Re the wings, I'll fettle a metal shape and bond it on smoothing with filler.
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Re the wings, I'll fettle a metal shape and bond it on smoothing with filler.
Tuesday 29/08/2006
A day off work!
The plan today was to replace the metal surrounds that line the arch. Mine are totally shot as you can see from these pics
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rust4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rust5.jpg
The idea was to cut back the rust, remove the sound deadening and bond a new inner surround to good metal. I want to take the surround right round the whole inner arch so mud from the wheels and the road doesnt splash right up into the inner wings and outer wings and rust them to feck.
That was the plan...
I started by making a template of the existing surround and extending it to the back of the light housing. Ill secure this with brackets.
Before i could do this however I needed to remove the fecking sound proofing. People say this stuff isn absolute barsteward to shift however I found if you heat it up and remove some of it with a scraper, then heat it again and get one of those metal brush attachments for the drill it comes away pretty easily. Its fecking messy mind!
Unfotrunately the sound deadening hid a host of horrors! (as it does)
The bottom of the surrounds were totally rusted right through to the sub frame and on the drivers side had actualluy compromised the cabin area.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rust6.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rust3.jpg
As you can see its right though to the main part of the car and at the bottom could weaken the jacking points.
In addition to that, one of the welds on the passenger side stut top had gone totally. Thankfully the adjoining metal was intact.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rust2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rust1.jpg
So the old girl needs more welding.
Now at this stage most would just scrap the shell but I've spent too much now to turn back. Rang up the local body shop that did my front lower valance but he's fully booked now for ages so phoned the garage in the next village (who specialise in agricultural machinery) and because my wife has her horsebox repaired/serviced there, they said they take it this weekend and get her sorted (cheers Angus!).
So, back to the shop she goes this weekend - hopefully I'll get her back in a couple of weeks (theyre squeezing her in between other jobs as they dont usually work on cars).
Other things I did today - sealed the light housings and bolted the lights in place - checking I could actually get bolts into the holes. Its a tight squeeze but they fit fine and are really solid.
Whilst the Novas away I'll get on with the models. Need to start making them again.
I'm also going to look at how I can smooth my rear number plate recess without welding a plate. Have some ideas so will keep you posted...
Todays injuries - face full of hot waxoyl/melted sound deadening after I had my drill on the wrong direction and a nasty cut on the soft fleshy part of my thumb at the bottom that wouldnt stop bleeding for ages. Healed up nicely now though.
:thumb:
nice to see something different ade - keep it up, however wouldnt it be cheaper to learn how to weld?
Phil
wish i had a welder a garage a ramp and some welding skills!
Id really recommend picking up a mig welder and do it yourself. Would make it a lot easier for you to do all your cool body modifications. Plus you can fix any more rusty suprises you find along the way. I taught myself to weld in a day, and just today i welded my suspension turret which was in a similar state as yours. The welding is the easy bit really, its all the sanding down to remove rust to prepare the surface that takes ages.
think I'll be getting a welder for Christmas. Quite like the idea of making funky sh1te with it plus will be handy for patching up the Nova...
however this time I wanna just get the job done. the cost of getting it done properly will be same as I;d pay forking out for all the equipment...
Excellent work Ade,and i love the way your showing us every little thing :) ,mine is gone in the exact same places as yours,in the same way,and im fixing it myself,isnt too hard when youv got the mig hehe! Anyway looking forward to seeing more progress,keep it up!
Wednesday 30/08/2006
Managed to get away from work early(ish) today so had a couple of hours in the garage.
Operation radiator.
One of the problems I have is the location of my radiator. The Punto lights encroach on the existing mounting points for the radiator on thre passenger side by about an inch. I had to remove the upper slam panel (the bit where the bonnet locks into to fit the lights and the problem was how do I relocate the radiator an inch to the drivers side and then reattach the upper slam panel.
Well I managed to crack the 1st part oif the radiator mounting a few weeks ago (see prev pages for drawing) and decided to put it into practice.
The idea is basically to make a rail that the radiator will sit in which is bolted to the existing mounting points. The radiator will then sit in pre drilled holes an inch to the drivers side.
I started by measuring the distance between the 2 mounting points and then going a little beyond them. Totalled 75cm.
I then took 2 L shaped metal bars and cut 2 lengths. The bars have oval slits in them which allows me to bolt them together. Conveniently theyre exactly the same width when bolted as the main part of the radiator so its held in place securely across the whole bottom length.
I had to make modifications to the now U shaped section at points where the radiator was wider than the U shape (at the ends).
Heres the U section -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rad9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rad8.jpg
Heres the section mounted on to the radiator -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rad7.jpg
It sits on the lower valance as follows -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rad2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rad1-1.jpg
It's held in place by 2 bolts either end which slot into the existing rubber mounts and are then secured by bolts from the inside (bolts are added before inserting the rubber mounts however there are convenient access slots underneath the lower valance allowing access to them).
And heres the radiator in situ -
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rad11.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rad10.jpg
Theres plenty of clearence on both sides and as its only been moved an inch there shouldnt be any additional stress on the hoses.
As you can see I now have plenty of room on the passenger side to create a new mounting point if I need to and the light housing is no longer fouling the radiator.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v13/danga/rad4.jpg
I'm considering rather than have a side mounting point instead having 2 upper mounting points. I may have side points as well although I need to see how the upper slam panel will be attached. That's the next task...
Tomorrow I'm hoping to work that bit out and then strip back the carpets and wiring from the corners so I can get the additional welding done (so it doesnt catch fire).
:eek: my god ade..thats phenominal work there...the bonnet work is unreal..
really takin a shining to this nova.. big :thumb: :thumb: from me an keep the pics coming!!!:D
cheers!
wifes moaning that I'm not spending much time with her though...