Tubular Hell(s)
Discussion
Take a Tasmin. Any Tasmin, this one will do:
Next, pull the sill covers off. Just for the hell of it...
Realise that a bit of catty is not going to fix this one. Apply small tapping stick to crumbly areas of first pic to find...
... a bit more rot (that plate is actually perforated, it just doesn't show up very well).
Next, get jiggy with tape measure and marker pen. Boogie on down with 7-pounder and some angle iron to create new plates, and do that funky angle-grinder thang to some steel tube. Lay on a smoooooth rhythm of satin black to produce a mellow medley of syncopated chassis sections ripe for the MIG torch....
Next, remove (read: skin knuckles, sprain wrist) sundry bolts and nuts allegedly retaining bodyshell to chassis. Bandage afflicted parts; affix gloves, goggles and ear defenders and extract revenge:
[To be continued, weather permitting
]
Next, pull the sill covers off. Just for the hell of it...
Realise that a bit of catty is not going to fix this one. Apply small tapping stick to crumbly areas of first pic to find...
... a bit more rot (that plate is actually perforated, it just doesn't show up very well).
Next, get jiggy with tape measure and marker pen. Boogie on down with 7-pounder and some angle iron to create new plates, and do that funky angle-grinder thang to some steel tube. Lay on a smoooooth rhythm of satin black to produce a mellow medley of syncopated chassis sections ripe for the MIG torch....
Next, remove (read: skin knuckles, sprain wrist) sundry bolts and nuts allegedly retaining bodyshell to chassis. Bandage afflicted parts; affix gloves, goggles and ear defenders and extract revenge:
[To be continued, weather permitting
]
Well, it was a glorious day... right up to the point where I opened the garage door and rolled out the MIG set... 
Undeterred, I set to, lining up the new tube and tacking it to the three rails. Once I'd gone as far round each tube as I could, I had to jack up the car to get clearance to continue the welds underneath....
I had planned to get Julie to take a few pics of me 'hands-on', but she went in the bath and refused to visit the smoky outdoors!
To dress the welds in the inaccessible corners I had to use the die grinder with a burr in it. This makes a horrific mess comprising millions of steel shards that get in your clothes, hair and orifices. This is in addition to the weld splatter down the neck and in the ear....
Memo to self: dress like a tw@t, like most welders do, in future...
I removed paint from the plates around the areas to be welded, then with the car back on its wheels I slid the plates up behind the tube, and found the bolt holes still lined up! Amazing. So I cracked on in failing light and ran the top and bottom welds along each plate. The lower picture has a golden cast from the 250W floodlight....
All that remains is to dress the welds, apply more paint and fit new nuts and bolts. The rubber packings are still good so I can re-use them, though the seatbelt mounting will need a new nut.
Other side follows when my aching corpse recovers...
Undeterred, I set to, lining up the new tube and tacking it to the three rails. Once I'd gone as far round each tube as I could, I had to jack up the car to get clearance to continue the welds underneath....
I had planned to get Julie to take a few pics of me 'hands-on', but she went in the bath and refused to visit the smoky outdoors!
To dress the welds in the inaccessible corners I had to use the die grinder with a burr in it. This makes a horrific mess comprising millions of steel shards that get in your clothes, hair and orifices. This is in addition to the weld splatter down the neck and in the ear....
Memo to self: dress like a tw@t, like most welders do, in future...
I removed paint from the plates around the areas to be welded, then with the car back on its wheels I slid the plates up behind the tube, and found the bolt holes still lined up! Amazing. So I cracked on in failing light and ran the top and bottom welds along each plate. The lower picture has a golden cast from the 250W floodlight....
All that remains is to dress the welds, apply more paint and fit new nuts and bolts. The rubber packings are still good so I can re-use them, though the seatbelt mounting will need a new nut.
Other side follows when my aching corpse recovers...
quality report wedg1e! had me giggling in recognition:0).
been there,done that! not on the wedge, but on previous v8- iron oxide laden- rover p6.
those weld splatters in the ears are a bugger,particularly if they fall inside once they cool down!!
must get round to writing a report on my carpet retrim(32 individual pieces!)
good luck
Andy
ps dressing like a t
t is definitely a good idea. also the welding helmet gives a great excuse for doing doctor who-alien impressions to the wife...
been there,done that! not on the wedge, but on previous v8- iron oxide laden- rover p6.
those weld splatters in the ears are a bugger,particularly if they fall inside once they cool down!!
must get round to writing a report on my carpet retrim(32 individual pieces!)
good luck
Andy
ps dressing like a t
t is definitely a good idea. also the welding helmet gives a great excuse for doing doctor who-alien impressions to the wife...One of the tricky bits is where the centre outrigger tube meets the sill rail. I chop away the sill either side....
... grind away the remaining bit of tube and shape the end of the outrigger to mate with the curve of the new sill rail. Well that's the theory: luckily you can build up the weld if you need to!
The nearside tubing was then dealt with in much the same way; here I've tacked the new tube in and am jigging up the plates to make sure everything fits.
I find that you can tack the sill plates then remove the bolts and packing rubbers while you complete the welds...
... then it's just a matter of bolting up and applying a liberal coat or two of paint. I've suggested that the owner leave the paint a week or two to finish curing and then apply some underseal to give that extra impact-resistance. In addition there were numerous areas where the epoxy had been chipped and rust was starting to spread, these would be worth grinding clean and painting as well.
Incidentally, TVR only tacked the bottom edge of the sill plates in three or four places. I run a continuous weld along. It doesn't really add strength as the top weld must take most of the loads, but it helps to keep the water out and, technically, according to the current MOT regs, any chassis weld must be continuous. Back in the days of working with my dad on old British heaps, sills etc. were typically weld an inch, miss six inches, weld an inch.....
>> Edited by wedg1e on Thursday 19th May 02:34
... grind away the remaining bit of tube and shape the end of the outrigger to mate with the curve of the new sill rail. Well that's the theory: luckily you can build up the weld if you need to!
The nearside tubing was then dealt with in much the same way; here I've tacked the new tube in and am jigging up the plates to make sure everything fits.
I find that you can tack the sill plates then remove the bolts and packing rubbers while you complete the welds...
... then it's just a matter of bolting up and applying a liberal coat or two of paint. I've suggested that the owner leave the paint a week or two to finish curing and then apply some underseal to give that extra impact-resistance. In addition there were numerous areas where the epoxy had been chipped and rust was starting to spread, these would be worth grinding clean and painting as well.
Incidentally, TVR only tacked the bottom edge of the sill plates in three or four places. I run a continuous weld along. It doesn't really add strength as the top weld must take most of the loads, but it helps to keep the water out and, technically, according to the current MOT regs, any chassis weld must be continuous. Back in the days of working with my dad on old British heaps, sills etc. were typically weld an inch, miss six inches, weld an inch.....
>> Edited by wedg1e on Thursday 19th May 02:34
wedg1e said:
good man it seems you are a wiz with the mig welder wedj1e are your services for hire? (ooohh err missus)
Could be, but distance may be an object
hmm it seems my scruffy wedge is in need of new outriggers, not had a look at it myself yet but thats what the mot station said when mrsfhc dropped it in for its mot (i know i should have checked first). must say your pics show that your skills are just what i'm after
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