A wing and a prayer

I put a small lip on the inner sill sections i made. The outer has a step the two flanges clamped and seam welded for a nice strong box section. The floor was the welded from the inside which avoids upside down welding.

You will be amazed how few welds makes the strength return.

Also something to consider is the jack tubes, they may be ok but good op to toughen them.

Colin
 
Dave3066 said:
I like that Willy, I don't fancy plug welding upside down either. Did you butt weld outer to inner then or was there an overlap, any overlap would have to be seam welded too but I guess welding the inner interface would provide additional strength?
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Butt weld - if that's the correct term when one piece meets a corner resulting in an upside-down 'T'. I aimed to have it all single skinned, as a welded join will add lots of strength anyway.
Dave3066 said:
Yes it would be useful to have access to paint it before closing up too. Tucking the lower part behind the 8mm upright creates another seam though so I presume you used some form of cavity wax in there after?
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Yes I blasted a load of Dinitrol in through the holes I drilled for the cover sill screws. I'd intended to weld in captive nuts to take the cover sill, but forgot. It would have been convenient to do so through the gap too. In the end I used "rivnuts", which seem to be holding well. (I'm sure I could have got hold of the correct nylon fasteners, but then would have needed to drill square holes to accept them...)
 
Willy Eckerslyke said:
Butt weld - if that's the correct term when one piece meets a corner resulting in an upside-down 'T'. I aimed to have it all single skinned, as a welded join will add lots of strength anyway.
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Yep that's the one :)

Willy Eckerslyke said:
I'd intended to weld in captive nuts to take the cover sill, but forgot. It would have been convenient to do so through the gap too. In the end I used "rivnuts", which seem to be holding well. (I'm sure I could have got hold of the correct nylon fasteners, but then would have needed to drill square holes to accept them...)
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I've got all the original nylon fasteners but yes, the square hole is bit of a conundrum :? I do have a few square section files so maybe a drilled hole filed out square......

arthuy said:
Also something to consider is the jack tubes, they may be ok but good op to toughen them.
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The rear jack tube has been strengthened previously, but yes that makes sense whilst the front one is exposed.

I'll have to give this some thought later today before I go any further.

Dave
 
You can fit Rivnuts by using a long bolt with a nut and washer to tighten on to the flange.

Also those nylon inserts are available in a circular section similar to rawl plugs.
 
Ok gents and ladies

the floor pan is whole again yay!
CIMG5168.jpg

CIMG5167.jpg

yes I know there is still a hole at the back, that has been filled now. Check out that contour matching though :D

and the outer sill is coming along nicely too
CIMG5195.jpg


Just got to finish that off to the front and around the jacking tube. Fit the new splash panel, close the bottom of the BC post, replace a bit of the driver's door step and put everything back together again. My welding is very hit-and-miss just now. Sometimes it's brilliant and sometimes it's rubbish. The bit that takes the most time is going back over the little pinholes that appear. I shine a floodlight on one side of the weld and look to see where the light shines through so I can spot over it. I'm now onto my second gas bottle and my third reel of wire (mind you the first 2 reels were pretty much written off).

I've been let down by my painter though. After having the replacement wing since November last year he's now told me that he is too busy and won't be able to paint it for me :evil: . So I either need to find someone else or do it myself. I don't have the equipment to do a good enough job of it myself (nor the facilities to do it) so I'm looking for another painter in my area.

Dave
 
That's a fair sized chunk of metal that you've replaced, I'm sure it will make it better to drive.

Are you going to modify the jacking point to strengthen it or just rebuild it as standard?
 
testrider said:
Are you going to modify the jacking point to strengthen it or just rebuild it as standard?
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That'll be the next decision. I bought a repair panel for the jacking tube complete and once welded in place the jacking tube, as well as being attached at one end, will be supported by the outer sill and the jacking tube repair panel. Like this:
Jackingtubesection.jpg


Obviously the original configuration saw the jacking tube support as an extension of the A post
aposttotidy.jpg

(thanks to sawdustcaeser for the photo)

Mine has been cut off just above the jacking tube and the new section is not quite as curvy as the original so a bit of fettling will be required to re-attach it to the bottom of the A post.

I'm not convinced that's enough to give it sufficient support though, what do others think?

Dave
 
i rebuilt and welded to them from the outer sill like you are proposing, but i still wouldnt use them except in an emergency. It is stronger than it has ever been however....

Rich
 
I was thinking of doing the ones on HOT in a similar way to your diagram. I also had an idea to add a web along the length of the tube - between the top of tube and the underside of outer A/D post jacking tube support section.

I don't know why the tubes weren't attached to the middle section at the factory though?
 
I don't know why the tubes weren't attached to the middle section at the factory though?
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There surely has to be a reason - very little on the p6 seems to be done without a good engineering reason on it...
 
That was my thought too. Perhaps it prevents something flexing and causes cracking, otherwise it could only be for ease of assembly and alignment with the outer support section.
 
I suspect it was an assembly thing, and they decided they were strong enough without. They didn't expect us to be still driving them ! :D

Personally I'd just get rid of them, weld up the holes in the sills, and maybe create some strong under-car jacking points. Kills several birds with one stone, get rid of the ugly rubber bungs, gets rid of the suspect jacking points, and gives the monkeys at KwikFit something to jack it up on.
 
webmaster said:
create some strong under-car jacking points and give the monkeys at KwikFit something to jack it up on.
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It already has some of them, they're just not in the right place :roll: I never let any monkeys near my car :D I take the wheels off and take them to the tyre fitters when I get new tyres. I tend to replace tyres in pairs so leave the car on axle stands whilst the wheels are off. I've just got myself some steel rod to make axle stand supports that slide into the jacking tubes as in the ROM so I can't get rid of them now..... :roll:

Dave
 
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