Returning to Project

[RogL]

Thought I should reintroduce myself - started out on a rallied, now dismantled Riley 1.5 (which was far worse than expected mechanically and bodily- obviously). Got sick for a couple of years and now, all better, should probably stick the flippin car on the 'bay for a quid or contact a local scrapper.....!

But that just feels wrong, right?

So, I will be doing the sills, inner wings, arches, floor repairs and so forth - I'd taken out a rot chassis leg b4 the enforced rest. Finally back in the garage on Sunday I lined up the 'new', now rusty, chassis leg and with my daughters help, pushing against a springy floor pan, pinned it in place.....

I'll be using a Supermig 180 - presently with 0.8 wire but I'm guessing I may need to use 1.6 for the lighter stuff?

Some advice would be appreciated - I don't want to seam weld the leg because my welding won't be as tidy as it was once, and bearing in mind it was spot welded in place originally - will it be acceptable to the eventual MOTer to stitch with say 2" welds with 2" gaps?

Cheers. Rog.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

A friend of mine has a Riley 1.5 as his daily driver, he's owned it for about 40 years! He has a wealth of knowledge on the car as well as a number of good contacts for spares, give me a shout if you want me to put you in touch.

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Just found a picture of it from the New Years Day run.

 

[Kent]

If you can stich it you can also backstep the stich to make a full seam
However full seams also create thier very own issues
Running continuous on thin is a bit dumb anyhow it will likely buckle and distort into some sort of abstract art

 

[RogL]

A friend of mine has a Riley 1.5 as his daily driver, he's owned it for about 40 years! He has a wealth of knowledge on the car as well as a number of good contacts for spares, give me a shout if you want me to put you in touch.[/QUO

Thanks for the info. I reckon the 1.5 would make a good driver, even now. At the moment I'm looking at long term metal work... I've got most of the repair sections I'll need, even some s/h steel front wings, apart from inner sills which look like they can be made pretty simply - presently the inners are mostly nonexistant but were v cleverly covered.

I'd appreciate any support available, although I am in contact with the Owner's Club and their excellent parts scheme. I dismantled and rolled the shell about 3 yrs ago, I think, and thought I'd labelled stuff pretty clearly...It'll be a jig-saw puzzle. Lesson: don't stint on the labelling!

I'd be interested to hear how your friend sources parts - apart from the Club, I've mainly used Earlpart Ltd. eg for the full length chassis leg.

Once again, thanks for the information.

Rog

 

[RogL]

If you can stich it you can also backstep the stich to make a full seam
However full seams also create thier very own issues
Running continuous on thin is a bit dumb anyhow it will likely buckle and distort into some sort of abstract art

Thanks for that - which was my thinking too. I'm just not sure if an MOT tester will accept stitching, but I'd prefer that and just make sure I seal the seams properly. Rog

 

[Burdekin]

I plug weld from the top, that way it looks like the original spot weld as well. I tack the rail in position, then a couple of caravan jacks underneath the rail and then just use my weight to press the floor down onto the rail. That's my method. Where the rails butt to another rail or sill I make them without flanges (or cut them off) and fully weld the joint instead of plug welding.

Painting the chassis rail with epoxy (apart from the flange which you can spray with weld through primer) and then PU adhesive to seam seal the flange to floor should keep the moisture and muck out of the rail.

An example of one I did. There's a few repairs there but shows what the finish product comes out like.

 

[Shedendman]

If its not failed a previous MOT on that area chance are the MOT man wont pay any interest on how it looks,long as its strong etc,also by the time you've applied seam sealer and umpteen amounts of underseal whats to know?

 

[RogL]

I plug weld from the top, that way it looks like the original spot weld as well. I tack the rail in position, then a couple of caravan jacks underneath the rail and then just use my weight to press the floor down onto the rail. That's my method. Where the rails butt to another rail or sill I make them without flanges (or cut them off) and fully weld the joint instead of plug welding.

Painting the chassis rail with epoxy (apart from the flange which you can spray with weld through primer) and then PU adhesive to seam seal the flange to floor should keep the moisture and muck out of the rail.

An example of one I did. There's a few repairs there but shows what the finish product comes out like.



Makes sense + helpful stuff about sealing - thanks. Got all set up this pm to start welding and ran out of gas on first few tacks. Shoulda checked!

 

[RogL]

Sorry - just realized I'm posting in the wrong box

 

[RogL]

If its not failed a previous MOT on that area chance are the MOT man wont pay any interest on how it looks,long as its strong etc,also by the time you've applied seam sealer and umpteen amounts of underseal whats to know?

No fails. Thanks