1938 Jowett 10

Now in the workshop 



I'd be stuck without the workshop winch system 



And the initial preparation work to ready the car for the NEC Restoration Show along with some ongoing works are underway 



Rear seat removed 



And how easy is this for underfloor access 



Just remove the seat base 



And the access tray is on hinges 



Interior trim to the nearside rear removed & labelled 



I need to check what braking system it had fitted - they used 2 manufactures - this one is a 'Bendix' system 



Measurements taken to ensure the correct brake shoes are ordered 



I refitted the drum for now - plan is to rebuild the brakes at the show - amongst many other things 



Exhaust from the silencer back is interesting looks like its copper tube 



I now have to remove what's left of the inner wheelarch - its quite fragile due to being riddled with rust 



Its held in place with tacks to the timber frame of the car - construction of the cars shell is part timber / part steel 



There's more to sort than expected 



The body mountings that fasten the rear timber subframe of the car to the chassis are adrift on both sides of the car 



In turn the body has sagged opening up the door aperture to the upper section of the car but closing the gapping to the lower section 



Some of the timber frame is also detached from its mounting / fixings points but to a great extent its in the way of of the initial repairs hence its better removed 



Once the old fastenings have been renewed it will be fine to be reused 



Boot lid is in the way of progress but its not that easily removed - eventually disconnected from the frame of the car though 



Boot floor has been messed about with - the cut out was to accommodate the spare wheel which stood upright when mounted to the inner face of the bootlid - however the original & correct mounting point is the boot floor where you can see the outline - boot floor is only a thin ply sheet and will be getting replaced 



Boot floor removed 



Followed by the fuel tank 



Which is generally in good order - it require a good clean out internally and treating with the outer faces just requiring a clean up and some paint 



The timber frame that follows the rear chassis rail and supports the body frame now requires removal to allow access to the chassis which requires a few repairs 



The body requires supporting first though - so a temporary frame was fabricated 



Tacked to the chassis / screwed to the frame where required 



And braced accordingly - more tomorrow 

With the temporary bracing & support in place the rear timber subframe for the body could be removed 



The timbers are a little frayed on the ends but with new fastenings will all see further life with the car 



I could now access the chassis rail on the rear nearside 



The area where the the body mounting fastens to the chassis is very weak 



Has is the area where the chassis joins the rear cross member / bumper iron & rear spring hanger which sits outboard of the chassis rail 



Shock absorber sits on the inner face of the chassis rail directly facing the body mounting and requires removal to access the rail repairs 



Like most rust effected areas its worse than it looks 



I would always recommend protecting the immediate areas of a vehicle with a welding blanket if you are going to be welding & grinding - it only takes a few seconds of stray sparks to damage glass & trim - likewise to start a fire 



Temporary bracing tacked into place to ensure the chassis remains rigid whilst the repair is undertaken 



Note the temporary location tabs tacked onto the face of the chassis for redrilling the shock absorber mounting 



Repair plate tacked in 



Then fully welded 



Dressed back & the shock absorber mounting hole redrilled 



Then onto the rear repair - braced across the corner tacked in 



And the chassis rail supported 



Rear bumper iron also required a little support as this is fastened directly to the rear of the rail 



Some dissection / rust removal later and a new top plate is ready for welding onto the spring hanger 


 
Replacement on the end of the rail was undertaken in two halves 



Utilising this method allowed access to weld the cross member to the new section whilst the upper section was open 



Then replaced the top section and dressed the repairs back & rehung the spring to the hanger 



Derusted the rail areas and applied Bilt Hamber's Hydrate 80 



And I can now look at fabricating the body mounting for the subframe 

Enjoyed my daily fix, looks a cracking little project.

Now back in my workshop with the nearside doors removed from the B post 



The screws that secure the top of the B post to the roof rail were rusted out / loose - The B post is timber frame which covered by a steel outer skin 



Soon sorted 



Door hinge pins & bearings were all worn and allowing the doors to sag 



Replaced with new 



And the doors refitted 



I still have a problem with the nearside rear door though - Again part ash frame - part steel - the frame has lost its structural integrity - Rather than get involved with what would be great deal of work in repairing the frame - I think that I might just have a used door in store at the barn that is in better condition than this one 



Some further timber reinforcing to to the side frame above the rear inner wheelarch 



None of this is seen 



This inner trim panel covers it 



Repairs to inner rear wheelarch have been progressed 



And are now completed 



The wheelarch was then prepared & treated with Hydrate 80 where required 



Then primed - seam sealer applied once it was cured 



Then satin black to the inner face 



The repaired / primed areas of the chassis rail on the nearside were also painted in satin black 



Once cured the wheelarch panel could be refitted 



This has braced the D post / rear timber work areas and tied the structure together nicely 



More tomorrow 

Next was to sort the nearside rear door out - old one removed 



And another one that I had over at the barn was collected & fitted 



More secure and a better fit in places 



But other places like the waistline not such a good fit 



Essentially although the cars were built on a production line they were still largely hand built - No 2 cars are identical - things like miss-fitting doors  were resolved as the cars were built either panels dressed back / eased / reprofiled with body solder - occasionally the entire panel may be swapped out for another to achieve a better fit / profile on the car - I'll see where I get to with this - the swage can be rectified prior to paint - That said we are aiming for the look of a 20 year old used vehicle with patina - to some extent a used panel of a different colour would have been a everyday sight back in the day 



Although its a better door than the original it still required some insitu repairs 



Reinforcing angle plate let into the front corner - rebated to ensure that it doesn't hold the door card off the frame 



With door on I now had a radius profile to work from in order to form the forward section of the wheelarch 



swaged & formed in 2 sections 



With underside screwed in place and upper packed off the door to form the aperture clearance



The sections could be tacked together 

 

Then removed to be fully welded - Again in small stiches of weld at a time and immediately cooled with the airline blow gun to mitigate heat distortion 



Then carefully dressed back 



And refitted after I had primed the rear of it - it looks the part but the acid test is does the wing fit the profile 



So far - so good 



I call that a decent fit then 



More than happy with that 



Now with the wing still fitted I can use it to template & pattern the repairs required to the tail of the rear quarter / shroud - more on that tomorrow 

Before addressing the profiles on the nearside rear quarter panel I removed the paint down to bare metal to the waistline swage 



There's a few areas where the panel is distorted from the repair / welding process - the areas are forcing the panel profile outwards when what's required is for the panel to be profiled slightly inwards hence these areas require shrinking 



Easiest way to do it with heat - identify the areas then apply heat to a cherry red - the panel will peak outwards as you undertake this process - quite alarming when you undertake it for the first time - You need to work quickly so with the torch safely put down you need to tap the area inwards with a panel hammer whilst a dolly or panel spoon is on the rear of the panel - has you work the panel & it cools the metal will shrink leaving a slight hollow to the panel rather than the outward dish that was there previously 



Only attempt with a fine pencil flame through - use a large blow torch flame and you end up in all sorts of a pickle 



Next is to lead load the repair areas - this is how it was done prior to advent of polyester body fillers - first you need to 'tin' the areas - this is done with a solder paste - to prevent it drying out I only apply it in areas of approx 100 x 100mm at a time 



Its simply brushed on - I then apply the heat to half of the area until the dull grey turns a lighter silver colour then lightly wipe the surface with a damp cloth 



Take care not to wipe the next area of wet / unheated solder paste off the panel - then just keep repeating the cycle 



To apply the body solder you just require heat & the solder stick - but to shape it you will need a paddle & some tallow - the tallow is applied to the face of the paddle to prevent it from sticking to the hot face of the solder - different shaped paddles are available 



Apply heat to the end of the solder stick held close to the panel - has the solder stick softens with the heat you need to wipe it on to the tinned area - it takes a little practice with vertical panels - Don't apply direct heat to the panel you will just add more distortion, don't apply too much heat to the stick or solder that you have on the panel either - it will just become fluid & run off to be wasted on the floor - Don't attempt to make the solder placed to the panel look completely smooth or beautiful either - You will never achieve it   



With a light smear / oiling of tallow on the paddle you then apply heat to the solder on the panel and work it with the paddle to the rough shape required - you need to judge when it's soft enough to work - too much heat and it becomes fluid - press too hard with the paddle and you will push all the solder out of the area - I would liken it to plastering with hot metal - it cools & hardens very quickly - just a few seconds in fact - takes a little practice but its well worth doing and gives great results 



Aperture gaps can be closed / trued up with this process too 



To profile the solder back you need a body file - clean the tallow from the face of the solder with panel wipe prior to working it back with the file 



And a little muscle / work out 



Don't be tempted to dig the file in - just file across the solder surface with moderate pressure 

 

The file can be used in all directions and will start to show the high / low areas as the panel is worked 



You may well have to apply further solder to the low areas - it's easily done - you don't have to tin the soldered areas but its a good idea to remove the tallow from the face of the solder with panel wipe first 



Don't throw the solder shavings in the bin - sweep them up and put them in a bag - providing they are not heavily contaminated the scrapman will pay you money for it next time you have a weigh in - Don't be tempted to reuse the shavings / melt them into fresh solder sticks - the solder will be contaminated with tallow & steel from the profiling process and wont give anything like decent results 



Upper section now completed after a light buzz from the DA with P80's - Again don't be tempted to achieve filling minor defects or sanding them out - its nothing that a few thin skims of polyester filler wont rectify - only now you are using a few mm of filler instead of 10 / 15mm of it if the solder wasn't used 



Extended down to the tail of the panel 



And the door aperture now closed / trued up 

Please don't hesitate if you have any questions on lead loading or need information on suppliers etc 



 

I was always told to use bees wax on the wooden paddle, i will try your method next time.
Cheers

Not a problem - The 2 suppliers that I use are listed in the links below 


www.lbrestoration.co.uk/store/Lead-Loading-c48073179

www.frost.co.uk/?s=lead+loading+&post_type=product

Nearside door latching was improved on both the door & D post - the latching was simply a case of packing the keep off the D post slightly 



I had move the locator for the wedge on the D post to suit that of the new door 



And fit new door stops to gain the correct panel alignment with the D post & rear quarter panel 



With boot lid removed to allow better access for profiling the bead edge - the rear quarter panel underwent final preparation 



Followed by the application of polyester skimming filler 



Sanded back between coats it didn't take long to achieve a close profile 



Its received its final skimming since and I'll profile this back in the morning 



In between the filler curing I sorted the studs out for the rear bumper irons - these are welded on and just require dressing back in the morning 

More tomorrow