URGENT* 16v seam welding, is this normal?

[dan16v]

hi lads i have a crack around the bottom of my suspension turret so i decided to grind away the old metal ready for welding! but i also decided to take away some of the seam sealer from lower down the leg and found they have not beed seam welded! :o now i may be wrong as they could be stitch welded from inside the arch? as fearless motorsport carried out the full conversion?.
but what i want to know is how much of a gap should ther be between top and bottom seam?
http://www.novaload.net/forums/album_view.php?id=791

does this look normal? ie gap wise? and should i continue grinding both legs and seam weld them or not?
thanks :oops:

[Dicko]

doesnt sound good mate :(

[dan16v]

hmm the car has been a 16v for about 3years now but the gap is even all the way round so it may be ok? and it does look like its been stitched from inside the arch! i know dave france has done a fair few conversions so im hoping its ok! every thing else is welded ie tca's and all other chassis parts just not these 2 seams!

[_Ben_]

I can't see the piccie so I'll guess that you're talking about the join between the suspension strut turret and the front inner wing where the ignition coil usually is mounted. If so, I think the join is spot welded.

Fearless Motorsport == Dave France? He's started using the board so lookout for him.

Cheers

[dan16v]

so is fearless his user name or not? i think it should be ok just to weld up coz when ever i see most peps 16v bay the seam welding is like bird shit which indicates theve only used 1run on the seam trying to bridge the gap between the 2 joints. imo the seams are to far apart to use 1 run id dress the upper seam down to meet the bottom
thanks for any help :wink:

[dan16v]

oh there are 3pics of the seam mentioned in the album under stuff used in forums!

[_Ben_]

Yep, Fearless is his user ID.

I'm not up on seamwelding to be honest.

[dan16v]

ive just spoken to howell and the car hasnt been seam welded, but the strengthining kit patches have been welded in! so i better weld the legs and turrets up b4 the let goes in!

[fearless]

R u sure I've carried out the conversion on this car !!!
It doesn't ring any bells !!
If it howells old car (previously owned by andy hampson and built/owned by Sie Bellis) - then I've NOT carried out the conversion

Sie Bellis is a good friend of mine who carried out the conversion himself, reshelling his previous peppermint valver (after someone run into the back of it) into the van/car with technical assistance from myself - that goes there/modify that etc

As far as I'm aware he only fitted a chassis stengthening kit before painting the whole car and engine bay again

Hope that clarifies things :D

[dan16v]

yup sorry thats what i meant! its only been welded with a kit, sorry you didnt do the converson! got mixed up :wink:
dave how come he never seam welded it then?
ive checked my friends sri and he has the same sort of gap between his seams so ill just carry on grinding bak the sealer then weld it up!
oh and do fearless make strut braces for a nova with a let in? front wise?
thanks for help i was getting a bit worried that my seams were pulling away from each other :o

[fearless]

Just viewed your piccys in the album
The gap your worried about is standard on all novas - you'll notice factory sealer between the seam !!
Scrape the sealer out best u can and using a wide flat masonary chisel - tap the inner wing seam flush with the chassis leg and stich weld one inch then a one inch gap then one inch weld etc etc
Do this under the wheel arch as well making sure u reseal all the seams with seam sealer (eg Sixaflex)

AS far as I can remember - Sie got a bit pi@@ed off with people letting him down with welding etc so once the plate kit was fitted he took it into work an painted it all (Used to b top painter at a rover main dealer)

Front Strut braces r available for turvo novas - same a 2 lt 16v one
Solid billet alloy brace, polished ?140

Cheers

[dan16v]

thanks alot for the help! i know what im doing to moz all day :D take it i do the same all the way round the turret? to me it looks like it has been stitched under the arch (iam a pipefitter/welder) so ill stitch it from the out side to aswell as the engine mounts which i dont like the look of! look abit weak so ill put a run on them aswell :wink:

[fearless]

Most difficult job is getting all the seam sealer off and cleaning the metal up so u can get a good weld - Just b carefull if your welding the seam under the arch which goes up towards the screen - You need to take the carpet out in the front of the car and get someone with a damp cloth inside to cool the panel down when u weld it - otherwise te whole thing can go up in flames !!!!

[Ian]

and then would it melt the alarm and lock all the doors resulting in having to punch through the windscreen to put the flames out? lol

[fearless]

Hmmm - sounds familiar does that !!! :D

[dan16v]

right ive just about finished taking all the seam sealer bak! :x do i realy have to stitch the seam that joins the leg to the bulkhead? ie the one which can cause a fire :lol: the reason i ask is coz if i do im gunna have to remove my dash and brake servo etc etc so i can get to it which will be a pain in the arse! :(

[Lee H]

Mine just has about 4 stitches up the back as its the only way to get in really without removing brake servo, steering rack etc to seam weld it. Only problem is they are not proper stitches as you can't do them on the other side (ie inside) If it hasn't started pulling away at all yet I personally wouldn't bother all that much about it.

[dan16v]

lee ive checked inside my arch and myne has already been stitched! :D i know what your saying bout leaving it! if i was putting my old (185bhp) 16v in i would but its :wink: gunna have approx 320bhp ripping thro it so the legs need to have been done!

[Lee H]

Mines going to be about 210bhp when i put my engine in at weekend but I reckon it will be alright??

[Ste_Nova]

mines stiched everywhere.... and the legs to the bulkhead are 1/2 stiched and puddled

[dan16v]

yea ste ive checked my bay out now and its all stitched apart from the seam that runs from the head lights to the turret so ill stitch that and it should be ok i was thinking of fully welding the legs to the bulkhead or is this a bit over kill? spose inch stitches are ok?

[Ste_Nova]

fully welding removes all flex..... and the next point to flex it the bulkhead it's self!!

[Ian]

making it too strong means when it takes a hit it bends the chassis and roof as demonstrated by my blue shell.