My 1973 Cadillac, Huggy Bear

[omegod]

28 minutes ago, purplebargeken said:

I have a welding machine you can borrow, have never been to Barrow and would happily give you a hand mate.

He knows where sells ace pies and the best eclairs on this earth too. 

[Lankytim]

Maybe get a donor section sent over from the states? 

[eddyramrod]

That might not be a daft suggestion, Tim.  I'm in touch with some Cadillac chaps on FB who may be able to arrange that.  I need to make enquiries about some other bits anyway.

[eddyramrod]

2 hours ago, purplebargeken said:

I have a welding machine you can borrow, have never been to Barrow and would happily give you a hand mate.

How long till you're "in" at Carr Mill?

[purplebargeken]

Not sure mate, happy to travel up anyway.

[eddyramrod]

Very kind, Ken!  But it's a heck of a daytrip for you!  Even Carr Mill is going to be 100 miles each way.  You'll be most welcome to visit with or without welder anyway.

[Andyrew]

I've pulled enough bodges out of my cars over the past few years and spent ages welding them up and losing motivation whilst chasing a finish in happy with.  Nothing worse than digging away at some thing you've recently bought and finding the true horrors beneath that someone's put in before me.

 

But you already own it, so . . . 

 

 

 

 

 

[808 Estate]

Nowt wrong with a splodge of red oxide here and there.

[Kowalski]

Expanding foam in the holes. When it's dried, slice off to the right (ish) shape. Quick skim or two of filler. Job done.

[loserone]

Expanding foam is for pussies, real men fix yank cars with ramen and superglue.

[Tickman]

13 hours ago, Kowalski said:

Expanding foam in the holes. When it's dried, slice off to the right (ish) shape. Quick skim or two of filler. Job done.

Please God no.

If some poor fucker ever wants to actually weld it in the future then they will have a nightmare removing the stuff or a fire when they start welding.

[Split_Pin]

A section cut off a scrap car is definitely a good shout, a long shot on a car like this nonetheless.

 

[purplebargeken]

Can pop over next week mate.

[Tamworthbay]

15 hours ago, Andyrew said:

I've pulled enough bodges out of my cars over the past few years and spent ages welding them up and losing motivation whilst chasing a finish in happy with.  Nothing worse than digging away at some thing you've recently bought and finding the true horrors beneath that someone's put in before me.

 

But you already own it, so . . . 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a couple of copies of the AA Book of the Car from the 70s. There is a two page spread on how to ‘fix’ sills with chicken wire and filler. Apparently the key is to not screw the chicken wire up too much so it can expand and grip the remaining rot, sorry, remaining metal.

[wuvvum]

29 minutes ago, purplebargeken said:

Can pop over next week mate.

I trust the plan is to drive up in the Toledo and drive home in Huggy?

[eddyramrod]

SSSSHHHH!  Nobody's supposed to know about that!  Ken, you will be most welcome (even just as a casual visitor), just name your day.

[jonny69]

58 minutes ago, Tamworthbay said:

I have a couple of copies of the AA Book of the Car from the 70s. There is a two page spread on how to ‘fix’ sills with chicken wire and filler. Apparently the key is to not screw the chicken wire up too much so it can expand and grip the remaining rot, sorry, remaining metal.

Good tip, cheers. Will try that next time. 

[Tamworthbay]

19 minutes ago, jonny69 said:

Good tip, cheers. Will try that next time. 

They don’t even cut out the rot! Just hammer it back and all’s fine  

[captain_70s]

The Reader's Digest DIY manual advice from 1972...

It's little wonder so many old cars went from half decent looking to scrap in no time at all when the repair method of the time was to trap as much moisture against the remaining metalwork as possible!

[Tamworthbay]

1 minute ago, captain_70s said:

The Reader's Digest DIY manual advice from 1972...

It's little wonder so many old cars went from half decent looking to scrap in no time at all when the repair method of the time was to trap as much moisture against the remaining metalwork as possible!

Better than my AA one which has an almost identical repair needed but they  just twat it in a bit a hammer and apply liberal amounts of wob.

[captain_70s]

To be fair if you've got the RD manual they probably assume you're a bit of a perfectionist with a well equipped shed. They reckon you'll have a power tool to sand it back with and everything! ?

It's a hefty book...

[Tenmil Socket]

IIRC - In the older Haynes manuals the only colour pages were the spark plug condition page and the bodywork page. I think it was a red Cortina?

[blackboilersuit]

Shall we just refer to such work as "period correct" repairs from now on?

[vulgalour]

For a second there, I thought that Reader's Digest tome was so heavy it had half sunk into the table.

[purplebargeken]

Okay mate, maybe next Saturday?

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, Tamworthbay said:

Better than my AA one which has an almost identical repair needed but they  just twat it in a bit a hammer and apply liberal amounts of wob.

The RD approach of "make sure that the damaged area is not in a part that makes a contribution to the car's structural strength" is also preferable to the AA method of "trowel the sill of your monocoque bodyshell full of wob".

Having a separate chassis à la Huggy does help in that regard.  Sills made of P40 are no longer a potential safety hazard.

[hairnet]

2 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

IIRC - In the older Haynes manuals the only colour pages were the spark plug condition page and the bodywork page. I think it was a red Cortina?

fuck how far do you go back in the newer ones its a red pug 205

[AnthonyG]

Rear wing of a dark red Mk 2 Escort and later on a front corner of a lighter red Chrysler Sunbeam, looking at a couple of HBOLs picked at random. 

The Escort sequence is only about fixing a small dent, there’s no rust in evidence and the car looks very new.

[alf892]

P40 is made for this kind of job.......just make sure you paint or wax the back of all repairs as this is what really slows down the rust. So many people just concentrate on the top while it will rot from behind.

Same applies if you weld it........nothing like welding to make a car rot!

[Lankytim]

Cut and plane a wooden gate post to suit.