Front Wing removal

[Andy Harvey]

My 100 has got a few rust problems which I had a quote for and the shop wanted to replace both front wings which I think is excessive so I'm going to do it myself. What arethe front wings like to get off, they seem relatively simple - remove the wheelarch liner, bolts along the top, one at the top of the door jam and inside the front under the wheelarch - am I missing anything. I intend to remove the wings, remove and stabilise the rust and then fibreglass behind the hole and fill from the front. I figure if I spend enough time preparing the rust then it shouldn't return.

Then I can turn my hand to stabilising the tailgate rust - just started to go along the seem at the bottom. Will scrape out the loose stuff, anti-rust it and paint. I have a new tailgate emblem to go on which will cover any slight imperfections in the outside.

Any help, any experience anyone.

 

[chapel gate]

my experience with rust is;

paint on rust paints dont work.

wax oil on rust doesnt work.

rust hardeners and treatments dont work.

removing rust back to bare metal does work.

cutting out all signs of rust does work.

replacing complete panel with a panel that has no rust does work.

ime there is no quick fix if you plan to keep the vehicle long term, it always rears its ugle head eventually, i hate the stuff..

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

re the tailgate, Steph's 100 came with a rusty upper tailgate the PO had covered with a nice new badge (we knew this was the case). If the rust has already got into the seam and you have loose bits then you will be lucky if you manage to stabilise it, just delay the inevitable for another 12 months or so. I bought a known good one off Karl rather than try to repair what we had. No hint of rust inside the new one so they do exist and it was off a slightly older 100. A friend very kindly painted it the right colour for me and helped me fit which wasn't a hard job at all with two of us doing it.

 

[frank rabbets]

Gosh what a coincidence Jon. I just painted a 100 tailgate for a friend .

I agree with CG that you have to get rid of all signs of rust. Chemical removal DIY style doesn't work. What I would do is find a sand blasting shop and take the wings in. But even then if they touch the metal with sweaty hands rust will instantly occur as the metal does not have anything on it to protect it. You need production line quality to work with bare steel.

 

[frank rabbets]

P.S. Trouble with rust is if you grind it off it appears to have gone but if you investigate further you can see little spots left. These are the tops of "wormholes" of rust. The rust acts like woodworm.

 

[Andy Harvey]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think I'm going to patch it up for now and start looking for good replacement panels. I'll be cutting out the metal back to good but realise it won't last forever. I'm OK with painting it if it's the wrong color (as long as I can get a good wind free day at a reasonable temperature). Yes I do intend on keeping this vehicle as I'm gradually going through it making sure all the mechanicals are good - a few things to do there but nothing too major, just loathed to pay over the odds for bodywork from a big body shop - unfortunately the one body shop I knew that did a good job and didn't charge ridiculous amounts ( they didn't specialise in doing insurance jobs) went out of business due to the owner being ill.

I think I need to move to Stourbridge .

 

[frank rabbets]

Crikey Andy I see you live in Cheltenham. That's my home town. I lived at 6 Paragon Terrace opposite the Eagle Star building. 1946-57 we then moved to Brockworth. You're always welcome to pop up to Stourbridge if you want a couple of LITTLE jobs doing but not a major ground up restoration .

 

[Andy Harvey]

Frank.

Small world although I wasn't from Cheltenham originally, grew up in Surrey near Woking but Cheltenham is home now and I don't think I'll be moving on. We live on the outskirts of Cheltenham in Hatherley, nice and close to the M5 for getting anywhere. My Step Daughter lived in Brockworth for a while but moved to Abbeymead near Gloucester. I do like Cheltenham to love in and certainly a lot nicer pace of life compared to other places I've lived. Thanks Frank, may well pop up to Stourbridge some time, it's not too far from Cheltenham really (used to commute to Birmingham 2 days a week).

One thing that has moved on and for now will mean that I don't need to be too neat with the painting, got hold of a set of 4 Bushwacker wheel arch covers (what they call their street style or OE style which don't add hardly anything to the overall width but will cover the arches and the area where the holes are and will also give a bit of added protection to the wheel arches and update the look somewhat.

Cheers
Andy