DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Good stuff Peter...Keep up the faith....looks like you are getting the hang of things ...

On a roll now (OK maybe it is a pretty small step in the overall scheme of life, but I'm pleased with what I got done in the time) - snuck into the garage for another quick session this afternoon and made better progress on the NS inner sill.

First I patched the excited chisel part in the middle of the inner sill and refixed the cover sill mount

The marks just above the patch are scuffs, not rusty holes, honest guv'. Also struggled to get the grinder into the deep part of the curving sill, so lesson learned - make the join where you can reach

Then manned up and attacked the rear part, with its complex curves

Quite pleased with how this turned out, although hard to tidy the welds much here - some un-thinking person had put a jacking point in the way !

I reattached the rearmost cover sill mount, although from the degree of 'out of focus', maybe you can't tell


And finally for today, repaired the support piece above the jacking point with much thicker sheet and some toothpaste


Got a bit lazy here with the grinding, but it's strong and no-one but us will see it, so please don't tell on me.

Couple of days updates together here, as they didn’t really justify uploading separately.

First, for some light relief, I puddle welded the chisel holes towards the front of the NS sill. I was surprised by how much surface rust had built up in the past few days


Then I made up a patch piece for the base of the fitch panel



And we went from


to (quite pleased with my rectangular hole


And then



And a quick trial fit of the NS sill


I am assuming that the quadrant hole at the front corner is intended to remain open – to drain the front of the door / rear of the front wing area.


In this case, I needed to repair the part panel just towards the rear of the fitch panel repair patch (you can see that it is missing the lower part in the photo 3 above), to stop the crud thrown up by the front wheel from filling the sill (too quickly anyway). I made a cardboard patch and taped it in place, then trial fitted the sill. I then transferred the template shape to metal, used a Clecko to hold it on place and test fitted the sill (again). A few tweaks and I tacked welded it in place, refitted the sill to check, removed the sill, removed the overlap between the new patch and the original metal, refitted the sill to check again, removed the sill, welded the patch in place, refitted the sill again to be sure, removed the sill and tidied up the welds. That was a lot of on and off-ing for the sill !. Anyway, patch made, fitted and primed



So, I think that may be the end of the rust repairs along the NS sill area






I did have a quick play and held the new panels against the car. Having welded the top of the rear most cover sill mount back on in the last instalment, I now realise that it needs to be welded to the outside of the kidney bowl seam

I plan to fit the Targa bar support and then repair the small hole just above it, on the front corner



With all that excitement, I cleaned away all the tools that had ended up all over the floor and in the car, and swept up all the detritus form the cutting and grinding – there was quite a lot !. All ready to make a start on welding on the sill and kidney bowl, plus the Targa bar support panel.

Well …… I may have thought that I was onto the exciting / scary welding on of my expensive new panels, but ……

I’d marked where the Targa bar support was going and the kidney bowl



I had also removed the e-primer (or whatever the panels are shipped with), cleaned them up and coated with weld-through primer. I then punched holes for my imitation spot welds.

Luckily before I got started I noticed that there was a gap / hole / whatever at the top, front of the NS sill. I must have cut out rust when I first removed the outer sill, but I have no memory of it (or of most things really ). Anyway, it’s hard to see here, but there is a gap.


It took a little while, but I made up a complex little patch in three parts, welded them together and then welded in. I took the door off (just drifted out the hinge pins to avoid upsetting the door alignment setting) to get better access.



So back into the garage today to finally weld in the Targa support panel and kidney. I got to looking at the small hole at the front edge of just above the flange joining the Targa support panel. I decided that it would definitely be easier to repair that before the support panel was fitted, even if I didn’t have the support flange to build to. I bent up a patch, welded it in, then trimed it to suit the Targa support panel. Also, as I tweaked the support panel to make sure that it would fit snugly, I became less comfortable with the gaping hole underneath. It was fairly obvious that muck could make its way past the front edge of the support panel (there's a hole in it) and then into the gap between the inner wing and the interior panel. And there was a good chance of a leak at the rear, past the targa rear screen and into the car.

So, a patch (or more) was needed. First I patched the rear part to ensure that no muck from the road wheels would make its way into the car.


Then I patched the long side, just under the Targa support bar and finally, another patch to close out the front area.


And from the inside (I had to use a carbide die to tidy the weld as I couldn't get a flap disc in there enough)



So, after a quick coat of weld through primer, the day ended with me in exactly the same place I thought I was in when I opened the garage door (both the other day and this morning) – ready to weld the kidney bowl and Targa support panel on. Then the sill and B-post will follow. Exciting times (hopefully !)

Well, after a number (too many) false starts, big pants day today – on with the sill, kidney bowl and Targa hoop support panel on the NS. Well, when I say today, it was Monday, but Flickr wouldn’t let me upload any photos (time outs). I’d already stripped the e-primer or whatever the panels come with, and primed them with weld-through primer.

So, starting with the NS Targa hoop support – first a bit of welding. Had a few issues when I started - I was getting far too much build-up of weld – somehow I’d managed to knock the wire speed to almost the top setting One thing that I am much more conscious of now, is to go slowly and if the weld doesn’t look or sound right, stop and check - don't try and weld around issues.


Followed by some grinding and then primer. I beat the middle of the flange to make a sort of drain spout. There's a drain hole on the Targa bar just above the flange, and any water coming out of here needs some encouragement to not hang around.


Then onto the NS kidney bowl. I couldn’t get any clamps to stay clamped here, so used a couple of self-tapping hex-headed screws to hold it in place.


Then weld


Grind


And prime



Then it was time for the sill. Weld


Fully weld the front corner


And around the kidney bowl


With a few stitch welds along the bottom edge as originally done


A splash of primer and we’re on


And the door gap is not too shabby either

As I was delayed by Flickr, you get a double dose today. Time for the NSR wing. Before it can go back on, I need to address the gnarly MOT patch on the lower edge.



Plus remove the residual sill


the bit of B-post


And attend to the top edge



So starting at the lower edge, first off with the MOT patch to give me some datum for the repair



Then some cardboard engineering


Transfer to oversize metal


And beat mercilessly


Next time in the garage I need to smooth the bumpy bits, finally trim to size and cut out the torsion bar hole.

Unlikely to get into the garage over the next few days, so snuck in for a quickie today - oh err, missus (well Ken Dodd was buried today, so a bit topical, although maybe a bit Frankie Howard as well)

Having beaten the patch for the lower NSR wing yesterday, today was being more subtle, and trying to smooth out the mountains. Still needs a little more subtle tickling – I wish I had one of those egg shaped stakes to beat onto, but have to make do with a selection of dollies, hammers, file and slappers (keep it clean guys and gals).


Then, having drawn lines on the wing to point to the centre of the torsion bar cover, these were transferred to the patch. The lines almost crossed, but maybe more cocked hat (nautical too today) rather than cock on, but anyway, a centre hole was then drilled. Attaching the cover showed a low spot on the left side, so a bit more with the tickling stick (more Doddy), and that’s pretty close. The rubber gasket will hide the rest.

So I lied, well maybe not – the twins were delayed getting here today, so off into the garage for a quick but un-expected play.

A little more refined tapping, and most of the bumps and ripples are respectable, so time to contemplate fitting the patch to the lower NSR wing. First I trimmed it some more, clamped it into place and added some reference lines and dimensions.


Then the rust was removed from the wing. I went too far here, and only realised how thin the metal was at one point on the right hand side when I removed the paint and underseal.


And the patch fettled to fit


A few tack welds (somewhat out of focus I’m afraid)


Fully welded


Cleaned up


And primed


What looks like waring around the middle of the panel is just where the old paint was not removed and some shadows. The primer disguises the real warping - the family arrived while I was finishing the grinding on the inside, I tried to rush, got over zealous and caused some problems on the outside, so a little remediation to do next week, but overall I’m somewhat gob-smacked at how it turned out.

Changed it up a bit this week. Not much time to play, but Alexcxcx – my garage bitch (cheers mate) - was visiting, so time to attack some of those jobs that are either very difficult or very time consuming when done solo.

The sills, etc repairs and replacements on the NS are completed, so the car could go back on the mobile axle stands for the day. I’m going to add more steel and turn these into a cradle, but the steel wasn’t due until the following day. With the car supported on something other than the rear torsion tubes, we could turn out attention to the suspension. First the servo and pedal box were removed. ‘Well I never, what a naughty and obstructive little item the pedal box is !!. Are the upper mounting bolts always welded in place, or has that been done to make tightening the nuts a single person role ?. Anyway, they certainly didn’t make removing the pedal box easy !. With that finally out of the way and the front brake pipes removed to avoid damage, the front suspension went from this


to this


quickly followed by the rear suspension. Having removed the handbrake cables from the rear hubs, we ended up with two of these


Couldn’t get the torsion bars out, so disconnected the main plates and will have another go in due course.

After bacon and egg rolls for lunch (a bit of a tradition), the clutch actuating rod came out down the tunnel easily enough (after I removed the clevis off the end) and we managed to get the main wiring loom down the tunnel (leaving a stainless steel pull-through in place). We were not so successful in our attempts to get the loom all the way out – it seems well stuck over the rear torsion tube casing / cross member, and there’s not a lot of flexibility in the outer sheathing of the loom after nearly 40 years.

More reading needed to understand how the various pipes and cables detach from the rear of the car, such as the handbrake cables, but overall a very successful day tinkering.

That lower wing repair turned out nice

Thanks Mark

Time for a quick catch up.
My friend Google advised that the handbrake cable outers and the heater flap control outers just came out, so with judicious use of pipe pliers, several splashes of penetrating oil and a lot of cussing and wriggling out they did come.
While I was there, I removed the grommets from around the fuel pipes (front and rear), and out came the pipes, as did the front to rear brake pipe.

I had to cut the fitting off the hard brake pipe that connects to the NS flexible to manage to get them out. Unfortunately the 3-way connectors all look very second-hand, which I had not expected, so they will be replaced, along with most of the hard lines (while I’m in there !)

The wiring fought back strongly, but I finally managed by pushing a little from inside the car, then wriggling a little from the engine bay just ahead of the torsion tube housing, push a bit from inside, pull a bit from outside, repeat until you’ve almost lost the will to live, but finally it all came out. Pulling it over the torsion bar tube was not without swear words, but a lot quicker than getting it out of the rear bulkhead.

That gets me to here (sorry that the ground is in focus, but the bulkhead isn't )


Then onto the NSR torsion bar.
Loads of penetrating oil, lots of wriggling fore and aft, plenty of cussing and pulling, and finally the outer cover came off. Unfortunately it is rusted at the lower side, so replacement needed. Then it was time for the swing arm part – this took cussing to a new level (or should that be depth). Loads of penetrating oil, levering with bars, hitting and crying did nothing – it just sat there and laughed at me. Time to get creative. I removed the Welch / core plug from the end by cutting a square carefully with a dremel, then levering the residue out. Then came one of my mid-size BFHs, and tapping of the torsion bar deeper into the tube. The torsion bar didn’t go far enough to release the swing arm, but with plenty more levering, swearing, crying, and finally it came free.


There was lots of crud in the lower part of the torsion bar tube, but having cleared it out, everything thankfully looks solid


Now for the torsion bar itself. Well I wriggled, I shook, I cussed some more, but it was resolute. Being scared of scratching the torsion bar, I couldn’t hit it or use mole grips. So, using my best sailing bowlines, I attached it to a slide hammer and shocked it a lot. It took absolutely ages, but in a desperate bid to clutch at any glimmer of hope, I started measuring how far it had moved. Was that a whole mm it had moved, or was I holding the tape measure at a different angle this time. More shocking and yes, it had definitely come out a single mm. More shocking and we went to 2, then 3. With sweat dripping off me, it was time for coffee, then back on with the aerobic work out – hey who needs to go to a gym anyway !. 5mm, then 10, then eventually it was out and I was cream crackered.



Today, for a bit of light relief, I made a start on turning my pair of mobile axle stands into a cradle for transport. I’d bought some steel from my local stockist, including 7.5m length of 40x40x3 rhs. This was chopped up using my man-maths justified new TCT blade chop saw - why had I waited sooo long – it is like a knife through butter. My master plan is to run two lengths of 40x40 front to rear, joining them solidly. I’ve cut 100mm lengths of 50x50x3 rhs to weld to the mobile stands and will clamp the 40x40 into them. I’m intending to make supports that attach to the rear torsion bar mounts and the front sub-frame mounts. For the front I’m using some 50x50x3 angle, but will need to spacers on the forward bolt. This will be welded to a 40x40rhs upright, similar to the original, but longer / taller. Having measured the required distance between the front to back supports, I cut two 2m lengths. This left me with 3.5m to make 4 uprights.

Using some 5mm thick plate and the torsion bar outer cover as a template, brackets were knocked up, then welded to a pair of uprights. Welding 5mm plate to 3mm rhs is new to me, so I cranked up the welder, made a couple of tacks, cranked the welder up a tad more and laid some bead welds. Gosh, it’s so much easier then welding thin sheet !. Then I got cocky and started with the circular motion, leaving my pile of dimes behind. Pretty impressed if I say so myself, but although it will be more than strong enough, probably would get laughed at by a proper coded welder.




Then for some light hearted relief, I temporarily stuck this back on with clamps


Seems like ages since it was in place. Its absence has certainly made access for attacking the torsion bar a lot easier.

The eagle eyed will notice the absence of a torsion bar access hole in the lower wing, but I assure you that this is deliberate. There is a pilot hole in place, but I thought it better to refit the wing and check the hole is in the right place before cutting a big hole – it’s so much harder to move a big hole than a pilot hole.

Managed to grab a few moments since my last update, so in no particular order ….

When thinking further about converting my mobile axel stands to a cradle, I realised that I couldn’t weld attachments directly onto the axel stands, as the distance between the front mounts and the rears would be different. I therefore made four of these ..


The 40rhs is there to represent the fore/aft runners. The mobile axel stands will slide into the lower section, and the fore/aft bars into the upper. Need to weld on some locking nuts so that I can insert locking bolts.

Enough distraction and back onto the rear wing & striker/B-post area.
Nothing really to show of the process, but I welded in the striker plate and fully welded the rear wing back into place.




Door gap is much improved on before


At the lower edge of the door, I had retained the original metal. Having welded the rear wing back in place, I remembered that there was almost no gap here.


So I cut a slit in the outer panel, about 5mm in from the edge, tapped the gap closed and rewelded. Much better now.


To complete this side I just need to patch repair where I cut (most of) the rust out just below the Targa bar.

….and so onto the NSR wing top. I kept a piece of the old outer sill, as it had a curve that looked close to that at the top of the wing.


We’re going from this …



With some trimming and fettling, the old sill looks to fit reasonably


Some tacking, grinding and priming and it’s time for tea (I know, I got too excited and blew through in a couple of places )



Couldn’t leave it like that, so went back and we ended up with this

The welds under the Targa flange need grinding (die grinder will be needed to get in here), and with all of the welding, my chine / swage line / whatever it’s called at the top of the wing is less sharp than I want, so some panel beating required later.

I’m fed up of always tripping over my angle grinders, and the cords being in a knot, so part way through my playing, I got distracted, and a little pile of left over steel


Turned into one of these


Will benefit from some cord tidies (hooks to you and me) and maybe some sticky-out posts to hang spare discs. We could go mad an install a mini shelf for the grinder tools – we’ll see.


Must put some effort into learning Final Cut Pro and how to add all outs & text boxes so that I can add some of these new fangled moving pictures.

Well, I tried to make the chine / swage line more discreet, but without much luck. The MIG welds are too hard and in trying to add the hard line, the metal beside the welds split in a few places. Taking a positive, at least my welds were good . Looking at the way the top edge was shaping up, and unable to really get a dolly in there and beat the outside at the same time, I took the decision to start over.

So, I fab’ed up a new patch panel and cut myself a nice hole. Then it was the usual hold the patch with magnets


tack weld


fully weld


then grind and and prime



In other good news – my welding is improving and the distortion is not too bad either. The area where the patch panel overlaps with the weld line from re-attaching the wing is the worst point, but even so, it needs only the thinnest of skims after stripping and dipping.