The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I want to take off the front wings and panel ready for the body work to start. Those who have taken of .Any helpfull advice welcome and would i need to brace the front when taking of the front panel to stop the inner wings twisting.

Buy a good spot weld drill, ideally use a mains device to spin it, or a very good cordless, and an industrial-sized packet of Elastoplasts, it's a labourious task and the only way is to take the welds out one-by-one, making sure to centre pop each one first so the drill doesn't run off and take a length of wing rail with it.

reciprocating saw for the door edge and sill edge.

The front panel part is the most difficult. IME

No need to brace it once its off. But make sure you protect it adequately once you have exposed all that new metal.

_________________
Previous owner of 42 Dolomite shaped vehicles, 14 Sprints, 12 1850s, 8 1500s, 3 V8s, 3 Toledos and 2 SEs

Another option:

Use a thin metal cutting disk on your favourite grinder to cut away the majority of the wing. Very lightly cut away the remaining bit of metal either side of the spot welds - like this: [o] and then use a handy electric file to grin off the small amount of wing metal that remains. A very light hand is required to trim either side of the spot weld though. That way, no holes in the wing rail and you can secure the wing any way you want, either weld or self-tapping bolts.

Either way of removal works.

Ken

Thamks. That soundsa good idear then cut of the remaining unwanted metel thus saving the need to filll all those holes.Not so easey i think to do the same with a front panel.esp as i would like to try and save it as a spare.

When removing spot welds I found that once you had released a few, put a thin bladed screwdriver in the gap between the panels you have created.

As you start to spin the spot welder removing bit, apply pressure to the screwdriver handle and more often than not you can pop the weld apart before you drill it out (as you have a concentrated heat source directly on the weld (the friction from the drill bit).

I found this a very productive and quick way to release a panel, and it often helped to preserve a panel flange that otherwise would have just become just a length of holes.

Drilling the old spot welds out means that the new panel can be attached to the exact same places as the one removed, simply by plug welding through the new part, you wouldn't have holes left if you did it that way.
All you have to do is mark the positions on the new part where the holes need to be, then go along with your torch and weld, using the panel as the filler. You'll need an absolute minimum of rods this way or, if you use MIG, wire. Best of all, the seam will look exactly like a line of original spot welds.

I'd drill through and modify by tacking hank nuts to the underside of the wing rail so that the wing could be bolted on instead, there's no need for it to be welded, since that huge brace from the scuttle to the suspension pickup point is more than up to the job and it would make for easier future maintenance of the headlamp panels and eyebrows.

I use a cold chisel horizontally between the panels and pop the welds that way. as David says, reciprocating saw for A post welds and bottom flange and also carefully for the one you'll find between front panel and top of wing if its all still OE.

Thanks for the usefull imput .Yes it still all oe atm..if i can get the wings off with out leaveing holes on the inner wing that will be great But without to much damage to the wings as there not to bad and i can keep the as spares. Now if BL had pot riveted or bolted them it would have made our lives a lot easyer.

...But to spot weld them on, that would be "as origanal", so you'd need the holes for the plug welding process.

I know life carnt be easy for me.
Will a normal drill bit do or should i get a spot welder removal bit?