AL's (not so) mini build... August 2015 - Paint!

Welded round the axle panel repair this morning.

Hard work without much room under the car!


Weld 3 by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr

No the best, but ground them back a bit more a did a few more buzzes after this pic.

Primed it with Acid etch and will give it a coat of underseal tomorrow.

Need to tackle the lower triangular section too as this is pretty bad.

October 2011… six months and I haven't done a thing!!!

But, I am itching to get back at it! So much so that I bought some bolts to sort the snapped axle mount stud.

I am just finishing up fitting a new kitchen to keep the wife happy, but hopefully, next dry weekend we have, I am going to make some more progress!

Watch this space…

Took the grinder to the little triangular section below the axle mounting point today (as per pic 2 posts up).

Took about 2 mins to cut it out, then spent about 20 min pondering how to patch it back up again!
No turning back though - I've cut it now!
Need to cut out a section of the outer sill too and then I'll take some pics and start trying to build it back up again.

Not going to be easy with just the back end on axle stands - got no room to swing a welder or a grinder round properly…

Hello - I'm still here, honest!

1 year, 1 month and 1 week later and I have just started working on the car again!

I am so sick and tired of this lump of steel sitting on axle stands in my garage that I can't bear it anymore - I have to finish it!

Yesterday, I finished welding up a frame to sit the back of the car on while it is missing the rear axle. The mian reason for this is to give me something solid to stick some axle stands under that will lift it high enough in the air and not be in the way of me sliding under the car!

Hopefully will be able to crack on with fixing the actual car over the coming weeks and give you some reall progress pics to look at!

Welcome back Al  

Look forward to seeing some pic updates

Well - I actually have an update!!!

I actually did some welding on the car today!
Only took a "finished" pic as didn't have my phone on me at the time…

I plug welded the lower tringlular piece in place. Ground all of the welds back flush primed then sealed the whole area.
I don't know if I should really have seam welded around the whole piece? This peice isn't really structural, just a finishing piece between the chassis leg and the sill, so I thought it would be ok? Couldn't get the grinder into the corner properly anyway and went through a couple of drill mounted stones to grind the spots down as it was!

Anyway - PICS!

Here is the frame I knocked up to stand the car on.
It is attached to the bumper mounts and the little mounts on the rear of the chassis leg (Used in the factory, I think):

Untitled by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr


The plate in and sealed (Still got to sort the snapped stud:

Untitled by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr


Just the outer sill to look at now before I can start on the arch!

Untitled by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr

Nice welding skills matey. Good news you're back on the resto

Looking good Al, keep the updates coming bud!

Had another hour on the car this afternoon… I'm on a roll!

Started shaping up some bits for the sill repair.
Used an old vice and a hammer for forming my repair panels:


Untitled by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr


Untitled by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr

Over bent it a little, but once pulled back, was a good fit.
Started shaping up a couple of other bits to see how they will line up with the arch repair panel too.

Hopefully, some more pics soon!

AL.

It's about time! Great work… 

Nice work Al. I don't think you needed to seam weld that part either

Nice to see your making progress again mate

Looking good Al, hope your not using that axe on the bodywork tho

Melteddrummer said

Looking good Al, hope your not using that axe on the bodywork tho

          That's for the wife when she tells him to give it a rest for the day

smudger1980 said

Melteddrummer said

Looking good Al, hope your not using that axe on the bodywork tho

     That's for the wife when she tells him to give it a rest for the day

Oh - You know Amie do you… LOL

Actually, I was using the back edge of it to hammer the steel over in the vice.
My hammer was in my tool box which was in the house and I was too lazy to go and get it…  

Could you not make some pivot frames from the box section you have, they do make life far more comfortable.

pazwaa said

Could you not make some pivot frames from the box section you have, they do make life far more comfortable.

I would have loved to but I'm not that confident in my welding skills TBH! This was a simpler, safer option.
Also, my garage is quite tight - I don't think I would have had the space to rotate the car.

Almost two months later and I have another update!

Spent most of the day fighting with teh car today. Re-arranged some bits around the garage to give me a bit of room to lie along side the car and crack on with the welding! Started by getting that sill repair in place. plug welded along the sill and then seamwelded (series of spots, anyway!) along the cut lines.


Untitled by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr


Couple more spots, ground back and…





Then tackled the hole at the lower edge of the tub where it meets the sill. Made up a piece with a curved edge…


Untitled by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr



All looks quite horrible in the pics! After grinding bach the welds as flat as I could, I applied some acid etch and then plenty of sealer.
I am using some Upol "Grey Stripe" stuff which goes on quite thick and covers up the unsightly welding marks nicely. Will paint over the top of it all when finished.

Moved on to cut out the front section of my rear arch which has seen better days.
This was the bit I was dreading as this will now be visible! Took ages to cut out the arch, then cut the repair panel to a slightly larger fit, then fettle the two down until everything was snug. Had to cut some of the inner arch out too as it was well rotten.


Untitled by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr

Tacked the outer repair in place which was better than I had hoped…  My gas bottle ran out so I swapped in the replacement I had waiting in the wings. The old one was the straight CO2 which came with my welder. The new one is CO2 with a bit of Argon in it. What a difference! This gas seems to make the welds so much better. the Sizzling sound is different too!

Anyway…


Untitled by www.pix-al.co.uk, on Flickr


It is a good fit and is nice and solid. I will finish it up another day as I'm going to make up a curved piece that I can fit in to the inner arch now that this one is in place.
I know this is probably the wrong way round, but I scratched my head about it and decided to try it this way.
It won't be a perfect repair, but as it is on the inside I am not so bothered. I'll make some cardboard templates and as long as I can tack a piece in to join the inner and outer arches to prevent water ingress, I'll apply a liberal amount of sealer and it should be good.

That is all for today - hope to have another update soon!

AL.

Some good work there Al. Think slowly and surely is the only way with a mk1 golf. 

looking good Al, "a series of spots" is the way to go mate!! Your repairs look good