Thread: 51 MG restoration.

Thrown half a bucket of ice melter up there as well as running my torpedo heater to help soften the hold.
Was able to remove some, but the stuff packs down in time and becomes immovable.
Snowing still up here, lake effect and all..
But think I avoided anything really nasty. This was a one season solution when I built it. All the more reason to get this car back on its wheels.

Have any extra sheet steel kicking around? Maybe stick some on a handle and slip it under the snow like a pizza peel. Break the bond with the roof and maybe it will slide off?

Best of luck with it, and fingers crossed for a break in the snow.

Man I hope you don't have a cave in. I'm too invested in this restoration now.. I really am enjoying it though. It's like reading The Lord Of The Rings or something.

Good idea on the sheet metal pizza peel pal..
May give that a go tomorrow, cause yea, if I can get the surface tension broken, should slide off en mass.

My favorite work of fiction right there, lord of the rings, but I’d have to go with ‘or something’ regarding my prose..
And fun factoid about Tolkien’s works, The Hobbit was written for his own children and published later for the rest of us to enjoy.

Working on the passenger quarter panel now that I’ve resecured everything in the garage extension.

Yes, ugly welds, but for 20 gage sheet metal, I find that the dot approach is the only way to ensure no warps, and no blow throughs, or very few blow throughs.. quick zap, get puddle started, stop. Move to a new spot, spread the heat, go back and forth, up and down the length of the repair, slowly closing the gaps between the dots.
Flip the panel over and do the same from behind to balance the metal bias and flex.
Grind everything almost away, repeat.. slow and tedious/meticulous work. But the goal is a smooth finished contour with minimal lead or filler needed to feather the final repair.


Pleased with these profiles so far.

Originally Posted by MikeB52

....
Yes, ugly welds, but for 20 gage sheet metal, I find that the dot approach is the only way to ensure no warps, and no blow throughs, or very few blow throughs.. quick zap, get puddle started, stop. Move to a new spot, spread the heat, go back and forth, up and down the length of the repair, slowly closing the gaps between the dots.
Flip the panel over and do the same from behind to balance the metal bias and flex.
Grind everything almost away, repeat.. slow and tedious/meticulous work. But the goal is a smooth finished contour with minimal lead or filler needed to feather the final repair...

That's exactly what I found.too. I always figured it was because I sucked at welding that I couldn't make it look like the robots do with the spot welds from the factory... actually I can but the welds don't hold. Reassuring to know that others found the same thing.

Scored my lumber yesterday. Ended up going with some beauty oak 5 and 6-4 beams.

$40 all in, couldn’t say no and it’ll be plenty strong enough.
Now that the front quarters are roughed in I can turn to the rear tie bar. This kept the side, behind the hinge posts, strong and were supposed to take all the extra torque and flex when the door is open.


All the rot was hidden behind sheet metal and rivets, but once cleaned up I realized new builds.

Originals were 18 gage sheet bent and shot welded together.
I want stronger since in time the door wood will change and the hinges will need tightening. I’m going with 1/4 plate along the vertical, behind the pillar, and along the bottom and top, and will stick with 18 along the sides.
Figure this way I can tap the steel behind the posts, and add nylon nuts, tacked to the inside for future tightening needs. Should make for a much stronger door support to boot.




Will be able to use the central strip of the original rear panel, and add the tie in steel once everything is in position on the main frame. That way I can account for slight variances then as I weld it all up tight.

Wow! 18 gauge replaced with 1/4 inch--

Yea, that should provide plenty of reinforcement for sure

Almost ready to weld the tie bar sections together.
Lots of angles and such to jig up just right.



They fit and they look good enough for parts that won’t be seen, but who’s strength will be appreciated.

And everything will be epoxied black before assembly anyway..
on to the next..

Good piece of assembly on the fly, maybe my next build you come stay with me to come up with better ideas!