Clay’s Wedgewood Blue FB Ute

[Errol62]

Driver side has rust in the headlight peak so I will use the one from the spare guard again.

I stuck the guards back on the front for some inspiration. It is tempting to just rub the back, paint underneath and reinstall without repairing the rust.


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[Errol62]

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[Patrick_R]

I hope getting those guards back up has helped Clay.

Look how far you have come since your first post in February.
The main thing here is that with every hurdle thrown at you as you stripped her down, you have not waive red from doing it right.

The finishing line is now in sight.

Fantastic tenacity and work mate.

Ric.

[FireKraka]

Come on Clay you know you are going to repair the rust if you are anything like me it would always bug you if you didn't do it.
Neil

[Errol62]

Yes Neil,
While I’ve got them off I might as well....... The acid bath has revealed some wee holes in the headlight peak on the passenger side.

Final steps in the subframe installation. Touched up apron to firewall interface with metal fix. Fit up master cylinders, wiring speedo cable, wipers, choke cable. The holes in the floor I made to access the inner subframe leg attachments filled up with fisholene several times with a catch tin underneath. I still need to do same for the A pillar bottoms.


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[Errol62]

Wire brushed the dash and tempted to leave as is but decided to paint it. Decided to paint the plenum with metal fix. Anybody know where I can get clinker grey in aerosol?

Just got a bit of welding on the floor and I can clean and paint. Paint dash and install sound deadening and I’ll be ready for the head lining.


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[gpi]

paint powerhouse in gillman

[Errol62]

thanks Patrick


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[Errol62]

Painted the plenum chamber area and welded up the holes in the roof. I used a steel bar the right length to press 8x50mm copper strap against the inside behind the holes and a damp rag around the weld area, clenching every few spots with the mig. Came out fairly straight however there is a crease where the roof was flattened out by bolting the flat light base. May be some shrinking required. New territory for me.

Thank god the sites back up, having withdrawals.
Cheers
Clay


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[In the Shed]

Good work Clay, watching your progress with interest. What extent/size is the crease in the roof?

Regards
Stephen

[Blacky]

yeah - thanks to Jason the admin computer guru the site is back up again

[Errol62]

In the photo below to the driver side and in front of the hole repair you can see bare metal running parallel to the windscreen opening where I have run the flapper disc along the crease to try and tighten the adjacent metal.
Thinking I may need to heat and quench rear of this to shrink the panel a bit. I may have a go at trying to beat it out first.


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[ardiesse]

Clay,

Convex surfaces, like your roof, are very forgiving to work with. Gentle hammer-and-dolly work is all that you will need, hopefully.

Where you've welded up the holes in the roof, the metal will shrink as the welds cool. The shrinkage pulls the metal in, and the effect is to create a slightly low area. Wet the roof, and sight along the repaired areas for dips in the panel shape. If the welds are the lowest points, then you need to "relax" them a little. It's best to put the dolly on the outside, and hammer from the inside. Planish (is that the right word?) the weld gently. You'll be surprised how great an effect a few taps with a hammer will have.

Toss the flapper disc into the bin. Instead, go buy a backing pad for your angle grinder, and a stack of 36 grit sanding discs.

When you've relaxed the welds enough so they sit proud of the roof, make a gentle pass over the weld with the grinder/backing pad/sanding disc. Barely even touch the metal. Keep the site cool with a damp rag. As the sanding disc goes dull, toss it and replace with a new one. With care, you can make the repair invisible.

The crease can be approached similarly. But this time, dolly on the inside and hammer from the outside. Tap the "ridge" down gently. If you have a depression in the roof that's palm-of-hand size or bigger, a good way of dealing with it is with a bag of sand (on the outside) and a rubber mallet (working from the inside). What you don't want to do is bruise the metal by going in too hard with a hammer.

Rob

[Errol62]

Thanks Rob
I’ll have a play with your suggestions


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[Errol62]

Back to work today
Came home and started pulling down the rear. Tailgate and tank came easy enough. Slight damage to the box rails where they had stick welded angle iron on to support the tank. The rail is a bit rusted on the passenger side rear corner. Easy enough to patch up. driver side not as bad but tore a hole in top of rail where it was arc welded. The rear edge top floor skin panel is pretty well gone however the heavier gauge folded cross member underneath is quite intact. Bit of fabricating to do in addition to welding in the replacement tank surround. First though I’ll have to wheel it out in to the carport and give it a good degrease. It looks like the area has been fish oiled a long time ago.


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