[body_work] Best Get The Welder Out Then

[M@tt 77]

right well I've been making some slow progress

 

chopping out the rot, cleaning up the surrounding area and making replacement panels

 

 

 

 

 

then before welding in any replacement sections i had a practice to get the welder settings right

 

 

however in reality some of the metal was quite a bit thinner where it had been ground away so it blew through, so I'm going to make myself a copper heatsink/backer tomorrow to help finish it off. It'll all be fine once I've flicked the flap wheel over it

 

Edited November 13, 2011 by M@tt

[M@tt 77]

bit more progress..

 

new corner section panel made

 

trial fitted

 

welded in

 

acid etch primer on the inside

 

coat of kurust on the outside

Edited December 4, 2011 by M@tt

[Cameron 16]

I like the way 205 repairs are starting to go, people spending a lot more time and care taking everything right back to good metal then building it back up to look original.

 

Looks like you're doing a good job there!

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

I see wood in that last pic M@tt....

[harryskid 193]

I see wood in that last pic M@tt....

 

Well known fact wood don't rust !

[Rippthrough 98]

I see wood in that last pic M@tt....

 

He just got a bit over excited at his handiwork

[M@tt 77]

still plodding on with it, unfortunately work and family have been getting in the way so progress has been slow.

 

been fitting one of the replacement sections

 

 

 

as i mentioned in a previous post i made a copper heatsink which helps if you get any blowthroughs as you can hold it behind the hole and fill in the gaps as the weld doesn't stick to the copper

 

 

I also "pimped" my mig torch with a poundland LED torch. As I'm generally weding in the evening inside the garage i was finding it too dark to see properly before the arc strikes up and even with an inspection lamp strategically placed i was forever casting a shadow right on the area i wanted to see. So i made this litte beauty works a treat!!

 

 

Hopefully i should make some good headway over the next couple of weeks

[M@tt 77]

been plodding on, getting there, slowly!

 

 

 

 

[M@tt 77]

managed to get a few hours in this week

 

 

sanded back and filled some of the rusts bebbling behind the rear arch trim

 

tidying up of the inside of the wheel arch, plan is to strip it all bare and re-stone chip it

 

made a few more bits using CAD (Cardboard Aided Design)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[M@tt 77]

managed another hour or so tonight, finished making the last replacement panel. I welded the 3 sections together and gave it a tickle with the flap wheel on the grinder

 

 

next step is get some epoxy 2 pack primer on the inside of the sill

Edited February 9, 2012 by M@tt

[M@tt 77]

managed another hour or 2 tonight so got the replacement panel plug welded up just need a going round with some seam sealer

 

 

more soon....

[M@tt 77]

well i've manged to make a good bit of progress

 

I epoxy primed the inner sill and the inside of the outer sill using some Lehler Epoxy Primer. I got it from www.metalflake.co.uk(http://www.metalflak...s.php?id=L29107) however the only problem is it doesn't come tinted so it goes on transparent which made it a bit hard to see what had or hdn't been covered.

 

 

So i took it to my local paint place and they tinted the remainder of it for me for a couple of quid.

 

Once the primer had cured i could plug weld the sill on

 

 

and a thin skim of filler over the join between the new and old panel

 

I also seam sealed up the joins. This will get epoxied over and stonechipped as well

 

 

There was a small section of the wheel arch which had rotted through, so i made a new section

 

 

I also took the opportunity to remove the chipping paint from the inside of the wheel arch as well. I'll re do this as well when i get round to painting it.

 

So thats it for now... the end is almost in sight!

[GilesW 41]

Got to do almost the exact same places on mine - except for the outer cull, which weirdly is fine.

Out of interest what thickness metal did you use in the various places? 1mm or .8mm or something else?

[Rippthrough 98]

You need to get your tacks a lot closer together Matt, should be half overlapping the previous tack even when triggering on thin metal, should look more like this:

 

 

Sorry about small pic, only thing I had handy.

[M@tt 77]

GilesW> i think it was 1mm i'll double check tonight and let you know. It's Zintec sheet, i got mine a sheet of it from my local motor factors for about £11 i think.

[GilesW 41]

Cool. Thanks Matt.

[Cameron 16]

Also a good idea to take the zinc coating off the area you're trying to weld, it will weld a lot nicer and also not make you insane.

[DamirGTI 323]

You need to get your tacks a lot closer together Matt, should be half overlapping the previous tack

 

... ditto , couldn't not to spot , the welds are a bit separated .. so you'll end up with bad penetration/cold welds .

 

If you're scared of panel warpage , burning trough etc. , a good trick to avoid this issue especially while welding on a long flat panel of sheet metal - use an air compressor gun/blower and cool the weld/panel with air when you stop welding between the runs ..

 

.. my pile of iron oxide fixing :

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?showtopic=97351&st=60

 

Anyway , keep up , i like bodywork projects

 

Damir

[M@tt 77]

spent some time cleaning up the wheel arch ready for it all to be resprayed and stonechipped. After experimenting with various stripping methods, the twisted knot brush on an angle grinder is loads quicker than a heat gun and scraper by a mile!!

 

 

whilst cleaning it up i could see the rear bumper bracket section was in a pretty bad state

 

 

so bit the bullet and ripped it out

 

 

it was pretty crusty

 

 

so I've created a cardboard template, and test fitted it and now I'm happy with it I'll make a new replacement panel from steel

 

[M@tt 77]

small update

 

new replacement panel made and welded in. I also replaced the bottom lip of the 3/4 panel as that was pretty shot as well

 

[allye 530 3 Cars]

You sir have skills to pay the bills amazing work.

[M@tt 77]

bit more of an update

 

finally managed to get some epoxy primer on part of the sill but there's a bit more tidying up to do. I've also tackled the rot on the inner wing, by splitting the spot welds and sanding the surfaces and treating to kurust

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[d7ve_b 44 1 Cars]

Lovely work Matt!

[M@tt 77]

Cheers Dave

 

Its just taking an age as i keep picking at bits which just takes longer and longer to sort, but i might as well do them now whilst everything is getting done

[Alan_M 66 1 Cars]

How did you get the bead of sealer out between the lower rear quarter and the sill?

 

My 205 has surface rust down here, that's penetrated the inside of the quarter panel. Heat gun and scrapper?