Don,
Yes, I did the entire job... Inners, middle, outer, spring supports, the
extensions on top of the trumpet, the trumpet tops, the cross member under
the tunnel,
jacking points, floors, dog legs... plus misc. patch panels in the
firewall.. and inner wheel wells
for some reason the front fenders were perfect...(replaced?)
To answer your question... if you are supporting the car from the front and
rear axles the
load will be built in... or will be the same as if it was sitting on the
ground. I supported the axles, as well as another set of jack stands under
the subframe that runs halfway down the floorboards. BIG caveat... do one
side at a time. If I was to do it again, I would weld a couple a angle irons
across the door opening, just to make sure, but they would be getting in the
way.... but all the books I've read never mentioned it, it's just something
you see in the restoration of other models... .and do one side at a time.
Did I mention do one side at a time?
If you read the info about the structual adhesive they recomend not using
the stuff in "crumple zones" because the stuff is stronger than welds and
won't give way when needed. People will argue, but there wasn't FEA in
the 1960's... at least in Abingdon.
Here is a link to the SEM page...
http://www.semproducts.com/sempages/semdualmix.html you should get the gun
for free if you purchase 3 tubes (~$60.00), don't let the retailer tell you
otherwise, they know the deal.. but it only takes 1 tube for both floors.
SEM also
makes something similar to tiger hair called Carbofil, instead of
fiberglass, they
use carbon fiber... supposed to be strong as H3LL... our local club put on
a welding
tech session earlier this year, and we got a factory rep from SEM to
demonstrate most of his line.
We spent more time on panel adhesive than welding. It's just the modern way
of doing bodywork.
My bodyman swears by the stuff... not to get into any "my body man is better
than your body man arguments" He used to work in a flat rate type body shop,
where they would give you 14 hours to do a quarter panel... using adhesive
you can do it in 3 hours. And now if you are wondering did I do the work or
did he... we have an arrangement where I do welding and first skim bondo, he
does final filler and paint work... nice arrangement if you can get it...
but I wouldn't count on many bodyshops doing this.
The inners and middle, don't matter much, they land where they land, but
you will want the doors on
when you align the outer sills. One complaint I have it the size of the dog
legs by Moss... they go about 10 inches up... if they were 16 or 17 you
could remove alot more metal and get at the welds upons replacement and
make
it easier to get apart.
Blair
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Don Malling" <dmallin@attglobal.net>
> To: "Blair J. Weiss" <blair@ifd.mv.com>; <mgs@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 7:23 PM
> Subject: Re: body work
>
>
> > Hi Blair,
> >
> > Did you do the entire sill thing -- inner, middle and outer sills -- or
> > just the outers?
> >
> > If everything, I have a question, maybe a question for anyone who has
> > done it.
>
>
> >
> > When I remove the old sills, I plan to support the body under the seat
> > and floor area with wood and jack stands to distribute the load. Then
> > weld in the new sills after getting everything lined up with the doors.
> > The question is: when I lower the car back onto its wheels, is there any
> > sag in the sills due to the load of the car. That is, when I line up the
> > sills the doors and everything is jacked up and supported, can I assume
> > it will be exactly the same when I remove the support or do I have to
> > build in some "sag", and if so about how much?
> >
> > I guess I heard many new car fenders are glued on rather than welded.
> > Seems like lots of joints a unibody could be considered structural --
> > like the sills. I assume there must be places where you can't use this
> > stuff in place of welding. Any other keywords or names for SEM so I can
> > find more info on it.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Don Malling
> >
> >
> >
> > Blair J. Weiss wrote:
> > > David Wrote :
> > >
> > >
> > >>Blair J. Weiss SEZ -
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>>Bondo goes over bare metal, seam sealer goes over primer.
> > >>
> > >>The fellow doing the body work on my MGA tells me emphatically
> > >>that you always apply body filler (don't know if it's Bondo
> > >>brand he's using) over primer, then apply more primer over the
> > >>filler. This is to prevent moisture from getting between the
> > >>filler and the metal (since the filler is hygroscopic), causing
> > >>rust and separation of the filler from the metal. This
> > >>condition usually shows itself as little "pimples" under the
> > >>paint which, if impacted, will cause a chunk of the filler
> > >>underneath to break free from the body and leave a big hole in
> > >>the paint.
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > > Probably should be looking for a new body guy by now? The "Evercoat
> > > Everglass waterproof short
> > > strand fiberglass reinforced filler" aka Tiger Hair goes onto bare
> metal. If
> > > you were to put it over primer, you would be depending upon the
adhesive
> > > strength on the primer to the metal to keep the filler on the car.
> > >
> > > On top of the tiger hair, the next coat of "Bondo" should be a fine
> light
> > > weight variety.
> > >
> > > Seam sealer doesn't go on exterior panels, it is a rubbery compound
for
> > > covering over joints, like welds, or better panel adhesive. For what
> it's
> > > worth, I just finished a B and ended up using SEM adhesive to "glue"
> the
> > > floor pans in. I was a little skeptical about it, so I welded the
> rockers...
> > >
> > > The stuff is amazing. Hit the metal with a 36 grit grinder, and lay a
> 1/4"
> > > bead around the lip where the floor sits. Take a "bondo" spreader and
> smooth
> > > it down, lay your panels into place, and sink about 12 tek screws into
> each
> > > floor... total time about 5 hours... oh and you still need to put seam
> > > sealer over the panel adhesive.
> > >
> > > Blair
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