• 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

Rust Removal & Metal Fabrication

Share this page

DonPete3

DonPete3

Member
Offline
I'm in the process of bringing my 66 Midget back to life and, big suprise, there's quite a bit of rust to repair.

I have removed the driver's side fender and have wire brushed the heck out of the surface rust.

What is the best way to remove this suff to prep for welding and painting?

I'm also planning on using a MIG welder to replace the triangular structure that connects the footwell to the suspension and wheel well.

Is there anything special I should look out for when doing this work?

I would hate to start cutting away metal and have the whole car fall apart like the one at the end of The Blues Brothers.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thirsty.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/pukeface.gif
 
I'm going through the same process with a few cars my self, currently, I've been sand blasting and wirebrushing. Then using a prepsol( cleans all contaminants off the metal, ie wax, grease, oils) then putting a temporary primer over it. I haven't gotten to much welding yet, but just look at what the metal is attached to and is supporting before cutting anything.
 
Agreed, thanks for the feedback.

It's always best to spend plenty of time sitting and looking at the problem carefully before you try to solve it, especially when you're talking about metal work.

The nimrod that owned the car before me just layered over the existing rust with fiberglass and scrap metal. It is an interesting and virtually impenatrable substance.

I wonder how many sawsall blades and cutting disks I'll end up going through...

If you want to see the damage I'm reffering to I've got pictures up on CarDomain.com. It's the only blue 66 Midget on there.
 
I had to take the undercoating off before I get it media blasted, it took about two tanks of propane and a lot of hours, sometimes the under coating was in place of metal, and about 3/4" thick, just a pain in the butt.
 
Re: Rust Removal & Metal Fabrication

Oh Man...UNDERCOATING! That's what that tar-like stuff is that ruined the pad on my circular sander.

Curses, foiled again!
 
Re: Rust Removal & Metal Fabrication

Yea its the tar stuff, it burns very well with kerosene and hit with a propane torch, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.
I tried using my pnuematic sander on it after I heated it up and scraped most of it off , I went through a few pads and just started scraping again, its really tough stuff.
 
Back
Top