Post 24: Some light Bodywork

3rd April 2018
Post 24: Some light bodywork


When I say light, the only thing that is light are the panels as they are aluminium but the work on them is just hard graft!


I have been working on the rear shroud for many weeks as it appeared the worse of the two and I didn't really get very far to be honest.  As they are aluminium I thought I would try welding but that didn't go well at all and after talking to a welding specialist, I gave up!  Seems even the guy who makes a living welding doesn't really want to take on something like this so outsourcing was difficult!


So no welding then - the advice was to bond and rivet.  I don't know if that is good advice but it is my only option short of buying new panels which sort of goes against the reason for doing this in the first place. A few images of the sort of issues I needed to deal with - not a pretty sight!




Rear shroud central joint crack opening up



Left side joint - a bodge from a previous life

Lots of issues in the rear panel caused by a mixture of corrosion and accident.  It seems that many years ago the left rear had an accident and the left side of the shroud was cut out and a repair made - probably at the same time as the re-paint.  "Earlier I had found lots of tin foil and stuff inside the sills so never a quality job and very unsafe at the time of repair!!" 
Corrosion is still an issue for the aluminium panels too as the contact points with the steel parts create a corrosion hotspot - overall a bit of a disaster area!


So right or wrong I have embarked on a process of using 2 part glues with either reverse aluminium plating or embedding a mesh in the glue to increase stiffness.  My first attempts gave me some hope as they seemed as strong as the metal and according to the glues the separation forces are similar to the aluminium itself. 


So I did a lot of work fixing the corrosion and damaged areas working with the panel off the car but when I went to fit the panel I broke it in a couple places where I hadn't got the right geometry..


In fitting the panel it was clear that the car itself was adding a lot of stiffness so I have chosen to rivet the panel directly and then work on it in place adding a final glue/mesh where needed.  I haven't finished the panel in terms of its final surface yet that is going to require more work with the filler to produce something reasonable but at least the rear panel is on and secure.




This is the right rear edge - a little more to do but it was almost gone
in places and using the technique it isn't too bad

Crack across panel joint with mesh embedded in glue

A view from the rear
 rivets across bottom edge were hard work!

I have now transferred my attention to the front shroud!  A quick image of that!

Front shroud laid on across the engine bay - much work required