AT LAST! Hairys Resto!!

Reading through a few posts on a forum just don't do any justice on how much time this work takes!
Well done on getting it this far.
That filler neck panel needs hot spotting and shrinking to take the excess metal out.
Basically heat is applied with acetylene to a tiny spot on the dent. using a dolly weight on the back and a hammer, The panel is hit around the hot spot and it pushes the metal towards the softer hot spot to form a lump. The lump is then filed off and thats your excess metal disposed of.
The process is repeated around the dent until it lifts and flatens out. Shape can then be planished back in if required.

Cheers Graham

I had seen similar tone on TV before and really knew deep down it would need heat - it's what the body shop said when I spoke to them yesterday. I've not continued with my lead loading or filling around the arch or rear corner until they've seen it as don't want to risk of the heat ruining any more work and melting it all! lol

Hopefully a positive update will follow tomorrow

Most of the time you would lead first as long as your not hotspotting near the same point.

I would hot spot this until it was flat, then finish leading around the arch and then go back to the hot spotted area to finish planishing. the heat in the leading could cause further distortion so leave the planishing until last.

Its just a couple of tips so you can question the bodyshop and have a reasonable understanding of their answers plus it makes you look like they can't pull any wool over your eyes!
It really pays in the long term to keep filler thickness down to minimum.

Yeah , well done with the lead.  Seen it done on the usual tv programmes, never fancied trying it myself,  and I still don't. Plastic filler for me.

Thanks for the tips Graham, appreciate that. I do trust the body shop as I've used them before, along with a few mates but it's useful to know that.  

abfmk1 said

Yeah , well done with the lead.  Seen it done on the usual tv programmes, never fancied trying it myself,  and I still don't. Plastic filler for me.

Give it a bash - having done it, I'd rather do this now (where appropriate) than filler, so only need the tiniest of skims at the end

So body shop guy came over this afternoon. He confirmed what I knew deep down - I got no chance of having it done for July  

The highlights are as follows;

• He's not free until at least 5th May
• Even if I had done all bodywork by then, bar the few bits I'd leave for him, he'd still struggle to get it done in time
• He doesn't really want to take on the whole job, just the finishing and the paint
• He thinks best not to repair the roof around the sunroof but replace roof skin instead!   (That said this he's more comfortable with)

That may all sound negative but it's not really. He was actually really helpful on tips and ideas, plus before I give the car to him he'll lend me his special spray gun for applying seam sealer. He also has a chap work for him on Saturdays only for something to do who used to work on MK1 Golfs a lot so will quiz him over the best practice for the roof.

Ref the depressions by the filler neck he reckons he can sort ok by spot welding those little spike things to the body to use with slide hammer and heat, mentioned the whole heat and plannishing thing to him but he didn't think it would be needed.

Before he came over, I made space so he could get around the car, and not having been around the front end and bonnet for a while myself I realised just how much work there still is to do. So, highly unlikely I'll be in this MK1 for the AGM    However, if all goes to plan, this time tomorrow I'll be a member of the floppy-top gang!   (I'm saying no more until then   )

Anyway, a couple of pics just for the hell of it! I skimmed another application of filler and sanded back on the b-post - I think it will need one more;



and before the body shop chap came over, I cut more of the headlining out so he could inspect the sunroof tray. Not looking pretty!!



Part of me is a little sad this is unlikely to be done for the AGM, but I will still push on with it. However, I had got to a point of fretting when I have to go out as losing time on the MK1, which really isn't how I want to live my life so I'm cool with it all now  

Best to get it right mate and certainly not at the expense of all your social time. There  will be another AGM !!

Oh no not a cabby :-)

Keep going Andy u might get there :-)

lhasadreams said

Oh no not a cabby :-)

Maybe….  

Massbad69 said

Keep going Andy u might get there :-)

Will keep going, but wont be fretting about it any longer!

lhasadreams said

Oh no not a cabby :-)

X2  

Who needs two tintops    

You only ever hear cabby owners wanting a tin top - not the other way round!

That's all I'm saying on the subject!    

Shame the painter doesn't want to take the whole job on   Just means a bit more work for you to do, it's all good fun mate.

At least you'll have a floppy top to drive around in! Just need the sun now

Hi andy mine has had a mk2 sun roof tray and a couple of inches of the roof grafted in fits really good 

Cheers Elv, that's worth bearing in mind

just read through some of this after reading the home page, ill get round to reading some more tonight.

my sun roof looked similar to yours

the bodyshop I used. RESTOSHACK in Exeter did this

after shot blasting



Cutting





Welding





finished



I myself didn't want a new skin and risk warping the bodyshop, the bodyshop also advised against It too.

Oh wow thanks for the info and pics Matt, that gives me piece of mind. I really don't want to do the roof re-skin either. I've seen this type of repair done before and it looks good.

I've seen Restoshack's work on FB - I wish they were a lot closer to me as they'd have my shell for finishing and paint, no question - they look to do some fantastic work

Has yours been painted since the above or are these current pics?

…so today's update is small.

Skimmed some filler, sanded some filler - that's it!  

Gotta love a bit of filler!