With the coming holidays I set a modest goal of replacing the rotted metal in the front wheel well that was under the castle rail attachment point. The area was cut back to good metal with the outer edge barely salvageable.File folder material was used to produce a template that
was transferred to 22 guage (.8mm) sheet metal. Locations for plug welds (to replicate the original spot welds) are marked on the template.
Edges were tidied. Ends of the inner sill were painted with weldable primer (Bloxide, from Eastwood) as shown by the bright silver colour.
The new metal was tacked in place with a Hobart 125 MIG on the lowest setting (1/45) and plug welds at 3/75 (power/speed) then the weld ground smooth to the final product viewed from the side (first pic) and front (second pic)
was transferred to 22 guage (.8mm) sheet metal. Locations for plug welds (to replicate the original spot welds) are marked on the template.Edges were tidied. Ends of the inner sill were painted with weldable primer (Bloxide, from Eastwood) as shown by the bright silver colour.
The new metal was tacked in place with a Hobart 125 MIG on the lowest setting (1/45) and plug welds at 3/75 (power/speed) then the weld ground smooth to the final product viewed from the side (first pic) and front (second pic)
The next steps will be tapping up and prepping the inner sill areas for fitment of the new castle rail, sill membrane and rocker. Damage to the floor panels and cross member will be repaired. It will be slow going over the next few weeks, but at least there is new metal on the car today!
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