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The PO on this project bolted a roll bar right to the wheelwell by using some steel plates and drilling two 7/16 holes for the attaching bolts.The roll bar was gone, but the holes are still there. I want to plug the holeswith a smooth sealing finish on the wheel well. One thought was to cut someplugs the size of the hole and butt weld those in place then seal them withsome body glaze and paint. I am a loss about making the plugs. I could cut themwith snips, but they are small. Any suggestions out there?
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TR2/3/3A right to the wheel well
- Thread starter sp53
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M_Pied_Lourd
Darth Vader
Offline
Weld in some washers...fill in the center with weld. Grind them flush
Cheers
Tush
Cheers
Tush
Offline
Quick and easy and will provide good results. The washers might be a bit thick though. I've done the same with a hole saw and a piece of 18 ga metal. Use a drill press and you can even omit the pilot hole.
Tom
TexasKnucklehead
Jedi Knight
Offline
When I was doing my metal repair, I found it easier to cut the hole until it had square(ish) corners. A file or cutting wheel on a dremel will square-out the round hole. It's much easier to cut a square of steel slightly smaller than the hole. A magnet can hold the little piece in place to tack weld it into position. I found if the "plug" of steel were a little smaller, it took much less grinding after welding the seam. -But my welding skills are better appreciated because of how well I can grind.
If you weld washers, be sure they are steel and not coated -most are zinc coated and the fumes from welding are dangerous.
If you weld washers, be sure they are steel and not coated -most are zinc coated and the fumes from welding are dangerous.
Marvin Gruber
Yoda
Offline
Easier to cut a larger sq hole. Cut patch to fix and weld in.
Marv
Marv
A shop in Kansas that was clearing out their back room. It came out of a TR-3 they scrapped for parts. Nobody thought to save the backing plates when they pulled it out, but that's not a rocket science level challenge. A couple of pieces of 1/4 inch steel welded together for each plate and a slight bend for the wheel wells, doesn't have to match the curves perfectly.
On this roll bar they just tightened the bolts down and that force a kinda of squared out spot for the roll bar on sheet metal of the wheel well. When I first came across the issue of repairing the holes, I planned to skip it and use some larger outside square patches then double up on some foam padding for the wheel well covers and just try to hide the damage under the upholstery work. Now that I have gained some experience, I decided to smooth plug the holes and get the car back to original with the wheel-covers glued right to the wheel well.
Pounding out the metal was not too difficult after gaining some experience, but welding a 7/16 holes has been a challenge. I tried the washer idea, but just could not get it going. Perhaps I had a poor ground. I did grind off the finish? Anyways I cut some plugs with snips then ground them true and welded them in with the MIG. This time I use some copper pennies taped on both sides in place to bridge the hole plus get a better ground, and got it.
Back in the 70ites I worked for this sheet metal shop on gutters and downspouts that we soldered at the ends, corners, and outlets. We put on miles of that stuff and that experience comes in handy. In the future, I might try using more soldering because the MIG is difficult in those little areas.
Pounding out the metal was not too difficult after gaining some experience, but welding a 7/16 holes has been a challenge. I tried the washer idea, but just could not get it going. Perhaps I had a poor ground. I did grind off the finish? Anyways I cut some plugs with snips then ground them true and welded them in with the MIG. This time I use some copper pennies taped on both sides in place to bridge the hole plus get a better ground, and got it.
Back in the 70ites I worked for this sheet metal shop on gutters and downspouts that we soldered at the ends, corners, and outlets. We put on miles of that stuff and that experience comes in handy. In the future, I might try using more soldering because the MIG is difficult in those little areas.
