More repairs to the XK8

[RaceDiagnostics]

Got a kind advisory (could have been a fail) at the MOT for floor pans. The problem is caused by a bracket spot welded to the underside used to attach the car to the original production line conveyor. Done with no thought of the potential for rust.

Right hand side.

Left.

The bracket.

Cut out.

There is a repair panel available at a £90 a side so I used a plain sheet instead costing a couple of pounds.

I didn't want to weld from above in case of spatter damage to the interior and access from below was very tight as I couldn't use my lift due to the location of the repair. So I decided to use an oversized patch and weld in from below.

New patch

Welded in.

Other side from above.

Then painted with epoxy.

Then tiger seal in case of any pin holes.

And finally rubber underseal.

There was a debate recently about butt or joddled repairs, I normally butt welds but in this case as access from below was restricted so I decided to use a joddled repair since there was also no problem to seal the flanged side.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

When I took up the carpet on the passenger side I got another nasty surprise.

This was along the side of the transmission tunnel.

Closer.

Three layers of sheet metal spot welded together that obviously had no seam sealer to keep out salty water.

The edge of the seat box was also in the way.

So cut it out.

First I cut out the top layer which is a continuation of the floor pan.

Then the next layer, the inner section at the front is more fairly thick steel sheet which was completely clean and the bit to the rear of that is part of the thing aluminium heat shield.

I could have cut more out but didn't want this to turn into a massive job and the cars not a for all time keeper anyway.

I decided to weld in the mid layer in two parts to make fitting easier.

Mid layer completed with a bit of weld through.

Then onto the inner layer (floor pan), again in two sections.

Tacked onto a pipe to get the correct bend.

Bent into shape.

So much for not wanting to weld inside the car.

Both parts in.

Seat box welded back in place.

And then painted.

I wonder if I will get another years driving out of it without more welding.

 

[Parm]

Nice repairs

How long does it take to make these repair?

 

[rtcosic]

Those X100's like to rust! Or is it just your unusually aggressive environment ?

 

[steveo3002]

neat repairs ..has the car had a hard life? wouldnt have expected so much rot

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

I started the work about three weeks ago but as we have had a lot of cold and wet weather progress was slow. Actual full days of work I would guess about 5 or 6 working days, but then again my full working days are sort of 9 to 4 with a long lunch.

I am pretty slow at this sort of thing as I like to try to do a very good job, grinding down welds etc and replacing like for like and finishing with proper protection.

I have seen horror stories on these foot well repairs, they are needed an all but garage queen XK8s, so common that there are aftermarket repair panels.

A guy on one of the dedicated XK8 forums had his foot wells repaired at a specialist Jag XK indie, who welded on the repair patch from beneath without removing the carpets, the end results was setting fire to the padding and burning through a big loom. The garage bodged the loom together and handed the car back without admitting any of this. The guy only got to the bottom of it because the AC stopped working and he had to pull out the interior, he then found the total mess the garage had left behind.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

As for the rust, I have had to do lots of welding to this car, rusted out chassis at the front and back, front cross member as well as seat belts anchors.

The problem is;

1) I think Jag used really poor quality steel on these cars.

2) There is a lot of crap design elements in the car, multiple sheets spot welded together with no seam sealing.

3) In Scotland we have salt on the roads for close to six months of the year, this car was never designed for that, more like California cruising.

 

[RonA]

Given that the rusted part is ribbed presumably to add stiffness, would the purchase of the replacement panel (even at £90 & presumably also ribbed) have been worth it to maintain the stiffness.?
RonA

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

I am not worried about any loss in rigidity as only a couple of inches if ribs were cut out and the flanged edge of my replacement ads in rigidity. Certainly not worth the best part of £200 to me.

 

[Wightsparks]

Looks good. I have not done any thin overhead and I have a little Jag rust patch to do as well. What sort of settings are you using. 1.2mm steel ?

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

Yes, I used 18 gauge (~1.2mm) as I wanted a bit of extra rigidity for the floor, for other body stuff I tend to use 20 gauge.

My mig (Clarke 105EN) is not the best and only has a few settings, for the overlap area I used "2-Min wire speed 7" (~22Volts), which gives good penetration but tends to be too hot for old metal butted edges where "1 Min wire speed 6"(~19volts) tends to be better. I normally go as hot as I can without blowing through to try to get the best possible penetration.

All that said I am no expert, at all.