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Sept 4, 2024 21:07:03 GMT
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MG TA Nr 1932, MG YA Nr 1675, Spartan Kit Car 3.0 V6 Essex Story how to build a carbon hardtop " MG TA hardtop " you find it on mgexp
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 669
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Cheers guys. With the enforced wait for another controller, I thought I might as well paint the plasma table. The leftover paint from the Healey tank would do nicely. Thinned it with some acrylic thinners so it would spray, took the table outside, cleaned with wax and grease remover and masked bits of it. Here’s the result, can’t wait to get the electric bits finished. Quite pleased with that, for how little effort was involved. I should mention that it appears possible to restore the controller to factory settings, but the vid I partially watched confirmed that it was much more sensible to spend $13 on a replacement. Did a little bit of fiddling with the Triumph. Don’t think I’ve owned up to it on here previously, but the fit of the rear windscreen was very poor. Somehow I missed fitting it before painting it. It needed extra clearance along both sides and the forward edge. It’s a lovely ally casting so it was just a matter of grinding a few mm off, where required. And of course, repainting it. Next job is to add some bits to the bonnet, then the spray gun fun starts again… Also I want to try and remove the scratches in the glass. There are lots of them, and some quite deep. Looks like the car was used as a storage bench at some time in the past. Thanks.
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Sept 5, 2024 11:08:13 GMT
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I have total admiration for your efforts, talents and tenacity! I go back to slide rules and log tables so, despite keyboard bashing for many years, I restrict my IT to .....asking my grandson!
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 669
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Thanks Phil. You’re lucky to have someone to ask, with so much of this stuff knowing who to ask is a big problem. I too used log tables, though I wouldn’t know where to start with them now! Back on the Triumph, adding the small pieces to the corners of the bonnet. I had made a template of each corner using the dirty-finger tracing method, before taking the bonnet off the car. Found a piece of aluminium the same thickness. Sanded both bits back to shiny metal and clamped it in place. And that’s the last pic I took because anger and frustration do not a photographer make. You guessed it, the tig was not cooperating. I eventually got the bit of ally stuck on, but there would have been a lot of satisfaction in taking a BFH to the bl00dy tig. I tried four different filler rods, varying the amps from 40 to 75, and the ac balance from 3 to minus 3. Really, nothing made any difference. I just cannot get the base metal to form a nice shiny, or even dull, puddle. It just looks like I’ve been visited by a metal eating pigeon. And it just takes so long, all damn day to do a couple of short welds. While I’m having a whinge, does anyone else have a problem with their welding helmet pulling their hair? The thing I’m using now is a Weldclass, upper range, and it pulls my hair. I thought it might be because I needed a haircut, but it still does it even after a visit to the barber. And it damn well hurts. This is a replacement for the one I threw to the ground in frustration last time I couldn’t get an ally weld to happen. The hair pulling is why I bought a better one, hoping the thing might be less painful. Anyway, time to get off my soapbox. Thanks.
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I had the same problem welding the 1960 Landrover I used to have, then I saw a TV program where a pro had thecsame issues on a Landrover, the alloy they used had a lot of impurities in it apparantly.
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teaboy
Posted a lot
Make tea, not war.
Posts: 2,063
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I wear a hat when I’m welding.
They are just a thin skull cap type thing, not a top hat. 😀
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75swb
Beta Tester
Posts: 1,041
Club RR Member Number: 181
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Yeah, old landrovers are brimabright or something, which I think is an ali-magnesium alloy? Either way I'm not looking forward to repairing the corroded rear light holes of my series 3. I wonder if this is similar, and welding new pure ally to older either intentionally or unintentionally less pure material is part of the issue?
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Sept 8, 2024 19:42:29 GMT
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Trying to weld to old aluminium is always a nightmare due to impurities.
Maybe time to think about bonding on a repair panel with one of the new 3M panel adhesives the modern car makers use?
I was also going to advise wearing a thin skullcap for the welding helmet.
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Sept 8, 2024 19:47:40 GMT
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That's what I did for subsequent repairs, cut the damaged area back to flat non corroded metal, bonded a piece in from behind then another piece on the front to fill the hole, fine for areas you can't see from behind but not ideal for the single skinned bonnet and doors.
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gazzam
Part of things
Posts: 669
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Sept 10, 2024 6:48:28 GMT
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Thanks for the replies men, I’ll look for a scullcap. Maybe it could be fixed semi permanently to the helmet, to make it a bit more convenient.
I eventually got it welded. And once the pigeon droppings are ground back, it looks normal.
Now to strip all the paint off. Then, once I have the clutch back and the motor/gearbox back in, a trial fit. Then paint. Sounds so easy doesn’t it?
Thanks.
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Tamber
Part of things
Shattered. Held together by spite and tape.
Posts: 327
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Sept 15, 2024 23:30:38 GMT
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Trying to weld to old aluminium is always a nightmare due to impurities. Also, apparently, the oxide layer that forms on aluminium slowly grows thicker over time, so even if good quality aluminium was used back when a part was made... several decades later, the layer of oxides will be quite thick (as far as oxidation layers go), and the oxides are denser than pure aluminium, so tend to sink into the weld pool rather than floating on top. (I ran into a similar problem when I tried to weld to the manifold on the RL, ended up having to use modern adhesives instead.) It's always a bit of a losing battle, trying to weld older parts up like that, unfortunately. But there's ways around it, these days!
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-< Welder. Allegedly a mechanic. Bodger of Things >- * 1958? Bedford RL - Progress: Glacial. * 1994 Skoda Favorit - It's baaaaaaaack! * 2018 Herald Classic - Off the road, indefinitely.
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