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Re: And so it begins.

Seem to have lost some of the pictures since Photobucket have been "carrying out maintenance",Will try to reinstate when I find them.

Location: Piddle Valley

Re: And so it begins.

It might be a good idea to keep the doors on until you get some strength in the back to keep the openings square.

Re: And so it begins.

You could do what one RN saloon owner did, that was to tack weld the doors shut to maintain the body shape. I never did find out how he effected the repairs with the doors welded in, if he reads this he may explain.

Re: And so it begins.

Thanks for the door tips gentlemen,unfortunately they were only staying in by prayer and very strong woodworms. A fair bit of repair is required to the floors where they meet the sills which are themselves decayed. As I say I will not remove the body from chassis until it is squire and sound. Today I received my Joggler /punch so will be splicing in new steel soon.

Location: Piddle Valley

Re: And so it begins.

O/S sills and floor repaired ,apart from the rear under seat area and the wheel arch which will be completed when the inner arches arrive from Andrew at Creative Metalwork.
Today,s efforts were concentrated on the windscreen frame or what remains of it. More GRP and filler,rust and pop rivets removed.  photo PHONE CAMERA 016.jpg
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Location: Piddle Valley

Re: And so it begins.

Do you have any pictures of this car before you started? You seem well 'stuck in'!

Re: And so it begins.

I cant believe how bad it is Peter as said before it looked so good on the road.

Re: And so it begins.

Nigel, beauty in this case was only skin deep. I'm slowly recovering my metal bashing and welding "skills" .
A picture fro m earlier this year to keep my spirits up.
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Location: Piddle Valley

Re: And so it begins.

Wow, the skill required to get it to look that good when it was that bad is quite something, indeed one wonders why...

Before I bought our RP I did the old fashioned thing of going round it with a magnet...I have probably missed something nasty but am disinclined to find out what...yet.

Re: And so it begins.

Michael, I think the "restoration" was done back in the 1970s , probably before the availability of Mig welders and when the DiY fad of using GRP or as it was known then fibreglass was in vogue. Since then it has taken some time for the corrosion to extend past the supported areas. The timbers had until recently held most panels in position but now decay has gone too far for that. Door and bonnet gaps varied on a daily basis so the bullet had to be bitten.
Lower screen/scuttle repairs undertaken today , using the screen as a template.All seem to be going ok so far. Dam that's put the mockers on it I expect.

Location: Piddle Valley

Re: And so it begins.

Hi Peter

A car club I belong to makes an annual trophy award for greatest misfortune. An experience as yours would be a certainty to win. It would be intriguing to know the full history. Anyone who could have finished your car so convincingly would presumably have done others. It is hard to imagine anyone starting with such a colander and intending a super finish without welding. I thought my car was a case with pop rivet patches from the 1950s on lower doors, but the actual perforation beneath is still reasonable, and very little not properly corrected anywhere else.

Is the car subject to any checks in France or was it ever MOT’d? Presumably some was evident from underneath. What was the MOT approach to patches and filler? Unless completely undetectable, a w.o.f fail here. Even old or non certified welded repairs of bodies on older cars without chassis upset supposedly skilled inspectors incapable of distinguishing from carbon steel unitary construction.

If it were not for the fact that it might seriously set back the UK old car industry, your photos would make a great cautionary series for one of the old car mags. Or maybe it would just inspire other bog artists. Perhaps it was originally used for a before and after bog promotion!

Location: Auckland, NZ

Re: And so it begins.

Bob the problem with the MoT was that the tester could only go so far to check for corrosion, if the chassis was unaffected and the body appeared sound there would be no justification to issue a failure certificate. Having been a tester for many years myself, I was often in the position of having to pass a vehicle knowing that there was a possibility that corrosion existed that could only be ascertained by dismantling,this was strictly forbidden as damage could be caused and liability for repairs incurred. I would only be allowed to advise.
My Annie was MoT "safe" as all testable items complied with the requirements.However the reason for this resurrection was that the body panels although appearing sound were moving relative to each other,when I removed the covers Pandora had nothing on my Box.
Needless to say when returned to the road Annie will be 100% metal and timber and ready for the next 80 years.

Location: Piddle Valley

Re: And so it begins.

These are the door bottoms of the 1934 RP I "restored" when I was 14 in the late 70's. I just did not have the money to pay a welder and no access to welding kit. The body filler is covering a half inch thick wodge of chopped fibreglass! It held up for 45 years before it started bubbling through.

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Even the dog looks disgruntled with the job!

Location: Chezvegas

Re: And so it begins.

Looks like a good job Andy, and a typical repair of its day.As you say not cheap to get welded in those days and as a Seven was only worth what fuel was in the tank,not an economic viability. It would seem that I am now uncovering the results of someones hard labour,of which I am sure they at the time were justifiably proud.

Location: Piddle Valley

Re: And so it begins.

It held up very well with the bodged repairs. The windscreen top was very similar to yours Peter. Again I repaired with what was to hand,namely a copper strip and more filler. It all held together but then again it wasnt out in all weathers all the time. You can probably just make out the bottom five inches of the door pillars are all fibreglass too!

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I couldnt afford axle stands either!

Location: Chezvegas

Re: And so it begins.

When I got this far I decided I like driving it too much to go any further. There is a little bit of bodge tape spayed yellow which hides this little horror t the bottom of my B post. One day (one quite long day in the distant future) I will pull off the tape, the rear wing etc etc and start a similar thread. Till then, I'll just keep driving. (oh and yes... it has been MOTd several times in this state. The first year the tester commented on how the underside looked in much better condition than the top!

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Re: And so it begins.

Peter your windscreen opening looks a bit like my RN one did 20 years ago. There the similarity ends, basically the bottom 12" of the body with the exception of the transmission tunnel and footwells was replaced together with the drivers side windscreen pillar, the whole of the windscreen peak with roof drains most of the bulkhead and the offside 12" of dashboard. I did the work in 3 stages, rear third, front third then middle, my RP owning friend said I'd end up scrapping it. Trouble is by the time I'd got to the worst I'd spent too much time on it to scrap it. There were a lot of patches welded over the rust holes however the welds could be popped undone with a screwdriver. It would have helped if Martin Prior had been doing his wood framing kits then, although shaping pieces of ash was very therapeutic and a change from working with rusty air. Oh and I had a million rivet holes in the roof to fill where the side of a Trent United bus had been riveted over the sunroof opening. I'd just got the car all repaired and in primer ready for painting and there appeared an add in the PWA7 magazine for an RN body, it was near mint, with no rust damage and just one dent in the RNS quarter. Stick with it Peter, you get a great sense of achievement when it's finished.

Re: And so it begins.

Oh dear , and it was all going so well. After 15 years of service my Mig welder finally gave up the ghost.I thought it was just a minor fault but on examination found that the transformer was arching out . A new one on order so welding on hold until next week.

Location: Piddle Valley

Re: And so it begins.

I will be here until after lunch tomorrow if you want to borrow mine.

Re: And so it begins.

You are a star Nigel,but I doubt if I'll need a welder until next week as I am now making up the repair panels for the nearside floor and sills.I will come over soon for a catch up.Once again thanks for the offer.
P.S. JUST GOT AN E-MAIL, NEW WELDER ARRIVING TOMORROW.

Location: Piddle Valley

Re: And so it begins.

A couple of weeks have gone by and the work has continued, a lot slower than one would like, but I guess that's how it goes. I spent a great deal of time reconstructing the lower windscreen/scuttle and upper dashboard panels. The rust was quite extensive and a lot of steel needed replacing. they are now rebuilt and have turned out rather well.The top windscreen to roof panel was so weakened by rust and historical drilled holes,that it also required totally remaking. To gain access drastic surgery was needed.I found it necessary to cut the front of the roof off slicing from the "A" pillars to the corners of the sunroof.This released the "peak" and another load of timber debris.Luckily enough remained to make up patterns for new to be made for the front roof stringers.
I know that Martin Prior could, and has offered to supply,but I couldn't resist the challenge and have with a bit of reverse engineering made up replacements.
The steel work was a little awkward as it is made up of two sections ,outer and inner and there was little original at the ends to show how it joined.My metal bender came into its own and the framing was made.Unfortunately the metal I chose was of too light a gauge but the "pattern" worked and a new,thicker gauge one was a lot stronger. The recess for the wiper motor was a bit of a fiddle but came out ok in the end. As a result of removing the "peak" it aided the removal of the top side rail timbers. The nearside one was virtually missing above the door and was replaced at some stage by some fibreboard! The offside was fractured at the "B" post (mainly due to someone in the past drilling a 3/4"hole possibly for a parking light,right through the joint).It was intact enough to use,after reinforcement, as a pattern. I should point out that I am not using Ash but as a true Englishman, Oak. I must admit this was due to the fact that I had the oak already in stock.
The saga will continue but for now,Good night all.
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Location: Piddle Valley

Re: And so it begins.


Peter Clayton
I should point out that I am not using Ash but as a true Englishman, Oak.


Hear hear!

Great work Peter, so nice to see a job being done properly with no fear of digging to find the problems. Very envious of your rate of progress, might be slow for you but to me it's light speed!

Tom

Location: Eye on the Norfolk / Suffolk border

Re: And so it begins.

Great progress Peter. Doing something every day, clearly..

Location: Cambridge

Re: And so it begins.

Hi Peter,
as has already been said it may seem slow to you as you go, but in reality it is fast.
The philosophy of doing a bit regularly is a good one so you can see progress however small.
The quality of your work is much admired.
Heroic work indeed Peter!
Steve V.

Location: Polegate, East Sussex, United Kingdom