Post by grumpynorthener on Dec 7, 2021 20:01:30 GMT
Virtually everything getting in the way of progress over this last few weeks - new tow vehicle and getting that sorted ready for work, MOT's, Towing electrics that won't communicate with the rest of the car or trailer, work on Grumpy Towers etc
But I did find a little time to complete the profiling of the nearside Javelin wing
And made a good start on the profiling of the offside
Post by grumpynorthener on Dec 21, 2021 22:27:53 GMT
Had to deliver a Jupiter rear axle for a good friend of mine but has I took the trailer to deliver it he mentioned if I could just take one of my projects that he'd been storing for several years back with me
Its about 60% of a Jowett Jupiter
I have at least another 30% of it back at the barn
Its basically a collection of parts from various sources that I have gathered over the years
I now have enough to parts to assemble a complete car - I'm going to loosely assemble the car then offer it to the market has a restoration project has part of clear out of projects that I have gained over the years
Chris - How many other (part) projects do you have scattered around the country?? Maybe a map with flags in it for your workshop as a reminder??
I think that I have them all within a short distance of the workshop now - There's at least 2 going in the next few months plus I have the old P38 Range Rover to move on over the holidays now that its replacement is sorted - come to think of it there's a Javelin outside the workshop too that I need to sort over the holidays & move on - so that's 4 that need to go
Chris - How many other (part) projects do you have scattered around the country?? Maybe a map with flags in it for your workshop as a reminder??
I think that I have them all within a short distance of the workshop now - There's at least 2 going in the next few months plus I have the old P38 Range Rover to move on over the holidays now that its replacement is sorted - come to think of it there's a Javelin outside the workshop too that I need to sort over the holidays & move on - so that's 4 that need to go
WOW and i thought i had bits everywhere. Good luck sorting all that out.
I would absolutely love a Javelin but I lack both the resources to do the work on one, or the expertise to deal with one. I do know a great bloke who knows about all this stuff and has a great reputation. Lives down Hampshire way. Unfortunately, I believe that he is a bit busy!!!
Merry Christmas Chris and thanks for all the help, tips, tutorials and entertainment over the past twelve months. It has been very uplifting at a bad time. That goes out to Lady GN and Sid also. Best wishes.
This reminds me of the story of a car friend om my father who owned more that 25 classic cars and whims wife always said that if he would die suddenly she would only know after a full year about his full collection after all that time all the different landlords of his rented garages would have come over to collect the rent.. Unfortunately he died slow enough to clear it himself but with far too much pain..
Post by grumpynorthener on Jan 5, 2022 21:13:05 GMT
Still progressing the Javelin front wings for the clubs spares scheme and now have the offside one into skimming filler
Once this one is profiled back I can get them both into primer which is just as well - the offside one is already sold and I need to make a start on repairing another one for stock
Thought that I would cover the repair of this one with some tips on how to undertake this type of work using basic hand tools
Trick with the more complex type of welded repairs is create measurement offsets - that way you can largely work with the panel off the car
Templates formed from thin card can also aid the process and reduce a lot of the guesswork - The largest mistake most people make is to just chop all of the perforated metal away and then loose any reference to work from
A cloth or vinyl dress makers tape helps with any curvatures that you may need to measure - much easier than a steel tape
If a separate reinforcing support section is involved and it can be removed - I would suggest that this is way forward - This was just retained with a few spotwelds that I drilled out
With it now removed I will utilise it to pattern in order to form a new one first
Once fabricated I can then use it has a guide / straight edge to work to for the outer panel repair
Post by grumpynorthener on Jan 6, 2022 20:18:07 GMT
Completed the profiling works on the offside front wing
So I now have a pair ready for primer
I then progressed the fabrication of a new rear support bracket for the third wing that I'm repairing - using what remained of the original bracket along with the remains of the wing profile but I also have the wing that I have just competed for checking the profile against
I started with a flat strip of steel which I formed a right angle with then used my shrinker - stretcher to form the radius curves - if you don't have access to a shrinker - stretcher there are other ways that you could undertake this - you could form the radius curves from 2 separate pieces of steel then weld them together on the right angle then add it to a straight formed right angle section or you could make pie cuts into one side of a length of formed right angle then form your curvatures prior to welding & dressing the cuts that you made
Checked the profiles against the wing that I had completed earlier
Then trial fitted against the wing that I had under repair
A little light shaping / dressing was required to achieve the correct fit
So far - so good
Then retained in place temporally with a few self tapping screws
One of the problems that I quite often see with this type of repair when undertaken by others is that they don't cut back the defective metal to a great enough extent - they tend cut back to a absolute minimum - problem here is that metal is still very thin reduced by corrosion - they then attempt to weld to the very thin metal and then go on to over thin it further when they dress the welds back - net result is a very weak repair with no strength to maintain the profile of the panel and it wont have a great life span either before it rots through again
My recommendation is to always cut back to sound metal - you will save yourself a mountain of hassle in the long run and I've not even mentioned the issues of welding very thin sheet steel - Which you will spend more time than enough burning holes through
I have opted for a rebated flange repair - this adds a little strength to flat panel repair areas and also aids to prevent distortion whilst welding the repair in
Allowances made for the return edge - when this is dressed up tight over the reinforcing bracket it will be a few mm wider
I also leave a gap between the rebate flange and the repair panel - Utilising this method I can let the weld into the rebate gap and when dressed back flush ensures that the weld is not over thinned
Tacked on the front face for now - then turned over to dress the edge tight with the hammer & dolly to the reinforcing bracket
Offset measurements checked
Whilst you don't want to reproduce a patchwork quilt effect - This type of repair is better undertaken in several repair sections due to the compound curvatures involved - Its pointless attempting to achieve hero status by thinking that the repair can be achieved in a single panel (It can but you would require access to some fairly expensive / complex machinery)
Note how the repair sections are undertaken on a methodical basis - don't remove any of the defective metal until you have to - left in place it acts as reference for profiles / repairs until you are in a position to commence the repair in that area
Now ready to form the J shape profile at the base of the wing - I'm going to use a very simple former to create the arched radius profile - I'll explain tomorrow
Post by grumpynorthener on Jan 7, 2022 21:14:18 GMT
Simple timber former fabricated from offcuts
Dressed the underside of the section down to form the radius
This is just to form a loose profile - I can further dress it with a radius dolly secured into the jaws of the vice then the repair panel can be further worked / planished
Its a fairly shallow radius profile but the edges tuck sharply
With a little rework and several trial fits
Its ready for tacking in place - still requires a bit more work but this is now better done with it attached to the wing
Tacked in
Then on to the final edge repair panel
Once tacked in I checked the edge profile against the card template that I had made up prior to cutting out the perforated damage
Again I formed this repair section by hand over a pair of dollies that were held in the vice
Flange edges of the repair sections were now dressed tight against the reinforcing bracket with the hammer & dolly - a few small tacks of weld ensured that they weren't going to move whilst the areas were further worked / dressed
I made up the 3 flange mountings and attached them with weld
Fortunately I have the other set of wings with me that I can utilise for the location measurements
The original bracket (what remains of it) a salvaged flange bracket along with a note of the location centres / placings area retained and are placed to my patterns box for future reference
Ideally anything that requires this amount of work to critical edge / mounting area requires trail fitting to a car to ensure the correct fit - fortunately I happen to have such a thing currently in the workshop - although this wing is not for this particular car - it will provide a indication to required profiles
Fitted
Then a few measurement checks
And the comparison run against another 2 wings that I have
Which confirms that the repairs are well within tolerance
But the bottom of the door which has previously been repaired poorly by others is a mile away
The rest of the profile is fine with the upper swage matching correctly
Just requires a few tweaks here & there
With the profiles to the bottom of the door being poor but with the door being at fault and not the repaired wing
Wing removed and a combination of welding from the rear & the face of the wing undertaken
I prefer to undertake the long rebated flange seams from the rear of the panel if at all possible
Utilising this method gives you the benefit of leaving the weld dressed proud rather than having to dress it back flush and run the risk of over thinning the weld or surrounding panel areas
I then cleaned up the front face and neatened the face profiles up - I'll trail fit again just to make sure everything aligns
Just a few minor jobs on the rest of the wing - a wing mirror aperture requires deletion and there's a few cage nuts at the front that require sorting