1975 2200 SC auto project.

[webmaster]

I use a 100amp no-gas mig welder which I have converted to use gas (most no-gas welders will do either), and use standard co2. My welder cost about £150 from Machine Mart. I used it with no-gas wire for the first 10 years without any problems and producing decent welds but the wire is approx 5 times the price of standard wire, and the welds aren't as nice as those produced when using gas.

Rough rule of thumb but get one that costs between £150-£200 as a good starting point. Stay well away from Arc welders, it's virtually impossible for mere mortals to weld thin car body panels with an arc welder.

I've posted this before, but look HERE for welding tips.

 

[richarduk]

Does your car have the sump guard fitted? If so any pictures? Just want to see what they look like.

 

[sawdustcaeser]

THE MID SILL IS IN PLACE! YIPEEEE!

I started by painting the inner sill, first with zinc primer and then with a generous coat of hammerite. Then i gave the inside of the mid sill the same treatment. these pictures show the painting finished.

the sill was taken on and off several times to trim and get the fit right this is the fit at the front

and this is the fit at what would prove to be a tricky join under the c post

once i had the fit right, the sill was removed one more time and about 100 holes drilled in in to plug weld.

at the a post:

along the length:

i had real difficulty getting the lip of the mid sill to sit flush with the floor. a little worryingly , the plug welds were not strong enough to keep the gap closed up, so i had to run some small seams from middle to back of car. here is a photo of the troublesome gap.

and finally....... just when i thought i had got the hang of welding i had to join the sill to the remains of the old sill under the c post. in my defence, it was really difficult to clamp the two together and awkward to get the welding torch in.....

not pretty but hopefully strong enough.

next job is to grind the plug welds flush and then make closing peices for a and b post bottoms. not to mention tread plates.

 

[DaveHerns]

Careful with those newspapers on the floor when you are welding ! I speak from experience having set some alight

 

[webmaster]

This is all great work, makes me want to get stuck in myself !
Just need to move 1/2 ton of 800 parts and gardening tools to get to the P6....

 

[Oracle]

This is all great work, makes me want to get stuck in myself !
Just need to move 1/2 ton of 800 parts and gardening tools to get to the P6....

...and maybe a few Mondeo parts that are squatting in your garage??

 

[sawdustcaeser]

a quick update. the inner sill is completed. this week i have been re attatching the A and B posts.

the a post is just about complete. i made up some inserts / closing panels. they wre quite awkward. i still have a small hole to patch over to stop water getting into the sill box section but it is almost there! i will also need to repair the channel that holds the rubber. i believe i need to fill it with lead then bend to the correct shape?

the front of the b post needed a repair. i had to drill so much metal out with the spots that there was nothing left. the next sequence is the repair effected......

and that's it completed....

next for the tread plates.

 

[sawdustcaeser]

i have been busy since the last post. thought i'd let you see how the project is coming on...

the tread plates are now insitu front:

and at the rear:

here's a shot of the whole repair so far:

i need to fit some new channel for the door rubber on the tread plates. I'm sure i read somewhere that a good method of bending it to shape around the A, B, and D posts was to fill it with lead, bend it, and melt the lead out. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE OF THIS?

Then it should be a case of a thin skim of filler, primer, hammerite, scarab blue paint and underseal.

Have any of you spotted the (non)deliberate mistake?? I cut the bloody tread plates too short so i may have to butt weld a 1 cm strip of steel along the bottom of the tread plate so i have room to drill the holes and retaining clip for the top lip of the outer sill :angry: I'll let you know how i get on with that.


Moving into the rear whhel arch i repaired what was left of the rear closing panel before fabricating a new splash panel. Errrrm it's not exactly concourse but the car needs to come in on budget and i begrudge paying the price for replacement panels here. It should do the job

and also completed the closing panel to the sill section.

all i have to do now is work out how to finish the rear jacking point. I think i make a box section and weld it to the sill. then join the jacking tube to it by a washer, then trim and fit the d post bottom panel?

 

[sawdustcaeser]

I'VE COME ACROSS A RATHER SERIOUS PROBLEM AND NEED SOME ADVICE........

there is some fairly serious rot around the top link rear mounting. i'm sure this is a common spot on P6's. there is a "cupped" peice of steel wlded into the flat section of the boot wall. a stud is welded to this cupped section. i assume that it is cupped to prevent flexing. the rot is around the base of the cup. i'm pretty sure if i prodded all around i could poke the whole cup out with a screwdriver.

i dont really want to remove it complete as i don't have a jig, i dont fancy trying to fabricate the cupped section either.

AM I BETTER OFF CHOPPING THE WHOLE THING OUT, OR TRYING TO STRENGTHEN THE AREA WITH REPAIR PIECES??

thanks inn anticipation.

 

[harveyp6]

I always used to make a repair panel about 6" square to repair them if they weren't too bad (like yours) but if you want a pre-made panel JRW sell one, which you could always trim to size if you don't want to fit the whole thing.

 

[OrganDoctor]

Actually had noticed that from one of your previous pictures.I removed those links and looked very hard at mine before going ahead with restoration, as those are a known weak spot.
I know these have been talked about in the past.

Dick West

 

[harveyp6]

TBH if you're taking on inner sills, welding up the toplink mountings are a doddle in comparison.
Things only get a bit more difficult when they pull right out breaking the actual mounting that sits behind.

 

[sawdustcaeser]

merry christmas fellow enthusiasts! just a few photos to update you all. (as if you had nothing else to do at this time of year!)
i made an arse of the treadplates as you may recal by cutting them too short. when i came to fit the squire clips there was not enough metal.
so i had to cut 1.5 cm wide strips in 1mm steel and seam weld them without distortion. fun and games were had, but eventually went in place. holes were drilled for the squire clips in order that the outer sill can be correctly positioned.
then the rubber seal retaining chanel was fitted. i used a series of cuts to form the curved sections. not perfect, but better than the rusted mess that was there before. here are some photo's to show where i am up to now.

i have also been busy making some repairs inside the wheel arch area which are almost complete. the most difficult was repairing the cupped shaped strengthening plate where it joins the new sill. i'll post a picture here but by now it has seam sealer, zinc primer on it. it will be hammerited and then undersealed

i am a little apprehensive about the next repair, but will press on regardless. i was unable to fabricate a dished repair section properly despite some very helpfull advice from hermione (thanks) so i bought a section from wadhams. i am cosidering removing the tank for the welding both from a safety point of view, and also to assess the tank for rust. i repaired my VW camper tank last winter with POR15 tank repair kit. may do the same thing. keep you all posted.

happy new year.....

 

[webmaster]

Very good progress there, it's definately coming together very well.

P6 tanks aren't usually much of a problem, with them being fully enclosed in the boot they don't suffer the same levels of rot that other externally mounted tanks can. Even if it is rotten, a good 2nd hand one shouldn't be hard to find.

 

[sawdustcaeser]

The restoration continues! I have been working in the rear wheel arch and boot areas and am nearly finished.

Firstly, here is the reapired treadplate with the outer sill and door rubber replaced. Starting to look like a car again

It's not a very good photo but you can see that the wheelarch repairs are complete.

You will remember the rotten trailling link mounting. This was chopped out and a repair section from Wadhams welded in with an overlap, to produce a strong repair. the area was the Kurusted, seam sealed, hamerited and will be undersealed.

I will post the pictures of the boot separately.

 

[sawdustcaeser]

The boot area had some rot where the boot seal sits. I drilled out the rivets holding the steel plate and cut away the rot. New steel was let in and tidied with the flap grinder.

rot rot rot!!

the battery area and side of the boot have also been treated with Kurust/zinc primer and POR 15

this was the condition of the underside after Kurust. Seems quite solid although not especially pretty. It has since been treated with POR15

 

[webmaster]

The excellent work continues !, is there much to do on the other side ?

I don't know about anybody else, but I just love looking at photos of cars having rusty bits cut out and new stuff welded in, I think it's the slow "resurection" of a vehicle....



Edited By webmaster on 1202115946

 

[richarduk]

This is great stuff, always hard to stop to take pictures, very much appreciated. I'm waiting for the summer before popping my sills off to look behind. I'm hoping it will be as good as the rest of the car.

 

[sawdustcaeser]

The other side is worse!!!! I started on the easier side. other side reqires repair in the footwell, inner sill to floor repair, i will replace the complete castle sill and treadplates but there seems to be more rot in the rear wheel arch on the other side. The cup shaped strengthening section has rotted out meaning a load of salt and muck has ended up inside the bottom D post

I am enjoying it but it seems to take forever. For instance, my next job is to try and weld a repair patch in here

but i just know it's going to start blowing holes through the hockey stick lip :angry: That means I'll have to repair the hockey stick first, and I have'nt quite worked out how that area goes together!!

At least the boot is finished though.

 

[DaveHerns]

Imagine how proud you'll be when it's finished
It should last for ages now