Only a small patch needed ! I WISH !!!!

[Jon-HPF]

some pics of welding to floor of my viva e , as usual , my intial assessment of the drivers foot well was slightly out - what i thought was just a plate needed over the hole just over the chassis rail ,turned out to be removal and replacement from outer sill to gearbox tunnel and from just forward of the seat up to pedal area !!
as I havent got the tools to press out a full piece repair section - i had to do it in stages , started with plating from sill to outer chassis rail , then did the inner rail to tunnel section then up around the pedal section (what a bi tch!) then used a long strip of steel to to "cover up" the chassis rail .
Everything weld primed before stitch welded in place .
Then anti rust treated , zinc primed and whole floor gloss blacked !
should last a few more years
cheers - Jon

[mazzo]

Nice work Jon. Blimey - I didn't know it was that bad either when I saw it!

Happy New Year to you.

Maz

[phil dawson]

Geez, you have been busy..that all the welding finished now?

Phil.

[Jon-HPF]

thanks Mazzo , no probs , your initial assessment of the car was spot on- no one can really know the condition until its stripped down - still only cost me £100 and saved it from banger racers .
Phil , from a structural point of view - i think thats about it for welding , Ive got a new set of rear arches and pair of sills and e rear lower valance to go on plus inner wing repair panels (front and hinge sections) the inner wings arent rotten , just going to beef them up cos i intend to put on fibreglass wings!
Both wings look like they have been changed at some point - one is high top the other is flat They are in great nick apart from the rivet holes a the front end where i bonded the magard snoot !
Cheers - Jon

[phil dawson]

Hi Jon,
Ive got a pair of fibreglass wings to fit to my firenza too, how much beefing up do the inner wings require for fitting the f/glass wings?
Phil.

[Jon-HPF]

Not really sure about that - i suppose its down to the intended use of the car ( normal road / rally / race etc). I think Mike (Bulldog) is bracing up the chassis rails on his old nail kitted firenza with proper plates . But hes got a beefy motor etc and probably building for power/ speed.

I took a look under Ade's Firenza (the black old nail kitted brute ) He has fitted a square tubular steel channel running underneath the length of the wing (where its normally welded to the inner wings) and the fibreglass wings are bolted to this channel - Neat !!

On the subject of bolting the wings on - I was impressed with the Silver Bullet replica built by Simon (i think its simon) .
He used what looks like an aluminium U shape profile which sat the full length of the wing (top edge) the wing was bolted on so that the fibreglass was "sandwiched" between this ally strip and the attaching edge of the inner wing. Because of its U shape profile it gave a great leading edge lip about 5 mm high so that rain water would run down to the front panel (as on a normal steel wing) Also he used excellent quality slightly raised dome head bolts (probably marine stainless steel ,knowing his very high standards!) with alan key head . Very neat attention to detail .

Im sure other people have some more ideas , but those are the ones i have discovered . Its probably down to your personal prefference and as i said - the cars intended use as to how you go about it
cheers Jon