Would this maybe be a better path to take?

[terriphill]

If you have been following the "Alfa saga" you know I am having nose problems....here's a question: Do you think this might be a better path?

Alfa nose replacement

It appears to be a cut, weld and patch job...I'm not sure I have the energy or muscles to pull it out and bang it out again.

 

[DrEntropy]

IMO, that's the "path of least resistance" Terri. Just be careful ya don't get sucked into a "might as well" situation. :wink:

 

[Popeye]

I guess my "rule of thumb" (from my thumb-sized brain ) is, if there is no rust and no sharp creases, bang it out.

Sharp creases / stretched metal can be tricky - but are not impossible, and then it becomes a question of time vs. money.

Also, some sheet metal is more $ than others. The nose, $130, is not too bad; I'm doing some rust replacement on wheel arches on my TR4A where each wheel arch is around $350... so I'm learning to make compound bends in sheet metal!

 

[Gray_Cat]

Seems like a very decent price and would expedite repairs. You can take your time repairing the damaged nose and have a spare in case this happens again and you will have a replacement to go right back on!
Roy

 

[JamesWilson]

Not a bad price... for a nose job.

But if it needs welding, if not done well that could cause distortion and be difficult to fix.

 

[tony barnhill]

$135.00 + $48.00 for shipping = $183.00

Do you have the equipmment to put 'lips' around it or the body so they fit together for welding?

 

[terriphill]

Tony, what do you mean 'lips' is this something that we have to have to hold it in place while we weld?

 

[tony barnhill]

Don't know exactly how to describe what I call "lips" other than to say one piece of metal is flat & straight & the other piece is crimped so that it's edge slides up under the 1st piece's edge & then the weld is made where to 2 pieces come together....can anybody else explain it better?

 

[JamesWilson]

This shows a "joggler" being used to create a "lip"- a slightly lowered flange to which another piece of metal can be attached with spot welds and the joint then either filled (lead loaded preferably, or plastic if that's what you want) or neatly welded. Easier to do than a butt joint that welds them edge-to-edge. More properly this is called a lap joint, and is very common.

Edited to add:

These can be easily clamped in place too with welding clamps (like big "C" clamps) where the sheet metal allows access,

and there are "pin" type clamps that require holes to be drilled in the flanged joint and then used to clamp the pieces where access is not possible.

 

[tony barnhill]

Thank you, James

 

[Popeye]

One comment on the lips - the joggler will stretch the metal, causing some distortion in the metal.

I find it helps to joggle before doing the final fit-up and tweaking of new sheet metal.

 

[terriphill]

Thank you so much James! That is a great help! Since David is actually going to be the one doing this type of work (I can't weld for anything...I try but I think it may be years before I'm willing to come near a car with a stick in hand!)this is a awesome!

 

[martx-5]

I bought one of these from Harbor Freight for doing the flange work. It worked very well. It also will punch holes for spot welds etc.

 

[tony barnhill]

I bought one of these from Harbor Freight for doing the flange work. It worked very well. It also will punch holes for spot welds etc.

Heading to HF - I've got a 20% off coupon I can use with that tool!

 

[bgbassplyr]

I have HF flanger. Works great.

 

[Bayless]

Handy tool. Used it to punch holes in the VW replacement floor for welds to duplicate the original spot welds. At every 30 mm or so, it would have taken a very long time with a drill.