I really like the idea of getting a shell dipped, but I don't have anyone all that local to Cheshire that will do it. Same goes for blasting, whichever way I'm feeling about the "which is better" debate.
I really like the idea of getting a shell dipped, but I don't have anyone all that local to Cheshire that will do it. Same goes for blasting, whichever way I'm feeling about the "which is better" debate.
The only place for dipping that I would recommend is in Preston - not exactly on your doorstep but not a million miles away either and they do a collection / delivery service if you are stuck for transport - the quality of what Ribble Technology turn out is well worth the effort - blasting does not even come anywhere close to it
We can see what needs doing now, at some point it must have had new inner/outer front wings and a front panel as they were perfect apart from being brazed on, nothing mega thankfully with rot in all the usual Viva places and not too many previous repairs/bodges to sort out, what does need repairing though is lots of converging panels and complex shapes and as usual there are no panels available for repairs
Cheers, I might get in touch and see what pricing is like. I do feel the need to get some structure back into the car first, though.
I can advise on that - for a shell & all loose panels to be dipped & primed is circa £1500 + vat - sounds a lot but believe me its well worth the expense - my days of scraping underseal off while laid on my back or even stood up are long gone - likewise for digging filler out of bodged areas and stripping acres of paint - and you still cant get into the rusted seams without chopping them out - dipping resolves all of that - I worked out that for myself to bare metal a shell completely with all materials / abrasives / stripper / time that the cost was in the region of £4 - £5k - then there's all the mess involved - dipping even taking into account the transport there and back is at least half that cost - makes a far better job of bare metaling and they normally turn a shell + panels around in a week for me instead of the several weeks it takes me to do the process manually.
We can see what needs doing now, at some point it must have had new inner/outer front wings and a front panel as they were perfect apart from being brazed on, nothing mega thankfully with rot in all the usual Viva places and not too many previous repairs/bodges to sort out, what does need repairing though is lots of converging panels and complex shapes and as usual there are no panels available for repairs
Glad that someone else has seen the light with this process - for me its the only way to bottom out a proper restoration without the fear of encountering rust problems at a later date - its just a clean sheet process and you know exactly where you stand with the bodyshell & panels
Cheers, I might get in touch and see what pricing is like. I do feel the need to get some structure back into the car first, though.
I can advise on that - for a shell & all loose panels to be dipped & primed is circa £1500 + vat - sounds a lot but believe me its well worth the expense - my days of scraping underseal off while laid on my back or even stood up are long gone - likewise for digging filler out of bodged areas and stripping acres of paint - and you still cant get into the rusted seams without chopping them out - dipping resolves all of that - I worked out that for myself to bare metal a shell completely with all materials / abrasives / stripper / time that the cost was in the region of £4 - £5k - then there's all the mess involved - dipping even taking into account the transport there and back is at least half that cost - makes a far better job of bare metaling and they normally turn a shell + panels around in a week for me instead of the several weeks it takes me to do the process manually.
Thanks for that. I'm not sure I can justify that cost, to be honest. It's not a customers car, and the time isn't being taken away from something else - it's not as if I could be doing something else profitable in the time I'm spending scraping underseal. I may re-think that, though.
A few pictures of the drivers side rear lower quarter with the spare wheel well, luckily I had an aftermarket arch I cut some small section out of to help with the repair, they are not a good fit as the swage line is the wrong size as its designed to nosh over the top
I don't have pictures of the curved former but it was just a piece of hardwood, cut a curve through it with a jig saw to match the existing curve then clamped the steel between the 2 halves and knocked the flange over, once you've got the flange it holds its shape nicely, there is also normally a dimple with a drain bung in the bottom which I didn't do until it the panel was fully welded.
Onto the passenger side lower rear quarter, again in old car terms it really is solid, just lots of fiddly bits to do, with the repair panel I fabricated I just cut 2 strips of steel and taped them to a piece of sheet steel on opposite sides one above and one below the swage line, a quick squeeze in a decent vice and we have a nice swage, with the curved end I used a piece of hardwood with a dimple/bowl shape ground into it to use as a former rather than a sand bag
Back on the passenger side rear lower quarter but the inside part now, Its not always Ideal but it works better for me to get the outer patching done and correctly shaped and then tackle the inner
Again nothing special tool wise was used just a flat piece of ply with 2 bits of 3mm Perspex shaped for the 2 dimples fixed to the ply and then plenty of hammering, all the angles were formed after the dimples
A little bit at the usual place on the chassis rail replacing a bad previous repair, windscreen lower corners done
Anorak time, you can tell its a later shell, see the little slot with holes either side on the dash that's where the chassis plate goes, on the earlier cars it was just fixed to the bonnet slam panel
The boot floor was in a poor state, the carpet or whatever was in it had held the water/damp and the metal was wafer thin and perforated in so many places, time to get creative with no special tools again! I basically made a plywood frame giving the curve of the floor, fixed a sheet of steel to the frame, found some tube that when split down the middle gave me the correct shape for the ribs which were then tacked to the steel, lots of clamps and hammering gave me a suitable repair panel, I put a 90 degree bend on it where it drops down into the fuel tank recess to give it a bit more strength and help counter any distortion when welding
That's a nice repair on the boot floor - when I did the same place on my hatch I had a quick stab at the ribs, but I think I ended up welding them in separately.
That's a nice repair on the boot floor - when I did the same place on my hatch I had a quick stab at the ribs, but I think I ended up welding them in separately.
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I did try to weld the pinholes up but even with a heat soak on the back the remaining metal was dissappearing faster than I could weld it! Stupidly I left the former there when I was finished otherwise I could have bashed a few more out!
This was built at the Ellesmere Port factory and perhaps it was just different times then but some of the factory welding is shocking, in this picture the bottom of the sill/flange is not straight, inside the sill just below the corner curve of the B post is a closing panel, this had not been fitted correctly from the factory and caused a bend in the bottom of the sill, the last 1/3rd of the sill was barely touching the inner sill!
Without pulling the side of the car off the only option was to unpick the last 1/3rd of the sill, poke something long and thin down between the inner and outer sill to push the closing panel out of the way and then refix the sill in the correct position, I don't seem to have any pictures of the finished result
