• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Repair panels

Share this page

R

Richard Dickinson

Jedi Trainee
Offline
Recently there was a thread that mentiond panels from one supplier had wires attached (or something like that) and that they are better than the ones supplied by Moss which are flat. I don't know if I got this right or not, could someone elaborate? I'm going to need repair panel all the way around.
 
Hi Richard, the conversation you are referring to involves repair panels used on the fenders.Particularly the rear dog legs . If you inspect the bead around the rear fender wheel arch you will see it is formed over a wire.Kilmartin Sheet Metal Repair panels duplicate that design .Those from Moss did not.---Keoke
 
Hey Zblu, are "GUD" felt oil filters Part NO G.206 for the original canister type Healey filter available there in OZ??--Keoke
 
Richard,
In the previous thread on repair panels it was also pointed out that if the existing wire rolled edge in the area of a needed repair is still solid, it need not be replaced. The repair panels should usually be cut to replace the smallest area of non-repairability. Repair panels can be welded right on to the wired edge if needed. This may eliminate splicing the wire, which may be done but is more work. I found I could do all four rusted out wing corners without touching the wired edge, so even though some of the panels I used had folded edges it didn't matter at the wheel arches because I just didn't use that part of the panel.

Jon (nothing "beats" a nicely finished repair panel, except of course you!)
 
Hi Richard I am reparing the spare fenders for my car and have both the Moss panels and the Killmartin panels. The Killmartin panels are the ones to use they have the wire. They require a little more fitting but it is worth the effort. My doglegs were in horribe shape so I cut them off completely and then used the repair panel. I cut off some of the repair panel as I didn`t need to use the entire thing but you might want to. I then used a flanger to remake the step in the top of the panel so that it would match up right. I spot welded the panel in place and then TIG welded the edge where the wire is. I used a small grinder and file and sandpaper and the edge is invisible. I used just a little Metal to Metal filler on the lap joint. Be sure you do all of the fitting and tack weld it while the fender is on the car so you get a good fit on everything. Skip /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
HI Skip,what Richard is saying and this is posible if and only if the area of the fender bead is not rotted, then you can cut behind it and install the modified repair panel.This method works if you can do a hammer weld other wise you have a lot of welding shrinking and possibly leading to do.---Fwiw---Keoke
 
You`re right Keoke but both of mine were so rotted away that the fenders were literally flapping in the breeze. About 3 inches of the wire and fender were gone.
 
Thanks for all of the good advise. Nothing like talking to people who have actually been there. Before I had the metal stripped I thought I might be able to salvage the beaded edges but now it looks like they are not saveable. They had been repaired previously, and I was kind of dismayed when they were uncovered. Has onyone tried flanging one edge and using a panel bonding adhesive with rivets. I read an artical in Auto Restorer Magazine recently about this method and it looks like it would work. Incidentally, this is a pretty good magazine for our hobby. No ads, just a lot of articles on resoration.
 
There's a guy who makes body panels out the a little town
of Happy Camp,CA.It's in the middle of nowhere.
Anyone know of this guy, the quality of his panels?
I've been told that he's good (from people at the Healey convention here in Eureka a couple of years ago).
I've also heard of him from a guy here in Eureka
who does engine rebuilds for Morgan 3 wheelers.

- Doug
 
Hi Richard,
I used the flanges on the doglegs and I’m not a big fan. Since the panel may not be a perfect fit, (HA!) getting the right contour becomes a little tougher when there is a thicker section of metal to deal with. I prefer butt welds, I think they hammer out easier. I haven’t researched the rivet/ adhesive thing, so I’m just guessing that a fair amount of Bondo would need to be used.
 
The reason I am condidering the adhesive approach is that my attempts at butt weldig sheet metal with a MIG welder have been less than stellar. I probably need to let an experienced body person do this.
 
Well Richard, don’t feel bad. I don’t think that a MIG is the best tool for sheet metal. It can build up too much metal that needs to be ground down, risking cutting into the base metal. Then you’ve got to weld what you (I) screwed up. One thing you may want to try on some scrap is pulling the bead. What I mean is start at a far point, and weld towards instead of away from yourself. Keep the wire in the leading edge of the puddle just above the joint. I usually move the wire side to side as I draw it closer to help keep the bead flatter, kind of like sewing. Also angle the gun flatter to the panel. That can reduce the chance of burning through. I second Skip’s comment about tack welding while the body panel is fitted to the car. Do you use shielding gas on your MIG?
 
Richard if you have a decent mig gun you can do it. It isn`t a butt weld but a lap joint. There is a step that is flanged into the top of the repair panels so that the fender lies flat with the repair panel. If you aren`t really really particular about the wire the Moss panel might be the way to go I think it is easier to fit and use but you have to remember that is is just folded over at the back and it will look a little different/ the edge is sharper. I used one on Lynnes car before I found out about the other ones and it didn`t look to bad but I did remove it and use the wire ones on both fenders before I painted the car. I don`t think I would try the glue and rivet thing the fender would flex and imho I don`t thing it would last to long. I have spot and mig welded the ones on my cars. If a redneck like me can do it you can too. Skip /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
Sorry Skip, I wrote that poorly. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif I was curious if Richard used shielding gas. But now that you say… How do you like the Argon / Helium for steel? I’ve been using Argon / CO2.
 
Hi Greg; my mistake I use argon/CO2 also. We used to use an argon/helium mix when welding copper nickel pipe joints with tig. It`s late in Georgia. Skip
 
Hello Skip & Lynne, have to agree with you here the MIG would actually be the best way to weld sheetmetal even a butt joint. Richard, i think it's great that you're willing to have a go at this and wanting ideas from others. The secrets are take your time, and don't get too much heat into the panel. If before you want to make another weld on the panel you cannot put your hand on it comfortably then it's too hot. This means a lot of tack welds but do them as far apart as possible even if it is only 8" long. Let it cool down thoroughly after each tack and yes make sure it is on the car and clamped well too. Practice on some spare metal the same thickness and then practice some more just to make sure. After a lot of practice it will feel good almost as good as.....no we won't go there, this is about Austin-Healeys after all and having fun. Sorry for that. Hope this is of help. Regards, BUNDYRUM.
 
The TIG/MIG debate will never be settled. I've used both, and both have advantages and drawbacks. In the end, I think the key is the skill of the person doing the welding, with the welder of choice. The key difference between the two methods in this application is that with MIG, you have to add metal to the equation in order to weld. With TIG, adding metal is optional, though usually necessary. For instance, when patching my frame, I was able to get a local sheet metal shop to fabricate frame halves in the correct dimension, with that little lip you see on the bottom of the rails. When the two halves are clamped together, I could just run the TIG torch down the joint, without adding filler rod, and produced the weld that was essentially identical to the factory weld. The disadvantages to TIG are the cost, learning curve, speed of application and difficulty in reaching in tight spaces. The two keys to either type are practice and patience.
 
Back
Top