Valance MkIII & Beyond

A long one....

The replacement B post panel was due to arrive Monday, but the bastards at Evri sent me a message to say I wasn't in and they didn't deliver for that reason. I was in all bloody day!

Started spot welding the valance into position. There was some carving to be done on the left hand finishing strip before I could get the left hand side to fit but, given there was nothing else that had been removed, it was relatively simple. I then ran along the seams with the spot welder. Some tacks with the MiG welder were required, just to ensure the panel adhered to the inside of the finisher that runs under the left hand outer wing.

Next came the right hand side, which was an absolute mare. It necessitated the boot floor to be raised with the engine hoist in order to align it with the correct position to attach to the inner wing, and a webbing strap to pull the inner wing in so it met the boot floor. Lots of torsion has been incorporated, which shouldn't be there, although my spirit level suggests the boot floor is now level.

I shouldn't have been in such a hurry to fit the outer wing, which hindered my ability to properly line things up on the inside of the car - although I wasn't to know there were alignment problems on the inside. There was some serious misalignment between the flanges on the lower valance repair panel and the inner wing, although the alignment with the upper valance is perfect.

The inner wing was fitted by the previous owner and wasn't in the correct position, which is probably why I had issues fitting the outer wing. However, there was nothing I could do about it, so any adjustment had to be effected on the lower valance repair panel. Not ideal and left me with the repair panel flange, which should be spot welded to the inner and outer wings, standing proud and requiring tack welds with the MiG on the inside and outside, with the excess being ground off.

You can see in the above photo how much had to be ground off the valance's right hand flange. At least there was no gap, which allowed me to weld it up on the inside.

Not any noticeable difference when viewed from behind and the valance looks level all the way along, whereas the old one sagged on the right.

There's a very small, triangular gap where the upper valance meets the lower valance and the rear wing ( a 3 panel join), occasioned by the misalignment. I'll probably have to fabricate a triangular fillet for it.

Then the B post closing panel arrived by courier on Tuesday and I realised, once more, that it was a mistake to fit the wing first, as a flange on the B post panel has to go under the wing flange. Luckily, the wing wasn't welded along the bottom, so it could be pulled out a bit, but the B post panel needed some cropping where it meets the sill to give me room to manoeuvre it into position.

The brass screw was inserted so I could pull the bottom of the B post panel up, under the sill. The wing was slightly proud from the sill, so I needed a huge G clamp to encourage it into position before I proceed with plug welds around the flanges. 

The part where it joins the sill step was tricky and I had to use a mixture of MiG and stick welding to blob the metal on and build it up without blowing a hole in either the sill or the B post. There was a small square area of missing metal where I had to crop the panel to get it into position. I managed to insert a tiny fillet using the good steel from the old valance and finished it with filler. It looked a right mess, but I persevered with the blobbing and grinding, but after the filler and primer it ended up looking like this.

The door fits, so success.

The other side looks fair too, bearing in mind that the doors are only loosely fitted and the hinges aren't on. so the gaps aren't true.

I then decided to tackle with wheel arches of the new rear wing. The spot welder wouldn't go near it because of the rebate, so I dug out the spot welder adaptor for the stick welder, which attacks the problem from one side only - and it was virtually useless, as it either didn't penetrate the inner arch at all, or simply blew a hole in the outer wing wheel arch flange. I guess I could get the spot welder to fit if I get some more copper rod and make some weird shaped electrodes.

Resorted to the MiG, combined with some stick welding, filling the holes the spot adapter had conveniently blown for me, eliminating the need to drill holes. Still not happy with the result, as welding upwards is problematic because gravity dictates that the weld pool drops to the floor, leaving holes. I'll probably return to the wheel arches today and cogitate on the problem. Doubtless I'll find a solution, but it may involve a rotisserie to turn the car over to counter gravity. 

Putting a magnet the top side of the weld won't work, as the Curie temperature of steel (the temperature above which it loses any magnetic properties) is around 700 degrees C, and welding takes place at several thousand degrees.

Once the wheel arches are done, I'll be in a position to remove the tub from the chassis. That's when my problems start - I don't have the space to store them separately. I need a garage extension.....

I'll probably start work on the bonnet next, but that will have to wait until I have recouped some funds for the necessary panels, although stripping it and cutting out the rot can be done without spending anything.

The problems I've had are a consequence of having to contend with previous, inexpert work (not that I'm an expert, but I have done this type of thing before). My unfamiliarity with the GT6 and not having taken it apart myself in the first place didn't help. The golden rule is to replace in the same sequence in which you removed panels and not to try to take shortcuts. 

It would have been much easier to do this work with the tub off the chassis and on a rotisserie, but it's said that if you replace panels with the tub off the car, you'll never get it back on the chassis again as nothing lines up with the bolts, and I can see why.

As an aside, Hay's works is having their Christmas do in Ampney Crucis. I told her my works do is in the garage.