On Wed, 2 Mar 1994 mchaffee@sumter.cso.uiuc.edu wrote:
> restoration. The car has 20 years of little dings, and one very badly
> straightened rear-ender, and some icky Bondo work that must be rectified.
> There is no rust, other than unimportant surface stuff. I have a replacement
>
> rear tub (tub? The part that goes around the trunklid, between the rear
> fenders, whatever you care to call it) that is in GC, but the installation
>job
> looks a little frightful, in particular the spot welding at the top:
>
> I hope that made some sense, but I don't really see a good way to get in
>there
> and spot weld in the new tub. Has anyone else tried this? Am I missing
> something obvious?
>
> Michael T. Chaffee
> mchaffee@sumter.cso.uiuc.edu
Dear Michael,
I have not looked at a midget to see what is involved. So everything that
follows is theoretical, not based on practical experience. I have a
bugeye, and assume construction is similar. I have pondered what would be
involved in replacing the rear panel, and have dreamed up several
possibilities, none of which I have had to try. But I have done similar
surgery, and the idea does not intimidate me.
You *might* just possibly be able to spot weld in a new rear using a spot
welder with the proper tips. I would check out the extensions, such as
"fender tongs" in the Eastwood catalog (p. 44 of newest catalog, available
from 1-800-345-1178. It would not be economically feasible to buy a whole
spot welding setup just for this one job, though, you'd have to have other
uses.
There *are* alternatives. Probably the cheapest is to scribe the old
trunk surround about an inch inboard of the fender bead, and cut it out
with a hacksaw blade on a jigsaw, or with a plasma cutter if you have one.
Cut the replacement panel so it overlaps the old one about 3/8 inch. Buy
a flanger or joddler, and press a recess all around the edge of the
remaining sheet metal along the fender bead. Lay the new panel in the
recess, and weld it in, an inch or so at a time to reduce warping. I
think I might do it this way, if the fender bead is in excellent shape.
Those beads are not easy to fool with, because (on the bugeye at least),
the seam is three layers: outer fender, the leg of the "t-shaped" bead,
and the trunk panel, all spot welded together in one rust-gathering
sandwich.
A slightly more asthetically pleasing, if more difficult approach, would
be to chisel off the fender bead, cut the old trunk surround off as close
to the bead as possible, drill out the spot welds, and remove the remnants
of the old trunk surround and the old fender bead. Clean and dress the
fender flange as well as possible (it is likely to be rusty). Clean the
flange of the replacement trunk surround panel, install it, and line it up
carefully. Then tack weld the new panel in with a mig welder from the
top, welding in the groove that later will be covered by a modified bead.
I have never done this, but I have replaced the fender bead on a bugeye,
and the construction is almost certainly the same. There would be any
number of ways to do this. I think I would weld 1/2 inch segments, moving
randomly around the periphery to keep heat down, until the seams were
completely closed. Then grind off any excess bead. Take new fender bead,
which (if it is like the bugeye) is thin T-section sheet metal all folded
up, cut off the leg of the T that ordinarily would fit between the fender
and the trunk surround, and with helpers and plumbers solder, solder the
bead to the welded seam to simulate factory appearance.
It is a lot of work, but not as much as spot welding. And, water
could not get into the seam ever again.
Ray Gibbons
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