Rose Taupe Traveller Restoration

[ian.mcdougall]

now let us into the secret on how you got a nice turned edge to the round hole
Ian

[chickenjohn]

now let us into the secret on how you got a nice turned edge to the round hole
Ian

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I'd say lots of patience. If Taupe does not have the tool that makes a turned edge in a circle then, mark two circles, cut the inner, start the lip with pliers (patience required!) and finally careful dressing with hammer and dolly and hard flat surface.

Good guess??

[taupe]

Hi

Well I cheated... and used a qmax cutter to cut the hole 70mm and larger qmax cutter 76.5mm dia to press in the lip through an 80mm hole

As Chickenjohn says this can be done by cutting and filing the hole and then using a ball peen hammer or similar to form the lip over an edge.

Here are some pics

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[taupe]

Hi

Ive fitted the flitch panel this morning.... I started by cleaning up, etch priming and seam sealing inside where the kidney panel is as this is inaccessable later.

Then a combination of spot welds and mig plug welds later..

The amount of rigidity thats now gone back into the shell is amazing and I finally have a ns door that can use its hinges again

I trial fitted the flitch a few times before welding and realised that the edge where the wing bolts on has to be straight so a straight edge was used to make sure that all the wing mounting holes were sitting in a flat line. the bump stop support helped to keep it straight and stop the edge from bulging out.

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Id always wondered what the little dip in the top edge of the flitch panel was for and had assumed it was just to help alignment... I now realise that the bonnet crossmember sits in the recess!!

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A little bit of final welding now required on this and then its time for the engine tie plate area.

[pskipper]

As always stunned at the attention to detail in your work and learning more every time you post!

Thanks for keeping such a great build diary!

Philip

[chrisryder]

pleased to see you've got a brace accross the front edge where the front panel bolts on to keep it square. have you tried shutting the bonnet (i see it's still attached, so shouldn't be too difficult) to make sure everything still lines up? I'd hate to see you find it doesnt after all of your hard work!

[ian.mcdougall]

I have some of them cutters but only big enough for wing mirrors and aerials from the days long gone when we used to replace wings and Herald and Spitfire bonnets and Imp Bonnets??

[chickenjohn]

pleased to see you've got a brace accross the front edge where the front panel bolts on to keep it square. have you tried shutting the bonnet (i see it's still attached, so shouldn't be too difficult) to make sure everything still lines up? I'd hate to see you find it doesnt after all of your hard work!

I don't think that looks like just any old brace, it actually looks like the very best brace available- the radiator mounting/ cowel panel! The bonnet will close with the proper panel holding the inner wings in place.

[chrisryder]

so it is!

even so, i've heard that the shape of the top edge of the inner wing leaves a little to be desired, and doesn't always follow the arc of the bonnet...

[taupe]

Chris Ive tried the bonnet alignment and it seems fine

I think the Hadrian flitch panels are pretty accurately made.

I left the bonnet undisturbed in its original position on purpose to help check alignment and will only remove it once the drivers side flitch is completed.

I trial fitted the old front grille panel (Mine is beyond repair but I have a good second hand one to fit later) to see how the bumper mount bars lined up and found that it was spot on side to side but sitting slightly too low on the ns.

I had left the last welds off to the wheelarch panel to allow for adjustment and so I bolted an angle to the end of the flitch panel where it joins the top of the rad panel and jacked it up! It needed to go up about 3/16" and the alignment of the bumper bar holes was then ok. A stout steel brace was welded in whilst the flitch, engine tie panel, bumper bar and flitch extension were welded in. This will also keep the alignment when I do the drivers side.

Here are some pics

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[taupe]

Hi

As you can see in the last photo above Ive got the n/s chassis leg and engine tie plate in

Ive also prepared and spot welded in the front cross member after first adding the tabs missing from the repair panel and also fitted my replica NMP plate.

I bedded the NMP plate in seam sealer before spotwelding so hopefully this will keep out the rot!

Here are some pics

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[taupe]

Hi

Ive made a start on the drivers side and started by removing the wing..... What followed was a case of the good the bad and the tricky !!!

Here are some pics as it was stripped back:

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I think this is an original wing judging by the sidelight hole.

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A very bumped bump stop

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Some pics to remind me where the card pads were stuck on to fill holes

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All Cut away!

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Old stock wheelarch panel trial fitted

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The kidney panel is quite good on this side .... just needs the bottom 4" replacing

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I had to cut the bottom off the A post to get the door off!

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Its horribly rotten in the bottom of this void. Im going to have to replace the whole support panel... quite a tricky job!!!

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This panel that joins it to the chassis rail is going to need replacing too

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Its also come through to the toe board panel slightly

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View with wheelarch removed

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spotwelds marked

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Drilled out and removed.. I can feel a paper template coming

Not much car left in this corner!!

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Wish me luck

Taupe

[chickenjohn]

WOW! I am impressed and glad that it is someone with your skill level, Taupe, that are restoring this car. None of those bulkhead panels are available so you will have to painstakingly pick them apart with the spot weld drill/chisel and fabricate new panels, then weld them all back together, somehow keeping the car in shape!!

Even my rusty 4-door saloon is rock solid in those areas in comparison. That Traveller must have sat on wet grass for a long time to get that bad!

I'm going to enjoy watching you repair the bulkhead on this thread!!

Good fortune indeed!

[taupe]

Thanks Chickenjohn

I made a paper template for the support panel.. you can see the state of the old one.. it was split right through and quite thinned.

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The pattern was marked on the steel then cut out and trial fitted before the big oval hole was cut in and with just the bottom and one sides flanges folded.

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Once happy with the fit the oval hole was cut out and the lip formed. Then finally fitted ready for welding.

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Time for the main chassis leg this side and will then sort out the remainder of the bulkhead panels when the shell is turned upside down.

[ASL642]

The attention to detail is inspiring. Can't wait for the next installment.

[taupe]

Thanks Lou

Ive trial fitted the drivers side chassis rail tonight. I was lucky to have two original chassis rails and on this side I decided to replace the triangular upstand panels fitted as there will be less welding. It did mean carefully grinding away the old one from under the toe board panel first though. I got absolutely Filthy

On original chassis rails this eye is in place where the torsion bars pass through the main crossmember.. on most modern repair panels this is missing though I dont think its essential it can affect placement of the crossmember by 1/16".

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This is the alignment pin and spacer for the eyebolt hole on the front end jig.

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I made up two alignment rods using a spare pair of torsion bars and welded on angles set to the correct torsion bar length. These are used to close up the gap shown to the correct position. These will also will be used when I replace the main crossmember and later on will be bolted (at the crossmember end) to my rear alignment jig to set the springhanger locations accurately.

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Note I now have two master cylinders! these are bolted in to ensure the chassis rail flanges are the correct distance apart when the floors are welded in.

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The front end of the fixture ready for welding the front x member this side.

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The chassis leg in place with the torsion bar jig pulling it back to the main crossmember.

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A bit of welding to do now before I carry on with the front drivers side rebuild


Taupe

[klm]

Taupe,

You are an inspiration to all of us who are restoring old cars. The attention to detail and the level of accuracy you maintain in your restoration is truly amazing. I have learnt a lot from your thread and hope to use some of the techniques you have used in restoring my car. As an example, the use of spare set of torsion bars with angles welded at the end to use as a jig to accurately position the centre cross member with respect to the eye bolt holes is really brilliant. I measured an eye bolt, lower arm and a torsion bar and worked out that the distance between the end of torsion bar to the centre of eye bolt hole is 1 13/32" or 35.72mm. Is this correct? Would you be able to provide the dimensions of the angle piece for the benefit of all of us?

Thanks
klm

[taupe]

Hi klm

You will need a piece of 5mm thick angle approx 3x2" and 1 1/2" long or you can weld up some plate.

Ideally you would place the angle so that the dimension of the torsion bar away from the side of the chassis leg is the same as it is with the eyebolt fitted. You can measure an eyebolt for this.

Here is a sketch which may be of use.

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The angle is welded on first then the 39" is carefully measured from the back of the C washer to get the hole position on the angle.

The hole should be either a tight fit on the eyebolt pin if youre using that... or a tight fit on your fixture pin.

By tight I mean with no play.

Interestingly it works out that the rear spring front mounting bolt is placed exactly 25" from the 'centre' of the main crossmember.

I dont think a variation of up to around 1/8" would be a problem tolerance wise but the dimensions each side should be the same.

Whilst on the subject of chassis dimensions Ive now got both chassis legs fitted and the eyebolt holes are touching the fixture which suggests that with my car at least the distance apart for the chassis legs is 15 7/8"... So I think the dimension should definately be between that and 16" max

Taupe

[klm]

Hi Taupe,

Thank you for sharing the information. Today I measured a torsion bar and found it to be 37.4". When the worked out distance from the end of torsion bar to centre of eye bolt hole of 1.4" is added, the total comes to 38.8". With the thickness of the horse shoe washer ~ 0.12", comes very close to your measurement of 39".

The alignment diagram from the workshop manual shows the distance from the front face of centre crossmember to centre of the front wheel as 39". Does this mean that the centre of the eye bolt hole and the centre of the wheel lie on the same verticle line?

The records I have shows a distance of 16 1/8" between the inner faces of the chassis legs. If the two legs touched the fixture at the eye bolt holes (as I would expect) then your measurement of 15 7/8" is correct. When I next have access to the fixture, I hope to assemble a new set of chassis legs to check how it all fits, and I will confirm.

Thanks again,
klm

[RobThomas]

Charles. Don't know if this helps but here is a shot of the crossmember where there appear to b 7 spotwelds on that little plate bit.

Rob

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