Project 1975 Ford Granada Coupe - Lots & lots of tinkering

[Felly Magic]

This clearly is AutoSOSige, and that Escort is looking superb, serious skills going on here

[matt27]

I wish I had the time/equipment/space /skill for such a restoration. I entrusted the bodywork for my Mini to a 'specialist' which turned out to be a huge mistake!

 

I love reading threads like this and seeing the effort that goes into some of these cars.

 

Sent from my LG-H870 using Tapatalk

[Sudsprint]

Truly a brilliant thread.

[Broadsword]

After viewing a couple of XK8s, I'm unsurprised at the rot you discovered on one. Chances are there is plenty more all along the underside. Check the rear quarters from inside the boot, they rot for fun there.

[TripleRich]

I've made another chunk of progress on the car over the past few weeks.  I wrote out a list today of all the remaining metalwork left to do and its only one page long.  I'd like to get the shell in for paint soon, but I'm not rushing myself

Started off back inside the car on the drivers seat mount.  It would appear that the original owner was a large person.  The mount for the seat has cracked and partially collapsed on the corner that takes the weight as you get in.  I cut it out and set about making a repair.

After seam welding I ground the repair smooth and moved onto the next area.

Which was to take the transmission tunnel back to bare metal and paint it.  Plenty of this work left to do.  I'm doing bits as and when to avoid getting bored.

After cleaning with panel wipe I painted the area.  That completes the floor painting so next I'll move onto the bulkhead.

Next was to line up the front end for real.  I have fitted the panels once before the car went on the roller but that was a long time ago and I didn't fully gap anything.  I suspected I'd find some issues this time round.  After all I welded the front together using some axle stands and guesswork.  We have much more gear now for doing that sort of work and I've gained a fair bit of experience in metal since then.

I put the bonnet on first and set a nice gap to the scuttle.  The means the bonnet is pointing straight ahead so now the rest of the panels must meet and follow it.  When setting up panels the bonnet must not be moved unless you can prove it has an alignment problem of it's own.

First issue I found was that I'd managed to put one of the bonnet hinge panels about 10mm too far back.  I removed it, cleaned up the area and used the bonnet to tell me where it should go.  Had I done that in the first place I wouldn't have had a problem.

Happy it's now correct I welded it back into place.

Next I fitted the wings and found some issues..

The drivers wing gap closes right up at the front of the car and the passenger wing opens out.

At the bulkhead and around the scuttle corners the wings gap well so something is wrong at the front.  At this point I sought help from Robin the head fabricator.  We established that both chassis legs are perfectly straight so the issue is with the 12 replacement panels that make up the engine bay.  I made some measurements and suggested the top slam panel needed to be pushed towards the drivers side by at least 5mm.  This would solve the wing gaps and also make them line up better with the bolt holes.

Robin then stuck a big screwdriver through the hole for the bonnet latch in the car to see if it missed the hole in the bonnet.  It did miss the hole for the bonnet and we know from earlier that the bonnet is bang on.  This confirms that the top slam panel is over slightly.  Its due to one of the inner wings being slightly misshapen from 20+ years of storage. You can see below how the inner wing is tapering out as it moves towards the front.

So using a 10 ton porta power levering on the drivers side inner wing around the headlamp and pushing from the chassis leg on the other side the issue was slowly creaked and groaned away.  Years of experience in accident repair teaches you how to use one of these properly so I assisted with Robin leading the way.

The results speak for themselves...

The car now gaps all round rather well.  I'll repair and work each panel individually over the next few weekends to ensure the best possible fit.  For now I've trial fitted everything and will start working down my list next weekend.

The lump of red in the background is a Mk3 Capri bulkhead.  Its being used to replace about 40% of the Oselli Capri bulkhead which can be seen behind it.  That car was bodged up after a nasty accident and the fabricators have had to cut all the damage out and start again.

[timolloyd]

Such thorough work and really satisfying to follow

[HMC]

Stunning work as ever!

[Guest Hooli]

I've not looked at this for a while, it's still an amazing quality of workmanship.

[danthecapriman]

Superb work. It’s looking bloody good with the panels re-hung.

 

That Capri is having some serious work! I thought mine had extensive surgery but it didn’t go that far!!

[DeeJay]

Fantastic work. Looks like a lot of head scratching coming up.

 

 I wrote out a list today of all the remaining metalwork left to do and its only one page long. 

 

 

 

Handy hint.

Write smaller. You'll only have half a page of metalwork left.

[TripleRich]

Crossed two items off the list today.  Would have liked to get a bit further but the heat was getting unbearable past 2pm.

Started off with the other rear screen corner.  It had rotted a similar amount to the other side.

 

Made up some repairs and welded them in.  Bit difficult in this area due to the amount of lead present on this part of the car.  The lead is put in from factory to hide the joint between the quarter panels and rear scuttle.

 

 

You can see the lead has sunk a little bit around the repair.  A small amount of filler will be needed prior to paint.

 

 

Next I repaired a small section below which has suffered from water getting past the rusty screen corner.

 

 

With that sorted this corner is mostly finished.  A bit of finishing work will be done to both corners during paint prep.

 

 

Next on the list was the scabby rear window ledge on the drivers side.  It’s holed right at the front and another spot looks quite pitted.

 

 

I removed all the paint and found I needed to let a section in around the middle.

 

 

I'm back to flimsy outer sheet metal now so need to be careful to avoid heat distortion.

 

 

Did the same thing to repair the hole at the front.  Once finished I got the paint out and also painted the repairs on the inside.

 

 

These bits take ages to do and the weather isn't helping.  Another 30 hours or so should see the metalwork completed.

[TripleRich]

Not too much done yesterday due to the heat and sorting out the exhaust and my dads mx5.  Still managed a bit of progress and crossed some more items off the to do list.

Started off repairing the ledge of the passenger side back window.  Similar issue to the other side I repaired previously just in a different spot.

Cut out the section and welded a new bit in place.

Next I welded up some small holes which had been drilled into the boot lid by a previous owner.

With that done I removed the drivers door and started looking into the rot.  I've replaced the passenger door with a good used one but the drivers door needs to be saved as my spare is in very bad condition.

It's done the usual and rot along the inside frame where the skin attaches.  Thats spread out to the skin so really its just easier to cut off the bottom of the skin and start again.

The damage is worse than expected.  I need to remake the bottom of the door frame and then make a new outer skin section.

The skin also has a dent in it which has been filled in the past.  I'll need to dig the rest of the filler out and fix the dent before fitting the new bit of door skin.

Decided to finish for the day as the door now needs at least a days work on it.  I'll start that next time, hopefully in cooler weather.

[timolloyd]

Nice, clear labelling on the door bottom too!

[TripleRich]

Got stuck into repairing the door yesterday and made a fair bit of progress in 5 hours.

First I took most of the skin back to bare metal to investigate how bad the dent was.  You can see the filler below.

Under the filler was lead so that tells me this repair has been there for a very long time.  I removed the lead and found the door skin is slightly distorted.  Some of the dent has been beaten out but it would have been difficult hence the lead and filler.

Now I've cut off the lower part of the skin this damage will be much easier to correct.

Next I cut out a large part of the door frame itself and set about making a new one.  Its not hugely rotten but several parts are heavily pitted and theres about 4 or 5 small rust holes.

Its not a very complex piece but it did take a while to make using various tools and the metal folder.  Having the original mostly intact really helps too.

Happy it was close enough I panel clamped it to the door and started tacking.  As usual I used a hammer to work any twists out of the repair to ensure it fitted as well as possible.

I've also cut out the rotten corners of the door frame.  Started with the easy bit and tacked it into place.

Then moved to the harder bit which took quite a while to form.  Once happy I tacked it into place.

One more bit left to make which is the part of the door reinforcer.  Apart from that the frame repairs are ready for welding and finishing.  If everything goes well the door should be completed on my next visit.

Finished for the day and went for an evening air display local to the workshop.  Everything flying about made the Granada look like its from the future!

[Tickman]

It is brilliant to see the methodical process that goes into making these repairs.

[vulgalour]

How do you mitigate distortion on a long weld run like that?  Is it just a case of taking lots of time over it or is there some other trick you employ?

[TripleRich]

The secret for avoiding distortion takes a few different things...

Set the welder properly before starting.  You should be able to perform a successful tack on 1mm thick steel in about 2 seconds.  Your experience may differ but basically you want be able to pull the trigger for the least amount of time possible while still getting a decent weld with full penetration.

• Take your time and don't try to mig the whole lot in 5 minutes
• Start tacking the repair on leaving an inch or so between tacks
• Perform the tacks randomly all around the joint to avoid heat buildup in one spot
• Once you have a line of tacks repeat the process until you have only a very short distance between each tack
• Feel the panel as you go, too hot to touch means leave it for a minute before doing any more welding
• Once you're happy its all tacked together grind them all smooth as if you're finishing the completed weld
• Now start building up a seam weld by tacking in quick succession one after the other.  The number you can do will vary depending on material thickness and the shape.  About 4 tacks in row in one spot is the limit for most 1mm repairs. 
• If tacks start blowing through or melting away both sides you need to stop and let the area cool down
• Again move about to avoid distortion.  Start building a seam at both ends and the middle to spread out the heat
• Feel the panel and stop for minute if its getting too hot
• Once completed grind everything smooth and check for pin holes.  All the tacks you did originally will help keep distortion and pinholes away.

It takes practice to get right but even if you have problems just wait and take your time.  Welding repeatedly in the same spot out of frustration will only bugger up the repair.  Hope that helps.

[Parky]

It’s the clarity and quality of the pics, the descriptions, and the attention to detail that makes me feel that I could manage to weld - nowhere near as well as this but this thread really makes me want to go and attach bits of metal together.

 

Really inspirational thread as well as fascinating and always enjoyable

[Faker]

This is just unbelievable. Craftsmanship at its best

[HMC]

Seeing the description and pics is strangely hypnotic, agreed there's something about the crispness and cleaness of the work and the images. precision surgery.

[tommytwo]

I am staggered by the sheer amount of work going into this car. The ability to maintain ones focus and to keep going while keeping the end in sight. Its a marathon and I would not have been able to sustain the effort past one month. As said above, the craftsmanship is awesome.  A great thread and I have leaned much from it.

[mat_the_cat]

• Once you're happy its all tacked together grind them all smooth as if you're finishing the completed weld

 

Interesting! I've followed all your steps *apart* from the above (without 100% success), but can I ask what the benefit is of grinding back the tack welds? I'm pretty sure my main problem has been a lack of patience and the occasional frustration at a blow-through, but maybe that's not my only cause of distortion...

[TripleRich]

Grinding back the tacks is worth doing.  It gives you a nice flat clean line to follow so you can build up a nice weld with no pinholes.  When welding ignore the previous tacks and weld straight over the top of them as you build up the new weld.

The finished weld will look better, be stronger and require almost no additional welding as all the tacks will have fused together leaving no pinholes behind.  

This is a typical tack job for me on 1mm steel using 0.6mm wire. Weld right over all of that and the end result is nearly invisible after grinding.

Another example of a weld done over ground tacks (0.8 wire on 1.2mm steel).  See how each tack overlaps the next making one solid fused weld.

It's not something you have to do but its a good habit to pick up while you're learning the skill.  As I said previously distortion is almost always heat related.  A trick to speed things up is to have an air line close at hand to blow cool air over the welds each time you stop.  You'll be able to get the job done a bit faster that way.

I'll focus a bit more on the welding in the next update.

[danthecapriman]

I’ll never ever get bored of looking at metal work like yours Rich, it’s absolutely perfect!

[TripleRich]

Almost finished the repairs to the door yesterday.  Started off getting ready to finish the welds for the frame repair. Got the airline ready to cool things down and used the welder with 0.6 wire as its more gentle to thin steel.

 

 

When welding hold the torch at an angle and move up and down or round in circles each time you pull the trigger.  If you keep the torch still and don't have an angle you'll blow through the steel almost every time.

 

 

So I began building up the seams in a few different places to spread the heat.  I used the airline when needed and paused for a minute or so to give the door a chance to cool down.  Because I'm welding a door there's quite a bit of spatter and mess going on.  This is all the old wax and tar often found inside old doors.  It causes problems when welding and is very difficult to avoid.  I've cleaned most of it out so will continue welding but pinholes are expected as not all the welds here will want to fuse together.

 

 

With the welding complete I ground them down and looked for pinholes. They are best found using a torch inside the door and then holding it there while you weld up any holes.  The torch makes even the smallest hole very obvious.

 

 

While doing all of this don't be afraid to keep bashing it about with hammers and dollies.  The steel will always try to move or warp to some degree as you progress with the welding.

 

 

With this part of the repair now complete I finished the grinding and painted the repair.  I use the airline to drive the paint deep inside the door frame especially where the original skin is attached.  I then welded in the final bit of the internal brace back on which you can see in the third picture.

 

 

Now the door is ready for a new bit of door skin.  I was careful in removing the original so I could use it to template the new bit.  Cut the repair out leaving plenty of room for the flanges which hold the skin to the frame.  Bent the flanges using the metal folder and will bash the around the frame using hammers once I'm happy with the fit.

 

 

Before fitting to the door I corrected the dent as much as possible.  A skim of filler will be used to finish it off before painting.

 

 

I then clamped the repair on and tried the door on the car.  Made a note of anything I wasn't happy with and corrected the repair on the bench.

 

 

After making the adjustments I tacked the repair on and tried it again on the car.

 

 

Very happy with the fit so will finish the welding next time as time had run out for today.  With that done I'll continue working down my list.  This door has been quite a bit more work than I'd expected but it goes to show just how much rust can stay hidden.  Should have it finished next week.

 

[retropnaed]

This is truly amazing top skills on show here

[Geep]

Excellent work and the thread is a real joy to read. 

 

 

 

While doing all of this don't be afraid to keep bashing it about with hammers and dollies.  The steel will always try to move or warp to some degree as you progress with the welding.

 

This is true. Some do advise planishing the weld dots as you go along. This is because the weld shrinks the metal so you then stretch it with a few hammer blows whilst supporting with a dolly behind. 

 

 

Planishing weld dots on the new "anvil"

 

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=564201&page=15

 

That thread has quite a bit about it and fabrication in general. One demonstration is to have two strips of metal with equal gap then dot weld it starting at one end. Before you get very far, you'll see the other end closing up as the shrink pulls the metal. This is mainly for welding on flat plains where distortion is most likely. It's not always needed, or possible, and is very time consuming but mentioned it so others can understand why distortion happens and possible way to avoid it on long runs on flat panels. Access to rear is required and probably an assistant to hold dolly over hot weld while you hit it a few times. 

 

Heat can be used to your advantage too when you have 'oil canning' on a panel. Stretched metal can be shrunk with heat or stretched with planishing. A shrinking disc is quite useful if you haven't got oxy/acetylene or similar. 

 

 

used on a grinder to warm metal then wiped with wet cloth to shrink metal.

 

I realise this is not really the autoshite way but put here for information purposes. 

[neil1971]

As always, fantastic workmanship with a great write up and pics, thank you for taking the time to share with us

[Scruffy Bodger]

Those clamps you've used on the door are interesting, not seen those before. Do you ever set the metal back a bit, effectively making a bit of a joggle that can be sorted with the merest skim of filler on some repairs?

Any chance of any tips in how you made that door re-enforcer in post #406? I'm not too bad at shaping bits of tin on a tinkers anvil but that's next level!

[Geep]

Those clamps you've used on the door are interesting, not seen those before. Do you ever set the metal back a bit, effectively making a bit of a joggle that can be sorted with the merest skim of filler on some repairs?

Any chance of any tips in how you made that door re-enforcer in post #406? I'm not too bad at shaping bits of tin on a tinkers anvil but that's next level!

 

 

https://www.eastwood.com/intergrip-panel-clamps-set-of-4.html

 

Those are the clamps, ebay does them or other places as well as Eastwood.