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Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 1:48 am
by Trevor Gates
Wow, that fillet weld looks nice, real nice!
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:40 pm
by Mark Dionne
Tom Perazzo wrote:
The Stoddard paint was removed, because I wasn't sure how good it was. If my memory serves me right, the paint wasn't easy to remove so it might be worth keeping.
Weld thru primer is a good idea, but I didn't use it. ... I also injected epoxy primer from the outside seams wherever possible.
Thanks. "Injecting" epoxy sounds like a good idea.
I've tried SEM weld-thru in several places with plug welds. Sometimes it worked perfectly and other times I had trouble striking an arc or got lots of splatter. I suspect that one needs to use a very thin coat, but that's not so easy to guarantee. In one case I was able to pull off a small piece with 5 plug welds because none of them got penetration. The idea of this happening half-way through installing the outer longitudinal is enough to keep me up at night!
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 1:35 pm
by Tom Perazzo
Mark,
Yes, the strength of a plug weld depends on the root pass of the lower most sheet metal. If the weld sputters or has porosity due to the primer, than I wouldn't use the primer. Try a sample panel without. I set my MIG fairly hot when doing these plug welds too. For instance, if a butt weld is 4.5 on the miller heat setting, then I use 5.5 for plug welds. In theory they should be stronger than a resistance spot weld assuming you use a 3/16" or larger punched hole. The resulting plug is almost 3/8" after welding. The fact that you are testing your welds, already means you are ahead of the game. Best of luck, and if I can be of any help please ask.
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 10:41 pm
by Phil Planck
I use a Q-Tip saturated with laquer thinner to clean the weld thru primer out of the plug hole before doing a plug weld. Figure that particular circle's worth of primer is going to burn away anyway, plus be filled with weld, thus not needing to be there in the first place.
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:09 pm
by Vic Skirmants
Good idea!
No... Great idea!
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 12:14 pm
by Mark Dionne
I tested the Stoddard outer longitudinal's black paint with lacquer thinner, and it came off very easily, so I decided to remove all of it and use epoxy primer.
I got it all off in less than half an hour: pour on a bit of lacquer thinner or acetone, scrub with coarse steel wool and wipe with a paper towel damp with solvent. Do about a square foot at a time. Use a proper respirator and avoid flames! Vinyl gloves seemed to work a bit better than nitrile ones.
I found a small amount of what looks like surface rust UNDER the black primer.
I masked the edges and plan to use Tom's idea of forcing epoxy primer into the joints with compressed air after doing the plug welds.
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:53 pm
by Tom Perazzo
The media blaster did a fairly good job of cleaning the inside and outside of my door.
I ran a palm sander (without sandpaper) around the perimeter to loosen trapped dust and then used a long air nozzle to clean the interior of the door. Then sprayed with CRC 3-36.
Today, the focus was on the lower section of the interior frame featuring rust holes galore.
I formed a replacement piece by hand. Was it easy to form the corner? Hell no! I wish I had a nickel for every time I hit it with a hammer
And here it is welded in.
Hard to see in the picture, but much effort was required to preserve the jog in the frame. My weld was dangerously close to the jog the entire length. I also filled some of the pits that were near the jog with my TIG. Next time I fill deeply pitted areas I will remember to take a close up before and after picture.
Thanks for following along. This old door is slowly getting better.
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 4:29 am
by Justin Rio
Great work Tom! I admire your commitment to saving the original doors. You have more patients then I do. I would have taken the easy way out and located a pair of cherry doors. I'm lazy!
Nice work! Justin
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:44 am
by Phil Planck
Tom
Definitely not a Michigan car, otherwise that inner would have looked like this before and after. I didn't have enough metal left to know that the corners were curved.
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:20 am
by Tom Perazzo
Hi Justin, Ha...Lazy is NOT the word I would use to describe you and your project!
Maybe my car's soul will be happier with the original doors, but to be honest I'm just too cheap to buy a cherry door!
Phil, Thanks for making me feel lucky to have easily restorable doors. Yours look great after lots of hard work for sure.
Today, I worked on the top of the door where the fuzzy strip goes.
- Piece removed from top rear of door. This entire flange is very pitted, but I only cut out the pieces that had holes.
- Patch welded in. I always plan my welds to be on a ridge to reduce distortion.
- This is probably overkill, but I decided to edge weld the seam that could siphon water in.
More to follow:
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:23 am
by Tom Perazzo
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 2:00 pm
by Tom Perazzo
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 2:21 pm
by Tom Perazzo
Last night I finished my door stop bracket piece. Here it is just sitting on the door.
- Formed with my homemade press brake.
- Another angle
And now, for my extreme outlaw modification.....Boxed in bumper stops! How many hotrods do you know have this!
- Attempt to stiffen this bracket which is bent on every door I've seen.
Not going to weld this on until I get the door bottom trimmed and fitted. That's up next.
By the way, I made an extra bump bracket because I thought for sure I would screw one up. Please let me know if anyone here can use it. It doesn't have the nut or brace, but formed exactly like the one pictured here.
Thanks again for following along.
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:00 pm
by Phil Planck
Tom - I don't recall seeing that piece forward of the weldnut. Is this what you are calling the bump bracket? What is height and distance from front of stop, if original. If not, good idea and I might add those to mine but don't need the dimensions.
Re: My SC coupe project. Made by hand…again.
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:57 am
by Justin Rio
Really nice looking repair piece Tom. Looks like it came right from the restoration catalog. You did make this right?
Looking great! Justin