Frilly wheelarches

[Ron]

Hi all
My first restoration and Am about to cut three or four inches off the bottom of my rear wheelarches. Replacements are unavailable but luckily the car is early fifties and not too fancy so hopfully I will be able to bash some steel into the right shape. My questions are:-
Should I lap joint or butt joint? should I weld from behind the wing? should I tack untill the weld is continuous or tack every half inch then use filler? and finally if a lap weld is preferred do you weld both overlaps front and back?
Have scoured these pages for above problems but could not find similar questions. Probably because everyone except me knows the answers!
Thanks in advance
Ron

 

[the snooper]

what car is it

 

[riessbooth]

Hi all
My first restoration and Am about to cut three or four inches off the bottom of my rear wheelarches. Replacements are unavailable but luckily the car is early fifties and not too fancy so hopfully I will be able to bash some steel into the right shape. My questions are:-
Should I lap joint or butt joint? should I weld from behind the wing? should I tack untill the weld is continuous or tack every half inch then use filler? and finally if a lap weld is preferred do you weld both overlaps front and back?
Have scoured these pages for above problems but could not find similar questions. Probably because everyone except me knows the answers!
Thanks in advance
Ron

weld from they outside and grind the weld dont just tack weld and use filler it cracks and its a bodge!! and do a but joint with a step behind it that way you wont be blowing holes

 

[piman]

Hello Ron,

I would butt join and seam weld. If you do a lap joint, ensure the overlap inside is well painted then seam sealed otherwise it will become a rust trap and not last very long.

Alec

 

[Ron]

Thanks

Apologies for not responding sooner. Had to work. Many thanks for your helpfull responses. The Car is a Triumph Renown. (photo included.) The bloke who sold it to me said it was primed and ready for respray. On inspection the rear end comprised mostly of a copper fire surround, the wings are shot and the body has more plastic than Pamela anderson! But Renowns hard to come by so Bought it anyway!
Thanks again
Ron

 

[the snooper]

when attempting the repair dont try to seam weld in one go use lots of smaller welds and give it time to cool between them especially if they are close, too much heat generated will guarantee a warped wheel arch and ruin your work

 

[riessbooth]

Apologies for not responding sooner. Had to work. Many thanks for your helpfull responses. The Car is a Triumph Renown. (photo included.) The bloke who sold it to me said it was primed and ready for respray. On inspection the rear end comprised mostly of a copper fire surround, the wings are shot and the body has more plastic than Pamela anderson! But Renowns hard to come by so Bought it anyway!
Thanks again
Ron

ooow has it got a seprate chassis iv got a (triumph herald in bits)

 

[BChild]

Next reply may or maynot involve a combination of 0.6mm & 0.8mm wire and cheap chinese migs

And it didn't

 

[Chris Stevens]

Hi all
My first restoration and Am about to cut three or four inches off the bottom of my rear wheelarches. Replacements are unavailable but luckily the car is early fifties and not too fancy so hopfully I will be able to bash some steel into the right shape. My questions are:-
Should I lap joint or butt joint? should I weld from behind the wing? should I tack untill the weld is continuous or tack every half inch then use filler? and finally if a lap weld is preferred do you weld both overlaps front and back?
Have scoured these pages for above problems but could not find similar questions. Probably because everyone except me knows the answers!
Thanks in advance
Ron

You may well be able to source a panel intended for a modern car, from which you can cut repair sections to fit. If you can remove the part to be repaired, then a joddled edge on one part, and holes puched through the other, and then plug welding will be the best method of joining the repair section, as continuous welding can often mean big problems with distortion, and increased likelihood of future corrosion.

However to ensure there is no chance of future corrosion repairs such as this must be lead loaded from both sides, to prevent any ingress of water between the 2 panels. Lead loading though is not particularly difficult, and can be carried out pretty quickly, but panels must obviously be scrupulously clean.

 

[Flathead_Dave]

I don't know where you'd get modern panels like that as they're 16" wheels.
Have you joined the Razoredge Club?
There's a guy around Barford,Oxfordshire way that restores "Waterfall" Dolomites,maybe he could make some panels.

 

[Chickenjohn]

Apologies for not responding sooner. Had to work. Many thanks for your helpfull responses. The Car is a Triumph Renown. (photo included.) The bloke who sold it to me said it was primed and ready for respray. On inspection the rear end comprised mostly of a copper fire surround, the wings are shot and the body has more plastic than Pamela anderson! But Renowns hard to come by so Bought it anyway!
Thanks again
Ron

A lovely old car like that is made with old school hand made style coachbuilding techniques and the wings, front and rear are removable. Really, I would advise storing the car somewhere safe and dry for a year and go on a restoration college night school for a year to learn the old school techniques of panel beating, gas welding and panel forming, and lead loading. Then learn painting. Get your skills together, then restore the car!

With all these skills under your belt you will be able to go back to college as an advance student and repair the car properly under the guidance of the highly skilled college tutuor, panel by panel. I would really only use mig welding for bits that won't be visible such as the chassis, and certainly not use mig welded lap joints on those lovely irreplacable panels!

A car like that needs coachbuilding skills to repair properly, which you can acquire on a vehicle restoration course. Look up your local college night schools. I've been going on such as course in Maidstone for the last five years and it is absolutely brilliant!