Spitfire MKIV Restoration Newbie.

[LouisW]

Cut some more of the rust away and gave it a lick of rust converter then zinc primer. I will be making some panels for this area but unsure how to go about this, can someone give me a representation in paint or something for the shape of the panels?



Thanks,
Louis.

[JensH]

http://thetriumphanimal.blogspot.dk/2007/10/repair-on-left-side-lower-b-post-and.html

[LouisW]

Here's the spit from behind as it is at the moment!



Been doing some welding as seen in my other thread.

[LouisW]

Righto, got a fair bit done since my last update.
First, after seeking advice from another thread on the forum I had a go at repairing the rust on the boot (had been seeking a new one to no avail, glad I didn't find one now!)





Got it painted up and the boot remounted onto the spitfire which was nice to do!



Only needed a bit of filler and then I gave it another couple of coats to get a nice smooth finish. (At the end I will be applying high build all over the zinc phosphate. I'm getting a fairly good finish with the zinc on it's own but obviously there are minor imperfections I hope to sort out later).



Next up, after fashioning up an inner boot repair panel I could finally install my rear quarter panel panel from rimmers.

Had a bit of struggle with fitment etc but got it all welded up solid (First time using plug welds) on the lower flange after incorrectly doing seam welds and having it weak when grinding away!. I know better for the future now. 😀 All a big learning curve for me.

Incorrect lower welding in this pic.









Still some works need doing on this bit with some filler but it's better than a big hole First real patch i've done on the car!

Today I went head first into another project, the A post!

Cut out the sill and found this instead of a b post... Rust!



Cut it out...



Treated the rust and sprayed some zinc phosphate into the sill. I'll shove some waxoil in later on so it doesn't have to look good, just be effective
This is the only real bit of rust under the sill thankfully.



Next pictures are quite bad as I only just took the pictures, but basically I made up a small steel panel for the body mounting for strength as the old was knackered.



Will also need to make a bigger patch for the rest of the hole, but once I've done that I can weld it all back up and get on with re-assembling the suspension.



Also welded up the front bulkhead panel properly now (filling in the top gap).



Another question however... I had bought all new ARB parts and links. I fitted the links a few weeks ago whilst re-attaching the ARB however after looking today the new links have some rust on already! Should I give the links a lick of paint? They're already black from when I got them but mustn't be protective enough.

Cheers,
Louis

[Bainzy]

Looks like you're doing great Louis, keep up the good work!

[LouisW]

Cheers Bainzy! Nice to know someones reading my thread
Finished off the repair section on the front a post this morning and ground back the bulkhead repair. Will just need some filler to bring it all level but it's strong enough for me!

Pictures of the welded in plate.



What I did find however was another hole further along the a post which required more outer sill to be cut away.







Just needs a plate putting in as I''ve removed all the rust around it.

This is what I have to tackle next after this side... FUNFUNFUN





Oh the joys of previous bodged repairs with filler

[LouisW]

Well I got the other hole all patched up and started welding on the outer sill again. Will need to make a sill end panel but thankfully all of the inner sill is strong and fingers crossed the outer will be aswell!



It doesn't look straight at the bottom but that's just the inner sill as I made it larger so I could spotweld to it then grind the excess away.

Here's a picture of the inside



Nice to know it's strong again now! Once I get the sill end plate on and all the welds ground down, filled, and painted then I can finally build up this side of the suspension.

Also bought some new kn air filters which I have started polishing up.



Cheers,
Louis

[LouisW]

Got the rest of the sill welded and ground the welds down. It's much stronger than before and I'm happy with it now knowing that the inner sill isn't going to fail on me. Still have some filler work to do on a bit of it but I have put some primer on for the time being.



I noticed that the top part of the sill (where the bonnet edge sits) isn't perfectly flat... Can I build this up with filler? It was bent like this before, I havn't done it, honest! 😀

This is the inside of the sill now.



I also removed the drain plug on the side of the engine and flushed it out with some water into the radiator. The water that came out was awful! I had flushed it before to clear but it seems it's still mucky in there. I am thinking of just putting coolant and water in then draining in a few weeks time?  Would plain vinegar into the system be better then draining again?

Cheers,
Louis

[byakk0]

Close the bonnet and see if that needs to come up or down before you do anything else

[LouisW]

There's no bonnet on it at the moment, it's currently stood up in the garage! It's a new fibreglass one, so not 100% sure on fitment when it's down anyway. Not attempted putting any bonnet tubes on it or anything yet.

[byakk0]

you almost need the bonnet at this point. If you get that line fixed without it, your bonnet may sit funny. Even if you can just support it somehow and set it in place just to see

[LouisW]

Not done anything since the last update, been piled under with coursework as of late.
I did however find some rust on the chassis and front bonnet mountings and wondering whether something really needs doing about them?

This ones in the chassis and is really awkward to get to just behind the bonnet mount brackets -


I don't know how I'd go about welding in a patch in such a tight space? I cant even get my drill in to clean up the rust in such a tight gap!

The other area is here -


Not as clear as i've cleaned off the rust in the past and painted it up to protect it. Shall I just weld in a patch into this area? Will it fail an MOT by being rusty in these areas?

I don't want it being unsafe but it feels strong enough!

[Bainzy]

Re: the water flushing, you can get specific products designed to flush the system, might be worth a go? Haven't tried one myself.

Chassis repairs might be worth doing now whilst the welder is out in anger...

[LouisW]

That's what I'm thinking aswell, not done chassis repairs before but they don't have to look pretty, just be strong! 😉
I have been tempted just to fill up the system with vinegar but I'm worried about getting air pockets leading to rust building up where there is no vinegar.

[Bainzy]

I think Marcus has used dishwasher tablets with success?

[LouisW]

Got a fair bit done today as for once the sun was shining and I had no coursework deadlines on top of me!
I removed the rust from inside my front chassis outriggers and from inside the bonnet hinge boxes. I'm glad I got this job done as it was an awkward one, but seemed to just transform the look of the chassis as a whole. Glad i wont have to do it again as well! I'm going to have to get the black paint out soon and have them match the rest of the chassis.







I also cleaned up, sanded and primed my valances which I got from eBay for 99p at the beginning of the resto.  I am very happy with how they came out, and are fully smooth now ready to fit! Also cleaned and primed the mounting brackets for them.



Hope to get the bonnet into a similar condition and fitted soon!

[LouisW]

Did some more work today... took the bonnet out of the garage and set to removing the headlamps and bonnet latches. Latch screws needed drilling out unfortunately, bloody rust! Who thought that philip's screws would ever be good for this? Oh well!
I then pressure washed all of the bonnet then sanded down the existing paint on it. Appears to have had the original white on the fiberglass, blue paint then finally black. All seems to be on pretty well so I'm not going to bother stripping it all back as it seems pretty resilient. Next job will be priming it. Nice to see it back on looking like a car again.

[LouisW]

Another pic

[LouisW]

The only issue I'm having is it seems to be sitting on the radiator cap. Do I have it too far back? It seems to be quite high at the front.

[byakk0]

Looking good.

What did you end up doing with the top of the rocker panel where it meets the bonnet? I can see a little of it from the previous pic, but not very well.

[LouisW]

I havnt touched that yet, from first glances it doesnt seem to be too bad. The bonnet will probably need mounting first so I can see exactly how it sits onto the rocker. I will get a pic later today.

[LouisW]

Here's a picture, does it need building up a bit in the centre? Any idea on why its sitting on the radiator cap?

[Clive]

Is the rad mounted too high? think there are a few holes to choose, so you may be able to drop it a bit.
And fibreglass bonnets are not always accurate replicas of original ones, that is from experience when the fg bonnet I fitted was about 40mm too short. Took a fair bit of effort to sort that. But they do often need a fair fettle.
Just had the same sort of issue with fg quarter valances. One side was 10 mins to fit, the other a few hours including cutting the back off and moving it. Be prepared!

[WIMPUS]

Pictures of how the rad is mounted ?

Is the bonnet hinges bolted to the chassis ? 🙂

[DanM]

the bonnet is not mounted at the front so needs to rest on something!!! see what happens when the bonnet tubes are attached to the chassis,