Bodywork restoration (lots of very good pics)

[redrichie]

Well, today I took the Red Raver off the road. The MOT is due in two weeks, and the list of bodywork repairs that needed doing was growing longer and longer. I got two sill repair sections from Alun at Stoneleigh, and these are waiting to go on. First off though I thought I would teach myself one of a welder from the other by doing some smaller sections. <br>
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Those of a weak heart, please look away now.<br>
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Firstly, the wheel arches.<br>
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Not too bad, nor too difficult to sort out. As you can see from the filler, these have been repaired before. I'm going to make doubly sure that all the rust is cleaned away to prevent this happening again. Incidentally, when i opened up the repair on the forward edge of the near side, a 5p piece dropped out. So i'm making money already <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rollin --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/roll.gif ALT=":rollin"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> .<br>
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Now, the tricky bit....<br>
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Once again, this area had been "repaired". Using aluminium tape and filler over the top. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START >: --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/mad.gif ALT=">:"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> . Now, I have a few ideas of how to approach this problem, and bearing in mind the area isn't very visible, I could get away with a strong yet functional repair, or I could go for a whole new panel. The problem with the new panel is the fact that i don't want to cream cracker the vinyl roof....it hasn't hurt me yet. looking inside, the area seems nice and clean, so loads of wax and a nice strong repair might be the order of the day. What do you guys think? Has anyone ever replaced this area before?<br>
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Moving forward, an area identified but not touched yet:<br>
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I need to order a new windscreen rubber and i am not sure if i can keep her undercover for ever at the moment, so until then, this one stays untouched. It will be getting tackled though.<br>
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Then the A-Posts, and of course, not forgetting the sills.<br>
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Well, thats what I will mainly be doing this spring, I am aiming to get her back on the road before the show season. Because of wallet restraints, I don't think I will be going for a full repaint yet, I'll probably rattle can her and look at that maybe next year.<br>
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Ahh, almost forgot...then there is the small matter of fitting the black interior that Algtj procured for me, sat in my mothers garage in Warwick.....<br>
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I wanted to share this with you all before I get down to the job of doing some dolomiting. More pics will be forthcoming if you stay awake for them...<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rollin --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/roll.gif ALT=":rollin"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END-->

<p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p206.ezboard.com/bthetriumphdolo ... omiteuk</A> at: 31/10/06 1:46 pm<br></i>

[1300dolly]

ouch!! good luck. my sandglow has the rust under the widscreen so if you would so kind as to tackle that first then let me know how it went<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :p --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... tongue.gif ALT=":p"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
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Justyn

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[no41sprint]

mine has gone on the back windscreen too ,but has also rusted on the roof,so the vinyl will to come off.are these panels available ?

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[redrichie]

I did dig the number out of the rimmers catalogue, but i'm not sure as to availability. When I get home I'll have another look.

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[Sprint36]

910737 £24.75 from Rimmers<br>
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David

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[no41sprint]

CHEERS<br>
WILL DEF BUY ONE ,SAVES A LOT OF HASSLE.<br>
WILL WELD A PIECE IN THE ROOF.<br>


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[alun n]

Er...that's the lower half of the panel, you need 903896 top half...good luck!!!!

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[AndyThomas]

I am in the process of replacing 2/3rd's of my top rear screen surround on my Toledo at the moment using a repair section cut off a scrap car. Its a straight forward job. <br>
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I removed the rear screen which popped out easily, ground out the old spot welds to remove the old panel and am now ready to weld in the new section when the garage warms up a little.<br>
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I'm glad mine was no where near a rotten as yours. It had only gone above the centre vent and at the offside side joint.

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[davepoth]

Rich, <br>
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Make sure that the roof is completely OK before only repairing that panel. If you do need to do the roof as well it's much easier to get at that section with the roof panel off. Course you could go brown like I did...

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[redrichie]

Well, I think I will go for the new panel for the roof, It will probably be easier to do than a great fanny-on with bars and P38 and all the rest.<br>
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The offside wheel arch is already done, just needs some final smoothing and primer will be applied.<br>
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Dave, although there are a couple of bubbles here and there under the vinyl, no way does it justify ripping the whole roof off. I would have just gone for a reshell in the first place if that were the case...<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rollin --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/roll.gif ALT=":rollin"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br>
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The C Posts and the Roof look remarkably good on the inside. Perhaps this panel was just made from extra-crap steel instead of standard crap steel???

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[davepoth]

whatever the vinyl looks like on the top, it will be worse underneath. The d posts especially on mine were awful, and the vinyl didn't even look that bad. It would probably be worth pulling the chrome trim away from the rear window area to see if there is any serious corrosion on the back edge, which is where it seemed to be worst on mine.

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[Sprint36]

Oops wrong part number sorry. That's what comes of looking at Rimmers catalogue instead of the parts book with pictures. Now I'm forced to defer to Alun's superior knowledge! (Or the fact that he works from home and can just check his parts book when he's having a tea break)<br>
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David

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[redrichie]

903896 is out of stock at Rimmers...<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :x --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/sick.gif ALT=":x"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> . Anyone know any other likely suppliers or do i have to break out the sheet steel and tinsnips? <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rollin --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/roll.gif ALT=":rollin"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END-->

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[alun n]

No parts book, I just looked on the label stuck to my new old stock panel...the only one I've ever seen!<br>
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Good second hand is likely to be your best bet...

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[hutch76]

Just think of all the paper that would be saved, were Rimmers to publish a catalogue consisting purely of parts they HAVE in stock, or were likely ever to obtain. I reckon their catalogue would be about quarter of the current one.

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