1966 Valiant for the Other Daughter....

Put the wheels back on the ground and it tries to escape!

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Sometime big jobs require big tools.... she required a bit of persuasion to get lined back up.... Then with 3 welds left...... out of wire....DAMN! A bit of filler to make the inside of the trunk area look nice some day...

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I think one of the coolest things I learned taking my Spitfire apart and putting it back together like that was how the parts were designed and then fitted together. The engineering of it all impressed me. You're doing awesome work, Jim. So wonderous to watch it come back together like that.
 
Be honest guys. You are professionals and I am a hack. With the tool I have are you just being polite or am I doing a reasonable job on this. At times I feel like I am just making stuff up.
 
JimKueneman said:
Be honest guys. You are professionals and I am a hack. With the tool I have are you just being polite or am I doing a reasonable job on this. At times I feel like I am just making stuff up.
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I have seen much worse from so-called "professionals" :) Your effort at trying to do things right is inspirational to many, and the job you're doing on this is way past "reasonable", IMO.
 
It looks like there are some waves left in your concave weld, last chance to fix before welding on the quarter. I would make a "dolly" out of some solid round rod stock, about 2" diameter or so (whatever size fits the smaller radius best), and round off the ends to remove sharp edges. Now with a loose quarter, use round rod dolly on outside and flat body hammer on inside to stretch out the weld until your waves are gone. It should save you a bunch of that filler.

Jim, I would say you are far from a hack. You considered advice in hopes of getting a much better job and have done well in executing. What you've done thus far (from someone who claims not to have done this type work) is far better than some "professional" work I've seen. Time to add on to the garage. ;)
 
MP&C said:
It looks like there are some waves left in your concave weld, last chance to fix before welding on the quarter. I would make a "dolly" out of some solid round rod stock, about 2" diameter or so (whatever size fits the smaller radius best), and round off the ends to remove sharp edges. Now with a loose quarter, use round rod dolly on outside and flat body hammer on inside to stretch out the weld until your waves are gone. It should save you a bunch of that filler.

Jim, I would say you are far from a hack. You considered advice in hopes of getting a much better job and have done well in executing. What you've done thus far (from someone who claims not to have done this type work) is far better than some "professional" work I've seen. Time to add on to the garage. ;)
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Thanks Robert, yes I have to work that quarter more. You have been an inspiration to do better.
 
Jim, if you weld a piece of bar stock onto the round dolly to make a T dolly it will be easier to hang onto. Working a weld that long will take some time and patience. Get your daughter to help you hold the dolly while you use the slapper. I would count on spending the better part of a day on it. If you dig around on YouTube and Instagram you will see guys finishing welds with Dykem dye, metal files, DA’s etc They make it all look easy but it takes years to get that good. But you can get it looking pretty darn good with a few hours work.

Be careful not to overstretch your metal. Go slow and easy.

If you have one an air file will come in handy accessing that concave area. If you don’t have one they are extremely useful. I can’t imagine working without one.

Don
 
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Sorry to ask for what may be obvious, but what weld is Robert referring to? The concave weld? Would someone be kind enough to provide the post # and the photograph number in that post just so I can try to figure out what needs more work and how I can try to see what that is looking at a pic?

Thanks so much!

Chris
 
cmfisher4 said:
Sorry to ask for what may be obvious, but what weld is Robert referring to? The concave weld? Would someone be kind enough to provide the post # and the photograph number in that post just so I can try to figure out what needs more work and how I can try to see what that is looking at a pic?

Thanks so much!

Chris
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Chris, see below the drivers side quarter and the shadow cast on the concave area is nice and straight. Now look at the passenger side where the seam was placed in the middle of the concave area. Here the shadow line is distorted as the concave area is a bit wavy still. This is due to weld shrinking as it cools and pulling at the adjacent metal. Hammer and dolly are needed on the weld itself to stretch it back out and relieve the pull of the shrink.


JimKueneman said:
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Thanks, Robert. I can see that clearly now. Would planishing as you weld help that, or is it preferable to wait until the weld is done? I didn't know about planishing doing the Spitfire and had a lot of weld shrinkage problems like that. I think I watched a video of yours about that and how the metal pieces pull themselves together without planishing.

Thanks you!
 
@MP&C Robert can you explain the technique? Do I walk along the weld and strike it against the dolly over and over or is there a more targeted approach?
 
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Jim, the dolly should be chosen like any other dolly. It should closely match the same contour of the panel (concave radius) with the center of the dolly touching the panel (make sure there isn't a gap) For any flat-ish panel you would find a dolly that closely matched but did not touch on the corners, same here but this dolly will likely have no corners. As long as you still have a sinusoidal wave along the weld, this should be the effects of weld shrinkage. With a flat-ish body hammer on the back (convex) side of the panel, and the dolly laid into the valley, planish the weld and the weld alone, and closely monitor the waves...when the weld area is flat, you should be done.
 
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