309 replies to this topic

[lc2dr]

Wow - I didn't realise it's been so long since I last updated this thread... Time flys.....

Guess I'd better start uploading some photos....

[lc2dr]

After installing the flutes, i started filling badge holes and straightening out the LH guard after removing a bunch of filler...




The shrinkage around the flutes came out pretty good... but will still require a bit of filler later on...

[lc2dr]

After working on hands and knees, I was thinking this is going to be a long & painful process until a friend offered me a rotisserie he'd built for a Celica... This should make life a little easier....


I had to fabricate front & rear mounting arms for the torrie...


Dropped the front & rear ends out, & up, up and away....


The torrie's new view of the garage....


The only real downside has been the lack of wheels to move it around... Perhaps on version #2 if the good lady wife lets me do another project...

[lc2dr]

Once up in the air, the rust in the rear K-frame mounts became obvious...



with the RH side feeling like paper mache where the crush tube should be fixed..



Will post some more pics soon....

[lc2dr]

Fixing the LH side was pretty easy.... just cut a hole with a hole saw



Made a piece to fill it...



and welded it up...



Once ground back, it looked pretty good...

[lc2dr]

The Drivers side was a totally different story... not a pretty side.





I had a large washer made by the local steel merchant, and welded it to the 2mm thick patch for the outside of the rail...



Cut off the rusted bit and welded on the new...





After soaking the outer section in a Deox-C bath for a few days... swiss cheese...



Patched the section in two places & made a new crush tube...



and covered it in POR-15...



Finally welded it back together...









I'll be treating the area with cavity wax once the car is painted.

[lc2dr]

The next bit to tackle was the drivers side floor...

It wasn't too bad, but had some holes around the accelerator pedal pivot... so I bought a Rare Spares patch for it.









It will be finished off when the floor is prepped & painted.

More to come, but still uploading them...

Hopefully it's not picture overload????

Cheers,
Jeff

[mr5000]

geez jeff it has been ages since youve shown anything on here you did the chassis rail about 12 or more months ago would be getting close to comming off the rotiserie now wouldnt it

[lc2dr]

Mate they are some nice repairs. Very neat. Good Job.

^^^ What he said. Very neat mate. I wasn't actually aware of this project till now.

Thanks guys - much appreciated... Unfortunately I'm a bit anal @ times with the detail which can make things take alittle longer than they should...but I'll get there.

geez jeff it has been ages since youve shown anything on here you did the chassis rail about 12 or more months ago would be getting close to comming off the rotiserie now wouldnt it

Yeah, it was a while ago - just been alittle slack in posting updates. Should catch up in the next few days...

[lc2dr]

Howdy again... some more photos of what I've been up to.

Removed the remainder of the paint from the LH guard to start straighten out the wrinkles under to bog...







Getting better...



I wasn't real happy with the bottom secton of the guard after previously removing it, so I decided to do it again, but cutting higher up...





The patch required some altering of the line on the trailing edge, but was otherwise good...



I tried to get the join as even as I could to butt weld it with the Henrob & no filler...





It turned out OK - just required some stretching to get the line back out because of the heat shrinkage....



Also had to shrink above the flute insert to remove a slight bulge, probably due to over stretching around the insert + the previous damage under the filler...





The guard still requires more work above the flutes, but I'll tackle that latter when the final bodywork gets done. So on with some primer...

[lc2dr]

After gaining some experience on the LH guard, the RH side was alot easier as I only had to fill the badge holes...



& clean up around the flute insert...





and then some primer...



A little bit of work is still required later around the flute insert, but nothing major...

[lc2dr]

Next item on the fix list was the front valance...

It was a little rusty along the outer edges, but also had a large chunk of filler on the drivers side of the number plate...



Looks like a previous owner hit something substantial and it's gone right through to the engine bay... ???



After cutting the spotwelds along the rear join, I marked a line alone the front edge to cut off the bent panel...





After cleaning up the corners of the radiator panel, the holes with filled with the Henrob torch...









Also welded and cleaned up the split in the panel...



Trimmed up the Rares Spares front valance to weld it to what's left of the original...



Cleaned up the cavity...



and covered it with POR-15... ready to weld...



The panel was tacked into place along the front & two sides...



then fusion welded along the front & plug welded along the rear with the MIG...



Finished...

[lc2dr]

Next cab of the rank is the front cowl / bottom of the A pillars...

Didn't look so bad from the outside...



but....




Crap on the inside....











Added some metal to the cutout section to fill the whole..



Some seam sealer on the top of the inner panel...



and on goes the section.



The repair turned out OK but was a fiddly pain in the a$$...




Pretty much the same on the left hand side....

[lc2dr]

A Pillars are pricks of things aren't they. Good work mate, glad it turned out well for you.

Thanks - Yeah, they have been the most fiddly pain in the a$$ bit so far. But we're not done.... :-)

Cheers,
Jeff

[lc2dr]

Hi Folks,

Finally got back to uploading some more photos - hopefully won't bore everybody to tears...

Another spot that I wasn't real happy with my first attempt at a repair. I tried taking the minimalist approach and initially repaired the lower LHR quarter with two small patches. Not a real good idea as the bit I left in had pitting behind it, ending up in a crappy weld job as the thin portion just disappeared when I pointed the MIG at it... :-)



Off comes the bottom...



The Rares section is a good starting point, but required some adjustment of the profile @ the bottom of the wheelarch...







voila...



Cleaned up the inner panel whilst I was there with some POR-15....



Time to put it back...











The repair turned out much better second time around.

[lc2dr]

There was a small hole @ the end of the RH rail which was hiding behind the seam sealer...



I cut this out and made a little patch for it...





One less hole...

[lc2dr]

The next bit to tackle was the inner rear panel of the RH wheel arch. A tad rusty to say the least....

I thought it would be best to do this before I removed the bottom portion of the RHR quarter in order to make sure the replacement secton is in the correct spot.





I cleaned up this section from the rear cut I purchased some time ago...



and removed the offending rusty bits...



Replacement section in place..



and oxy'd up.

[lc2dr]

Hey John,

Thanks heaps for you nice comments and encouragement, they're much appreciated. I too can't wait to see another LC on the road as it's been a long journey so far, but I can see the light @ the end of the tunnel....

Wow, I never even noticed... I had to go out to the garage and take a look after reading your post! Thanks for the detail tip - always appreciated.

Also, thanks again for your help with the seat pivot bolts, they look awesome on the retrimmed seats (will post a photo soon).

Cheers,
Jeff