Stripped

[ahebron]

Once again my Vitesse 6 has thrown a diversion in the way of its rebuild.

First it was underseal peeling from underside of floorpan which meant body off and all stripped back to bare metal, zinc phosphate primed, undersealed then top coat. All because the painter of the car didnt prep it properly. Body back on.

Go away with work

Back from work

Take rear tub off and top of chassis where spider rust under powder coating was stripped back to bare metal, zinc phosphate primer then top coat.

Body back on

Go away with work

Back from work

Start the final bolt down of body using solid stainless steel mounts I turned from 6mm plate and stainless steel washers I bought from Ebay UK and got sent out to me in NZ. Very hard to find SS washers with 40mm od 8mm id in NZ.

Finish off the bolting and leveling all door gaps looking superb.

Tightening up bolts on rear crossmember and they both stripped.

Pack up for the day and do some thinking.

I really dont want to take the body off again so picked up a Recoil (Helicoil like) set today so this weekend will fit these and hopefully these will the third and last problem.

 

Interesting to note that I originally had the body fitted with soft rubber mounts (supplied in a kit) and it had pronounced tub spread. I built an impressive hydraulic unit to pull the body back in in anticipation but when I fitted it with the SS mounts there is no spread? Might get to use it in my Mk2 convertible with a few tweaks. I dont know if the spread was to do with the rubber mounts or maybe the work I was doing to the tub with it inverted and me scrapping off underseal has sorted it.

 

To get the body correct I have been using air wedges to fine tune the gaps and lines.

 

Adrian

[Colin Lindsay]

Sounds good!

I'm not sure about tub spread but I know a lot of squeaks and rattles come from rubber mountings; the original ones were a canvas-like washer that didn't compress as much as the modern rubber versions. I have a full set of polyurethane ones which were actually marketed as diff mounting rubbers and will probably use those, regardless of the rather lurid colours... 

Did you scrape the underseal off, or melt it / sand it off? I have it all to do on my convertible tub....

[ahebron]

Hi Colin

I scrapped my underseal off using old wood chisels.

Then a knotted wheel on my angle grinder removed what was left followed by wiping with thinners.

This bit is very important, once you have the metal clean you have to scour it with 80 grit so the paint will bond.

I used 80 grit scouring pads like the ones used doing the dishes but from the paint shop.

Using the knotted wheel effectively polishes the metal after it has cleaned the underseal off so the scour abrades it again ready for the paint to stick.

 

The underseal on my car was a mix of old and new underseal.

Luckily I had a bit of practice scrapping underseal off my dads Lagonda Rapier a few months back so got to find the easiest way, funnily it was painted by the same person.,

You do end up with a lot of underseal flakes about the place and when using the knotted wheel make sure you are fully covered including a face shield as bits of wire fly about the place and I am still finding them everywhere.

 

Best of luck with you mission and remember to check the threads in the rear cross memebr and front outriggers before fitting the body.

 

Adrian

[Pete Lewis]

Tjeres lots of thoughts on tub spread , from heavy luggage to slamming doors , i think its all down

to the poor design support to the front of the rear wing/open B post arrangement it just droops

 

you can drill out the rear boot outrigger and poke a new nut and washer down the end of the rail

ie washer and nut stuck to a short spanner and insert from the open end

 

seem some drilled right through and long bolts.

 

dont over tighten the bolts

 

I used any much solid spacers as required and one rubber from a truck mud flap cut with hole saw

 

Generally no rubbers on diff crossmember or front baulkhead

 

I also added two sized countersunk bolts under the tread plate trim to stop any closure of the door gaps

by any future tub shift.

[Colin Lindsay]

Some good points here; I never thought of the polishing action caused by the grinding wheel so that's something to look out for.

I usually retap the threads after painting but it's worth checking before trying to refit, rather than after... 

 

Pete - I had always believed Heralds had solid mounts at the bulkhead / front outrigger mounting points but was then corrected that the only solid ones were above the diff?

[Pete Lewis]

Hi Colin, yes looking at parts list there are only 2 ally packers showing

 

and typical of triumph,  no Parts List or WSM gives any clues about what goes where, a common failing when you need some simple helpful details that are not recorded anywhere.

 

in the hands of the beholder rules apply

 

Pete