70 S, RHD, Signal Orange, UK->Australia->UK

[inaglasshouse]

.....makes me want to do another.

You know it makes sense, Darren!
SWB this time, don't you think?

[Ferry Man]

makes me want to do another.

Makes me not want to do another.
Great work by Barry but it's all going to be invisible expense when the car is complete.
Getting the shell sound and strong is always costly. Only for the brave...

[inaglasshouse]

LH Floor Edge Out (continued)

The whole area must have been 'as found' last time, as no attempt had been made to tidy it up, let alone paint it.
I've set to with wire brushes, Scotchbrite and emery, and just about tidied it up.
Once the area is welded up and ready for its new floor edge, I'll go in with the first hit of paint. Once the floor is dealt with, and just before the new middle sill goes in, it'll get another dose of etch.

[inaglasshouse]

Base of LH Inner Member

In which we get to see some of Barry's fabrication of small repair panels.
Over to you, Barry:

With the recently replaced floor edge, together with the soon to be replaced A-post base area removed, work could start in tidying up the base of the main inner member (sill, chassis rail? You decide).

As you can see, the previous repairer had attempted to weld individual holes up. Sometimes this is fine if it's one or two isolated holes in otherwise good metal. In this case though, the whole area was replaced. Same principle was used all the way along. In the end, just one repair was retained right at the rear of the run. Not shown in detail, but that thin area near the round hole was replaced at the same time.









I like these next two pics:











Job done!

[Darren65]

I like these next two pics:

So do I......now you see it - now you don't!

Magic!

[inaglasshouse]

Magic!

Or possibly witchcraft.

Barry was at my house a week or 2 ago and we were chatting about the skill levels required. He pointed out that, when he runs the metalwork courses, everyone who attends is able to master the fundamentals after a bit of practice.
He postulated that the difference between that and doing it properly for a living is not extreme skill, magic or witchcraft; just the willingness to get up early every morning and spend many hours per day doing a job that is not always physically pleasant or comfortable.

So that rules me out .
(My limit for work-related discomfort is turning right when I get on a plane. Happens a lot; it's not like the good old days).

[inaglasshouse]

LH Torque Tube area , plus Floor Edge etc

Barry says:

As you can see, I have a little floor edge jig which I use if there's no original (trustworthy) metal to use as a guide for establishing the exact position of the floor edge. If this is out, it can tilt the whole outer sill, leaving you problems ahead when it comes to gapping between door and outer sill.

You can also see that the area beneath the torque tube is all stripped out ready to receive a new torque tube end and surrounding sheet metal.


























And just for fun, let's take a look at another old repair...
held on with hope alone, no welds had penetrated through to the substrate at all.

[911hillclimber]

I've never seen Barry use an edge trim to restore a floor before, I think almost everyone has a new floor of late?
Looking forward to see the tube repair.

[inaglasshouse]

I've never seen Barry use an edge trim to restore a floor before, I think almost everyone has a new floor of late?
Looking forward to see the tube repair.

Hi Graham,
Think you are right, but the floor on mine was very good. Benefits of the Australian climate and lack of road salt I guess. It's nice to keep the original one.
Torque tube repair coming soon!
Cheers, Richard.

[inaglasshouse]

Torque Tube Area Centre Web Fabrication

Barry's words again:

This area is very tricky to make. Doesn't look much at all, but it's got to accurately fit in several places, one of the hardest being down to the floor, particularly as it curves over the rear of the floor pressing.

I've not got tooling for a 2.2 style inner web, but do have the left hand side for 2.4 and onward (RH pattern to follow soon). As a consequence I used my tooling to roughly fabricate a 2.4 style panel, and then free-hand re-worked it to an approximation of a 2.2.

These pictures show it in 2.4 style, a later sequence shows it properly in place.
The 2.2 shell is helpful, in that the heater tube goes over the torque tube, giving many options on shapes to get from the upper area of the inner wed, down to the flange at the base. It gives lots of wiggle room compared to the 2.4> which have none at all.

As it is, it's got to follow the outer edge of the floor, the horizontal inner portion of the floor, the shape of the upper inner web, the torque tube and end up at the right place at the base ready to receive the new rear inner wing repair. There's a lot going on here! The sad thing is, to glance at it, you'd think it was an hour or so of rough bashing to make the thing. Sadder still, it's buried deep within the car, and in all likely hood will never be seen again.

















Last two pictures (sort of) show how the panel lies over the rear of the floor and back down to the floor base.





When I used to make this whole area 'freehand' it was nearly two days work to get it all to fit, and that was usually in three pieces. BTW, all of my repairs are made from full 18SWG (1.2mm / nominal 48thou - actually 44thou) steel. It takes some shifting.

[inaglasshouse]

It's interesting to me that Paul...

makes me want to do another.

Makes me not want to do another.
Great work by Barry but it's all going to be invisible expense when the car is complete.
Getting the shell sound and strong is always costly. Only for the brave...

... and Barry...

"The sad thing is, to glance at it, you'd think it was an hour or so of rough bashing to make the thing. Sadder still, it's buried deep within the car, and in all likely hood will never be seen again"

... make similar comments about spending this amount of effort on hidden areas.

While it undeniably involves wallet pain, I don't feel that way at all. I will know it's there, even if I can't see it.

Final quote, this time from my late grandfather.
He was a builder and carpenter, but his real love was cabinet making. He died when I was quite young, but I remember a lot of what he said to me, and the smell of sawdust and the fabulous tools in his home workshop.

"If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing properly"

[MarkIII]

It's interesting to me that Paul...

makes me want to do another.

Makes me not want to do another.
Great work by Barry but it's all going to be invisible expense when the car is complete.
Getting the shell sound and strong is always costly. Only for the brave...

... and Barry...

"The sad thing is, to glance at it, you'd think it was an hour or so of rough bashing to make the thing. Sadder still, it's buried deep within the car, and in all likely hood will never be seen again"

... make similar comments about spending this amount of effort on hidden areas.

While it undeniably involves wallet pain, I don't feel that way at all. I will know it's there, even if I can't see it.

Couldn't agree with you more, I had similar wallet pain during my project, torque tube areas and many others which you will never see again needed a lot of work and inevitably meant a large bill at the end of the process. The saving grace is that you know your shell is going to be 100% perfect and will last another 50 yrs.

Keep the pictures coming, liking the step by step, picture by picture approach

Mark

[Dougieboy1]

There is an undeniable sense of pleasure to be derived from doing a job properly.

[Gary71]

I made a relatively poor approximation of the multiple layer construction in this area on my car. Took me weeks of battering thick steel into submission, and yes it's all hidden. But at least the suspension will remain attached to the car!

This area is one of the worst water traps on the car, lots of layers all coming together at a low point. Unfortunately when it's rebuilt it doesn't fix any of these problems so make sure you drown the area in wax once it's done.

[911hillclimber]

My hands and ears ache just looking at that panel bashing! Moving 18SWG that far is not easy from personal experience.
I did both sides to my 73T by hand but never to this level of detail, and it shows.
Never imho is this area 'lost' to the sight of any 911 enthusiast.

I think how this area is treated inc the kidney bowls is an indication to the rest of the shell, that's why my '89 welding and panel thumping is not exactly to Barry-Levels of competence...and my shell shows that!
The MoT man sees it often enough, so 'do it properly' for many reasons.

As a thought:

You can buy for £250 a side this panel, outside and inside from several sources. This would be my approach when I re-do my shell chasing Barry Quality.

Are these panels poor, inaccurate, thin or all these things?
I know somebody who has used such panels and was very complimentary about them (DIY fitted)