EHK 744G - 1969 Super - Interior coming along nicely

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - first venture into car restorati

Post by The Nun »

The holes are factory paint drains so it all drains away after the car has been through the wash and dip process, there should be steel plugs pressed in to seal them off afterwards but a rubber grommet would do now.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - first venture into car restorati

Post by The Nun »

The bitumen was applied to the red primer coat to act as a soundproofer and then smooth off the ribs so the rubber matting sat flat, it was then over painted with body colour, the sealant goes brittle with age and leaking window seal let's water get underneath it and rust out the shelf completely in some cases.
Early cars had a steel plate over the ribs instead of the bitumen.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - first venture into car restorati

Post by The Nun »

The silver decorative engine lid panel is held by the 6 plastic rivets and usually the cars registration plate fixings which are drilled right through and secured with a plastic screw and nut or self tapper, and also any lights, such as reversing lights, screwed on badges etc which need removing too, if youve removed all that and its still stuck securely in place I would think someone has used double sided sticky pads as well to hold it.
If you get a thin piece of nylon string and run it behind the plate top and bottom and use it like a saw action if there are adhesive pads it will saw through them releasing it without the risk of trying to peel the trim off and distorting it?
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - first venture into car restorati

Post by yoeddynz »

This is going to be a fun thread to follow. Its always fun to re-live the 'first forays into classic car fettling' through newbie threads like this :-) I'm excited for you. It looks like you do indeed have a very solid looking base to start with! I wish my floors had been like that.

I agree with Bazzateers comment- painting the inside of your garage bright white will make a huge difference to the light. You are lucky to have what appears to be a very new clean dry garage! Lucky that Imps are so tiny as well :-)
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - first venture into car restorati

Post by Pog »

yoeddynz wrote:This is going to be a fun thread to follow. Its always fun to re-live the 'first forays into classic car fettling' through newbie threads like this :-) I'm excited for you. It looks like you do indeed have a very solid looking base to start with! I wish my floors had been like that.
Ah thank you so much! I certainly do feel very lucky.

And thanks Nun for your comments. Managed to figure out the rear number plate - there were some metal rivets holding it all together, I drilled them out and everything came off nicely. Unsure what's factory and what isn't!

Spent today clearing some more bitumen from the floorpan. This is much thicker than the stuff on the parcel shelf and was much more rubbery, not chiseling off as easily. A tip I picked up from a friend was to use pipe freezer spray, of all things. This stuff is used by plumbers who need to do localised repair works to water pipes, but when used on the bitumen it flash freezes it and causes it to go brittle and so chips right off! 2 x 400ml cans (which I thought would be enough) got me through the N/S, so ordered some more to do the O/S. But the floor is as solid as it looks and so feeling very affirmed!

Question - There are purple/white wires that run along the top of the screen and into the A pillar on both sides. Where do they connect to? The rest of the wiring on the car has already been removed, so figure I might as well take this out too, just to get down to the bare shell.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - first venture into car restorati

Post by 617sqn »

Earth's to the door switches ? For the interior light maybe ?

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - first venture into car restorati

Post by The Nun »

617sqn wrote:Earth's to the door switches ? For the interior light maybe ?

Andy G
Correct.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - first venture into car restorati

Post by 617sqn »

Not like me to recall something correctly from the comfort of my settee :lol:

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - first venture into car restorati

Post by Bobbycham »

All going well there Pog.
Still plenty of enthusiasm being shown. :D
Wait till you start investing in new or better parts (garage won't be big enough) well that's what l'm finding. :roll:
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - feel in way over my head!

Post by Pog »

Hi all,

Definitely still enthusiastic, but this weekend's work has been a mix of highs and lows! Highs:

Finished the sound deadening removal! I realise most of you would have done this in a day rather than the 3 weekends it's taken me, but I'm enjoying the journey! Bit of surface rust in the corners, but overall definitely solid enough. In due course I plan to strip the rest of the interior down to bare metal and use Bilt Hamber deox gel to remove the rust before priming to protect. Sound deadening will be replaced with those sheets, dynamat or similar.

ImageIMG_20190331_160558 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

ImageIMG_20190407_122804 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Removed the door switches and wiring (thanks Andy G and Nun), tried not to damage the rubber grommet they go through, but 50yr old rubber just crumbled right away (no surprise!). I also managed to successfully remove the quarter lights from the doors - although this brings me onto the lows...

ImageIMG_20190407_143625 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

My haynes manual doesn't include things like this and so I'm realising just how much of absolutely no idea what I am doing! So my approach is you won't learn until you try - but I'm worried I'm damaging things I shouldn't be. The felt channels in the doors are made of really malleable metal and I've completely bent those out of shape trying to remove them. Are replacement items for these available?

ImageIMG_20190407_143610 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

With the quarter lights removed I thought I would remove the doors. (I'm a bit loathed to remove them though, the panel gaps are so good as they are! And I've heard Imp doors are a nightmare to hang, but if I'm to do a proper job on the painting, they need to come off). Is it just the removal of the 8 screws on the plates attached to the body? Because I simply couldn't get them to budge. And even then, how does the check strap pin come off?

ImageIMG_20190407_143527 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Looks like someone has cut a massive hole in the N/S door too, wonder what that was for...

ImageIMG_20190407_143543 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Defeated by the doors, I thought I'd gain a small victory tackling the rear hatch window. I know this is a common spot on these cars, and seems this is the most rusted part I've come across. Removed the crusty seal and have left the screws holding the frame together soaking with penetrating fluid as they wouldn't budge either. But what do you think, is this too far gone?

ImageIMG_20190407_151128 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Really not quite sure where to go from here. The next step I'm aiming for is to get the car on the rotisserie that came with the car, which would enable me to remove the underseal and refurbish the suspension components. But can't really do that until the doors are off. Help!

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - feel in way over my head!

Post by 617sqn »

Hmmm. :( That hatch looks fubared to me, judging by the image. If you can SAFELY get some heat onto the door hinge screws, they may turn for you. But, make certain that the screwdriver you are using is of the correct size. Your average posidrive no. 2 will not cut it. Many people resort to using an impact driver to start them off. If its at all possible, score around the hinge inside the recess, so you have a reference mark for later on, when refitting. If any hinge has a shim/spacer behind it, be sure to keep them either labelled for placement or keep them attached to their relevant hinge. Good luck - great progress 8) The window channel rubbers are available, as are the correct external glass wiping rubbers. Beware of losing the clips, which are a pain (literally) to put back on. Your extra hole will help :D

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - feel in way over my head!

Post by oli »

When removing doors (if you really feel you have to), I find that if you grind away the threaded part of the bolts that protrudes into the wheel arch through the welded captive nuts, then you will find that the heat will allow you to then undo what's left. Then fit new (stainless?) ones when refitting.

You may need an impact driver with a large bit to get them undone anyway. Then use solid steel plates the same as the top internally captive ones to replace the crappy tinny ones at the bottom on the outside.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - feel in way over my head!

Post by The Nun »

Door check strap is secured by a rivet, it cant be removed unless you grind away the bottom of the rivet where it protrudes then knock it out, you will need a new one to replace it with or as many do fit an small threaded screw and nyloc nut.

The hole has been done I suspect to make it easy for someone the reassemble the window in its runners, you work blind and by feel to some extent normally, I cant think its for a speaker as there wouldnt be the depth behind unless you never wound the window down?
However the more holes you cut into the door the more you risk getting water onto the rear of the door trim, into the door pockets and into the car so thats best avoided to unless you refit blanking plates to seal it off afterwards.

The top hinge screws normally come out easily with an impact driver but the bottoms will no doubt require heating first, or drill them though with a slightly smaller drill than the thread size from the head end so they shear off, then you can remove the remnants from the exterior underwing door plate afterwards and maybe able to reuse it if its not too rusted? The underwing plate is loose by the way its not welded in position, once the screws are removed it should just fall off, its just held by the door screws once tightened up.

As for the rear window, you cant risk repairing it if it needs welding without dismantling it because of the glass, getting the glass out can be another challenge without further damaging a weak frame, plus the metal section is thin and complicated to reproduce, youre better off looking for a complete one in better condition.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - feel in way over my head!

Post by yoeddynz »

Good progress there. I am constantly amazed and quite jealous of the condition of your car with respect to rust. Amazing for a car that has had its life in Blighty. Must have been well looked after eh.

The others have given the same sort of advice I was going to offer on your doors. The hinge screws on all of the Imps I had been mucking about with in my restoration were very tight. I used my impact driver. If I was you I'd buy one- they are pretty cheap and you'll use it often in life. Most drivers will come with a variety of decent bits including the proper sized bit for the door screws.

Heat the back of the bottom plate with a small gas torch. concentrate around the nuts but not on the ends of the screws. Spray some plus gas etc on while hot. continue. Work on breaking the corrosion. However going by the rest of your car I reckon the screws wont be that bad- just tight.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - feel in way over my head!

Post by Pog »

Hi all,

Some great advice mentioned. Got myself and impact driver - best £15 I've ever spent! What a great little tool. After cleaning the inside of wheel arch it loosened the lower hinge bolts easily enough, but the top hinge bolts still won't budge! Funny how you all said they should be the easiest! So I've sprayed with penetrating fluid and will revisit.

Though I had a brainwave while the doors are still in a good position, I measured and drilled for a wing mirror on the O/S. Prefer the cleaner look instead of them on the bonnet, best to do it now than when they're new and painted. So quite pleased as that turned out great. That hole in the middle of the door was rather handy actually!

Slowly but surely, progress is being made.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super - feel in way over my head!

Post by phatbob »

Pog wrote:Hi all,

Some great advice mentioned. Got myself and impact driver - best £15 I've ever spent! What a great little tool. After cleaning the inside of wheel arch it loosened the lower hinge bolts easily enough, but the top hinge bolts still won't budge! Funny how you all said they should be the easiest! So I've sprayed with penetrating fluid and will revisit.

Though I had a brainwave while the doors are still in a good position, I measured and drilled for a wing mirror on the O/S. Prefer the cleaner look instead of them on the bonnet, best to do it now than when they're new and painted. So quite pleased as that turned out great. That hole in the middle of the door was rather handy actually!

Slowly but surely, progress is being made.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Pog »

Hi all,

Been a while since I last posted. Holidays and other plans means I haven't spent as much time on Betty as I'd like. The majority of my 'car' time has been spent doing up the garage. I took all your advice and have painted the inside white, it's definitely made it feel brighter and easier to work in. Also installed a peg board to start some tool organisation, so slowly but surely it's taking shape.

My latest battle with the car was removing the doors. Even the impact driver failed to budge a few of the screws. My frustration lead me to wanting powerrrrr, so I invested in a power impact driver. That shifted a couple more with little effort and the O/S door came off (they're heavier than I was expecting). Moving over to the N/S and a combination of excitement and impatience (plus total lack of experience!) saw me completely rounding off the last screw head. Nightmare. I ordered an easy out set but I couldn't get that to work... so as a last resort I tried drilling it out. Disaster struck, and the drill bit snapped in the screw! Complete and utter fail. In the end, I took a grinder to the captive nut in an attempt to remove the only thing holding the screw in place. And it worked! I might have ruined the plate, but new plates wouldn't go amiss anyway. Ah well, all adds to my experience eh?

ImageIMG_20190720_170017 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Next job I tackled was removing the insulation from the roof and engine lid. The engine lid material disintegrated so I can't reuse that, but the stuff from the roof came off completely intact. Is it worth me keeping this to reuse with a new headlining? I've been planning to go down the dynamat route. But if the original stuff works then might as well recycle where I can:

ImageIMG_20190720_165858 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

ImageIMG_20190720_165841 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

My parting plea for advice is this: removing the insulation from the engine lid revealed the nuts holding the chrome strip clips in place. How are these actually held together? I sprayed them with plus gas as they look really corroded, but they just spin and nothing is actually unscrewing. What am I missing?

ImageIMG_20190720_173257 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Look forward to hearing your pearls of wisdom!

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Dave ' Linwood ' Lane »

Chrome strip nuts just screw onto the plastic on the clip so levering up very slightly whilst undoing will get them off
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by The Nun »

They will probably snap off being 50 year old plastic anyway, so replace them with alloy/stainless screws and nuts in which the screw head can be slid into the back of the trim strip.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by 617sqn »

Sometimes a washer will help here too, under the screw head. In fact the same as I did with my front strips on Stan.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Pog »

Thanks guys, helpful as usual.

Felt like I've been quite productive recently. Garage is finally looking like a proper workspace. Now have a white board with a to do list (plus some 'impspiration' to keep me going!), so hopefully I'll start ticking things off. Which brings me to a crossroad of a decision that I'd like your advice on.

ImageIMG_20190812_190059-1 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

The car was supplied with a rotational spit made by the previous owner. It was always going to be my idea to get the car back onto the spit so I can take the underside back to bare metal to make sure it's all sound. I purchased something to help me lift the car high enough to get it on the spit, a mobile scissor lift (it's awesome, no hydraulics it just works with an electric drill to turn the gear). And now the car is in the air, I've been able to have a proper good look under the car for the first time - and it looks super tidy!

ImageIMG_20190812_190219-1 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

ImageIMG_20190812_190253-1 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

If this was your project, would you leave this alone and save yourself the arduous task of removing underseal and simply move on to bigger priority jobs? Or would you want to make sure it's not hiding anything? I'm not doing this project as a concourse restoration, I simply want to recondition it so I can drive it! I'd love to have it on the road by National next year, so any large job I can bypass will help with with such a deadline. I definitely don't want to cut corners, but if something is already good, why bother creating more work for yourself, what do you think?

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by jetmech »

I would have a good look for damaged or swollen under seal and remove any that you find, then reprotect and treat the whole underside to some fresh under body wax, ie waxoyl or equivalent. I am sure others will disagree, but that’s what I plan to do on my project.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by yoeddynz »

Repeating what I've said earlier - you are a so lucky with the solid condition of your imp. That underside looks great and even the front wishbones look in to be in excellent condition.

If you want to have the cars underside prepped to a suitable level where you can just use it then is be tempted to just clean up any bits of rust, cover the bare steel in a decent epoxy 2 pac paint, wax all the seams and box sections then just enjoy the car. Once a year, say in autumn, just give it an extra coat of pentrating wax etc so it's best protected from the salt. Come spring time give it a very good clean underneath.

My favourite cavity wax is the s50 made by bilt hamber. It goes on well, flows nicely and smells fine (important when filling inside cavities from within the car. It's usually been top of the product tests too over the years.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Pog »

Hi all,

Apologies for the lack of updates, been hard to find the time to sit down and document anything, although I've been far from dormant, got lots to talk about!

The car is now a complete bare shell, successfully removed the front and rear suspension assemblies (the rear was a bit more challenging trying to remove the rear hub nuts. Once again, the right tools make the job so much easier!). This will all be going away for blasting and powder coating while it's off the car. Polybushes have already been sourced and will be fitted to the renewed suspension arms.

ImageIMG_20191019_161701 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

ImageIMG_20191019_161654 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

And now the car has reached a real turning point...

ImageIMG_20191020_172744 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Quite literally! This rotisserie was fabricated by the previous owner. Took some fettling to make it work, but work it does! I've decided to remove the underseal completely and do the job properly, this spit will make the job that bit easier. While I'm at it, it makes sense to renew all the fuel/brake/clutch lines. I've gone to all this trouble so far, it only makes sense to while I'm here. And this will give me the peace of mind that it's all new when it's back on the road and I won't have the niggle in the back of my mind that it will need doing after a few years of driving.

So that's where I am so far. Starting to feel like I'm making good progress, so watch this space!

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by yoeddynz »

Your workshop is really looking good. Have you got a decent heater in there so to make it more inviting for winter evenings of old car tinkering :-)

So jealous at the condition of your imps floor. Very lucky indeed as its saved you a lot of work!
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by colimp66 »

Looking good and great progress. A spit is brilliant for allowing you to get at all the nooks and crannies without all the crawling about underneath a car on axle stands.

Keep at it a d keep us posted. :wink:

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Pog »

There's a couple of small welding jobs that will need taking care of once the underseal is removed. Not done any before so will need to do plenty of practicing to get the settings/technique down (part of the fun of this project is teaching myself new skills). What thickness of steel should I be getting and where do you pick up sheet metal?

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by The Nun »

0.9mm.to 1mm thick and sheet metal suppliers usually have sheet metal, or for small bits B&Q sell 250 x 500 x 1mm sheets for around 8 quid
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Pog »

Hi all,

Excited about this update as it's the start of my journey into welding! I did plenty of research and settled on a Draper MIG welder. Then I made sure I got all the safety kit I needed: gloves, apron and auto darkening helmet. Then I did even more reading and watching of youtube tutorials to give me an idea of how I go about running my first weld.

So I picked up a couple sheets of steel (thanks Nun for the tip) and got stuck in. Tonight was my very first attempt at laying some beads and I realise I have a lot of progress to make, but I'm chuffed I've at least made a start. They make it look so easy in the videos!

ImageIMG_20191123_194705 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

I think I may switch to some thicker steel unit l get comfortable, as I really struggled with blowing holes in this 1mm sheet. Power was set to the lowest setting and I played about with the wire speed and was getting varied results. I guess it's just about perfecting the technique.

ImageIMG_20191123_194728 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Unless anyone's got some advice? Appreciate all your help.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by The Nun »

For the thin stuff like the bodywork you need to butt them by tack welding it carefully at various positions waiting for it the cool down between each tack or move the the other end and then come back and keep tacking until they are all joined up then grind them flush to finish , trying to do a continuous run will warp and buckle it until you get really skilled at it, as tacking method for butt joints or use the plug weld method for lap joints,, then you lessen the distortion risk.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by bks974c »

Comparing left and right sheets, the right looks like the shielding gas was set wrongly. not enough. What gas are you using ?

Trying to run a continuous bead on 1mm does tend to blow through, what's happening is the heats building up as you move forward and it melts away in front of you. The simplest way past this is to run shorter runs and allow to cool slightly between them, simply pausing for a moment and then continuing without lift the nozzle works nicely. For even thinner metal overlapping dots of weld works well and you can turn up the settings without burn through for good penetration.

Good Luck
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by tiker »

What size wire or you using I find .6 is lot better for thin material
Try just tacking first then tack and move the tip in a half circular motion to extend it then let it cool and start again moving upwards in a different spot to distribute the heat then fill in the spaces between
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Pog »

Ah no, the left sheet was flipped around, so that's the underside which is why they look different. I'm using 0.8mm flux cored wire (gasless), although I did choose a welder which was able to run gas as well if I wanted to go that way. I liked the idea of gasless welding as it's one less thing to think about, and as a beginner I wanted to simplify things. Plus having to constantly replace empty gas bottles sounds annoying!

Ahhh, no wonder I kept blowing through, no matter how much I played with the settings. Lots of short tack welds on the thin stuff, got it. I think I'll still practice on some thicker metal just so I get comfortable with torch positioning.

I knew I could count on you guys for some pointers, I'll give them a try and let you know how I get on.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by bks974c »

Pog

Ditch the gasless wire you will never get good welds with it and switch to 0.6 wire.

BOC do a hobby welder deal which is cracking value although they are putting up the prices in Jan.

2020 prices

Rental for year £52
Bottle of gas £40
Collection £6
Plus Vat

Get it before the year end it will cost less and no collection fee, go for the Argoshield Light. For many years I used the universal but definite improvement in weld quality on thin stuff with the light.

It's not a problem returning the bottle after you've finished welding, if you return after 6 months you get 6 months rental back.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Roy Sims »

You could try Adams Gas, you pay a bit more for the gas but no rental, keep the bottle for as long as you like. So if you have to do more welding you have the gas.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by bks974c »

The amount of gas in Adams and others without rental is much much less than BOC I did go go down that road at one time, they are ideal if you only weld occasionally bit initially guess you will find plenty to weld.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Pog »

Hi all,

I've not spent as much time on the imp as I'd like, but definitely things are progressing. I jumped at the chance when I saw Jeff Day was doing a batch of rear window frames (especially after a local restoration firm wanted £1500 for the repair of mine!) So that's with him and will come back shiny and restored in due course, very exciting.

I've started making headway on the actual shell. I signed up to the BOC argoshield light hobby offer (thanks Scott), what a difference it's made! The first bit I wanted to tackle was the spare wheel well. I thought there was a rust hole here, but once cleaned revealed solid metal, just bashed a bit.

ImageIMG_20191222_124025 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

So with some persuasion I've managed to get it back to a reasonable shape for the drain hole.

ImageIMG_20191222_132759 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Next job was at the rear, I noticed the main seam under the rear scuttle was coming apart between the spot welds, I could see light through it which I didn't like at all, so I'm going to be adding stitch welds across key seams to add some strength back into the shell. This was my first attempt at welding on the actual car and I'm pretty pleased with it. Well aware they're not perfect but once some seam sealant is applied it'll do what it's supposed to - I can no longer see any light through the seam so it's definitely pulled it back together.

ImageIMG_20191223_185655 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

I also fabricated and welded on a new tag that was already snapped off.

And now I need your advice. I have a hole in the NSR inside quarter, the only obvious rust I can see:

ImageIMG_20200201_180722 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

For a few weeks I've been building myself up to take an angle grinder to the actual car, thinking I'll simply make a patch for it. But cutting the square out has revealed a whole lot more underneath (as I am fully aware is very common practice with car restoration!). Now I'm freaking out as I feel completely out of my depth. It looks a very complicated panel with a double skin, I don't even recall seeing this panel available as a replacement, only the outer? Is this still a doable job on my own or should I be looking to send the shell off for a professional job? I wouldn't even know where to begin or what needs cutting!

ImageIMG_20200201_182644 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by The Nun »

It's making it very difficult working from inside in that corner to tackle the rust behind the section you have removed, it ideally needs doing from the outside which means removing the outer wing bottom corner up to just below the swage line doing the repair then refitting the outer again using an Express part or if the original outer was still good refit that back again.
Removing the outer wing bottom there can pay dividends too as often the cavity is full of damp soundproofing festering away so that can be removed and all cleaned up whilst doing the job.
It's more time to repair as it's fiddly, this is the problem it's what hidden behind you cant see until you get into it then it can go further than you thought, but it needs doing if its to last properly.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by bks974c »

Before you go any further with the inner corner, strip back the paint on the outer rear lower wing and assess the true condition of it, it's a rust sport on the Imp and very unlikely to have escaped but very likely to be full of filler.

If that is the case then as Peter says remove it and you can make the repairs to the inside of the panel, if its perfect simply cut higher up and make a big window in the reinforcement and make the repairs to the inner quarter through that then close up the window afterwards remembering its thicker metal to replicate the original.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Pog »

Right so here's the state of the rear bottom quarter. You can see where it's been welded before but other than that it doesn't look to bad. I can't fathom why good clean metal was welded over what lies beneath!

ImageIMG_20200202_143509 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by bks974c »

Pog

Repair looks fairly decent without buying new panels, probably wasn't even aware of the bit you've found.

Consider it the chance to improve you repair skills :lol:

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by ImpManiac »

Pog,

Good on you for getting stuck in and starting with the repairs. 8) There are many ways to skin a cat. Or repair bodywork. The fundamental principle is to ensure that you remove all the rust and replace it with good metal in a sound manner. :)

Keep at it!

I have all this to look forward to on my Chamois too! :wink:

IM 8)
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Pog »

Thanks IM! Sometimes you've just got to learn by doing it don't you? Made some good progress on the shell recently:

Following everyone's advice, I removed the outer wing to see what was hiding underneath -

ImageIMG_20200223_123352 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Not as bad I was expecting and so didn't need to take off quite so much, but gave me complete access to clean it all up. And so I turned my hand to panel fabrication! I've read pages and pages of forum threads and watched plenty youtube tutorials and now was time to put it into practice. CAD came first (cardboard aided design!) to get the base shape and size of the corner:

ImageIMG_20200223_133557 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Transferred to sheet metal I started bending it into the suitable shape:

ImageIMG_20200301_143456 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Once I was happy with the curvature I tacked the cuts/bends to hold it together:

ImageIMG_20200301_145319 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

After fully welding the bends and grinding them smooth, I cut out the bad metal:

ImageIMG_20200301_160720 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

And welded in the newly made panel:

ImageIMG_20200301_195327 by Godfrey Hatton, on Flickr

Please don't judge too harshly, I know the welds aren't perfect but for my first attempt at panel fabrication I'm really quite pleased the result. This is never meant to be a concourse restoration, I just want to end up with something solid, presentable and that I did myself.

That's where I'm up to, next step will be to make up the panel for the inside of the engine bay. And then weld the outer wing back on. I'll let you know how I get on!

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by The Nun »

That's excellent, there are some who would have made do with the cornflake box
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by 617sqn »

Nice job. Weld done ! (see what I did there ?) 8)

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by Bobbycham »

Well done Pog , first of many no doubt , you will find the way of welding that suits you and really enjoy it .
Practice makes PERFECT , you'll get there mate. FINE START.

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by bks974c »

That inner panel looks to be in lovely condition, much better than most apart from the rusty bit of course.

Weld repair looks fine nothing a bit of flattening back won't improve, I find the pencil grinder the best tool for that.

https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Evo ... ander-240V

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by 617sqn »

Blimey ! :o I wouldn't want to be putting that behind my ear !

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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by The Nun »

You can buy a tool for almost anything but you have to way up is it worth the cost for the couple of times you might have to use it on a single resto then it's in the cupboard for the next 20 years or is there a cheaper way to do it, although it might take a little longer? Like the RG355 head bolt tool, I bought one back in the 70s when it cost me 3 weeks wages at the time and I've used it the once in 40 years.
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Re: EHK 744G - 1969 Super

Post by RoyBlunt »

That is exactly why I've always thought that the RG355 head bolt tool would be the perfect 'hire' tool for the club. By its very nature it is not something most people need very often or unexpectedly. I know that there would have to be a hefty returnable deposit on it to ensure its prompt return but I think that it would still be worth it for the saving in time & trouble when you need to re-torque the head bolts.
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