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Post by enigmas on Oct 5, 2015 8:35:43 GMT
About 3 weeks ago I was over at my daughter's home. I was speaking to her husband who told me during our conversation that her classic car was running a bit rough. So I thought I go and investigate the cause of the issue. The car is dual fuel but primarily runs on LPG so there are no issues with ethanol blend fuel. After warming it up I checked a range of things and found an intermittent engine miss...which I believe was ignition related. Using the handbrake I put it under load in idle which highlighted the issue. It's an automatic with a column shift that has considerable wear in the mechanism (next job). Unfortunately while attending to various things the gear lever dropped into reverse and the car started moving backwards (#!#!#!#!)...the hand brake also needs adjustment...and as it moved backwards the DS door caught a 'claw legged bathtub' that was placed to the side of the garage and bent backwards bending past 90 degrees. NOT GOOD! There was a bit of noise and a few choice expletives once I realised the extent of the damage. So the door was bent back creating an almighty cavity and crease. I also bent the hinges on the A pillar. The accident revealed a previous repair with lots of filler which came off in chunks! From a cursory appraisal I could see that it was going to be an awkward repair unless I could get to the outer skin from inside the door. The former/old repair was done using a lot of filler and merely filling a cavity because the repairer couldn't or wouldn't access the inner portion of the panel. So after rebuilding and repairing the top hinge, I decided to cut a section of the inner panel out to properly repair the outer skin. Here are a few of the repair pix.     |
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Post by petervdvelde on Oct 6, 2015 18:11:13 GMT
Nice job, Vince!
Peter
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Post by enigmas on Oct 6, 2015 21:06:14 GMT
Thanks Peter. I didn't take any photos of the door when it was well and truly caved in and hanging off the broken hinge as I was so aggravated with causing the damage at the time. The repair photos were taken on my phone mainly as a record for my daughter. Obviously I still need to paint the door but I've also been doing additional rust repairs that I've found along the way.
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Post by p5bdownunder on Oct 7, 2015 14:35:35 GMT
Hi Vince, Just what you needed - another job to do...! But your work is amazing. What welding...   I have a similar problem with my Rover, albeit to a much smaller extent. I opened the drivers door when the car was on an angle and it opened quicker than I had expected. I missed grabbing the inside handle so the door opened past 90 degrees. It was only then that I discovered the bracket that holds the door stay on the A pillar had already sheared off, resulting in nothing to stop the door. So I now have a dent in the door, cracked paintwork, a dented and scratched chrome strip and a vertical paint 'smudge' on the door from rubbing on the front wing. Its fairly subtle so I'll just live with it for now. I need to come up with a solution that doesn't involve welding on the A pillar - I don't need to damage the paint anymore. How are the other projects developing? |
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Post by enigmas on Oct 7, 2015 21:47:24 GMT
Hi Stu, that would be very upsetting for you! If the door is bent back far enough it can bend and/or break a hinge as well as twisting the A pillar mount. You'd have to be unlucky though...a cast iron bath will do it every time! If the door still closes correctly thank your lucky stars, although upsetting it could have been much worse. Creases are horrible things especially on enclosed panels as repairers can opt for a quick 'bog it up' repair. I hope it's easily sorted for you. As for my cars, I'm slowly 'going over' my P5 in preparation for club rego as I don't rely on it for regular daily transport anymore. At the moment I'm chasing an annoying clicking noise that only appears when the car has been run for a short period and only at very moderate braking speeds. The Magnette is very close to complete, with really just the PS window channels to be made/modified and the PS guard flared. When things get close to finishing the process seems to slow. It's the detail work that consumes time.  |
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Post by enigmas on Oct 10, 2015 8:37:02 GMT
My son in law returned home this week and I spoke to him today. I didn't have any pix of the pre-repair accident to the car door as it wasn't something I was feeling good about. Fortunately now that it's essentially repaired I don't mind referring back to it. He had these pictures on his phone.   Note the leading edge of the door where it meets the front mudguard. If you look closely you can actually see that it is folded back. Although the door is closed it had to be lifted and slammed into place. |
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Post by Phil Nottingham on Oct 18, 2015 7:33:25 GMT
Really bad luck but at least your repairs are far superior to the bodges there before. The A post design looks very similar to the P5 one!
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Post by enigmas on Oct 18, 2015 8:24:54 GMT
Yes, and the hinges are also very substantial and made from steel, not alloy like those on my P5 Phil. The primary focus of the repair (bent door) has opened a can of worms for me though. There's 'bog' (technical term) over corrosion in the bottom leading edges of the doors, also in a small section of the sill where it meets the A pillar, and at the front box section covered by the mudguard. So Sophie will get some additional repairs done gratis. As the paint is a subtle metallic aqua, it's also a pig (another technical term) to blend.
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Post by enigmas on Oct 20, 2015 11:54:51 GMT
Between a range of other tasks I've been doing some further repairs to my daughter's XT Falcon. I've managed to repair and repaint the front DS mudguard over the last couple to 3 days. The colour is a light metallic aqua. The car has seen a range of repairs over it's history so colour matching is something of a chore as there were a variety of close colour matches used prior to my intervention. The effects and angle of light on the panel can give varying effects with metallic paints which makes spot repairs frustrating to say the least. Fortunately I was able to blend the paint up to a curve in the panel so any transition is not overtly obvious.  The DS door is next for paint after some rust repair to it's lower leading edge. |
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Post by enigmas on Oct 25, 2015 11:54:04 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2015 14:57:45 GMT
'Bog' is known as 'pudding','slap' or 'poo' here.Anyone think of any more names.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2015 15:56:32 GMT
'Bog' is known as 'pudding','slap' or 'poo' here.Anyone think of any more names. I think it's a typo and he meant bodge. I hope I'm right and I'm sure he'll put me right if I'm wrong! I'll save him the trouble,if you read the post before you'll see 'bog' is Aussie filler (or,more correctly filler applied in Australia). |
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Post by Warwick on Oct 26, 2015 2:04:23 GMT
Bog is slang for body filler.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2015 10:01:10 GMT
Can you buy filler in bulk and use a cement mixer?  It has to be easier and quicker than cutting out the rot.  Then welding in steel plate.  |
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Post by enigmas on Oct 27, 2015 10:37:44 GMT
Yep, it's a very time consuming job Kev. An oxy/acetylene set and a very small tip is the way to go if you are competent with the equipment, especially on things like that door. The welds are softer and there's minimal buildup of material. If the body steel is good quality you can almost fuse the edges of a join. If you can get into the 'zone' (this is a drug free activity) Kev, it can be an enjoyable experience. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2015 15:54:38 GMT
I use a Mig as I don't really do enough to justify the rental on bottles. Originally I learnt to gas weld as at the time Migs were expensive and huge. Gas leaves a weld that's softer but I find a MIG much quicker although a gas set is much more versatile and can be used for many things other than welding.
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Post by barryr on Oct 27, 2015 21:00:13 GMT
I'm same Kev,
Learned oxy at night school but never could justify cost of mig and oxy. Mig has greater flexibility for a home rust warrior with less distortion.
Would love to have a go at oxy welding again though - it is quite enjoyable!,
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2015 10:08:32 GMT
I remember watching a panel beater taking a large dent out of a wing with a torch and a 'flipper' (looks like a bent file). What looked like an almost impossible repair was accomplished with using the torch going round in a sort of spiral motion and a few slaps with the flipper. Watching an episode of 'Wheeler Dealers' the other day (yes I know,but there was nothing else on) I saw Ed 'my old' China using some complicated thing that involved welding on keys and pulling with a bar,then breaking off the keys. It looked good but I'm wary of electric welding on moderns with all the electronic gadgetry they have. I know a guy who boost charged/started his BMW and was left with a bill for well over a grand replacing parts ( ECU I'd guess).
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Post by enigmas on Oct 28, 2015 12:44:31 GMT
Just disconnect the battery leads Kev...no need to 'juice-up' any circuits!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2015 21:49:50 GMT
I don't like taking any chances, I disconnect the alternator as well. On my modern disconnecting the battery up sets the radio and seat settings etc. The range rover has ecu all over the place, I'm not looking forward to doing any wielding on it any time soon.
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