Steep learning curve

I think this is exactly what has happened. I can just get my finger on t'other side of bolt. I'll get a bit splitter under the wing

resto_d1 said:

I think this is exactly what has happened. I can just get my finger on t'other side of bolt. I'll get a bit splitter under the wing

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You should only have bolt heads under there as they should bolt up through the inner wing and there are large flat nuts set in the plastic washer bottle feet, well that's how mine are.

Yeah the nuts are no longer secured to the feet so the fcukrrs spin

Grind the heads off under the inner wing, the heat will help free the remaining stud up in the nut.

I have removed them before and just replaced them with nuts and nylocs with penny washers.

Definitely getting better at the metal fettling and know my welder now. Stuff is far less daunting. I was wondering how the he'll is do the mount and the pillar when I first got it. Anyways, I tied the existing pillar into my repair. Really chuffed with how it worked out. I opted out of 2mm and used 1.2mm as I could bash and bend as I went. Yes a purist may have butt welded but i knew I'd do a better job overlapping a bit and could go hot without risk. It will all be full of wax anyway. It's slowly becoming more grey. I would actually like the whole car in this airfix grey colour - like it!

What a fcuking James blunt
This has stolen my enthusiasm lol

Does that mean your over 1/2 way round?
Keep up the good work

Not yet. I need to finish my arch repair boot floor, do there patches, repair window surround then I can go into drivers rear I think. I was hoping to be roadworthy by October but think my programme is a tad optimistic! I am not going abroad now this year so potentially have a week of smashing though landy in Sept. I think I'll order boot and a load of supplies and try and get most the major work done then!

Any smart ideas guys on a tidy repair here? I walked away from it yest to give it some thought and perhaps get some input from yourselves.

I am thinking:

Weld in 'bottom' plate to fill gap. I may take this right to edge of roof and weld in at a 90 outer fillet. As you can see, theres scabby leftovers I cant get at without welding in to roof edge. Tab end of this sheet to spot weld holes shown drilled out. Hopefully I can get the welder over the top here to do spots.

Weld in an end cap, butting in to my new bottom section and somehow tidying up end.

Weld in side panel to the above (straight forward)

To finish, weld in top panel. Rather than trying to bend, tie in to existing beam up to a point then butt it up against the roof itself and run a bead?

So magenta patch first, tapping into existing spot weld holes, then anchor green to magenta and stitch into body, follow that with blue which will tie into green then finish up with a panel to seal between blue and roof....

resto_d1 said:

then I can go into drivers rear I think.

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Oh dear, something wrong in my head lol

That looks like it will be fun to weld up Both sides that is

One bite at a time and keep plugging away until it is done then move on to the next bit, nothing worse than having a half dozen areas that are not quite finished.

Like the CAD, nice when you knows how

Your plan is pretty feasible although I would probably try and bend the blue/magenta in one piece as it minimizes the globs of molten metal making a bolt for your sleeves

Let me know if you ever want anything properly drawing up. I'm going to have to do a few dims drawing for mine for the tank cradle bracket. I'll pdf and upload once done. Yeah I did think that 're bending but thought it would make getting the green in a pain! I don't mind a few shots down the sleeve - kind of conditioned now. Got to the point where I feel weld spatter hit and rather take the burn than mess up my weld haha

I'll have gauntlets over long sleeve too

I was trying not to let the feeling of my hand set on fire distract me Friday but I did have to pause and reposition when the heat got a bit much lol

You might well get some measurements to turn into a CAD file for a HD rear bumper, would only need send the file to the laser cutting guy to butcher up some 5mm plate then weld it up when it gets here

Yeah that's fine mate. I'll prob need one at some point too. Front is sorted with winch hole ready

Well Its been an evening of contemplation, realisation and arson. I had a little bit too much smoke when welding for it to be just seam sealer. When welding near the roof of the nearside smoke started coming out the rear lights inner on offside. Was a bit of a twitchy bum moment and I blew the extinguisher down the hole for fear of loom damage. I'm pretty sure it's just lights feeding off there though. That was the arson part.

I then thought I'm being a tit welding with all the mess around me so sacked it off, cleared up and tried to remove any fire hazards and make the job easier. Headliner out, skylight out.

Contemplation and realisation set in in unison. What the f*€k am I doing and why the f€@k is this machine so rotten. I realised my 'tidy up a disco, make it nice then use it for the dog, winter and fishing' initial plan was long gone.

I looked at the now near bare shell and thought I'm not giving in on this so I want to make this as good as possible. I think winter completion may be out the window. I've booked a w3ek off in Sept to try and smash all I can welding wise. Hopefully I'll have boot etc all ready to go and put in some 8 till 8 shifts on It! In conscious welding weather will soon run out.

So, summary, I have to mess about with most panels including roof. I respect of some sort will be on cards. Probably raptor based or a flat military colour that I can do here without a compressor.

Some pics of where I'm at!.....

resto_d1 said:

Contemplation and realisation set in in unison. What the f*€k am I doing and why the f€@k is this machine so rotten. I realised my 'tidy up a disco, make it nice then use it for the dog, winter and fishing' initial plan was long gone..

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Welcome to the real world = broke, burned, bollixed and berated

I'm still a tad paranoid the thing is going to burn but there isn't really much there to burn now

I still want this 'oem plus' look from it. I want it to be a trophy of my blood, wages and spatter scars rather than just a mud pig. I know very little about the off road gear - I have 2" lift terrafirma shocks and blue springs to suit - are they well rated? Didn't like special but as I said all new to me. I don't know that I want her that high but that may be due to the big insa turbos on her - those, I don't like. I've only driven the car twice and instantly thought they had to go.

I want it raised a tad and capable of mild lanes etc but not a monster truck. @dieseldog69 is yours 2" suspension lift?

resto_d1 said:

I'm still a tad paranoid the thing is going to burn but there isn't really much there to burn now

I still want this 'oem plus' look from it. I want it to be a trophy of my blood, wages and spatter scars rather than just a mud pig. I know very little about the off road gear - I have 2" lift terrafirma shocks and blue springs to suit - are they well rated? Didn't like special but as I said all new to me. I don't know that I want her that high but that may be due to the big insa turbos on her - those, I don't like. I've only driven the car twice and instantly thought they had to go.

I want it raised a tad and capable of mild lanes etc but not a monster truck. @dieseldog69 is yours 2" suspension lift?

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Yep +2" lift and running 235/85 16 tyres (32" in old money), I ran standard height for about 5yrs and only lifted it to get a bit more clearance on articulation.

Tyre size comparison from what it came home with to what I fitted.



What size are your current tyres?