1957 Sandblasted Coupe

[roy mawbey]

Steve,
I had occasion to drive my car today and took as look at the front and rear rocker panel supports that are welded to the bottom of the rocker panel. I mentioned in my post above the width of the welded support on the rocker panel was about 30mm from memory. I obviously have a poor memory because both front and back supports have a maximum width of 50mm at the weld point the struts are less because they flare out to meet the rocker itself.

Hope that makes sense. ( have you checked the rear ones? )

Roy

[ukinusa]

Got close to finishing the rear wheel well patch. One issue that is worth noting is that the curve from the window down to the wall, has a radius about 3/4" at the front (door end) and perhaps a tight 1/4" radius at the back by the fire wall.

The repair panel is a tight bend all the way down and needs to re worked. I didn't spot this (just careless) and so had to make a tapering radius piece to match the repair panel to car curves. A simple error that should /could have been avoided. What is the expression .... measure once and cut three times !

[ukinusa]

Also sorted out the front patch linking the rocker to the closing panel. Once Justin posted his pics (thanks for doing that )it became clearer. I opened up the rolled edge on the wheel arch with some gentle heat, and patched in a small piece to link back to the curve on the rocker; in hindsight pretty obvious...I think I was stumbling on the wire part ...and yes...dirty laundry time, I wish I make spot welds look like they should




A big thank you to all of you who chipped in their two cents on this issue, hopefully someone in the future will find it helpful

[JTR70]

Looking good Steve! I feel exactly the same way about my plug welds, every 10th one or so I'll make one with a nice divot that requires no grinding and resembles a spot weld and I think why can't I get them all to look like this? More practice I guess...Keep up the great progress!
Justin

[ukinusa]

Now onto the other longitudinal. Flipped the car over and started to dig in. Using the plasma cutter made access pretty quick. Trying to be carful not to cut the supports or nick the heater pipe....which I did of course !






Just nasty under the metal that had been patched over the top. Like rotted metal lace


opps ! blow through....

[ukinusa]

OMG - Kind of expected but hoped it would be better...


The more I opened the worse it got...


Peeling back the multiple layers without butchering good stuff is/was a real challenge, I had hoped to keep this section and 'drop in' the center part of my new repair panel - guess the whole section will be going in now (and probably better too).






Just trying to work out how to get the end section of pipe out and replaced without dismantling that whole corner. Seeing what John P. did has me nervous ... so John....do you fancy a weekend expenses paid to Utah





I think as the bottom of the end closing panel is rotted too (not clear in picture), removing the lower half of that would give me more access.

[John Pierce]

It might not be as bad as you think, Steve. Cut the rear closing panel away so you can get a better look inside. The heater pipes are easily replaceable and Zim's sells the correct mm size. Your A-type doesn't have the flanges and pinch welds like my B-T6, so the repair with flat pieces of metal should go easier. Keep on plugging away....you're doing great.

JP

[ukinusa]

Thanks for the reassurance - kinda needed it
Will call Zims and order the parts, assume they are closed tomorrow but will try. Also will open up that closing panel as you suggested; seems a good way to go...as they say - To Be Continued

UPDATE:
Zims 60mm is back ordered. (The main tube) Coming from Germany but delivery 4-6 weeks out ?
Any out there ? I can replace when their order is in. And FYI - same company as does the floors - Simonsen

Also the "exit tube" is 50mm ZIMS never supplied that and they said/assumed people used 2" - is that the case ? What have others used for the small tube - exhaust stock ?

[JTR70]

John is right Steve his T6 is built a little differently than an A. If you care to dredge through the earlier pages of the coupster build I did some similar repairs in an around that area. Keep up the great progress!
Justin

[ukinusa]

Thanks for reminder Justin - for those interested and future readers.. Justin references pages 18/19 and 23 (+/-)

Those pics will help a bunch. What has become apparent now is that I have to remove the rocker first; I was hoping to strengthen/repair that corner first, but clearly I need access from multiple angles.

Also my heater tube rot goes into that complex area, the only part not rotted is that exit part of the tube; there appear to be at least 3 small jogs / joints in the tube as it makes it way out from the longitudinal to the exit by the axle cross member.

Time to look for more pictures on this site....like John P's (pages 98/99)(John any others you could PM or post here please, that aren't shown on your blog?)

[Drew.s]

Hi Steve
Maybe these pics will help.


Drawing I made to fabricate whole area for 1959 T2



This whole piece was made over an oak buck



This is my 1958 T2 unmolested torsion bar area from below.

Hope these help
Drew

[ukinusa]

Wow Drew - cool thanks - impressive over an oak buck - then I saw you were a fellow Brit ! makes sense ! One question in the drawing (lower image) you have the the 'main' pipe apparently tapering from 60mm to 50 mm with no apparent joint - did you make it reduce or is there a reducer in there not shown ?

[Drew.s]

Hi Steve
If I'm understanding the question the smaller diameter tube was not tapered it's just an optical illusion with the drawing (and a slightly inaccurate drawing).
The different diameter tubes never get welded together the larger tube gets welded to the oval stamping on the vertical wall and just covers the area where the small tube exits.
I hope that made sense.
If I can help further just let me know.
Drew

[ukinusa]

OK - an "ah ha" moment !
..looking even closer I now understand what you are saying. To recap, and what I am seeing, is that the larger tube terminates at the flange and the smaller pipe (50mm) is welded to another plate (which I missed) that joins from behind. The change in pipe diameter is effectively hidden in that union.

UPDATE:
2" Exhaust pipe from NAPA is an almost perfect match...online converter shows that 2" is 50.8mm - close enough !

Now to find some 60mm - which is 2.3622" (which is less easy) ...don't need much !

[Drew.s]

Correct Steve.
Have you tried Ebay.co.uk for your 60mm tube?
Where in the US are you?
Regards
Drew