Spitfire 1500 - Rear Inner Wheel Arch

[Pettifordo]

I’m restoring a Spitfire 1500 and I’m wondering what to do about the rear wheel arches.

they have both been patched up before (for the lower seat belt mounts) and now have more rust holes near the upper seat belt mounts.

New panels are £200 each but I wondering if it would be better to get new ones than end up with a patchwork of welding ? 
 

Are these hard to fit ? I’m new to welding….but learning fast 👍

[Josef]

If you’re leaving the outer wing in place then it’ll be really pretty awkward to do the welding to attach the top of the inner arch panel. You’ll be inside the car, and having to get the torch under the rear deck. Plus your weight in the interior might make keeping everything aligned hard work given what that panel attaches to. I’d agree with Mathew and only replace the whole thing as a last resort. 

[PeteH]

That looks to me as a point within 12" of a "structural Member" (The Mount point for the seat belt) Suggestion would be (in my View) to weld a patch over to include the  high stress area? from within the wheel arch?.

Pete

[Pettifordo]

Thanks everyone - I will give a butt welded patch a go and let you know how I get on

[Josef]

With a curved surface like that I've tended to form the patch in place. Basically a scaled down version of what's shown here 

 

[Pettifordo]

I had a go today on the wheel arch.

welding is getting better but I still blew through a few times 😫

I will fix those once the car is on the Rotisserie. I have a copper backer plate but as the surface is curved it isn’t very good.

Any tips for filling the holes ?

 

[Josef]

Judging by the photos of the tack welds there, a little more power might be a good idea. They don’t look to have penetrated very well (you’ll be able to see if this is the case looking on the inside of the wheel arch). If you’re blowing through, striking off the last weld rather than the sheet metal can help. 
 

if you need a smaller heat sink, I use a slice of scrap brass bar about 1.25 inches in diameter and 0.5 inches thick and hold that behind the weld area. Can also cobble something together with a big welding magnet to hold it in place if you can’t reach the back of the panel and weld at the same time.