Cost to shave the rain gutters

[HelmetHead]

Cost me a 6 pack of Stella...photos are at the flickr page link in my signature.

[B+B]

Thanks for sharing Einar...

Flickr: iroc911guy's Photostream

Drip Rail detail | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[IMR-Merlin]

I am in the process of shaving the gutters now and it is a PITA for sure.

I'll post up some pics tomorrow when I get one side complete.

[IMR-Merlin]

Ok, not sure what they used to treat the panels but the first pass of each welds is DIRTY. I have to weld the complete are once, grind it and then re-weld. If you have the time it's not too hard to do, but it takes a lot of time.

[Cloggie]

I am just about to get started on mine, from the reading I have done, the joint was leaded which will grossly interfere with MIG welding.

Did you clean thoroughly before you started welding (I presume you ground off/used a cutting disc to take the rail off)? Did you also take a wire wheel to the joint? I was planning on heating the joint to lead-melting temperature and then taking a wire wheel to it.

Not sure it will help, but very curious what you have tried.

D.

[IMR-Merlin]

Well that makes a lot of sense!!!

I cut it off with a cut off wheel in sections. Hit it with a brush and DA before I welded and it still was junk to weld. I thought about heating it, but didn't want to warp the panel. So what I did was spot weld on both panels and then connect the spot welds with a stitch weld, while the weld was still cherry hot, I tapped it with a body hammer to recess the weld a little. Then ground the weld flush and did a second weld on top.

[Cloggie]

Completed the passenger side today....what a PITA! I did all the cleaning and still had blowback and all sorts of challenges getting a good clean weld.

Definitely there was lead in various spots (it dripped off at one point), plus they used a sealer/adhesive between the roof panel and the inner frame portion. I took it out the best I could using a dremel with a cutting bit and the wire wheel, but still lots of issues.

Worst problem is that the roof section and the fender section do not line up all that welll, there is an offset at the drip rail (which the drip rail hides), so I will definitely need to do some lead work to make a smooth flowing curve at the rear quarter.

Front windshield has only two sections so it was a delicate weld, but not as big a problem as the rest.

I am pretty sure that I have good penetration (I probably did an average of 2 passes and I can imagine that the car is stiffer as a result, that crimp is pretty good but I could find no evidence of spot welds, albeit there is a lot of shape and the adhesive/sealer that probably make it pretty strong.

Lot of finishing work to do, but so far I am happy....4 hours for the first side.....

D.

[IMR-Merlin]

I feel you pain. I am almost done mine. Hoping the prime the roof tonight.

[HelmetHead]

Nice work guys...keep it up! Can't wait to see the results!

[IMR-Merlin]

[IMR-Merlin]

Got the roof and pillars primed today.

[uncle_scott]

Looks great! I love the smooth look. Keep moving forward.

[B+B]

IMR- Merlin

Smooth Baby, Smooth

Thank-you for sharing the images.

That's funny cause my sunroof delete clip is red also.

[HelmetHead]

Beautiful work Sir!

[Cloggie]

I agree, nice work.

I'll post some pictures of mine once the frustration wears down a little. I have had a number of problems....


First, the weld areas are really contaminated, everything from sealant to embedded body filler, brazing material and lead. The worst of it is that rolled over drip rail causes the metal to thin when you grind it all flat as there is a curve as it rolls towards the rail. This then makes a bit bigger gap with a thin wedgelike edge which then exposes the sealer. I tried everything from just welding over it all (lots of blow throughs, smoke and fire), to taking a thin blade and scraping out as much as I could get to which widens the gap noticeably and still results in blow throughs, smoke and fire). I also tried igniting the stuff with a propane torch, didn't help much. Worst of it was near the back where they crammed in a bunch of rubberized sealer behind the rail and applied heavy lead.

Second, the roof and quarter panel do not exactly line up....there is about a 1 to 2 mm drop as the factory did not align the two all that well. It will take lead to smooth it...

Lastly, and still wrestling with this...almost all the panels are closed (can't get at them from the back side. Just wondering what I am going to do to protect those fresh welds....POR15 sprayed with a 360 degree wand sprayer comes to mind....what has anyone else done?

D.

[IMR-Merlin]

I feel you pain on the welds. I am not building a Concourse car so I just blended the 2 panels with filler. As for the welds.... it sucks and everything are running into is what I ran into. I went through 2 1/2 #3 tanks of Argon mix with SPOT welds!! It's a PITA.

I cheated a bit. I did a spot weld just a bit inside of the gap on both sides to build sum material base, then I connected those spot welds with a stitch and while it was still hot I gave it a whack with a body hammer to recess it a little. Then I ground the weld down and went over it again, repeating the hammer process. When done grinding the 2nd (sometimes 3rd) time, I use very little filler to finish everything up.

Step away, take a break and cool down. It's so gratifying when done.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Cloggie

...The worst of it is that rolled over drip rail causes the metal to thin when you grind it all flat as there is a curve as it rolls towards the rail. This then makes a bit bigger gap with a thin wedgelike edge which then exposes the sealer...

Yep, had that problem too...
Solved it by NOT grinding the gutter completely flush
Leave a little edge (about 0.5mm or so)
It gives you enough "meat" so there's no gap and little blow through and it will melt into your weld puddle very nicely

Second, the roof and quarter panel do not exactly line up....there is about a 1 to 2 mm drop as the factory did not align the two all that well. It will take lead to smooth it...

Yep, had that too

Lot of work, but I think it'll pay off. I really like the smooth lines

[B+B]

* Thanx for sharing Jeroen *