Bumps on my 78’s rear tub/fenders?

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Attempt at seam repair...

Well, in the process of cutting out my rear sill and beginning to try and teach myself to weld, I'm also beginning to try a "patch" process to repair these wheel cover seams.

Cutting out the corrosion, removing what rust I can on the wheel cover seam and treating with Metal Ready (POR 15 stuff). Then a bit of weld primer (in the areas I don't need to weld). I plan to later hit the new seams with POR 15 and then seam sealer (top/bottom) before painting.

Using 4 patches (18 ga) per quarter seam. More work but I didn't like the idea of cutting out a large part of the quarter and having everything move around.

Everything at the tacked together stage - I may try to stitch weld from the inside. Time will tell. Worst case I'll scrap the quarters if things don't come together. Of course the grinding will take forever ...
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It looks more like a bad fender replacement job, all my Cruisers with origianl qaurters never looked that extreme even the ones that rusted through.
Usually the effects of to much heat resulting in metal distortion.
Gusb's welds are a perfect example of what welds should look like with very little heat halo on the welds well spaced to allow proper cooling and he probably tapped his welds with a hammer to reduce the distortion.
Nice job Gusb
 
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Very nice work!

Get yourself a heat sink like one from a junked CPU and hold this behind the panel when you are welding and you will minimize or eliminate warping and it will also prevent burning through the panel. Copper is the best.

And take your time on the grinding so you don't put too much heat into the metal. You can warp the panel with a grinder by going too fast.
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Thanks for all the positive feedback.

miker said:
Very nice work!

Get yourself a heat sink like one from a junked CPU and hold this behind the panel when you are welding and you will minimize or eliminate warping and it will also prevent burning through the panel. Copper is the best.

And take your time on the grinding so you don't put too much heat into the metal. You can warp the panel with a grinder by going too fast.
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miker - finally a use for all my old computers in storage - I'll crack one open and see what I can find. I'm thinking of grinding down the tacks a bit, cleaning and welding from both sides (staggered). I've also got a small thick copper plate I can clamp for backing.

BTW - I still subscribe to your truck thread and appreciate the great work you do there.
 
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ALways a new surprise...

When I pulled the top and stock roll bar for the seam repair, the roll bar/tub bracket areas looked pretty good, until I looked at the driver's side front. Looked like 30 years of dirt under the mount and then I realized it was more than dirt. The 3 others look much better but I'll probably pull those tub/wheel cover brackets too just to fix whatever going on inside. Tried to fab a home-made patch from 18 ga. - a bit 1/2 donkey but it seems strong. All I have at this point is a hammer and a bench vise for sheet metal work. In future, if I can find an old junked wheel cover somewhere I may try to clean up the "quarter" end of the rib a little (new little patch). The bracket itself may need to be replaced on this mount (thinking CCOT) - the other 3 may be OK.
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Gusb.

You do amazing work. Couple of questions:

What do you use to cut rust out? Your lines are sooo straight !

Also, never seen the contraption to hold your panels in place. What is that called?

I guess you then "fill" the holes left in new panel???

Again, nice work. Im envious.

Thanks.
 
KY Longhunter said:
What do you use to cut rust out? Your lines are sooo straight !

Also, never seen the contraption to hold your panels in place. What is that called?

I guess you then "fill" the holes left in new panel???
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Thanks for the encouragement Longhunter - I'm teaching myself as I go along and it hasn't all been pretty :grinpimp:.

The 4 large holes are the stock roll-bar/wheel cover bracket bolt pattern, 1 mid-size hole is where the rear seat bolts to the support pad in the wheel well. The balance (smaller holes) are the old spot weld locations - I will use these to weld back to the bracket/pad. Also used 2 small reamed location holes with 1/8 inch dowel pins to locate the patch. The bracket/pad also still needs to be patch repaired or replaced.

I just used the holes for clamping because it seemed to make sense. What you see are "hold-down" clamps - usually used in a machining environment.

The cuts were first carefully marked with a fine Sharpie. The earlier long seam patch cuts were a 4 1/2 in grinder/cutting wheel. I'd rough cut them and then kind of grind to get closer. Now I'm using simple hacksaws more and more for final finish cuts. Sounds stupid but you can really get dead-nuts close (and it's fast). Also using a hacksaw/vise combination to fine-cut the patches.

Still trying to teach myself to weld... trying out different ways to control heat and keep the 18 ga distortion down. I grind down the original tacks and come back with welds just a little longer... seems to be working OK on this piece. Also seems to have good penetration on the back/down side.
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Nice work..

It looks as though the sheetmetal is not ground on at all? How did you remove the paint? Paint stripper?

Also, what are your settings on your welds? What welder are you using?

I'm using 18g patches as well, and had pretty good success, but just not as clean. Must be the welder... :)
 
thecrazygreek said:
Nice work..

It looks as though the sheetmetal is not ground on at all? How did you remove the paint? Paint stripper?

Also, what are your settings on your welds? What welder are you using?

I'm using 18g patches as well, and had pretty good success, but just not as clean. Must be the welder... :)
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I try to use a chemical stripper to get the paint off when possible because I feel I'm that much steel ahead when I start grinding on stuff. When I grind the first set of tacks down I try to stay off the sheetmetal.

Millermatic 180 with .024 wire - on manual (not Autoset) but set straight from the Miller book for 18ga steel. On 18ga I think the voltage is 2.5 - wire speed 35 (14ga 3.5/65). Very happy with Miller BTW. I hit the beads with a stainless brush as i go along, that's probably why they look clean (and a bit cold).
 
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Wanna fix two holes for me for some cash? One is the top-front of my left fender where the light mount is spot welded; maybe 75mm x 75mm. The other is about 40mm x 75mm between the wipers right at the bottom of the flat part. I could pull the parts and bring them by...
 
Fast Eddy said:
Wanna fix two holes for me for some cash? One is the top-front of my left fender where the light mount is spot welded; maybe 75mm x 75mm. The other is about 40mm x 75mm between the wipers right at the bottom of the flat part. I could pull the parts and bring them by...
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Where have you been - been missing your input on mud? Hope things are good with you/family.

I'd be glad to help you out but you should let me get a little more experience. I've started a lot, completed a little at this point. And I'm already stealing too much time from my real job. If you're ever in the Redwood City area you should let me know and drop by. Get me a few pictures of the damage if you get the chance and let me know how long you could be without the parts.

Gus
 
Gusb said:
Where have you been - been missing your input on mud?
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My new job is not conducive to hanging out on mud all day like my old job was. I rarely get online at home.

Gusb said:
I'd be glad to help you out but you should let me get a little more experience. I've started a lot, completed a little at this point. And I'm already stealing too much time from my real job.
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BS on point A. You're doing better than I would do with my JBWeld.

Gusb said:
Get me a few pictures of the damage if you get the chance and let me know how long you could be without the parts.
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I could get the work started and just have you make the patches and weld them in. I could grind down the welds after as well. I just want to use you as a crutch so I don't have to learn to weld. :)
 
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