Project Journals

Here is a link to "Part 1" of the project:
[forum.britishv8.org]

Here is a link to "Part 2" of the project:
[forum.britishv8.org]

Here is a link to "Part 3" of the project:
[forum.britishv8.org]

Here is a link to "Part 4" of the project:
[forum.britishv8.org]

Here is a link to "Part 5" of the project:
[forum.britishv8.org]

Please note: The photos in this thread are displayed at 600x450 pixels. If you see a little box-in-a-box logo in the upper right hand corner of the photo, click anywhere on the photo to blow it up to full size - in a new window. This new window can then be maximized for a still larger image.

Reflecting back on this project, I went through my collection of photos and put together these two collages:




I've come a long ways but still have far to go. I'm determined.

Carrying on from Part #5 of this journal, I welded the Support Member into the Valance or belly pan. This entailed many plug welds on the bottom:




Fabricated four angle brackets per side to make attachment to the curved section. The best I could do with my tools and time.


Finished unit:


I could now do a final session of hammer and dolly work on this piece as well as using the shrinking disc where needed. The hammer and dolly lets you moves metal but if it has been stretched, you have to shrink it back to size. Here's a short clip. You can see the steam coming off the hot metal:
[www.youtube.com]

A better demo video:
[www.youtube.com]

Bonnet Hinge Brackets

Connecting the bonnet hinge support tube meant coming off the front frame rails with 2X2" square tubing. I came in low to get around the radiator and create a bit of a skid plate.

Parts cut and collected:


Pre-assembly:


Being a critical item, I added fish plates on the inside of the weld joint. These are plug welded each side:


Looking from the inside, good penetration:


Pair completed. Checked their weight. 39 ounces each:


With the car on the chassis table, I went from the center line and level to locate them:


Done:


With valance installed:


Left Front Fender

I had some changes and repairs to do here. One was to fill in the original turn signal opening, (I have other plans). The other was typical rust damage repair to the corner.

Original turn signal opening:


Filler plate:


Tacked:


Done:


Rust hole area cut out:


Repaired:


Right Front Fender

The repairs on the right side fender were more extensive. Not only did I need to fill the signal light opening, but there was rust through where the flanges for the inner panels had attached to the inside surface.

Previous repair done with a patch brazed in just behind headlight opening:


Cut:


Welded:


One more rust through below the previous as well as the usual corner area:


Bonnet Center Section

The nose area of the bonnet center section was the worst. It had a lot of poorly repaired collision damage. I counted 37 holes that had been drilled to try and pull the metal back into shape. There were a couple of long, deep creases. Daunting task.

My assistant, modelling with the bonnet:


In an exploratory effort, I knocked off some of the bondo. Scary:





One of the creases after chemical dip:


Spent many hours in the garage with the heat on, February and March, using a hammer and dolly to bring things back into shape:


More shrinking disc work and slapper with dolly:


Almost there:


Rear Brace repair

The profile of the Bonnet Center Section's rear edge needs to match the profile of the scuttle. Mine didn't. There's a brace welded in that area to hold the shape and it appears mine was damaged from a heavy weight above, collapsing it down. I couldn't figure out a way to reshape it in situ, removing the brace entirely from the center section skin would be way too much work so I elected to remove just the damaged area, reshape it then weld it back in.

Rear Brace:




Damaged section cut out:


Cleaned up and reshaped:


Splice to make butt weld stronger:


Used a cardboard pattern of the scuttle profile to confirm a match to the new bonnet profile:


Butt welded the brace and plug welded to the skin. Finished:


Scuttle Closer Panel

This area of the body tub can be called the scuttle, cowl or bulkhead. I prefer the former. In any case, it had completely rusted away, both sides. Recreating the curvature would be the tricky part as it has to match the rear edge of the bonnet wing. That's why I'm tackling this job now, is because I need something to line the bonnet up to.

Right side damage:




Captive nut assembly rust out:


Replacement:


Fabricating panel:




Left side prepared:


Fabricated panel:


Right side finished:


Left side finished:


Shaping the Bonnet Mouth

Normally, the front bumpers and Motif Bar would hide any misalignment between the valance and the center section that creates the "mouth" of the bonnet. But since I was not using this hardware, I needed to get these connection points to match up.
On first fit up, the shape was bad. The curvature was wrong and they didn't meet up properly. Time to get out the cutting wheel and welder.

Since space in the garage is at a premium, I set myself up between the two cars:


Right side had two problems. The upper section was too far outward and the lower section's curvature was radiused too tight:


First job was to slice the edge and lift the curve to match the left side. Cut, lift and fill the gap:






The top section was sliced and swung down and inward to connect with the lower valance. Fill the gap again:




Finished:


The left side lower section was in good condition. The upper portion was too far outward:




Again, this required a slice, then a filler piece with some pie cuts to bring the curve inward:




I made up a grid board to measure off the curves from center and horizontal to confirm symmetry. Trimmed the inside mouth area to make it the same all around. Metal work done:


Radiator w/fans and A/C Condenser

I wanted to start on the splash panels inside the bonnet but need to know where the radiator will go first. Time to get that assembly in.
I went with a Spal dual fan assembly. This was too narrow for my radiator so I split it down the middle, added a filler strip then riveted the two halves to a 1"X1" aluminum frame work:


The vertical square tubes of the frame work slip over two studs I welded to the chassis:




My radiator is a 31" x 21" Afco double pass:


At the bottom are rubber pads that fit in the C channel of the rad with isolators:


Radiator in place:




The A/C condenser mounts to a welded aluminum frame work that will also support the splash panels:


This frame bolts to two stands welded to the bonnet hinge support tubes:




Bonnet openers, Gas Shocks

The original Jaguar bonnet openers consisted of a heavy spring assembly that I'm told, never worked all that well, letting the bonnet come crashing down on your head.
They make a gas shock retrofit now but of course, it wasn't close to what I needed.
I had a couple of used hood shocks from a Nissan 240SX that I played around with and with some cardboard cut-outs, came up with a configuration that seemed geometrically feasible. Thinking two shocks wouldn't be sufficient, I made allowances for four.

Bracket to mount on bonnet valance:


Bracket to mount on chassis:


Gas Shocks mounted.
The pair on the top are used with a 56 lb. rating
The pair on the bottom are new with a 34 lb. rating
This combination gave the best balance.




Added an angle support:


Here's a video of the before and after. Before, I was using a rope and pully system to lift from a center point because of the flex in the bonnet.
With the gas shocks, there's a nice balance and I'm hoping I have the correct clearance to road surface.
[www.youtube.com]



Edited 12 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2019 03:22PM by TR6-6SPD.

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