The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Well, what started off as a hole in the chassis leg soon grew legs. Chipping away the sound deadening in the footwell revealed this horror story.
Plenty of work ahead here!
The Lidl plasma cutter worked well, I just had to make sure anything flammable was removed or shielded.

That's gonna be a bit of a "project" to repair! So unfair, now I want a plasma cutter!

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Yep by the time you can see rust, there will be masses of it hidden away. Mine was actually worse than that because a professional had already attempted a repair and it was a disaster. They just platted over the rust, thanks to the way they did it the bulkhead wasn't actually attached to the inner wing anymore.

I get that garages are under pressure to get cars through MOTs and do work as cheaply as possible but some of the welding I have seen done my so call professionals is downright dangerous.

Anyway good luck with the repair, the good news is that isn't a particularly difficult spot to fix, so you should be OK.

Without wishing to thread hi-jack... I've seen "professional" repairs done with aluminium road sign, pop rivets and a skim of filler in structural areas. Between that and being tight-fisted it's one of the reasons I do almost everything on my cars myself.

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I was tempted by the Lidl plasma cutter, just because, but fortunately my local store didn't have any when I called in

Lidl had one? Annoying I missed that because I have always wanted one. Seems allot more precise than an angle grinder and a cutting disk.

The Lidl plasma cutter had a build in compressor, but you still have to clean the slag after you make a cut

Dave

The plasma is way better than an angle grinder in confined spaces. You have to make sure there is nothing flammable behind the piece you are cutting. I shielded everything with some steel.

Well over a year since I started hacking away at the SE, here's a quick update. I had to replace a vast amount of steel, one bit at a a time to avoid distortion. Might get it finished before the next Ice Age.
PS those welds may not be pretty but they are STRONG. You won't see them when its finished.