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May 18, 2024 22:24:40 GMT
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I've prepared the boot floor by welding up all the holes I didn't need and welding on the brackets for the spare wheel straps. All of the patches in the picture below are the holes that needed welding up. ![](https://i.imgur.com/e1F5DpS.jpg) This is the other side of the boot floor with the welding areas cleaned of paint ready for weld through primer and with the holes for plug welding drilled. ![](https://i.imgur.com/VrbaFAh.jpg) I've also repaired the inner chassis rails and the rear strengthing panels ready for the boot floor to be fitted. ![](https://i.imgur.com/4Q8KN3R.jpg) The boot floor is now in position and clamped and screwed in the correct place. I've checked everything for level with a spirt level and measured it to ensure its in the right place. Tommorrow will hopefully be the start of the welding for it.
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Not sure why I missed the last photos off but here they are: ![](https://i.imgur.com/P04bKhQ.jpg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/QVgGaBX.jpg)
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May 20, 2024 15:48:51 GMT
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I had a day off work today and as the wife and kids were at work and school I had some time to crack on with the Frogeye (once I had done the jobs my wife left me!): First I repaired the offside rear inner wheel arch, this was it after grinding it back. ![](https://i.imgur.com/JvaPIqo.jpeg) Then I refitted the rear shock absorber mounting panel. ![](https://i.imgur.com/B7zLfxO.jpeg) Next I made a piece to repair the lower section of the rear centre panel and welded it in a bit at a time, this took quite a while as I had to cool it down with an airline as I went along tacking every 6" or so. ![](https://i.imgur.com/R2g0pmC.jpeg) This was it after grinding. ![](https://i.imgur.com/lb74619.jpeg) Next job will be the nearside rear inner arch repairs and the shock mount and then I can turn it back over, weld the boot floor to the top of the spring hanger, sort out a few bits around that and look at removing (carefully) the rear wings to see how i'm going to repair them. At around £1200 for a pair I need to repair them to stay on budget.
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Right as promised a bit more progress, first the nearside rear arch came in for a bit of love: ![](https://i.imgur.com/mq2asuL.jpeg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/5jWAHk4.jpeg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/PadaGLn.jpeg) Then the nearside rear shock mounting panel had a few localised repairs before being ground bag and welded on (no pictures of it in situ for some reason). ![](https://i.imgur.com/UUR4gSJ.jpeg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/u73Wzjc.jpeg) Once this was done I put the rotisserie back on, turned the car the right way up and put it back onto the tressle to weld the front of the boot floor in: ![](https://i.imgur.com/d879NeM.jpeg) and then welded the spring hanger box to the inner arch on the nearside (offside still needs a bit of work). i.imgur.com/CzZBuc5.jpegWhen this was done I started removing the rear wing, fortunately the rear wing to rear panel seam was quite rusted and the seam filler had mostly gone. I used a mixture of a hacksaw blade, a grinder and a thin chisel to seperate this. ![](https://i.imgur.com/2FAL80N.jpeg) Then it occured to me that I needed to make a template of the rear arch before I removed the wing so I could make a repair panel. I used a large piece of paper and cut this out with a scapel, this didn't work very well and a pen mark with scissors is probably a better plan in future. To make sure it was circular I worked out the centre point of the arch and drew a line with a pen on a string (hopefully its right and will work!). ![](https://i.imgur.com/vkPeb4J.jpeg) I finished removing the spotwelds on the rear wing and removed it to reveal the true horror: ![](https://i.imgur.com/CDCxRaV.jpeg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/jXUKfKn.jpeg)
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Jun 15, 2024 22:55:37 GMT
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Its been a while due to a nasty chest infection but at least I had time to order a few bits which were the seam strips for the rear wing and a repair for the lower corner of the offsider rear wing.
I made a new rear arch using my template:
When finished it looked like this:
The rear of the door looked like this:
This will need a bit of adjustment!
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,904
Club RR Member Number: 40
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Door fit looks OEM to me… James
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Jun 20, 2024 21:53:46 GMT
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I've made a bit more progress this week.
Firstly i've finished repairing the rear of the inner wheel arch and the filler panel that joins the rear wing to the boot floor.
Then I've tacked the rear wing rear corner repair in place and the outer wheel arch repair.
I had to widen the rear seam by cutting a line, opening it up, welding up the gap and grinding it back, I also welded the rear corner repair in. I cooled the weld with an air line as I went. I couldn't joggle and overlap this because of the curve.
Finally I fitted the wing by screwing it back in place with self tapping screws and then cut a slot in the front of the wing to get the door gap right and made a new piece for the lower section and welded this a bit at a time cooling it as I went to reduce distortion. Doing it this way results in a very blobby looking weld but at least distortion is low.
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Jun 24, 2024 10:56:14 GMT
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Good work - nice to see!
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Jun 30, 2024 20:43:49 GMT
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With the repairs to the rear wing mostly complete I put a coat of paint on to protect the bits you wouldn't see once fitted and hence can't paint and then offered it up for the final time. ![](https://i.imgur.com/6PrvT47.jpeg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/Xr8Yjtd.jpeg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/sRyjZTC.jpeg) With a variety of screws, clamps and mole grips i got the wing in postion and then welded it on, it was only then that I realised that the lower seam was crooked. ![](https://i.imgur.com/53Fu2IY.jpeg) A bit more cutting and welding say this put right. ![](https://i.imgur.com/2ghOXi4.jpeg) Then I finished welding around the wheel arch lip. ![](https://i.imgur.com/kiH1PnQ.jpeg) And finally I welded on the tabs that hold the fuel pipe in place. ![](https://i.imgur.com/7z92lc7.jpeg)
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Great work. When I first got my Sprite (1960!) I tried to fight the rust on the seam sealing strip by local paint bubbling removal then repaint. That only worked for a couple of years. I then had to fill in rust gaps in the bead and repaint.... Then I stripped off the bead and had a smooth seam. This lasted better but always looked wrong. So I then bought a new strip of sealing trim and tried cutting the bead off. I then tried various methods of attaching it without distortion including soldering but ended up welding in tiny areas, blending and filling, then repaint. There was no way that I could have split the wing to do a correct repair as you have done! Some future owner of my Sprite will no doubt be cursing the - Bl**dy bodger who did cheapo "repairs".... ![::)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/eyesroll.png)
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Great work. When I first got my Sprite (1960!) I tried to fight the rust on the seam sealing strip by local paint bubbling removal then repaint. That only worked for a couple of years. I then had to fill in rust gaps in the bead and repaint.... Then I stripped off the bead and had a smooth seam. This lasted better but always looked wrong. So I then bought a new strip of sealing trim and tried cutting the bead off. I then tried various methods of attaching it without distortion including soldering but ended up welding in tiny areas, blending and filling, then repaint. There was no way that I could have split the wing to do a correct repair as you have done! Some future owner of my Sprite will no doubt be cursing the - Bl**dy bodger who did cheapo "repairs".... ![::)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/eyesroll.png) The bead isn't a great design, I suppose it was the best they could do to make the seam look more intentional and cover up any slight variances in panels.
At least with what you have done its kept the car going and it has survived long enough that if someone in future wanted to restore it they can. Mine has had some really bad repairs but it keep it together for long enough for me to get hold of it so I can't knock the previous owners. When they did those repairs it was just an old wreck that they were trying to keep together to get to work or similar.
Seperating the bead wasn't as bad as it sounds because the seam strip was so rotten in places you could get a hacksaw blade or a thin chisel to split the spot welds.
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I was waiting for some more grinding discs to arrive so that I can grind back the rear wing seam inside the boot, to keep me busy last night I removed the near side front inner wheel arch which was rotten: ![](https://i.imgur.com/c2DrKIU.jpeg) Tonight I fancied making up the replacement panel for this so started by making a wooden template for the outer section. ![](https://i.imgur.com/tenyJA4.jpeg) Then I cut a piece of steel the right size, clamped it to another piece of wood and formed all the edges which left me with this: ![](https://i.imgur.com/JyqjDbN.jpeg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/xF5MQwa.jpeg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/69ov3jj.jpeg) It needs a bit of finishing off and then I can make the centre section which I will weld to the outer section before welding to the inner.
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Nice classic metalworking skills!
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A bit more progress this evening, I made the centre section of the front inner arch and then spotwelded it onto the new outer edge: ![](https://i.imgur.com/8amWaGi.jpeg) ![](https://i.imgur.com/4tgVU6Q.jpeg) I then set the inner arch position up relative to the other one and welded it into place. ![](https://i.imgur.com/lrqIbc0.jpeg) Next job which i'm not looking forward to is the top bulkhead repair, if truth be told I should have done this before as some of the work I did to the A posts might need to be undone to fix this.
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jjeffries
Part of things
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Posts: 771
Member is Online
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Great work. Gutsy! Just like the Mk2 Jag.
John
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Jul 12, 2024 13:42:13 GMT
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Next task was to bite the bullet and remove the bulkhead panel: ![](https://i.imgur.com/IfEX1fv.jpeg) I then found that the battery tray was in worse condition that it originally seemed and so that was chopped out and a new one made, had a bit of phone trouble so not many pictures taken. ![](https://i.imgur.com/i44ghUW.jpeg) The battery tray was welded into place and then I started to make the new bulkhead which is about as far as I have got so far. ![](https://i.imgur.com/ifMeNOM.jpeg)
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Jul 16, 2024 20:28:21 GMT
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I've been in the garage a little bit over the last few days and have been continuing with the bulkhead panel.
This was the centre of the old panel that I had as a reference.
The worst part of this was where someone had tried to repair the two pressed areas and made a hash of it. This was it from the rear.
Recreating the flat section with holes in is of course no problem but the pressed areas are another issue. Without the aid of a press and the right tool it was going to be difficult and making something was probably not going to look great. Then I had a thought, the old floor pans had a similar pressing at the end of the flutes.
A couple of these chopped up and welded together gave me this.
I was then able to position this on the bulkhead panel, clamp it in place, cut around the four sides and then weld it in using a series of tacks cooled down with an air line. This went well but the grinding up less so as this seemed to introduce a fair bit of distortion. You can see the wavey edge below.
What this really needed was shrinking (and someone who has the skills to do it) but nothing ventured nothing gained. I've read a lot about shrinking and it seems the best way is with oxy acetalyne which I don't have, next best is a shrinking disc which I don't have and last (and in some peoples opinion totally useless) is a shrinking hammer which I also don't have.
A shrinking disc seemed like the best thing to try, these are a stainless steel disc that you fit to the angle grinder and run over the high sport and then when its really hot you cool it with a rag. I don't understand the science side but the theory is that you heat it and it expands and then you cool it and it shrinks back slightly smaller than it started.
As I don't have shrinking disc I started to think what else I could try and hit upon the idea of a fibre disc (not flap disc) turned the wrong way around so it doesn't grind, just produces friction.
This was a a partial success and I think if you had some mild oil canning would probably be exactly what you needed.
This was the result, slightly better but not perfect.
Next came the trial fit.
Then the bonnet hinge boxes were fitted, I probably won't be using these but just in case I ever go back to rear hinged I fitted them.
Finally it was fitted into position and i've started the welding.
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79cord
Posted a lot
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Must have been awfully tempting to replace the pressed bulkhead panel stiffeners with simple folded angle welded upon the inside. Suggests you're actually keen to keep it looking original! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Must have been awfully tempting to replace the pressed bulkhead panel stiffeners with simple folded angle welded upon the inside. Suggests you're actually keen to keep it looking original! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Yes, i'm trying to make it look as close to original as possible but with the limited budget that I have available.
The bulkhead panel is available but at around £150 plus postage isn't affordable for me, the one i've made is quite good (if I do say so myself) but heat distortion has been and still is a problem.
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79cord
Posted a lot
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Jul 18, 2024 10:16:36 GMT
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No doubt many originals had obvious wrinkles & warping from the pressing operation too..
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