Project 1975 Ford Granada Coupe - Lots & lots of tinkering

[TripleRich]

Completed the repairs to the rear chassis leg yesterday.  

Started off with making a repair for the inner strengthener that supports the coil spring.  Again its all funny shapes so it can take quite a while to make up each repair section.  I'm using 1.5mm steel which is the original thickness for the chassis leg.  The thick metal adds extra time and difficultly to making each section.

Once welded in I finished up with the power file and a roloc disk.

Next was the end of the rear section that laps under the section i'm repairing.  This one was fairly quick to make.

Finally the big bit which took quick a while to fabricate.  I made a template from cardboard and copied it onto the steel.  Once it fitted I clamped it to the chassis leg and then beat the flange down to the correct position so it can be welded to the floor section that I replaced last week. 

Plenty of welding to make the leg strong again including puddle welds to the inner parts.  This was originally done with spot welders in the factory before the leg is attached to the floorpan.  I've also painted inside with POR where I can.

With that complete I ground the welds down and painted the repair with POR.

Next I'll clean up the surrounding areas towards the boot floor and paint.  Later I'll drill a small hole in the leg to allow for the repair to be waxed and protected from the inside.  The other side of the car has a hole in about the right place so I'll mirror it on this side.

[TripleRich]

With the chassis now repaired I moved onto the smaller jobs to finish the area up.  First was to get rid of any remaining paint and underseal.  I removed the bump stop to prevent it from getting damaged.  Easiest way to get one of these off is to lubricate it and then pry it with a big crowbar.  Mind your head when it flies off the car!

I repaired some small areas and applied rust treatment to some of the scabby areas.  This stuff goes black once it completed converting the rust, you then rub the area back and paint.

I also knocked the dents out of the spare wheel well and repaired a small area that had gone through.

I also completed to repairs to the bottom of the rear quarter panel.

Then a coat of POR to finish up.  This completes most of the underside work for the drivers side.  Once I complete the passenger side and do the rear valence thats most of the metalwork completed.

[Guest Hooli]

When this is finished, you must paint it as the General Lee

[mk2_craig]

This is fascinating stuff. Great to see it getting a proper job done, good idea painting bits along the way, psychologically if nothing else.

[TripleRich]

Started off today with grinding some welds and cleaning back the spare wheel well inside the car.  I dug out the old seam sealer and applied rust treatment to various areas.  Did the same underneath and luckily didn't find any further rot so these areas have now been painted.

Now at last I can get things going on the passenger side.  This needs all the same work doing as the other side did.  It does appear to be in better condition so should be quicker to complete.  First is to cut off the outer sill cover without disturbing the seams.

Next I carefully remove the lower part of the rear quarter panel.  It prevents the sill from being completely removed and will also need some work.

Next is the really crap job.  All the spot welds along the floor edge need to be drilled out and the various layers of steel removed until I reach the edge of the floorpan.  

Now to cut out the sill strengthener.  Its impossible to check the condition of these when looking at the car but they have usually rotted to some level.  This one is quite rotten towards the rear arch.  On a mk2 Granada the entire rear section of the sill, strengthener, closer and wheel arch is filled with an expanding foam so they are even more likely to be terminally rotten. 

With that removed the piles of rusty metal that have fallen from the inner sill behind the strengthener can be seen.  All this will be replaced as per the other side.

The floor edge and jacking point have survived very well on this side.  Next job is to roll the car over and remove the outriggers, inner sill and jacking point.  Then whats left will be cleaned up, repaired and painted ready for new panels.

[Junkman]

You must have sold your soul to the devil for your ability.

[TripleRich]

Thanks for all the interest guys.  Helps keep the motivation up when I'm finding all these holes.

Went the the Classic Ford show at the weekend and saw a fair few Granadas including 3 coupes.  A good day out, I've got a fair bit more welding do do before I can join them!

 

[TripleRich]

Back on the car I've been removing many bits of rusty metal from the passenger side sill.  

Lots of spot weld drilling, hammering and cutting being very careful not to damage the rest of the car too much.  About 8 hours of work to unpick and remove all the various bits.

Cleaned back various places along the way looking for holes or heavily pitted areas.

These are just some of the bits which are all for the scrap bin.  I'm now ready to start repairing the various parts of the floor and can then begin fitting the replacement sill.

[bunglebus]

 

 

I never noticed until now how similar the rear 1/4 panel is to a Kadett coupé

 

[TripleRich]

Very similar!  The car gets mistaken by most customers that come through the workshop.  I've been asked if its a Marina and another thought it was a 120Y.  I didn't even know the Granada Coupe was a thing until a few years ago.

Always thought the 120Y coupe was a cool looking motor...

 

[TripleRich]

I'm working my way through the various repairs to the floor and bulkhead in preparation for the new sill.  This side is in better condition but theres still quite a bit to do...

First I repaired the floor where the rear outrigger is mounted.  This is a common rot spot which usually needs attention.

Up front quite a bit of the floor edge and bulkhead is missing.  The inner sill sits here and the small cave inside rots out underneath and eventually goes through the floor.

First I made a new end for the floorpan and welded it into place.

Next the bulkhead corner is remade using whats left of the original as reference.  Quite a difficult shape to remake so a few hours where chewed up doing this.

Finally I replaced a section of the floor flange which will be spot welded to the new strengthener and sill cover.  Next thing to do now is sort out the wheel tub/ closer which is quite heavily pitted. 

[danthecapriman]

Beautiful work as ever. I bet you can't wait for the bodywork to be finished!

[TripleRich]

Really looking forward to completing the body.  It hurts when I walk past all the shiny bits in storage!  Can't wait to start fitting it back up and build the engine.

[TripleRich]

Today I completed the repairs to the floor on the passenger side.  Started off with a small repair where the front outrigger goes and also cleaned back the bulkhead to check for any additional rot.

Then I moved back to the the bottom of the wheel tub where it links up with the inner sill.  It doesn't look too good so I removed it and set about making a new bit.

I also took this area back to bare metal and rust treated to sort out the various small blisters and scabs.  I did the same to several other places.

With a new piece for the wheel tub made I could now start trial fitting the inner sill.  Plenty of adjustment and hammering was done as these panels are not brilliant.

Happy the floor is repaired I wire wheeled off any excess rust treatment and painted with POR.  Next time I can trial fit the entire sill and check for alignment with the door before welding.

[TripleRich]

Today I was able to trial fit the complete sill assembly on the passenger side.  I placed the various panels onto the car and fixed in place with screws.  I also bent up the leading edge of the inner sill so it meets the bulkhead.

As the panels come together it becomes obvious that some will need assistance from the hammer.  Took a little while to get this one right as its quite a tight fit.

With everything screwed on I can then roll the car over and begin to fit the door & wing to check I've put the sill in the right place.

Looks promising as the A post and B post look about right.  Things also look level when looking down the car. 

So I grabbed the replacement door and wing and they bolted up without issue.  The gaps are looking sweet with the door needing to come up a fraction at the rear.  Crosschecking with other Granadas we have in the workshop confirms the gaps are about right.

Next I removed all the old bits of sill from the rear quarter panel section I cut off previously and slotted it into place.  Again things are looking good with all the original parts of the car sitting where they once were.  This confirms I've got the new parts in the right place so next time I'll remove everything, clean & paint the new panels and then begin to weld them on.

[twosmoke300]

Unbelievable! I would give my left bollock for those kind of skills and patience.

Dirty mot patches for me I'm afraid . As an ex agri engineer I can actually weld bloody well I just can't to the panel beating / fiddly fabrication .

[fordperv]

Cracking job your doing

[junkyarddog]

Great work,

very enjoyable to watch this car take shape.

[TripleRich]

Very hot today but managed quite a bit of progress on the coupe.  First I repaired the jacking point as it had survived much better than the one on the other side.  It only needed a small repair at the bottom.  

Next I took the new inner sill panels back to bare metal so they can be welded on and painted with some POR.

I then screwed them back onto the car and began spot welding them into place.  Making sure all the seams are super clean is very important when using the spot welder.

Then the jacking point is put back in and puddle welded through the holes where the spot welds on it used to be.  It needs to be strong so I made sure all the welds penetrated well into the new panels underneath.

Now for some paint.  I covered everything that will not be accessible once the strengthener goes in and also put in a bead of tigerseal to protect from water.  I also painted the inside of the strengthener.

Happy everything underneath is done I spot welded the strengthener on.  The spot welder weights a ton so it was quite hard work but the end result is very neat and tidy.  Doing this when the paint is wet allows it to run into the seams as the spot welder heats up the panels.

Thats as far as I could get today so next time I'll be putting the bottom of the A post back on and sorting out the outer wheel tub/sill closer.  The sill cover can then be fitted and I'll cross my fingers that the door still fits properly!

[Bfg]

.

Only just spotted this thread.. 

 

Might I add a second all those who've said - what brilliant work..  Fantastic. 

 

I really wish my car had received the same care and attention.. and the use of spot &/or puddle welding, plus decent anti-rust treatment and paint as you go along..  Most excellent Sir.

 

Bfg

[junkyarddog]

Epic!!

[TripleRich]

Managed a full 8 hours on the car today.  Started things off with the sill closer/outer wheel tub.  Its much easier to fit this before putting on the sill cover, a mistake I made on the drivers side.  Made up a template, cut some steel, bit of folding and job done.  I also painted and sealed the area ready for the outer sill to go on.

Next I took the sill cover back to bare metal and painted the inside ready for installation.

Then I screwed it back onto the car and did a final check for door alignment.

Happy the gaps are good I got the spot welder out and spot welded the cover on.  This takes time as the spot welder gets very hot when welding through 3 layers of steel and has to be left to cool between welds to avoid overheating.  You can just about see the drips of POR that have run into the seams as I've worked my way along with the welder.  Should provide years of protection.

With that done I cleaned up the rear quarter panel section and welded it back in.

I then cleaned up the welds and fitted some spare door seal pieces to see how the overall fit was.  I also wanted to see how easily to door shut with rubbers installed.  It actually shuts very nicely considering how much has been replaced here.

 

Plenty left to do but its getting closer with each day.  Below is whats still left to do on the metalwork.  I reckon this car will be over 450 hours of fabrication when finished.  Goes to show just how rotten the car was to start with...

• Replace inner & outer wheel arch on passenger side
• Replace inner & outer wing section on passenger side
• Replace inner & outer rear valence
• Complete repairs to the floor on the passenger side
• Complete passenger side A post
• Repair passenger side chassis leg
• Repair differential crossmember
• Refit transmission support brackets to floor
• Repair various small areas around the rear of the body
• Repair various dents and collision damage on outer panelwork
• Repair section of drivers door
• Remove dents & damage from front wings
• Remove dents & damage from bonnet
• Find the fuel filler flap

[junkyarddog]

Great work.

 

Really good attention to detail.

 

Kinda inspiring me to start welding up my Capri......almost

[mercrocker]

Really appreciate seeing this stuff.....Can't weld for toffee myself but how many restorers take that much trouble with paint protection?   450 hours at £30 plus an hour - you can begin to see how much a proper resto should cost.  

  

Nice that it is being done to a relatively unappreciated car, too.   

[Tickman]

... 450 hours at £30 plus an hour - you can begin to see how much a proper resto should cost.  

  

Can I ask the vulgar question? Is £30 an hour anywhere near what your place would charge or is it 'priced' as a job?

 

Astounding work yet again.

[TripleRich]

Restoration is certainly not cheap.  We've got at least 5 customers cars that are going to top 20k on metalwork alone.  Some of the cars would get the money back if they were sold and others just won't.  Doesn't seem to put people off though, we're swamped with work at the moment.  We have two fabricators and one mechanic.  I move between fabrication and mechanics depending on what needs doing. 

Paint protection is vital when doing this stuff and what you've seen being done to my car is no different to how others get treated.  We go one of two ways...

• Paint with POR as you go which works well for cars that are solid in some areas and terrible in others.
• Get the shell dipped, repair it and immerse in E coat which works well for cars that are almost beyond saving.

Heres just some of the stuff thats in at moment...

Rover P4 - Very bad condition when it came in.  Total mechanical overhaul, new A posts, sills, floor sections, rear wings, front wings, doors, wheel tubs and valences.

Austin 16 - Even worse than the P4

Datsun 240z -  Even worse than the Austin

Escort Mexico - Right on the edge of being unsavable.  The floor pan on the drivers side fell out on route back to the workshop and none of the doors will shut.  Our head fabricator gets the joy of sorting this one.  I certainly wouldn't fancy doing it!

Just as important though is how the car is treated once finished.  We can only put it back to how it was when it was new with added paint and waxoil.  It still has all the rot traps and design flaws so keep it inside if possible and only take it out when its not raining and there's no salt on the road.  If left outside do not put a cover over it, much better to let it breath.  Covers make shells sweat from the inside out rapidly. 

[TripleRich]

Can I ask the vulgar question? Is £30 an hour anywhere near what your place would charge or is it 'priced' as a job?

 

Astounding work yet again.

 

I don't get to see the costs going on in the background so I may be wrong on this.  I believe we're about £39 per hour for metalwork and £35 for mechanical.  So my car would be around the 14k mark if I was a customer!

 

We don't price for the job as experience has taught us that the car is always twice as bad as it looks.  You pay on a weekly basis.  So you pay for a weeks work and then we do a weeks work on the car.  That process continues until its finished.  Customers are free to come and see their car a much as possible which helps them understand where the money is going.  

[dollywobbler]

Brilliant. Such an enjoyable thread.

[Tickman]

Thanks for the information, £39 doesn't seem expensive when you see the skill behind it.

I suppose it has to be priced at a realistic rate or you would get so little business.

From my very limited making panels and welding in it takes ages.

[danthecapriman]

Brilliant work Rich. It's going to look amazing when done.

Must say though, that Escort looks utterly past it! Fair play to whoever does that one!

 

Your labour price is good. The place that shit on me for my Capri resto were charging £48 an hour! I should have taken much more notice of what it was costing me and what was actually being done. Mind, I should've taken the car to you to do really!

 

Do you fancy a friendly bet over which one will hit the road first!? Granny V's Capri...

I'm not terribly confident tbh!