Any interest in another Amazonian rescue? Engine in and front suspension redone.

[Ronkey]

2 minutes ago, bangernomics said:

Heat from the opposite side to the bow, then a wet none flammable cloth on the outside if its bowing out. You risk causing wobbles if you do too much at once but small areas at a time will pull in.

Done it old dents in panels using a map torch many times with a wet chamois or the like.

The repairs look really good and repair panels have been getting steadily worse for years so what you have achieved is really impressive.

@bangernomics Ta for that - I'll give it a shot.

[Ronkey]

Getting there now - need to do the weld at the top of the door skin. Alignment is pretty good.

[comfortablynumb]

I thought 'he's not going to get very good welds with that welding earth clamp on a painted bit of the window frame....oh hang on...' 🤦

[Scruffy Bodger]

Some years back I did a Justy which I'm guessing is made of thinner metal than you are dealing with? When doing larger sections I set the panel back just a touch so it could be ground flush and just a skim of filler applied. I just went steady at it, no extra cooling, wet rags, airline etc. I just bounced back and forth a spot at a time so heat couldn't build up in one place, literally just joining the dots.

I've done both sills full length on a Transit Connect too, minimal warpage on any of them, if any.

As for the welding blind, if that's the way he's learnt carry on. On bigger stuff you'd be getting proper sunburn in no short order tho, spotting tin together not so much. 

[Ronkey]

@Scruffy Bodger man that was bad. Great save. The Amazon is much thicker metal so at least I have a fighting chance.

0.6mm wire all the way? Amen to that. Need to practice taking it steady. I've never been good at that 😜

[Scruffy Bodger]

1 hour ago, Ronkey said:

@Scruffy Bodger man that was bad. Great save. The Amazon is much thicker metal so at least I have a fighting chance.

0.6mm wire all the way? Amen to that. Need to practice taking it steady. I've never been good at that 😜

Tbf 0.8mm does the job. if it's too hot turn the gas up a touch and weld from further away, it loses amps. Spot, spot, spot on clean metal helps. Not the covered in whatever  I couldn't get to.

Buy a finger sander if funds stretch to it. I couldn't get to half of it with a grinder and was totally on my arse at the time. A steep learning curve... Not a 10mm.

I saw an Amazon on the Woodpecker rally some years back, they were flat fuck out, great to see!

[Scruffy Bodger]

2 hours ago, Ronkey said:

Need to practice taking it steady. I've never been good at that 😜

Pump, pump squirt? No good to anyone lol.

[Ronkey]

Front doors done and one of the rears which only needed minor repairs. The driver's door decided to 'oil can' which took some solving. I would heat it up and it would pop back then on cooling no change. Try the damp rag method but no dice unfortunately. The solution was to grind the welds back and hammer them to stretch the weld line a bit. Now looking good. For anyone thinking of having a go at this cold look at Fitzee's videos on 'Crusty' the Toyota. I wish I'd looked at the two vids where he repairs doors before I started. 

The front wings are in decent shape and getting good second hand wings is near impossible so I treated them to sandblasting on the inside so I could properly protect them later on. The rail where they fit to the inner wings was pretty knackered so patching commenced. 

A good time to re-assemble the front to have a look. Bearing in mind it was a bit flipping all-over when I bought it, The panel gaps are right and it looks mint. I'm delighted.

Now to the final rear door. No rust to speak of but is that filler? Argghhh.

Turns out to have had a proper bang in the past. All filler now removed and back to bare metal. Tricky to get a photo of it, but the hinge side of the door is a bit crumpled too. 

Might end up having to re-skin this but I'll have a go at patching it first. Somebody just shifted the finish line again.

Once this door is done the boot lid is last. Needs work to the lips on the top edge and front corners. Before I start any know of a good boot lid anywhere?

 

 

 

[Datsuncog]

On 20/10/2024 at 17:36, Ronkey said:

Before I start any know of a good boot lid anywhere?

Hmm, depends how desperate you are...

^^ I think this one's pretty far gone.

^^ This one doesn't look too bad around the edges, but retrieving the bootlid would first involve moving a thoroughly collapsed Mk3 Zodiac hearse with half an Anglia 105E balanced on the roof out of the way... Possibly more of a challenge than just doing the welding?

Old-school scrapyards: a blessing and a curse.

[Ronkey]

@Datsuncog - Christ on a bike! The stainless steel stands out on that first one for sure. Where are they? 

[Datsuncog]

Unfortunately, they're both in Northern Ireland - at the Junkyard Jewels yard outside Stewartstown, Co. Tyrone.

Possibly not that helpful, sorry!

[666jjp]

 a thoroughly collapsed Mk3 Zodiac hearse 

 

any pics?

[Datsuncog]

11 hours ago, 666jjp said:

 a thoroughly collapsed Mk3 Zodiac hearse 

any pics?

Not wanting to derail the Volvo thread, but have a squizz here and scroll on down...

Turns out the car behind the Amazon with a demi-Anglia on the roof is actually a Zephyr Mk3 saloon; the Zodiac hearse is dumped alongside it.

My memory, hey?

[Ronkey]

Oh heck - here we go. You are flippin kidding. The final door too!!

That is one hell of a lot of filler. Plus once I removed it the door was oil-drumming just below the trim strip level.

What a mess. A real shame because the door has very little rust. Choices? 1. Repair. 2. Replace. 3. New skin. Well option one costs the least so let's try that. Time to cut out and patch where that lower scar is. Took my time and hammered every weld to try and minimise shrinkage. Seemed to work ok

If you look at the second photo carefully at the front of the door under the trim strip holes there are ripples in the metal. These would have been hard to hammer out due to the stiffener plate behind so they didn't bother. Repair panel made and welded in - this was pretty easy tbh. 

Final patch installed but I was having some issues still with oil canning, unsurprisingly, along the line of the weld below the holes. I halved some inch box section and welded it to the back. That sorted that. I'll put another higher up too.

Filler still needed but nothing like when I started. That'll do!

[danthecapriman]

Very impressive work going on here!👍

It'll be a stunning car in the end.

[Ronkey]

19 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

Very impressive work going on here!👍

It'll be a stunning car in the end.

@danthecapriman Very kind and I very much hope so! It is a good job no-one told me how much work would be involved beforehand 🙃

[Ronkey]

The front doors still dipped in along the line if the weld. I had some box section from an old school table which I put a slight curve into and added to the skin just below the weld. I welded this to the side frames and plug welded through the panel. This is the trick to get the panels true. Why didn't I think of this sooner??? Would have been much easier to do earlier @juular please note!

 

 

[Ronkey]

Fitzee is my hero. There, I've said it. How the hell he doesn't get welder's flash is beyond me, but I guess it works for him. 

I found a replacement boot lid. This had gone on the three straight edges rather than on the curved back edge so reckoned I had a chance of sorting. Made it in sections and welded up. The result is impressive even if I do say so myself!

Next, not happy with the door shuts. Vertical alignment between panels is good, but the gaps are poor. Trying the trick of welding on a coat hanger. Again, you have to be happy with the result: (before, during, after)

In the above photo I've still to do the wing to the front door. This just needed the gap closing with weld about half way up and grinding back. 

The passenger side is more trouble, and I'm still in the middle of it. The bottom half of the panel attached to the B posts was badly out of shape . I could widen the upper section by adding weld and grinding back but the bottom half was too far gone. Did it is small stages using the other side as a template.

Bad news is the rear door is simply miles out. Well, I must get points for trying. Given how well the rest of the car aligns now I'm going to have to put my hand in my pocket for a new repair panel. Should have got the B post trim right before I looked at the damaged rear door: it would have jumped out at me. But once this door is done bodywork complete! 

I now have an engine crane (thanks @mrbenn) and I have dropped on a used engine stand locally. Best get that door finished then we can have a proper look at the engine. Nearly onto the oily bits. 

[Ronkey]

On 25/01/2024 at 22:03, Ronkey said:

Righto - message received! Let's see what we have got then.

A few general shots. They really are a smart looking beggar. The interior is very good and I even have the original radio blanking plate! I found some great stuff from when the car last put in the garage too: last fuel receipt dated Sept 1993.

I can't figure out how to put text after photos so I'll carry on below.

Hmmm - didn't look that bad did it? 

[danthecapriman]

Lovely work as ever👍

Happy new year to you (a bit late now I now!) but is 2025 the year for it going back on the road?

[Ronkey]

23 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Lovely work as ever👍

Happy new year to you (a bit late now I now!) but is 2025 the year for it going back on the road?

Ta @danthecapriman! 

That is the plan. I'm going to get it painted but the guys only want to do it when the weather is warmer. The car had a bad respray, I guess after the passenger side bump, and the paint used chips really easy. Looks like house paint (alkyd?) and the red looks like postman pat's van. Not surprising that I've been told to take all the paint off beforehand 🙃. 

[jonathan_dyane]

I wish I was as skilled at fabrication as you, very nice work here.

[warninglight]

Love the coat hanger idea!

This is coming together really nicely. My 4 door had the doors done in the 80s, and the shut lines and curve of the doors are not great - it's my biggest annoyance with the whole car, but not bad enough to justify redoing them!

[Ronkey]

5 hours ago, jonathan_dyane said:

I wish I was as skilled at fabrication as you, very nice work here.

Very kind. 

Twelve months ago I wouldn't have had a chance a this.  I got that horrible sinking feeling after buying the car and realising that I might have bitten off too much. Small bit at a time suits me so if I arse it up there is only a bit to redo. 

[Ronkey]

New 2/3 door skin arrived and fitted. That is a good fit although getting the panels gaps right was tough - the panel was a bit too narrow. Another 6mm would have made a big difference. Solved again by a coat hanger.

I have put a strengthening bar in again in the joint line which made life much easier. Less shrinkage along the weld. I did struggle keeping the curve around the wheel arch as I bent the lip around. Reducing the lip to a minimum, some nicks in the lip and heat did the trick. Judge for yourselves!

Time to remove the old paint. Could take a while.

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Superb work. I can't weld or fabricate, but if I could, I'd love it to be of this quality. 

 

[Ronkey]

Paint stripping has started in earnest! The respray is odd stuff, is soft and chips easily. Comes off with a heat gun and scraper though which I'll take. I have been using this stuff Paramose R10 which works over 24hours on the original paint which is just fine with me. 

[Ronkey]

I needed a break from paint removal so I started to have a look at the engine. Head off!

I've cleaned the pistons and removed the carbon from the top of the cylinders and it has cleaned up well. 

I can see the marking on the crown of the pistons. They are +0.040 and also have SP0.019 and 85.155mm marked on them. I have tried to measure the bore with Vernier callipers (I know) and I get roughly 3.350in. The standard bore is 3.313in so plus 0.040 would be 3.353in so all sounds about right. I'm a bit confused though about the gap between the piston and the bore which seems to be about 0.020in which is a bit more than I expected.  Can anybody offer me any guidance here? Also - how do I find out what camshaft I have?

[Mr Pastry]

2 minutes ago, Ronkey said:

I can see the marking on the crown of the pistons. They are +0.040 and also have SP0.019 and 85.155mm marked on them. I have tried to measure the bore with Vernier callipers (I know) and I get roughly 3.350in. The standard bore is 3.313mm so plus 0.040 would be 3.353mm so all sounds about right. I'm a bit confused though about the gap between the piston and the bore which seems to be about 0.020 which is a bit more than I expected. 

Are you not mixing up your mm and inches?  

[Ronkey]

2 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

Are you not mixing up your mm and inches?  

Thanks @Mr Pastry - corrected. I must be tired!