Frying Bacon

This isn’t really a progress update, but a skill set update. I had mentioned earlier that I picked up a mig welder for a great price off eBay a few months back. Whilst it is an older unit it seemed in good condition and had just not been used for a good few years. I have given it a seriously good clean mostly internally and removed loads of dust and debris from the wire feed mechanism and feed wheels using carb cleaner and a toothbrush to get everything spick and span. The liner has been blown through with compressed air and carb cleaner again, and it was full of dusty shite which would have effected the wire feed. So the last thing to do was whack a bottle of Hobby5 onto it and have a bash. The Hobby 5 is a mix of Argon and Co2 and whilst you can get little Micky mouse size bottles for lesser units this will be doing chassis section so a decent size bottle and a 180amp mig is sufficient to get the weld penetration needed to make something solid. The difference between stick welding and Mig is that an ugly arc weld is obvious and it looks weak and will easily give, mig welding can make a weld deceivingly look good but have no penetration and thus a cosmetic weld only, so I really need to get practicing and learning what is good and what is not. There a loads of videos on YouTube to aid with the learning curve, and whilst I’m trying to get my head round all the various settings and the consequences of one not being set correctly for whatever I’m welding, but it is great fun and believe it or not I am improving.

So first up was just sticking loads of scrap steel together and attempting to make two bits of metal as one, whilst it is far from pretty (pictured here) it is solid and seems to have a good penetration. The inconsistency of the weld here was because I had the wire feed too slow and the welder was struggling to keep up. So I have spent a bit of time adjusting settings and learning the differences between the weld it then produces…… they get better, promise.

So the main bits I’ll be welding on the kit will be the chassis and floor pan, along with the engine mounts, so it’s imperative that these are good welds because if they fail, the car could quite literally snap in half. I have a few bits of outriggers and bonnet fulcrum which were removed off the chassis so these are perfect candidates to get some practical testing on. First I tried just welding a tab onto one section, and as you can see here it looks a dam sight prettier than my first attempts. I smashed the shit out of it with a hammer in an attempt to detach it……not happening, good weld penetration and solid as a rock. But still more improvement can be made on the cosmetics of the welding. 

 My next practice plan was to cut one of the old outriggers in half, then stitch weld back together along with dressing down the weld after with a flap disc before smashing the hell out of it with a hammer to see if i can split the weld and destroy it. 

First of was to flap wheel away all the texture paint that I initially put all over the chassis then cut it in half. Then clamp the two bits back together and stitch weld them along the seam.

As you can now see pictured here I have got a nice neat weld following the cut, without any blow through and no splatter, so the welder settings are much better suited. Also when I was doing this bit I was happier with the sound, like frying bacon. 

I now wanted to flatten off these welds to make a seamless join then test its strength. So I flap wheeled down the seam and set about with my hammer. When I get to doing the bits on the chassis I want the welds to look seamless unless they are internal and can’t be seen, but the new floor pans going in/on I want looking squeaky clean and integrated as possible, this is all part of the detail attention on the build…. But the welds must be strong.

So onto the hammer and as you can see the outrigger decided to fold back on itself further down as opposed to the weld giving up. This gives me some confidence that the penetration of the weld is good, and thus the power setting is also correct for this gauge metal. If the power was to high it would just blow/burn through the metal, and if it was to low the weld would not stitch the two parts together and sit on top of the metal as such. Also the wire speed is good as there is little splatter and a neat consistent weld…. Still lots more practicing needed mind. 

I’ll get some more scrap metal over the next few weeks to continue my practicing, as I want to be really confident when it comes to doing the chassis bits. I sell 18gauge steel at work so will probs get some bits and see what a can make.

I will probably need another bottle of gas before I get to doing the chassis, but I’d rather be better at welding at that point than complaining about the gas price,  £45 a bottle it’s not a great cost in the grand scale of things, and it is fun playing around with all this, makes me feel I can make something really substantial and long lasting… I wonder if any local rivers need a bridge to cross them? 

Loosing lbs and Spending Pounds

 

So after the last update I’d sort of reached a hurdle where as I couldn’t really make any serious progress without ordering the chassis/body package from Mick, which I really don’t have the disposable income available just yet. I have to pay for the “needs” list more than the “want” list and my latest gas and electric bill is purely barbaric which adds onto the strain even further. However I was speaking with another Spyder owner and I had a light bulb moment, as he was talking about his build manual for his car! Why had I not enquired about one before? When building the Cobra the build manual was really helpful to process the build stages and clarify some details in my head prior to actually tackling them. So I got straight in contact with Mick and for the grand total of £10 I had a pdf build manual with in 24hours. 

The manual was instantly printed out and laminated and after a quick read it clarified some questions I had in my head in regards to the chassis layout, so already a shrewd investment. With a new list of jobs to do to the chassis I got cracking. First on the job list was to remove the chassis outriggers, rear tow points, bonnet stay bracket, bonnet pivot fixings and two blocks next to the gearbox mounts. Whilst I have already had the chassis blasted and texture finished I was fully aware that I would be cutting bits off and having to repaint the areas that are needed, hence the texture finish paint to help with blending in and keep the chassis looking good also. 

Out came the grinder and cutting discs and within a few minutes, off came the block. All these parts getting removed are not chassis structure but support areas for the Spitfire, and so it keeps within the required legal side of things for keeping the car registered correctly, and avoiding another IVA test. Once the block was removed I continued to one of the overriders. The trick to removing these was to grind into the overrider itself just in front of the seam weld, but not enough to go through to the chassis, then with a misuse of tools I took a chisel and peeled up the skin and thwacked it all with a big hammer. 

After removal it was easy just to tidy up the area with a flap wheel, making the area all clean and shiny again. I have covered all the exposed bits I’ve done with a black etch primer to protect the exposed bare metal, and so it will be nye on ready to get its final texture  top coat, once the new floor pans have been welded on at a later date. 

So I moved onto the front overrider next, and according to the build manual these are the prone areas for rot and rust to set in, as moisture can get caught between the chassis and lower skin and slowly corrode the chassis over the years. 

The process for removal is the same, grind into the overrider skin to detach from the weld then smash the shit out of it with a hammer. As you can see from the image a light surface rust was present (top and bottom) but nothing of any concern whatsoever. So another tidy up with the flap wheel and cover in etch prime. The new floor pan will be welded onto these sections of chassis as and when I order them, so I’ll be stripping this primer again to weld the bits on…but prevention is better than cure, especially when we’re talking about rust and anything British Leyland!

Here you can see the underside of both front overriders. And whilst it’s snotty it’s nothing more than a light brush down, it’s all extremely solid and not pitted, which again confirms what I said about this chassis from day one, solid and sound with zero repair work required….. rare for a Triumph surly? 

After the outriggers and gearbox blocks were all sorted I had to remove the rear tow points, as I presume these would void with the new body when fitted. These are welded to the rear box chassis at a 45degree. So a simple slice through with the grinder and tidy up with the flap disc… done, along with a small bracket on the front suspension turret that is for the Spitfire bonnet stay. 

The final task for this chapter is the removal of the front pivot points for the Spitfire bonnet hinges. The Spitfire as I’m sure you are aware has a forward hinge bonnet and thus has some big heavy duty fulcrum points to take the load. All of this is redundant to the new Spyder body and is dead weight so it is removed. This is done buy following the measurements from the manual and simply slicing it off. New brackets will be welded into place here to support the radiator and front of the body. 

So that’s all of the chassis sorted now ready for accepting the new floor panels when I order them. I’m sure I’ll find some other bits to sort before then, but it could be a good few months before I get the order in. Keep the faith, good things come to those who……