Scuttle welding

[Grrrmachine]

Just a quick question about how all the layers of metal in the car line up, and join together. Under the fuse box is the bulkhead, and on top of that is the scuttle, forming a triangle box section. Then the inner wing meets that same joint, making a sandwich of three layers.

So, is the scuttle seam or spot-welded to the bulkhead there? And is the inner wing seam or spot-welded to the scuttle? My rust was so bad I have no reference to check...

[Duke137]

This is a shit of an area to rot tbh I still am not sure how to tackle the inner part that I have rotted through. This is a picture of Skipunda's chariot mid resto if it helps, to weld it properly I think he just cut it ALL away!

I would never attempt visible bodywork weld-repair personally as I am not good enough with a welder. I don't mind patching up where you can't see though

Hope it helps

[Grrrmachine]

Yeah, skipunda's Tech 1 resto has given me a lot of reference tips; I sent him a question about post-welding chemicals but I don't think he's been on recently.



This is exactly the repair I'm doing at the moment. The bulkhead is already repaired, so I'm not worried about fire inside the car now...



But it's the point on this diagram where all three lines meet; because they stack, I can't see how they're all joined together. I'm presuming spot welds (which means plug welds for me) but I don't want to do a weaker repair than I ought to.

[Duke137]

I'd be interested to know with this too, nice little diagram

[powelly]

That joint will definatley be spot welded from the factory, you will probably have to use MIG plug welds or seam welds, I don't think you'll get a suitable spot welder in there, when the cars were built they would have been built from different assemblies.

[buzz6353]

drill a hole every half inch or so and get some plug welds in there with your mig welder

should be more than strong enough

[Brianmoooore]

The bulkhead is double skinned, formed from, I think, the red part and the front half of the blue part.
It's quite common to find that the studs that the glovebox attaches to (RH drive) are rusted off. This is caused by the sealant failing along the bottom of the area under the scuttle, ad water getting between the two skins, rusting it from the inside.

[Grrrmachine]

That's exactly what happened Brian, although there's no glove box there for me. I understand that the triangular gap between the blue and red sections acts as a drain for the scuttle vents, with the water running out of the inner wing, correct?

The part where it's double-skinned, below that triangle is only about an inch high. Then the fold of the inner wing laps over it before running down to the chassis leg, so it's a 250mm-wide section with three layers of metal; a huge rust trap.

My plan is to plug weld the scuttle to the bulkhead with inch gaps, then plug weld the inner wing to the scuttle with inch gaps between the original welds, to make this three-skin sandwich.

[djscottfree]

The bulkhead is double skinned, formed from, I think, the red part and the front half of the blue part.
It's quite common to find that the studs that the glovebox attaches to (RH drive) are rusted off. This is caused by the sealant failing along the bottom of the area under the scuttle, ad water getting between the two skins, rusting it from the inside.

hi Brian what the best course of action to take to repair a car with a rusty bulkhead/scuttle, i take it to do a proper repair the engine will have to be removed ?

[Grrrmachine]

The repair to this area of the car can be seen here:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 51#2237751

The spotwelds match the location of the originals, although the steel I've used to patch is thicker than standard.