It is now June 14, 2008. Been a while. Not that all progress has stopped, just that it has been really hard to make any progress.

The rusty POS has come back from the sandblaster and is now a green POS. Sadly, the blasters must have dropped the thing because it as come back with new damage that it did not have when it went there.

June 19, 2008

The first order of business is to get rid of the cracks that happen to all bugeyes and midgets. This ussually shows up as a "peak" at the top of the wheelarch where the fender is thinnest. It actually causes the front half of the bonnet (from headlights forward) to be "floppy". The fact that it happens is not surprising if you look at the design. Simply welding up the crack is not going to help: it will tear on either side of the weld. I made up a re-inforcement piece out of 1/16" that is shaped to the contour of the fender in all three dimensions and will be welded inside with a series of spot welds.

The following sequence shows how I made the re-inforcing insert starting with a flat piece of 3X12" sheet steel.

Start with a flat piece of 1/16" stock.
Bend into a "L" shape with hammer and clamps.

Now get out the shrinker/Stretcher combo and put some shape in the piece.

If you notice, the former "L" shape now has 3 dimensilnal shape.

The new piece will be clamped in place and will be close to invisible when done.

This is the piece spot welded to the inside of the fender. The part that runs along the wheel opening flange is seam welded. The difference in strength is amazing:The front half of the bonnet no longer droops. It's like viagara for BUGEYE bonnets!.

Looking down the drivers side You can see how things line-up from front to back. Getting close on this side.
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The passenger side still needs a bit of work. I will beat it into submition with the shrinking disc and a slapper dolly.
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Now for something a bit different. I have been experimenting with electrolic rust removal. It is labour free, quiet and gets into places the wire wheel and grinder will not get. The pail is full of water and washing soda mixture 1 tsp/gallon. Connect the positive terminal to the sacrificial piece of scrap metal, and the negative to what you plan to de-rust. Plug in the battery charger and go work on something else. Come back in a few hours or tomorrow, and the part will look black. The rust is GONE! The black stuff comes off with a scotchbritte pad or a wire wheel, and is best removed when you take the part out.
.You can see all the rust leaving the part and floating on the surface..
I soaked the assembled spring to show a before and after effect, and also because it loosens the rusty fasteners holding the assembled spring.

You can see the part after overnight soaking. All the scale is gone. The black coating should be dried off quickly or it will turn to a powdery rust layer.

Close-up after a light run-over with the wire brush on the grinder.>.

After 20 minutes of work the spring components are done. Some re-assembly required!.

Where did all the rust go? Why it ran over to the positive battery terminal and covered the piece of scrap metal (old door skin with paint removed). I will admit to having a bit too much fun with this, but promise that it is relevant to the cause and will get back to the endless metalshapping soon!

I originally used the electrolic derusting on this bonnet brace because I needed to weld in some re-inforcements where the sandblaster bent the piece. You can see where the black coating that I missed with the wire wheel has turned to a light coat of rust. This is a surface effect and comes off easy with the wire brush.The tig welder is not at all tolerant of rust. Must not have been any left because the welding went pretty smooth..

Speaking of TIG welding, my welding buddy took the helmet off long enough to go to her grade eight graduation. She insisted on going in the 32 Ford Pick-up and even bought a dress to match!.

July 12. 2008. When I started this project, I had no idea of the time and money it was going to take. First it was all the parts, then the tools, and now I am breaking ground for a 20 x 40" garage to keep all the tools. The bad news is that it may slow down the work on the car.

july 18, 2008

July 28, 2008

To put things in perspective, keep in mind the space I started this project with

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