I left the last post here having just discovered a rusty hole hidden underneath a huge blob of weld. Further investigation revealed that the rust extended down the seam below the hole all the way to the part we'd already replaced at the bottom of the wheel arch. Clearly it was all going to have to come out so a couple of weekends ago I set to with the angle grinder..
Cutting around the top of the damage was easy. Rather more care was required to get the rest out whilst retaining enough metal to use as a template for the repair section and without damaging the bit I need to weld the new section on to.
After some time though I'd removed the rusty section and managed to preserve most of the surviving flange on the panels underneath.
In order to make sure I'd found the full extent of the rust I actually took out more metal either side as well. The result is quite a large hole and some slightly ragged pieces to use as templates.
More time was absorbed trying to form repair sections from new steel. The first two pieces weren't too hard however the section that goes in the axle tunnel and has the flange for the inner wheel arch needs to curve in one direction and fold in another. That has so far exceeded my limited panel beating abilities.
Last weekend was The Border Raiders event which is an annual fixture in my calendar so not much more progress has been made. Hopefully I can report again after next weekend.
Cutting around the top of the damage was easy. Rather more care was required to get the rest out whilst retaining enough metal to use as a template for the repair section and without damaging the bit I need to weld the new section on to.
After some time though I'd removed the rusty section and managed to preserve most of the surviving flange on the panels underneath.
In order to make sure I'd found the full extent of the rust I actually took out more metal either side as well. The result is quite a large hole and some slightly ragged pieces to use as templates.
More time was absorbed trying to form repair sections from new steel. The first two pieces weren't too hard however the section that goes in the axle tunnel and has the flange for the inner wheel arch needs to curve in one direction and fold in another. That has so far exceeded my limited panel beating abilities.
Last weekend was The Border Raiders event which is an annual fixture in my calendar so not much more progress has been made. Hopefully I can report again after next weekend.
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