It went pretty well with minimal distortion, I think the key is to blip the trigger, do short steps and space the steps evenly over the panel. A little worried when I discovered the maximum gap that can be bridged between panels, might have to re-work some of my patches a little. A nice thing I found is if you butt weld two bits of panel steel together, it tends to "suck in" along the seam of the two giving a bit of space to fill in later to hide it.

I'll probably go and get my rust treatment stuff tomorrow and then start welding on the car.

d_generate · Post by **d_generate** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 5:56 am

Going really well, I'd suggest treating the rust 'after' you have welded the pieces back in it as it may start to burn on the inside of the panel, buy some small rubber bungs/tits then drill holes where you want to treat the car then spray, you can get cans with a nozzel that will go into the hole then fan out also that way you can re-do it every couple of years, also welding creates rust and when welding a panel that may warp .... weld a little then hit it with a wet rag...weld....rag etc etc.

Do you know about using a lump of copper if you are filling a large hole?

Not sure where I found this (could have been here) but it's an inspiration to anyone welding/patching a car and a really good read.
http://www.aussiev8.com.au/conversions- ... pairs.html

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:02 am

my little brain is impressed with your work but trying to get head around why you think a door window sill rusting is cause of rust of wheel arch ? Surely the rust infected water drained out the drain holes below and onto the street below ??
Don't it make you wonder how hard it was to go about making these panels in the first place from a designers drawings, a clay mans workings etc ?

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:46 am

steptoe wrote:my little brain is impressed with your work but trying to get head around why you think a door window sill rusting is cause of rust of wheel arch ? Surely the rust infected water drained out the drain holes below and onto the street below ??
Don't it make you wonder how hard it was to go about making these panels in the first place from a designers drawings, a clay mans workings etc ?

I say they're related because I think the water entered the panel through the rust holes at the top, got trapped in the wheel arch seam and rusted from inside. I think that's how it works, I could be wrong. But the other side isn't rusty up top and the wheel arch is rust free as far as I can tell, perhaps coincidence

And yes I do think about all the work that goes into manufacturing cars; when you notice the whole body is just lots of little cheap pieces of pressed steel spot welded together with a nice paint job

All the hours of drafting, drawing, and then the tool making! I see how they make dies present day on computers at work, can't imagine how they did it even 30 years ago, let alone all the cars before that

Thanks for the link d_generate, that kid has some skills! A good read. As for treating the rust afterwards, I was talking about the surface rust inside the panel I can't quite reach without cutting big sections out. I'll convert the rust (got the Ranex rust buster today) then spray it with rust inhibiting paint sorta stuff. I know some of this will burn off when welding, but I'll have to live with it. Then when the car is finished I will use all the factory bung holes to spray cavity wax and fish oil inside.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 12:08 pm

Like it, Sam calling the linked welder a kid

, feel old do you Sam seeing a 17 year old at the time doing all that? Man, I have read a few pages of thirty of that post and blown away with several things - the level of rust the poor bugger is finding there, his no fear approach and his skills at cutting, welding and seeing a VN Commodore roof section will fit and do the job.

yet to see a pic of him to proov his youthfulness or what sort of welder he is using.

AlpineRaven · Post by **AlpineRaven** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 3:25 pm

El_Freddo wrote:How are you finding the welding on the outer panels on their thin sheet metal? Warped anything yet?

I hope you haven't warped anything as once it's warped it's near impossible to get rid of it! You can hide it with bog but if you're like me, bog is a very last option.

Keep up the good work!

Cheers

Bennie

If he has a mig welder - use spot weld function and do one spot a time to prevent warping. I did that a few months ago on 1mm sheet metal to replace a rust spot on a machine without warping.
Cheers
AP

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:37 pm

Mine doesn't have a spot weld function, just turn it right down and blip the trigger. Going well so far.

Jonno, lol yeah I'll call him a kid even when most people still mistake me for a 17 year old at 21 and call me "kid"

I started welding in my patches for where the door hinge bolts on; no pics yet as it's getting dark. Blew a few holes and made a few boo boos, nothing the grinder can't take care of though. Overall looking pretty good!

Oh but I probably won't be welding again tomorrow, forcast is looking hot

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 1:55 pm

Hehe, been a few days since last update and there's a good reason why

Once I welded in the 3 or 4 patches I had for that section of the door I went about grinding them down with a flap wheel and hard wheel. Silly me got a bit carried away in a few places trying to get the radii right...forgot where my welds were and ground right through

Ended up patching my patches

It's all good now and it is pretty much done, I might go over a few corners with seam sealer to seal up any pin holes that might be there. Not as good as I would have liked but hey it's all a learning experience

Post by **Bantum** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 2:31 pm

We should have a 'like' button on here ...

I'm also going to have to do this to my Brumby at some stage ...

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 5:10 pm

Bantum wrote:We should have a 'like' button on here ...

I know I'm in the habit of looking for one...

Keep up the good work Sam. There's one way to learn and I think it's the best one too - experience. You're going by leaps and bounds at the moment! Enjoy

Cheers

Bennie

NachaLuva · Post by **NachaLuva** » Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:17 pm

Great work

Don't worry bout a few mistakes here or there...we all make em. Keep the photos coming

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:22 pm

Over the last week or so I've been doing more in the engine bay, removing the gearbox, steering rack, brake system etc so I haven't done much on the body work. Not I've done almost all I can in the engine bay I decided to weld this little patch in (rear quarter window) All of this patch is hidden under rubber and trim (which is just as well because it looks crap!

)

Patch tacked in place

Welded up, bleurgh! looks hoorible, I couldn't get the welder to be consistent every time I pulled the trigger it would do something different. Not sure why, I didn't touch anything

Ground back carefully so I don't bust through it again. Don't worry about that hole, that is where the securing pin for the trim will go so it has to be widened out anyway.

Then I gave it a quick coat of primer to protect it until I can do more. I'm thinking I'll give it a light smear of filler to smooth it out and fill in the low spots. Since I'm not skilled enough to weld in flawless patches and only have to grind it smooth, I think I'm going to have to make sure all my welds are lower and give everything a smear of bog, to hide all my imperfections.

Still, from a few feet away it looks fine and it's all hidden anyway

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Tue Jan 29, 2013 6:48 am

maybe the earth clamp was givng the grief? nice work, keep it up, and bog is a wonderful thing......just saw a car last week for the first time in nearly thirty years. It was gonna be my first car but as I dropped in first thing one Monday mrning to take it to work for an inspection, some dude drove it out with his name on the papers

. It now has little bog blisters'n'cracks poppin' up in many places - but has taken a while to appear is my guess.

I then rushed to place of choice #2, test drive, inspection and paid dealers ask price - that one didn't drive off on me and no bog popping out on me ...yet !

Brumby Kid · Post by **Brumby Kid** » Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:18 am

I'm not a big fan of using bog, well not for big rust holes that is.
I prefer to use it the way you are Sam, welding up the patches first, then smoothing it out with bog.
In America it seems to be all that they use. They cover the whole car in bog, and then get a plane that matches the cars contour and smooth it to a perfect finish.
So the end result is metal, lots of bog and then paint.

Cheers Cam