Chris A Posted December 3, 2021 Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 I need to have some welding done on a rear outrigger, I noticed it is rusting away at the outer end. Whether it is repairable or needs to be replaced I won't know until I've taken it along to my local garage for him to look at. My question is : can one be repaired/replaced without having to take the body off. How important are they structurally ? I'm hoping a repair is possible as buying a new one and and getting it to France from the UK is now far more expensive than pre Brexit. The extra costs would double the cost. Showing my lack of knowledge here. The car is a 13/60 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted December 3, 2021 Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 It depends how bad it is. Are you talking about the ones with the rear axle tie-rod attached? I repaired one of mine in-situ some years back: A bit of cleaning up and... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanMi Posted December 3, 2021 Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 structurally that outrigger is very important, if it breaks the rear wheel will be free to move back and forward and could well cause a crash. As to whether it can be repaired in-situ, that all depends on where the rot is and how serious it is, welding the top is not easy with the body in the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted December 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 It is just slightly further back from the where the door closes, could be the one you show. The weather is too horrible to go and check 🙄 Wimp? Me? . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted December 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 4 minutes ago, DanMi said: structurally that outrigger is very important, if it breaks the rear wheel will be free to move back and forward and could well cause a crash. Yikes! Thanks for that. The rot is at the end, to the left of the repair in Nonmembers first photo. My first thought was a bracing piece across the corner and additional side pieces. I don't know if the top is bad or not. I only spotted the problem when looking under the car for another reason, it does prove that a regular inspection is important (MOT for example) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted December 3, 2021 Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 the only difficult part doing a full outrigger replacement 'on car' is how to weld the top seam of the rigger to the main rail as this seam is pretty restricted access there have been a number of solutions which extended the top flange to fit fully over the top of the main rail and weld on the inner flange its not a good idea to just weld a new one on to the seams you can see or get at the top one is structurally quite important or you get a lot of unwanted flexing and more failure later on Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted December 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 Thanks guys. I need to give it a closer inspection, first impression was that it is just the bottom part close to the corner that has rotted, probably water and dirt sitting there over the years? So a repair should be possible ( I hope). The car doesn't get used much over winter, just enough when the weather is ok to run it up to temperature and dry it off. The next time I do run it I'll pop it along to 'the man' up the road and see if I can get him to give it a once over or book it in when a lift is available - at the same time check all the rest of the chassis to be completely sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmh Posted December 3, 2021 Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 http://www.fairpoint.net/~herald948/database/chassis.htm Service Note 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffds1360 Posted December 3, 2021 Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 I bought these a few month back if any are of any use to you, I am sure postage etc could be sorted Chris https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Triumph-Herald-Vitesse-Chassis-Outriggers-USED-/124749675649?nma=true&si=NlmzKbtNUDlHlG9UEAfMpnfHBzs%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimp my Vit Posted December 3, 2021 Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 Some people cut a hole in the floorpan to get access to the top of the new outrigger for welding and then weld the cutout back into the floor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted December 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 1 hour ago, jmh said: http://www.fairpoint.net/~herald948/database/chassis.htm Service Note 🙂 Thanks jmh. I've saved it and will study it in great detail in the next couple of days, but it does seem to offer a solution. Noticed you are in Copenhagen - did my bit to support the Danish economy at lunch time today, ate in my village bistro. The Chef is Danish and his Belgian wife does the rest. Had his starter of Herrings prepared in 3 different ways, believe it or not a very popular starter (even with the French) . . On the 18th he is doing his annual Danish meal a sell out as usual. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted December 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 59 minutes ago, Jeffds1360 said: I bought these a few month back if any are of any use to you, I am sure postage etc could be sorted Chris Thanks for the offer, I'll keep in mind should I need bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted December 3, 2021 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2021 4 minutes ago, Pimp my Vit said: Some people cut a hole in the floorpan to get access to the top of the new outrigger for welding and then weld the cutout back into the floor... Crafty blighters! Nice tip, I'll save that one for 'my man up the road' should we need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahebron Posted December 24, 2021 Report Share Posted December 24, 2021 When I took my Vitesse 6 apart far to long ago I found the body was welded to the chassis along the rear left outrigger. Obviously a work around for a shot rear outrigger without removing the body, therefore I had to use an angle grinder to remove the body from that outrigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted January 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 To close this thread off: I've just got the car back from my man up the road, took longer than expected because he caught the Covid bug and being a 1 man business (most of the time) he was closed so the car was 'quarantined'. Anyway he did fix it without having to dismantle anything. He made a template out of some thing mainly made up of lignin, (C31H34O11), to my non professional eyes it looked very much like a piece of old cardboard box 😁. He gave this to a mate, together with a piece of solid looking piece of shiny metal, who has a metal bending machine, the patch is 'U' shaped with a flange that is also welded to the side rail, for good measure. The repair is no longer shiny but a nice black colour to match the rest of the chassis. While he had the car and as it would be up in the air I gave him some EP 80/90 and asked him to replace the oil in the gearbox & diff. They weren't due to be done but why waste the opportunity. There was a young chap waiting with his VW Sirocco, so I did warn him that it does take Fabian ( the man) a long time to work on cars by pointing out that mine went in new for its first service and was just coming out 😁. It took him a couple of seconds to get the 'humeur Britannique'. Thanks to all for your help Right, what next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 4 hours ago, Chris A said: Right, what next? A light lunch with fresh warm bread from the boulangerie? A glass (or2) of something Red and Alcoholic?👍 Just not the garlic in my case.👍😁. The Bike, The Beret, and the Strings Of Onions?. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted January 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 1 hour ago, PeteH said: A light lunch with fresh warm bread from the boulangerie? A glass (or2) of something Red and Alcoholic?👍 .👍😁 Pete That was yesterday at the village bistro, except for the 'light' bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted January 29, 2022 Report Share Posted January 29, 2022 22 hours ago, Chris A said: That was yesterday at the village bistro, except for the 'light' bit AHH!, so Ze famouse "Parisian" Lunch, still survives?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted January 29, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2022 46 minutes ago, PeteH said: AHH!, so Ze famouse "Parisian" Lunch, still survives?. Zut alors ! NON. Pause Normande ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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