65 Mustang Restoration
We spent the last couple of outings in the garage doing some metal repair. It's an extremely tedious job,, but it has to be done sometime. Most of the areas that we repaired, were sections of sheet metal that were damaged while removing the rusted out panels. Spot weld removal is definitely a tricky job sometimes,, even when you think you got it just right,,, rip,,, followed by,, "oh crap, more work".
Though there were many, many small repairs,,, here are just a couple of the sections that we repaired.
Before:
and After:
Sometimes the holes are just too big, therefore requiring some metal patch work. The next photos basically just run through the different steps involved with replacing a small section of old metal,, with a nice new piece of sheet metal that I cut & formed with a hammer & a duck-bill. The whole process only took about 30 minutes to do it right.
We start by removing the bad section & forming a new section,,, it doesn't have to fit perfectly,,, actually, it works best if the new section is slightly a bit too small, so that there's a .040" gap where the metal is to be welded.
You know the old saying,,, "Measure twice,,, cut, shape, pound, bend, shape some more". As you can see,, it helps to have several types of clamps. Also, whenever possible, use a copper backing plate when you weld the gaps,,, the job can be done without it,,, but it sure makes it much easier when it's used.
It helps to put you small tack welds out at the corners,, and start your welds out at the edges, since there's less chance to blow out the metal since it's still cold.
The welds don't have to be beautiful,, but they do have to completely fill the gaps,,, let it cool a bit before you start the grinding process.
And there it is,,, a proper patch panel that has been butt welded into place. It makes no sense to replace an entire panel when only a tiny portion of the metal needs replacing,,, you save a ton of time & money.
Till next time,,,,,
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