Rust found - holes made - buzzed up - Sat Fun!!!

[Bstardchild]

So a mate bought a Ford Capri 2.8i a while back and it's quite a nice one but like all old cars not without the odd issue.

 

 

This winter he's been sorting out the electrics (dash and carpets and seats out) and incidental to ridding the car of a host of electrical niggles he found a crack in the floor by the seat mounts so I offered to fix it.

 

The crack was describe as a stress fracture and it all looked sound - simple flap up and and mig it back together.

 

So I gathered tools (portable welder - portamig, consumables, flap discs and angle grinder and just in case some slitting discs - well you never know do you.........

 

Quick inspection - Well it was a crack for sure and maybe I could have just buzzed it up but it was a bit swollen. The floor has a plate spot welded under the floor so we drilled out the spot welds so we were just dealing with a single skin thickness.

 

 

Yeah not so nice - all a little frilly

 

So cut it out - now it was a big hole but nice solid edge to work to and all the cracks weren't a problem

 

 

Use what was removed as a template and then fettle a plate to fit in and buzz it up

 

 

It's a floor covered with carpets and so rather than grind it back flush I just took the tops of the weld (so not an invisible repair but perfectly acceptable)

 

 

Now with a solid rust free floor we could puddle weld the strengthening plate back in and then blow a bit of paint over

 

 

Underneath with a quick squirt of primer to keep surface rust at bay

 

 

Now while I was here with tools it would have been rude not to do a quick inspection of the other seat mounts.

 

Not cracked but I can't say I like it

 

 

Might as well drop the strengthening plate - ah that's better

 

 

Chop chop

 

 

Clean the edges up top and underneath

 

 

Make up a piece to fill the hole and drill the holes for the plate and fettle to fit

 

 

Buzz it in

 

 

Underneath looked good too

 

 

Clamp the plate in position and puddle weld it back in

 

 

Temp paint job

 

 

so that was my Sat afternoon.......

 

 

[Station]

Excellent work, very tidy!

[Pillock]

Wonderful. I'm massively jealous of anyone who can weld, especially to that standard.

[oldford]

That's a lovely repair, top job.

[gadgetgricey]

That's a really nice job so jealous of anyone who can weld, especially to that standard,

 

However I'm such a child. I cant get past the fact the chassis number seems to include FUCK.

I bet that's what you thought when you first saw it.....

[spike60]

What did you use to cut out with? A rotary Dremmel type thing? Neat work.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

It's always good to see some decent prep, fabrication and welding. There's so much shoddy work out there that quality work like this sorts out the crap/quality equilibrium!

[fordperv]

Good work there, I have done the same job a few times on sierra's, it's always rewarding to do a quality job

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Very neat!!!!! 12/10

[Bstardchild]

What did you use to cut out with? A rotary Dremmel type thing? Neat work.

 

Angle grinder and ultra slim slitting disc - it's what I use for all chopping work where neatness is essential

 

For everything else I use a plasma cutter or a reciprocating saw

[Tamworthbay]

It's a common issue, mine was cracked on both fronts needing similar repairs to your mates. And a hell of a lot more as well! What are the sill ends like under the wings?

[stuboy]

good work there..

[Bstardchild]

It's a common issue, mine was cracked on both fronts needing similar repairs to your mates. And a hell of a lot more as well! What are the sill ends like under the wings?

 

Someones been there before - evidence of some reasonable repair work in the front of the footwells where they join the inner sills.

[Tamworthbay]

Someones been there before - evidence of some reasonable repair work in the front of the footwells where they join the inner sills.

that's useful, they always go in the same places, there, the a pillars and the front of the rear Spring hangars. Mine had gone in all of them!