JRidout Posted February 15, 2010 Posted February 15, 2010 Hi guys me again,Any one know where you can get door gap adjusters? I've seen them in some of your pictures as well as some homemade?Are they available or is it best to make your own?CheersJR
JRidout Posted February 16, 2010 Author Posted February 16, 2010 Cheers guys, I've managed to find some on eBay so we'll see, or I may have a go at making them myself.JR
worcester19 Posted February 16, 2010 Posted February 16, 2010 Does this mean you've taken the plunge and decided to weld up your shell or did you manage to get a replacement?Best of luckStephen
JRidout Posted February 17, 2010 Author Posted February 17, 2010 Well here's the story. The guy I was going to use for the welding could'nt do such a big job till July!! I took your advice and decided it would be criminal to take another old Spit off the road so I'm going to take the plunge with my brother in law and weld it myself. I have nearly all the panels and am just missing the left & right bulkheads plus boot floor, but we believe that a later Spit is similar?Any thoughts on that? Quiller have loads of Spits and they are happy to cut an old one for us?CheersJR
sparky_spit Posted February 17, 2010 Posted February 17, 2010 Boot floor panel is the same for all Spitfires except the Mk4s and 1500s have holes and backing plates for the bumper attachment points. These are easily filled with grommets. The bulkhead and lower A post panels are the same too.
DaveKent Posted February 17, 2010 Posted February 17, 2010 do it with holes and plug welds in a similar vein to the original spot welds, don't even think of trying to mig weld along the edges of the panels that need joining. A "professional" garage did that to an old spitfire i had a few years ago, what a mess. had to scrap the car in the end. :(
Clive Posted February 18, 2010 Posted February 18, 2010 And following on from above, to make the holes don't use a drill but buy a hole punch (or beg/borrow etc)http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Joddler-with-Punch-Joggler-Edge-Stepping-Tool_W0QQitemZ260531540395QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Hand_Tools_Equipment?hash=item3ca8e3d1abis an example. Sems expensive until you realise that you will be making holes every 2" along the seams, and that can mean 100's of them. The punch is quick and clean to use. Plus the joddler/joggler end is handy for making overlap joints in repair panels as it creates a nice step which stiffens the edge helping to reduce distortion and makes a neat repair. Just my 2p worth.
sparky_spit Posted February 18, 2010 Posted February 18, 2010 And following on again from the above... and with apologies if you already know this, but where you are replacing a complete panel use plug welds as described above at similar spacings to the original spot welds. However, it is essential from both a safety point of view and from an MOT tester's point of view, that any repair patches or non-original joins in panels are seam welded with a continous line of welding.
JensH Posted February 18, 2010 Posted February 18, 2010 cliftyhanger wrote:And following on from above, to make the holes don't use a drill but buy a hole punch (or beg/borrow etc)http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Joddler-with-Punch-Joggler-Edge-Stepping-Tool_W0QQitemZ260531540395QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Hand_Tools_Equipment?hash=item3ca8e3d1abis an example. ....And a "A high quality Danish tool" it is :-)Have one of these, nice.Bulk head panels no longer available, but try to ask around... They are different between early spitfire (mk 1-2-3) and later (mk 4/1500). Go for repair on the lower edge!Don't know if its any help, but I did this piece of rust (see my blog):You should be able to find some info about panel fit...http://thetriumphanimal.blogspot.com/Re floor pans: My standard speach:New floorpans (made by Tayler Pressform/"SteelCraft") can be used on all spit and gt6 models; they are not perfect - but close!Don't be tempted to buy some ebay old repro-junk, you will use a lot of time trying to make it fit.New floor pans are repro panels, but far far better than those available in the 90'. They are good but certainly not perfedt reproductions of the originals:- The outer floor flange for the sill is not (always) as deep as the original, which makes the whole sill assembly try to sit higher than it wants to. See my blog for measurements here: http://thetriumphanimal.blogspot.com/2008/05/sill-cut-through.html- The area around the outrigger to floor bracket is poor and the bracket never fits in place as it should (and new bracket needs heavy treatment with hammer&grinder - its too wide and to long!)
JRidout Posted February 18, 2010 Author Posted February 18, 2010 Blimey..... would you recommend the Joggler tool for the edges on new door skins? Also I bought all my new panels from Rimmers so any idea if there are any known problems?CheersJR
Clive Posted February 18, 2010 Posted February 18, 2010 Joggler/joddler whatever won'y do doorskins, although there are dorskinning pliers around. I did mine using a lrage lump of hardwood as the dolly, and tapping the lip over with a hammer. Looked when done, and I have only ever done 1 pair of doors. They still live on 14years later on a friends car now :)
JensH Posted February 18, 2010 Posted February 18, 2010 1596 wrote:Blimey..... would you recommend the Joggler tool for the edges on new door skins? Also I bought all my new panels from Rimmers so any idea if there are any known problems?CheersJRNop, do as Cliftyhanger; just take your time and when turning the edge of the door skin around the frame's flange do it in easy stages to avoid distortion. Take a few runs along each edge and turn the edge just a little further on each run.Haven't bought panels from Rimmer in years, suppose its the same as everyone else. Make sure, its "OE-spec"; a few years ago sills and rear wings would have had a "Rover" sticker and a hologram printed on; now its just a Heritage sticker. So ask your supplier - its a huge difference in fit and pattern panels not worth the money imho.And: Buy a copy of "Practical Classics and car restorer: Triumph Spitfire Restauration". Although its a 1500 spitfire, its full of usefull info. Repro floor pans showed in the book has changed though.
James1500 Posted February 18, 2010 Posted February 18, 2010 I second the hole punch suggestion, it takes ages to drill all the joining edges (and I did a plug weld every inch) as for door skins, I've not done any myself yet, but would flanged welding clamps be of much use for the straight sections? example on ebay.. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SHEET-METAL-WELDING-CLAMP-10-NEW_W0QQitemZ250575018954QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item3a576f5bca
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