1987 3.2 Carrera Backdate project - Sladeys hotrod

[jtparr]

Cool stuff Mark, keep up the optimism, looking forward to seeing new metal back on the first side ..

[sladey]

A little bit more progress today

Did a bit more work on the wing piece cut off. Looking at the back showed some of the interesting bodges done when previous repairs were carried out


After stripping it all back, it became clear that the whole lower half had been previously replaced. It also became clear that the repair section wasn't brilliantly made, and that it had been poorly protected against corrosion.



I decided the best way to sort it would be to cut it off and replace it with new metal. however, If I do it now the it will be impossible to get good alignment with the rest of the parts. I'll therefore wait until everything else is in place so I can make a suitable repair piece.

When I first got the new door jamb I was as a bit concerned that the holes seemed to be misaligned


View from the back:-


I initially though I'd be able to adjust it in some way! but looking at the fixings, they seem to be spot welded on.

Is this a defective part that I need to return? Or is it normal to have to adjust them in some way - and if so I'll have to drill off the spot welds?

[DustyM]

Mark, give the captive nuts a tap with a hammer, it is just the paint holding them, they are designed to move around to allow you to adjust the catch!

Cheers
Jon

[sladey]

Brill thanks Jon

BY the way, HOW many spot welds????? At the bottom of the door there are nearly 50!!

I'm taking it a bit at a time - did another 20 or so this afternoon

[sladey]

Tiring weekend. It surprised me how much effort is involved in drilling out spot welds

Door jamb - took a while drilling these out and then the wing twists as you are getting the metal off. Tapped it back OK though.


Moving to the A post, this is where the corrosion is that means I'll need to do a bit of fabricating. One aspect of doing this for the first time is that you aren't 100% sure what goes where, so stages have been a bit like an archeological dig - taking parts off a bit at a time so I'm sure what goes where - 10 coats of lookin', one coat of doin'.



Disappointment was finding corrosion where the inner (I.e. What you can see inside the car - inner inner sill?) sill meets the floor. Also on the seat mount strengthening bar - corroded at bottom


After initial worry I thought it all through and am applying the same technique as everything else. Drill out the spot welds, and weld the new piece in. I'm currently over half way though drilling out those spot welds
View from underneath floor edge cut off


Until I drill them all out I won't have a proper idea of how much of the inner inner sill needs repairing

Regarding the floor itself, I was originally going to try and just use part of the Dansk floor repair? However now I intend to use all of it. The plan is to screw the floor repair into place (aligning it with the solid edges at the front and rear) and then scribe out where it's going to sit. Cut that off which should give me more room to repair corrosion in the inner inner sill/seat strengthening. I've got to repair those bits before the sills go on so I've got room to see what I'm doing.

There's an extra internal strengthening piece at the rear that I can't find a photo of and that I'm not sure about - when I take a pic I'll pop it up to ask questions.

[DustyM]

Mark, make sure you have the a-post well braced, you have a lot of corrosion there and do run the risk of things moving. Check your door gap around the frame and the top of the B-post at regular intervals through the job.

Cheers
Jon

[sladey]

Mark, make sure you have the a-post well braced, you have a lot of corrosion there and do run the risk of things moving. Check your door gap around the frame and the top of the B-post at regular intervals through the job.

Cheers
Jon

As usual you're ahead of me Jon. The door has already moved as I removed the stuff around the A post. It's dropped slightly - I took a load of photos before I started, which show the difference, and also it's now catching the rubber against the B post as it closes.

I was planning on getting another adjustable caravan stand, and jacking the door into the correct position (I've got detailed pictures of the top of the door before I started) before welding up the A post repairs. Is there anything else you think I should be doing?


Cheers, Mark

[DustyM]

Are there currently any shims behind the door hinges?

[sladey]

I'm not sure - I don't think so. I think jacking will align it properly front to back, but feasibly it could move outwards - I can take a load of measurements of it's current position

[sladey]

Here's where it sat before:-


And here's the 'after' picture

[KS]

What's the alignment like along the waistline? You can always adjust (or bend, tweak) the frames slightly.

[DustyM]

Have to disagree with Keith on this, do not move the frame at all, it's your only reference as to how the door fitted originally, and you need it to realign things properly

I think you have no option but to jack the door into position but you may need to over jack it as even when you have the strength back into the A pillar the door will drop slightly afterwards.

Feel free to give me a call when you are actually with the car if you want to talk through it.

Cheers
Jon

[KS]

Have to disagree with Keith on this, do not move the frame at all, it's your only reference as to how the door fitted originally, and you need it to realign things properly

OK, I bow to experience! I guess I'm basing this on my experience – the frames on my car had been changed from the originals and didn't fit that well, so we concentrated on getting panel alignment spot on.

[sladey]

Thanks guys.

I might jack it a gnat's past where it needs to be, but if it drops following that I should be able to shim it back up shouldn't I?

With the sill off I can get an axle stand directly underneath the door itself (with some wood to protect it - don't want to lose my concours finish )

[DustyM]

It will take a bit of messing around since some of your lost strength is in the lower A-post and some in the floor to inner sill join so until both of these are repaired keep checking and adjusting the door position.

Don't forget that when you add a shim behind the lower hinge to raise the door you also end up moving the door backwards, that's why I asked it there were any shims there presently.