Club126UK
Fiat 126 Chat => Your Restorations => Topic started by: michaelodonnell500 on April 11, 2010, 11:46:42 PM
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I've had an aircooled sat in my driveway since last year which needs a bit of work doing to it.
Rotten bits:
bottom of both doors,
top of drivers wing,
rear drivers arch,
rear tail light section,
section below windscreen,
both wing repeater sections.
The plus sides are that the sills and floor are solid and the rest of the arches are remarkablely intact.
I started welding a few weeks ago. I managed to source a few panels that I was able to cut from a 126 (the donor was in much worse condition than mine, but thankfully in different areas)
I cut out the section surrounding the rear tail light and have welded in its replacement.
I think I got it pretty close, but it will still require a little filling to make it perfect. I'm trying out lead fill on this section as it is an area prone to water ingress.
I had a replacement door ready to use, but it doesn't fit!!!
It bolts in ok, but sags far too much and when shut, leaves a panel gap that is tapered, making either the car or the door look squint. I attempted every trick I knew to bring it into line, but in the end I employed the rather brutal tactic of cutting the bottom of the good door and welding into onto the original.
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/126DriversDoor004.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/126DriversDoor007.jpg)
There is a reinforced section of the door that the hinges are welded onto. By leaving that intact, the only changes I made were to the skin, so when everything was tacked in place and offered up, it still fitted the same.
welded it together and the next step is to apply some filler to the weld line area.
For the mean time the door is sat in our spare bedroom to dry it out a bit before I give the innards a good rustproofing and apply some paint. My Girlfriend hasn't noticed that the door is in there....yet!
Door will be painted within the week to verde brilliante (colour of the inside of the door)
I already have tha paint in the garage from an ebay company who mix to code or pantone (let me know if you need their details) so it's rolling forward, slowley!
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Finaly rolling :D
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Good luck with this , keep the pics comming please
Steve
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Still haven't finished off that door yet! But I made a start on some other parts that were bothering me:
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00442.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00443.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00444.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00445.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00449.jpg)
I've sprayed some BRG on there. Not it's final colour, but I'm not ready to paint it properly yet so I just needed something to keep the rain off. It will need a little lick of fill where I ground the welds back, and where I 'tapped' it a bit hard with the hammer!
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00448.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00450.jpg)
I decided to make this out of three sections, Once the heat gets onto the metal things tend to move a bit, so this allowed me to adjust with each piece. The flat piece was bent by hand to fit the contours of the scuttle panel, this made it allot easier during welding and means I don't have to use much filler
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00451.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00452.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00453.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00453.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00455.jpg)
As with the indicator panel I've sprayed it, but it's due some filler and sanding before it sees a proper coat
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Michael well done I think I need to do this to Frasers, it looks as if may have been bodged on his. Only thing is he wants the electric windows and shaved door handles before starting body repairs.
Ralph
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Superb!
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Hey Michael, that is looking great so far.
Didn't realise you were such a skilled welder. So much better than it would've been sat on my drive any longer!
Good work
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If I would weld it you could easily find it as "tunning" :)
BTW: you have PM Michael.
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Hi Michael. I was repairing same places around windscreen on my Fiat and I'm just wonder if you going to drill holes for water drains or do grooves like on rear quarter glass (i think Jan have these on bottom of windscreen)??
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I wouldn't bother with drain holes as water between the rubber seal and bulkhead only spells RUST :cry: . I use a none drying windscreen sealant on both front and rear windows and hope the rust god stays away [-/
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I hadn't quite decided yet,
I'm all for keeping things to spec, but the holes are a very poor afterthought!
Haven't heard of the non drying windscreen sealant, but I presume it is butyl adhesive compound, seems to be well recommended for fitting classic windscreens.I think I will have to give this a shot as it seems mad to pour rainwater through the car! The green paint will come off this weekend so I can re-paint in red oxide, most of it sits behind the seal so I can lay it on nice and thick.
Cheers
Michael
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Another sunny day, so out to bother the car with some tools again.
Cheers for the message Dom, I'm not that great a welder though, just had a bit of practice. The main job is the preparation - Cleaning metal, cutting patches and making sure you don't give yourself a headache later on!!
I Decided to take out the rear side windows. Much trickier than the front and rear due to the lack of expansion slots. I found a neat trick for taking them out though:
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture063.jpg)
Using a screwdriver I was able to prize a load of M8 nuts under the seal, M10 would probably work better if you have any.
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture066.jpg)
After doing the second window I found it was best to run along the top of the seal, then down the vertical part of the seal next to the B pillar. Then simply push the window out from the inside, dead easy!
There's probably a more sensible way of doing this, but it only took 10 minutes and didn't require any specialist tools so it worked for me!
Next was the fun part!!
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture070.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture071.jpg)
The sill/rear arch section is a bit worse than I first thought. The last person to do repairs on the car did a good job, but he was a fan of fiberglass as well! I will be able to re-form the rear arch easy enough, but I think I'll have to buy another sill
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture061.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture059.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture057.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture056.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture081.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture080.jpg)
I thought I'd start with the front side of the arch as it looked less traumatic than the other side!!
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture073.jpg)
Part cut
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture074.jpg)
Part shaped
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture077.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture076.jpg)
Part welded
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture079.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Picture079.jpg)
Should be able to get a bit more done tomorrow, hopefully!!
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This is an amazing step by step, can't wait for more!
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A friend gave me his old camera phone with a 5.0 Megapixel camera, which is just about as good as my own camera!
Means I've always got a camera with, so I figured I should put it to good use!!
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Hi Michael, Your doing a Grand job keep the photos coming and keep up the momentum so we can all view your hard work and the rebirth of your 126.
Have you been round to Jans garage to pinch some of his green paint ;D
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The weather was on my side again, so I thought it would be a good idea to crack on with the rot removal.
The rear arch is a mess and the best solution would be for me to buy a rear inner & outer wing. While they're not that expensive, there is postage on top, and the time I have to wait for them to get here and it would involve allot of work to cut enough bodywork away to allow the inner wing to be welded in before I could start on the outer so I thought I'd do it myself.
I had hoped to use this section I had cut from a scrap car Rusty had at his home, but on closer inspection there were quite a few rotten patches on it so I figured it would be best to start from scratch.
First I cut a wide strip and clamped it to the rear arch lip as a former
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture016.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture017.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture018.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture019.jpg)
This left me with a thin strip which will act as the wheel arch lip
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture020.jpg)
Missed out a few images here, but with the lip still clamped to the former I welded a few sections to start to form the face of the arch. These gave it the strength to allow me to weld it to the body with out losing its shape
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture021.jpg)
it took me a little bit of headscratching to work out the next step. You have to visualise how the inner and outer panels are going to be attached to the car with nothing but an arch template to work to.
I decided to go for the inner arch first to allow me to weld from top down.
The next part was part sliced in a few sections to allow me to fold it over and follow the curve of the inside of the wing. Not the neatest way to do it, but It will only be visible from inside the wheel arch. It makes for a strong section and cut down on the amount of welds I had to do
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture023.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture024.jpg)
The outer wing repair will be made from 2 pieces. Splitting it into 2 pieces makes it much easier to form.
For some reason my welding went down the pan on the last part!
Despite leaving the settings alone and using the same metal, it wasn't arcing properly, I suspect I may have had a bad earth, but I won't go too far into it as they say a bad workman always blames his tools!
It started to rain so the last part will be welded in later.
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture025.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture026.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture027.jpg)
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Fantastic work. It looks like a scene/article from Practical Classics!!!! Perhaps worth contacting them for piece on, "Restoring a Fiat 126". Continue the good work and keep the photos coming!!!!!!!
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I took a break from the rear arch today so I could take a stab the floor.
It had been plated in several places along the floor so I had to cut out a fair chunk to find a bit of clean metal to start from
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture004.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture006.jpg)
I'm not using a floor pan section to fix this, but I've got some heavy gauge steel instead.
Firstly I welded in a piece of angle section to act as the edge to where sill is welded on.
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture007.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture008.jpg)
Then after that a plate for the floor. As with the rear arch this has to be done in several sections because of the curvature of the pan section. You can't really see the curve from this angle, I'll take a few more pics tomorrow:
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture009.jpg)
Once I have the other pieces in I can re-weld the seat rail and seat belt bolt, and the jacking point
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just a quick update on today's work.
This metal is about twice as thick as the sheet used on the wheel arch which makes it a bit trickier to manipulate, hence the awkward little bits at the end. The floor is now very solid and the sill will have a good foundation to be welded onto.
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture011.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture012.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture013.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture014.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/Picture015.jpg)
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Crrracking :D
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Michael well done excellent work
Ralph
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I got married last summer, so I didn't really get a chance to do much. Then it got cold and I chickened out!
I realised embarrasingly that I hadn't lifted a tool to it for almost a year, so I made some time and got to work!
I'll have some more photos next week as I have taken some photos on my camera phone, but left the cable at work.
Firstly I chose to tackle the rear screen surround as it was a bit rusty. Thanksfully not rotten, but I sanded back, treated the rust, applied red oxide primer, then got some colour on it.
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00427.jpg)
Next job was to cut the front end off. the headlight seatings are rotten along with the bottom where the front panel meets the bulkhead. I used erbaur 9 + 1/2" 2mm thick disks. They get through very quickly, but when you offer up to the steel they flex alot until they settle into a rut. Very disconcerting!
Although I haven't added a photo yet the front panel is second hand and includes the bulkhead panel up to the negative terminal bolt so I have chosen to cut at the angle between the horizontal and vertical faces as this will reduce distortion
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00422.jpg)
the battery tray was removed using a spot weld drill. Very handy little tool as it saves drilling through both layers of metal
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00423.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00425.jpg)
Next was the strip at the top of the wing. The rest of the wing was pretty good and I was able to salvage a smal section from one of Rusty's relics before it was recycled for baked bean tins!
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00430.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00429.jpg)
I spent a bit of time measuring this cut on both pieces with a ruler, and it was worth it. When I offered the parts up it was almost a perfect fit.
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00432.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00431.jpg)
The final 2 images show the top strip welded in places and sanded back (despite my best efforts it will need a wee bit of filler!) I also offered up the replacement front panel. A bit more trimming is needed but should get that finished tomorrow.
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00436.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/Fiat%20126%20Resto/DSC00435.jpg)
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The bootlid is in pretty good condition with the exception of this corner.
I'll add a few more photos later as it has now ben fully welded and mostly filled.The cut section was seam welded and the outside edges were spot welded.
I was very lucky to get a shot of a spot welder. Made it alot easier and quicker
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00868.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00869.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00870.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00871.jpg)
Door sanded back, primed and ready for topcoat. It's now already top-coated and currently lives in the spare room with the newly painted bonnet, much to the delight of my wife!!
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00873.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00876.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00875.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00874.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00878.jpg)
The front is trimmed and ready for welding. there are a couple of patches needed at the front of each inner arch before I can weld this on. Hopefully get this done at the weekend.
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00880.jpg)
(http://i405.photobucket.com/albums/pp131/michaelodonnell500/DSC00879.jpg)
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Michael what kind of paint are you using.
Ralph
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Hi Ralph.
I'm using cellulose. I resprayed the 500 last year for our wedding and bought from this place:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180462503002&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
They were very helpfull, spoke to them on the phone a few times as there was some confusion over the shade of red/orange!
I will be working on mixing some hammerite for the floor and parts of the underside as it should make the joba a bit easier and be more durable.
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That's alot of welding and good welding glad my resto didnt need that much as what I weld I destroy keep up the good work looking good
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Wow this is looking great! Keep up the good work, and keep the pics coming! :D
Tom
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this work is awesome mate, keep it up, im glad mine wasnt this bad(mind u my mini was lol)
Will continue to follow this with excitement :)
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Awesome stuff. Tell me please, what kind of welder are you using and what is the spec of the sheetmetal that you are using to replace the removed bits?