55 Wagon Progress

[BlueJeep]

Thanks for the video. What grit do you like on the roloc discs?

Something I do with mine is buy 3" discs and run them on a 3" arbor, then when they don't cut so well anymore I put them on a 2" arbor and while running the die grinder hit the edge with a cutting disc perpendicular to "shave" them down to about 2". Then I use them some more and repeat the process with a 1" arbor. That way I can finally feel good about throwing them away!

[MP&C]

I was using 80 grit there. I've tried 60 and 120...... 60 seems to leave too deep of scratches, 120 seems too fine/slow at acting. 80 is a happy medium. I don't change arbors, but my 3" arbor is actually about 1/4" shy, so when the outer edge loses its bite I will cut around the perimeter up to the backing using a pair of tin snips to get a bit more life out of them.

[MP&C]

Tonights repair was to duplicate one of these mounting blocks for the lift gate's gas strut.

The good one...





...not so good...





Used a hole saw to provide some radiused ends and the 3" cutoff wheel to cut out all the torn and ragged metal..





A piece of 19ga is tacked and welded....note the original color....








Cut out a piece from a steel angle, drilled and tapped the three 10-24 holes. This was bolted in place using anti-seize on the screw threads to prevent galling during the weld process.. then plug weld holes drilled and welded from the outside..








Plug welds cleaned up, checking the threads for burrs...





And for next time, we have one more piece to add while the bottom is still open, the floating nut plate for the tailgate latch....

[MP&C]

Moving on to the next task, removing the "cage nut" from the old piece...





This was a good opportunity to demonstrate using the cutoff wheel for removing spot welds...


http://s5.photobucket.com/user/rmcca...Welds.mp4.html


Here's the cage removed, the spot weld removal method leaves it nice and intact for getting good measurements for the new one...








A fresh piece of 18ga and some red Dykem, and our new cage is underway....











Slots....














All ready for some media blasting and epoxy paint...

[MP&C]

Tonight I trimmed the lower edge of the lift gate to get the final repair part fitted up.








Once both ends of the lift gate were trimmed, looking at the surface profile you can see we need a bit more crown at the ends of the repair part.








To add some crown, the lower flanges on the ends were folded flat and used the Erco to shrink the bottom flange.





The multiple bends toward the top were another story, a 1/4 beading die lightly pushing into a skateboard wheel, and the ends were pushed in and pulled up while exiting. Here's the results...

















Oh yeah.....you can see the top of the welding table again!





Next task on the list will be to form/fold the ends..

[Frizzle Fry]

Speechless as always. Incredible!

[dug224]

Keep it coming....the attention to detail is inspiring. By the way, nice welding table. dug

[MP&C]

Yeah, I'm starting to get the table filled back up again.

Another slight detour.... I need to stop looking for this stuff....or is it looking for me?

This pinch weld showed swelling between the two sheets, and a closer inspection showed some rather thick scale...








Out with the old...





Test fit of the new...





The exposed metal was media blasted, as was the inside of the newly made patch....and some epoxy primer added...








We'll let that dry and then get it welded in place.


And just to show the makeshift clamping system for cutting, grinding, and painting in an awkward spot......

[MP&C]

With the epoxy well cured, holes were drilled for plug welds....





Then used the modified plug weld bit for cleaning out the adjacent panel...











Cleaned spots for the plug welds...














I had some questions about how well the epoxy held up to heat from welding. The epoxy next to the weld above, where it turned brown from the heat, was allowed to cool off, then attempted to scrape the paint with my thumbnail. I thought it may scrape some off, but it held tight, not so much as a scratch.

Then I got on a roll and forgot pictures, but here's the patch all welded in....





Next, drilled the holes in the lower window opening....





.....and got the holes placed for the nut plate and it's plug welds...











Hopefully tomorrow we can get some profile blocks cut out to fold over the ends of the outer piece...

[MP&C]

Laying out the ends for trimming.....








Here's the piece we'll use to cut out the profile blocks, 3/4 thick steel





As I am fresh out of good band saw blades, these were used....





The lower piece was tapered at the bottom as the bottom of the lift gate tapers in below the bead detail..





.....like so.....





Not perfect, but should work just the same...





Clamped in the vise.....





Then some heat is applied, and hammered the high spots..











Fitted.....








and the other end......














Hope to test fit everything tomorrow before all the parts get media blasted..

[alaska gasser]

Nice job. You have to hate rust.

[MP&C]

It has kept me busy!


Things don't always work the way you planned. Before the ends were folded, the bottom piece could never be test fit into the opening. Now with the ends folded, it was slipped over the bottom of the lift gate and it bolted into the opening. With the upper bead detail aligned, the lower was considerably off kilter. Slightly off on the contour, I guess.








The patch piece was marked off on both ends to bring the lower bead detail up into the car for better alignment...





Here's the driver's side after cutting and welding, shows a much better alignment. Good weld penetration on the inside, the seam at the end will be finished after folding onto the lift gate..











We may be able to save this yet..

[Low Elco]

Tricky Tricky! I had to do the same to Yeller's rockers. Boppa about had a fit when I just rammed his brand new rockers into the bandsaw! "Naw, It'll be cool."

Great stuff with that die. Do you like your Henrob?

[Bomp]

Amazing metal skills. Read and learned. Learned a lot.

[zellway]

<-----This icon explains better then anything I could say!!

[MP&C]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Do you like your Henrob?

Yes, It comes with about 6 different tips, lets you dial in the flame nicely for the job at hand. I got it quite a few years ago, think it's sold as Cobra torch now...

[CAL 58 GMC]

Your mettle working skill continue to impress me!

[MP&C]

Caution: A couple of OT pictures follow, proceed at your own risk!


Sorry for my short hiatus from the shop, after 226K miles my trusty 16 year old truck has been giving me fits with transmission issues. After spending about 3 weeks on and off looking for good used trucks, the year end deals and rebates made a brand new one only slightly higher in price than a three year old model. So.....

Out with the old...




In with the new....




And with the truck shopping headaches behind us, we can get back in the shop ...


Worked on the other end of the lower patch today, to fix the mis-alignment of the beltline trim...





Made a relief cut....








Rear view shows full weld penetration....





Welds were planished, then ground to just above panel surface, and next weld overlapped, and repeat. The overlapping helps to eliminate any missed welds/pin holes.
































All done and cleaned up....








......for a much better fit..





Then media blasted the inside in preparation for some epoxy primer...





.....and did some adjustment of the tailgate fitment.

[Low Elco]

Nice new sled! How did you do the actual move of the trim ridge? I see the relief to go up, but how did you actually do it?

I can personally attest to the weld/grind/lap method. Helps keep the heat down, as well. Great tip.

[MP&C]

After making the relief cut, the lower folded section was placed in the vise for some "finesse" to persuade it upwards a bit. A pair of vise grips held the two together for the first tack, and after that things just fell into place.

[duallyjams]

Got some B I G time skills.

[67chevy1series]

damn, i believe im gonna have to go get my socks, they blew off on the 1st page.

[Bomp]

Every time I check in I feel "schooled".
Amazing skillz,,,, Shouldn't there be a TOTY or something along side your name?

[MP&C]

Sometimes you just need to back up and punt.

Even though I have been working on this car far too long, with travel for the day job and two other resto's having been quite an interruption..... you get to where you finally see light at the end of the tunnel, and just come to grips with something that needs to come back out....


When I originally did this roof repair, I did not have the Lennox nibbler or English wheel or many of the tools I now have, and the patch panel you see below.....





....was fabricated using incremental bends in an apron brake. Given the creases you see due to the fabrication method, I likely made this shorter than I should have in an attempt to limit the creases, and the result was the horizontal weld was not up high enough to be readily accessible for planishing. After making these patch panels for a second roof repair......





.....it was more apparent that the first attempt was not the best, and if I wasn't happy with it before, this new panel really made the old one grab my attention...each time I've walked by.











Well a person with spare patches lying around can only take so much, so tonight I checked the fit of one of the spare patch panels.... Looking at the front, the panel needed just a bit more crown....





And the rear needed just a bit less....





So with the Go Kart slick mounted up and ready to go, a 6" then 3.75" radius lower anvil added the crown needed for the front and a 24" radius flattened out the rear for a much better fit.























These panels are about 4" high and put the weld up above the roof boxing structure, so planishing will be more accessible to give us a better job. I'll get the patch all primed on the inside and let it cure. Then cut out the old patch and get this new one welded in.. More to come..

[Bomp]

Watchin
Wish I could work my English wheel half as good as you.