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LJ XU1 engine splash guard - panel beating

stone tray splash guard

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#1 Brent J

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Posted 01 July 2017 - 06:03 PM

Hi,

 

While I have the front of my car apart, id like to refurbish the engine splash guard as its a bit beat up, and needs paint. Problem is it has a few kinks in it and I think the steel is stretched so its not holding shape too well. No rust fortunately. I can do basic hammer and dolly work but this one might be a bit beyond me!

 

Has anyone had good success straightening theirs? Or, does anyone know a good panel beater that I could take it to to get it straightened?

 

Cheers,

Brent



#2 grumpy xu1

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Posted 01 July 2017 - 06:18 PM

Hi Brent, depending on how stretched the steel is, you could try a small shrink on it, with hardly any heat. I've had some that are nearly stuffed quite easily. Better to start of lightly. Gary.

#3 Brent J

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Posted 01 July 2017 - 08:00 PM

Few pictures for illustration. Note the extra holes in it for the air dam. It appears a previous owner was going to attached the air dam further forward than it should be.. :huh: 

 

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#4 SPONGY

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Posted 01 July 2017 - 08:37 PM

The section you have marked no idea has to be curved back out to clear steering rack when it goes back on.



#5 Brent J

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Posted 01 July 2017 - 08:54 PM

The section you have marked no idea has to be curved back out to clear steering rack when it goes back on.


Interesting that.. I wonder if mine came off another car? Mine does not appear to have the outline for the recess at all..

#6 madtoranajzedded

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Posted 02 July 2017 - 03:52 AM

I wouldnt b too concerned with the front of
stone tray it should straighten once affixed
to lower valance panel.im no panel beater but
i reckon a pick hammer should get those lines
out.

#7 grumpy xu1

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Posted 02 July 2017 - 07:57 PM

I'd search for a better 1 Brent, they come up for sale a bit.

#8 Brent J

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Posted 09 July 2017 - 10:55 PM

I decided to have a crack at improving it just with basic hand tools. It has improved a bit. I got some of the creases out, straightened the trailing edge and knocked out some of the dents in the shoulders. It does look worse in the pictures as I have partially stripped it. It has about 4 layers of different black paint on it! I removed about 3 with a spray on paint stripper (which was a rubbish product).

 

I've been watching quite a few videos on sheet metal work. Quite interesting to watch shrinking to remove the oil can effect, stretching for curves, planishing etc. I might pick up a small oxy-acetylene setup and have a crack at shrinking the front edge and sides as it is oil canning quite badly.

 

Not sure how I could bring back the rear most tear drop recess and smooth it out to look good. Would be very difficult I think.

 

Hi Gary,

 

Yep - I think I will. Just have to find a nice straight one. I wouldn't think they would pop up often given where they are positioned on the car. They would cop a lot of punishment!

 

 

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#9 grumpy xu1

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Posted 10 July 2017 - 05:51 PM

Hi Brent, the biggest problem will have will be if you decide to weld up the extra non factory holes, as it's pretty crap steel in them. If you're not worried about them, you can try putting some shrinks in it, not to much heat at once though. Gary.

#10 EunUCh

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Posted 15 July 2017 - 08:23 PM

have never done shrinking before , but as said , do not use to much heat , find the spot where the oil can problem is the worst by

finding the most "sloppy" area , use a piece of chalk and mark a circle around the bad spot , no need for oxy/acet , a simple lpg burner

will be fine , best done with two people , one to heat and the other with a dolly and maple malet at hand , old mate heats the area while

dolly is held underneath bad spot , you will see the metal rise in the circle , pull off heat and use timber mallet with dolly underneath to draw the metal in towards the center of circle , it does not take much , then once the area has been drawn in and slightly massaged

give the center of the worked area a tap with the timber mallet and then use a wet rag to shrink it.

You might find that you will have to "chase" it it a few times after planishing out the area done.

If you choose to weld up holes , hold a dolly under the area and "hot peen" the the weld while it is still red hot , this helps stop the "pulling" or distortion as the the weld shrinks as it cools which can pull things out of shape big time.



#11 grumpy xu1

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Posted 15 July 2017 - 08:36 PM

have never done shrinking before , but as said , do not use to much heat , find the spot where the oil can problem is the worst by
finding the most "sloppy" area , use a piece of chalk and mark a circle around the bad spot , no need for oxy/acet , a simple lpg burner
will be fine , best done with two people , one to heat and the other with a dolly and maple malet at hand , old mate heats the area while
dolly is held underneath bad spot , you will see the metal rise in the circle , pull off heat and use timber mallet with dolly underneath to draw the metal in towards the center of circle , it does not take much , then once the area has been drawn in and slightly massaged
give the center of the worked area a tap with the timber mallet and then use a wet rag to shrink it.
You might find that you will have to "chase" it it a few times after planishing out the area done.
If you choose to weld up holes , hold a dolly under the area and "hot peen" the the weld while it is still red hot , this helps stop the "pulling" or distortion as the the weld shrinks as it cools which can pull things out of shape big time.


You can't really hot peen a mig weld though if that's the way he was going to weld it. You can put less heat in, instead of really quenching the shrink like what's been the normal in the past.

#12 EunUCh

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Posted 15 July 2017 - 09:02 PM

don't use mig to weld up holes if possible , it tends to be of a "high tensile" weld , oxy the patch in and hot peen or if possible hot peen the mig weld, all welds will distort and pull stuff out of shape when they cool down no end specially on large curved surfaces , flat ones are the worst to get half right.

might be the old method but it is also a learning curve :)



#13 grumpy xu1

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Posted 15 July 2017 - 09:58 PM

Even if the attempt isn't successful he's learnt another skill, tig would be probably the best method of welding the holes up nowadays. The splash gaurds are a shit of a thing to try & repair. & as you say to smoothen it top and bottom with no sign of a repair is very difficult to achieve. I'm quite surprised no one has reproduced these yet. Gary.

#14 EunUCh

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Posted 16 July 2017 - 08:56 PM

All good , got thrown in the deep end once , knew 9/10ths of frokall about metal and shapes and panels. Still know frokall about all that stuff , but for whats its worth , it is never as simple as what they make out , the hard part was knowing when to walk away when things did not "go to plan" , nearly ran a few times as well. I am surprised that GMH still don't stamp this type of thing out as new ? Metal will work harden when being "tapped into shape" and it will also stretch , which means more work shrinking , metal on metal as per dollies and metal hammers are really only good for tight radius and do not over do it. Timber mallets are a must and can be made up easy with a wood saw and sanding disc on an angle grinder to profile whatever shape you want , don't forget to drill some sort of hole in the mallet to stick a bit of dowel or broom handle in. A piece of old sand paper with the gritty side on hand while profiling for final finish with a very small light mallet should be able to get the surface at roughly 5-10 thou or less ?




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