1987 3.2 Carrera Backdate project - Sladeys hotrod

[sladey]

No problem - here's the link:- http://www.impactbumpers.com/forum/inde ... opic=12715

Glad you enjoyed reading the thread

Cheers

Mark

[DustyM]

Excellent, will have a read through later.

[sladey]

Further update:-

Slapper (or flipper):-
This has been a bit of a disaster. A Slapper is a flat piece of thick steel that is useful for panel beating - it takes down high spots without leaving marks. The only one I've seen for sale was £140 which was a bit of a joke, and after finding an article online I decided to make my own. The idea is to cut down a leaf spring. The onlt leaf springs I could find were off a transit. First I trimmed it to make the handle end.



The plan then is to put an 'S' bend in it.

Yes - that is a record No.2 vice and a record No.3 vice trying to bend it over a long bolt. I tried adding heat and also cutting it down a bit but no joy - the end result is this


Not happy. I think my transit spring is just too thick. I'll come back to the slapper another time.

[sladey]

Next I decided to make a metal template for the amount of curve in the existing panel. I did this by cutting a straight strip of steel and beating down one side to stretch it - thereby causing it to curve - eventually getting it to look like this



Which fits the door curvature - should make it easier to get the fit pretty close before the wing goes on the car


Then last night I decided to do a bit more finishing work on the bit I made last week. After a bit of beating, heating and linishing I finished up with this


It probably doesn't look massively different to last week's effort but up close it's a lot smoother.

Today I wanted to make the strengthening piece that sits inside the wing.


I started out with a piece of steel. I drew lines on it to help me to remember where to beat the metal.


After a few minutes beating it started to bend


Then a bit more and it looked like this, which roughly matches the curvature I want


Then I had to put a bit of an offset flange - for the flat part of hte piece this was easy - using a rounded off bolster


But it got a bit hard when taking it round the curve - I did it though but there are a few more hammer marks in the curved bit

[sladey]

A few more bits in progress

(I had to cut into bits of it as there was too much metal there to shrink it away). The cutting was a bit haphazard and I think I'd do a better job next time



Eventually I ended up with this


Which fits onto the wing piece like this


I'm quite pleased with progress so far . I'm finding it really enjoyable to do - very therapeutic.
The plan is to weld up the slits and then grind the welds back - then cut the edges out so they are straight

[911hillclimber]

Nice work!
Doing this kind of thing is very relaxing even though it can be frustrating at times.

I restored my basket case 911 20+ years ago as respite from a frantic job, certainly did that and that's why I still have it.
Your repairs will be great when finished, and you did them!!
Why not buy a slapper if you are sure you need one?

I look forward to you joining it all together, lots of pics please.

[964RS]

I think you just like beating sh**

[Lightweight_911]

I think that you've achieved fantastic results so far Mark - & as Graham said - treat yourself to a slapper !

[sladey]

Thanks Andy,

I ordered a slapper last night (on Amazon US) but then cancelled this morning when I saw the postage - now looking for one in the UK but have added a separate thread for it

[Bruce M]

Frost do various metal working tools including a slapper for £55.

[sladey]

T Hanks - found them on Frost then - ended up choosing a bumbing spoon over a slapper

(now there's a sentence I never thought I'd write)

[Bruce M]

I think that is a "bumping spoon" but it still doesn't sound much better.

Metal workers are clearly a bit smutty :D

[Barry]

High Mark, great work and fantastic to see you getting stuck in!

An alternative to a slapper / flipper is a flipper file. These are simply a fine cross cut flat file (as big as poss ideally, mine is about 1 3/4 inches wide I would guess). Formed in just the same way as the leaf spring flipper. The advantage is that the file marks the high spots, and shows the lows. You can obviously draw it across the work as well.

BTW, the slapper that you might have seen here was from an Austin 7 leaf spring, which is perfect for steel work. If you were working on aluminium, you'd want something a little lighter, as you're not looking to compress the metal, just smooth it.

Good stuff .

Oh BTW, I take it you've got access to oxy-acetelyne?

[sladey]

Thanks Barry,

Winston kindly offered to send me an Austin 7 leaf spring but by then I'd caved in and ordered the big bummer.

At the moment I've only been using a mapp torch on it - it's been plenty hot enough to get it cherry red which has let me shrink down the peaks nicely.

While picking up some more gas recently I saw this:-
http://www.welduk.com/Details.asp?ProductID=198

And bought it. I then tried a bit of gas welding. However I don't seem to be getting any penetration. I'm getting the blue peak like I would with an oxy-acetylene setup but it's very small; if I try and increase the flow it blows out. I'm thinking of going back tot he guy and complaining - unless I need a bigger, more free flowing nozzle. He mentioned jewellers like this setup and I can see why - it produces a tiny flame - but I reckon it's too small for my steel - when I bought it he said it would weld up to 3mm thick (hmmm).

I can get a pool of molten steel but it's just not getting through to the other side - I'm thinking of sticking with MIG for the current project

I might complain and try and get it offset against the cost of a proper oxy-torch setup - but then I've got to source acetylene bottle from somewhere (BOC - the weld UK guy's not allowed to sell them because he can't guarantee the bottles are kept upright ) - and the expense starts to rise again.

Cheers

Mark

[911hillclimber]

For gas welding you simply need the right stuff and the Porta Pak is great but you will get though it v quickly.
Way way back i had an account with BOC but you won't get that anymore.
I seem to think there is another provider now beyond BOC/Air Products.

For the repairs you are doing now I used gas on my 911 and did for a lot of the panel work with v little MIG and lots of spot welds using a hired welder. The welds are still solid, but i think the rust has crept in in other spots now...