Pettifordo

It’s OK, I’ve figured out that it isn’t those bits that the manual was referring to - glass just won’t budge. I think I’m going to give it a good clean and mask it well as I spray the door and then attach the door window seals with it in place 👍

In my Haynes manual it just says to “remove the pins and washer” to separate the glass frame from the winder mechanising. On my car they won’t move any tips on how to get them out ?

I’m considering seeing what finish I can get using rattle cans with the adjustable spray top and perhaps clear coat on top. I’ve managed to get quite good results before on repair sections on other cars. if that fails I found a place the rents a professional spray booth….which would be the next option.

It was originally Vermillion Red but a PO had it painted Metallic BRG which is too modern for the car and in poor condition plus I have stripped the bonnet to fix the rust. So none of the original Vermillion Red is left except for the central prop shaft tunnel which is the only part of the floor I didn’t replace 🤣🤣🤣🤣

🤣🤣🤣🤣 Just thought that Green over Green would be easier than Orange/Red over Green ?

Now decided on the “new colour” for the car - going back to Vermillion Red would be super hard so I have decided on Triumph Racing Green GN169 which would have been an option for a 1980s car. I’m also calling an end to the “new nose” Can you see the join 🤔🤔

The battle with my bonnet continues. Seam sealer on the back and into the weld on the lip - keen to make sure no water can get in 👍 Almost there (I think) with the front surface - I think the shape is looking good. Perhaps 1 or 2 more coats of primer with a light rub down with 240 grit between 🤔

Thanks for the tip - I am taking it slowly but more because I have limited time and I have to allow the filler / paint to dry - so far this has been 4 months and counting 👍👍👍

Thanks @Josef - it has been great getting your support along the way. Pleased with todays efforts. Left side needs some knocking back and I haven’t used the 240 Grit yet, so hopefully “invisible” soon.

It was really a series of events that got me here - I figure worst case I can get a replacement bonnet. The rest of the bonnet was ok so it seemed a shame to junk it, I was lucky enough to find the replacement nose on e-bay when enquiring about a 2nd hand bonnet - so that was £40 and the strengthener was £60 That needed some repairs doing which was good for my welding skills. Parts wise I think I’m probably £150 all in plus I don’t want to think of how many hours 😱 I’ve enjoyed getting it all fitted and took advice from here about welding slowly, but I did end up with more of a dip than I was expecting - I think my mistake was to weld the ends and the middle, moving about (between sips of tea) so the panel didn’t get too warm. If I did it again I would just start in the middle and work out (taking even more time between welds) as I think this would have reduced distortion. The net result is I’m honing my filling skills which were last practiced on a 1973 Vauxhall Viva in 1985 🙂 The flexible sanding block has been really good / I hesitated at £14 but for curved surface it has been really good with the 80 Grit sand paper (£12 for 5m of hook and loop paper) cutting the filler nicely plus some 240 Grit to finish it. Lets hope the results aren’t too bad - I think that once you have a hole you can always “see it”. The filler is quite thin and a tape on it still gives a good metallic ring. The underside looks clean and with some seam sealer “it won’t notice 🤣🤣🤣

I’m having fun with plod ! I took off most of the first go and purchased a flexible sander - https://www.zoro.co.uk/shop/abrasives/sanding-discs/flexible-long-bed-hand-sanding-block-70-x-400mm/p/ZT2443508S Now on to the 3rd coat of filler 🤔🤔 it looks like quite a large area but it is actually quiet thin, just want to feather the edges so the join is “hidden”. I think it will end up looking ok and at least this filler is over good metal instead of rust - although I do feel I have kind of just moved the filler from being on the nose to being on the bonnet 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Yes it is joined really well, not even any pin hole, I had just forgotten how long it takes to get things really smooth 😩😩😩

This is going to keep we quiet for a few hours to get it flat !!

Did you like the new nose 🤔

Do you think I have fitted them the wrong way round ? The lamp felt loose when I had it the other way round 😩 The cowling is fowling on the shaped flange at the top of the bowl - assuming that is the top 🤣🤣🤣 I wish I had paid more attention when taking it apart !

I’m having some issues fitting some Lucas replacement headlamp bowl I bought from Rimmer Bros - They seem to fit ok until I try to attached the headlamp cowl which doesn’t seem to fit. Anyone else had this problems ? Rimmer Bros said it was the right part. This was the part number - 7H6838KLUCAS

What a nightmare !!

I think I’ve avoided the worst of it - it dips a bit in the middle which is disappointing. In hindsight I think I may of had the clamps too tight so “nothing could move” or perhaps I should have started in the middle and worked out, removing clamps as I went. What I actually did was to weld between the clamps moving as far apart as possible between welds, then remove the clamps (one and a time) and joined up the weld. I also had a piece of copper clamped behind the weld to a) spread the heat and b) mean I could be more confident of not blowing through. The dip is about 5mm in the middle third of the bonnet. I’m pondering if I should try to metal bash it up or leave well alone and fill the dip. I’m concerned that bashing will break the weld, but also want to deliver as good a finish as possible. It feels really solid and is well aligned at the front. Its 200% better than the filler and rust that was there.

Welded on needs a bit of knocking into shape - but generally better than I expected so far.

Update on the rust free nose. Bonnet strengthener welded in and bonnet prepared for welding in the “new” nose. Is a labour of love !

What is plod ? Filler ?

Had a few free mins this PM so I decided to cut out the filler I can imagine with a nice chrome grille it might look nice and cooling would be a breeze 🤣🤣🤣 Some nice plates welded in from the PO Test fitting of the new nose looks good. Now I think I have done as much as I can do without stripping the front of the car so I can access the strengthen plate underneath / it isn’t too bad but having got this far it seems a shame not to replace that - I think I can honestly say that once this is done the car will be “filler free” - except where I have used it to close joints and tidy bits up - so used to smooth things out and not as a structural component 🤣🤣🤣

Now patched both end and the small holes. Will need some more finishing but happy with the result. Next I have to strip the front off the car. I think I will keep the bonnet on the car for the welding on with a brace across the 2 bonnet supports to make sure nothing moves as I cut out the front part of the bonnet and the support underneath. I think I can get to all the spot welds holding it on 🤞🤞🤞

Today was getting all the rust off the “new” nose for the bonnet. I had to drill through from under the lip to get the spot welds so now have holes along the bottom, but I plan to use those to weld it to the new bottom plate I have. The rest isn’t too rusty and I’m confident I can butt weld at the end and then fill the holes with copper behind the weld area 👍 It took me 2.5 hours to get it to the stage where I could test fit and it will just cover the filled bit - phew. If the metal is thin on the left hand side I might have to fab another patch. Next weekend I will weld in the patches and fill the holes.

I thought that welding the whole repair section in would provide better structural integrity and a nice smooth edge to the front of the bonnet - but I need to think about the distortion. I’m going to see my welding expert next week to see what he thinks - he mentions “cold welding” it with TIG….so perhaps I can pay him to do it ?? Or is that cheating 🤣🤣