Re: 1983 Special- the rebuild restarts
Forgot to post pics...
Finished that corner but not happy with it- very thin metal in parts that will need more metal letting where all the birdshit welds are- but that is for some time in the future when the boot floor is out.
Decided that the inner wing on the offside needed to come out due to the bad rust in the C-post and all round where it is spotted on along the rear seat bit i.e. this bit and also where it curves round to meet the inner wing at the C-post...fiddly.
Moved onto the C-post next, seeing how the previous stage involved lopping the C-post off to get grinder access. French magazine article on this bit proved invaluable- it really makes your life easier using a cut-down bit of old C-post as a guide.
First few tacks...
Done
However, dutch C-post repair sections are not quite the same shape as original C-posts. They are out by a metal thickness.
Next job is to get the missing swage rolled in the new inner wing so it matches the other side. Did I ever mention that these inner wings are real crap? The spot welds that hold the bump stop can be prized apart with a screwdriver!
All marked up and ready to go to the metal man in Kendal to do his bit...
We've also assembled a new rear cross member- bought an inner and outer panel, then chopped out the old top hat-shaped internal supports that drop down from the rear seat locating holes and spotted those in place in the new crossmember.
Made our own strengthening gussets.
And made the little reinforcing plates too.
Spotted it all together, zinc sprayed it and put it out of the way until it is needed.