53 AM 60 rebuild

[Johnsboy]

Hello everybody, after reading everyone else’s rebuilds I thought it time I documented mine.
It’s an ex raf 1972 series 3, I’ve owned it for 30 years and modded it many times as was done by everyone a the time.

It started as a 2.25 petrol, then 3.0 Essex v6, then 200 tdi, then 3.5 efi. Now I’m going all retro and putting it back just as it came out of the box.
Started the rebuild this time last year but as usual work keeps getting in the way.
So far it’s on a galv chassis from someone else’s stalled project. Front axle rebuild with new swivels, drums etc, the whole shooting match.
Engine rung and shelled, hardened ex seats, electronic ignition, new old stock genuine carb etc. Runs sweet.
Gearbox re sealed throughout and new bearings in main gearbox.
Bulkheads got new pillars and footwells, painted and back on.

Had a free day today so concentrated on the vent panel. I had a Les Crombie outer skin which are very good but when I lined it up on the original inner skin the vent opening on the o/s was sloping up toward the middle so with crafty cut here and there it sprung straight. It was a tad tall too and by the time I’d done I had the top return cut off and have tigged a new one on using a nifty roller gadget I fashioned to weld corner joints. It worked a treat, fusing it together without any filler wire except for one or two spots.

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[Johnsboy]

After a bit of dressing

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Inner skin is a bit ropy but I had some sheet cut in preparation, my measurement was a bit off but I can trim the excess off the bottom return after. Working the folds are a bit tricky at times but I did a few test bends on scrap and wrote the measurements down and made this, just need to mark and cut the apertures.

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Regards
Johnny

[Jon S]

Hi

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting photos and great work. Please carry on and show us the complete process. The roller arrangement for the torch must really help, nice idea. Watching with interest.

Regards

[Johnsboy]

The roller thing was an idea for seam welding a chassis, haven’t tried on a chassis yet but it certainly made it easier to seam weld. I’m ok with tig but still learning, Its very therapeutic compared to mig and I like dabbling with ally.

This was my progress from last September, since then I made it movable to get it inside. I had got the front panel, rad and oil cooler in but was never happy with the paint. I’d painted it semi gloss and it didn’t look right as the original paint in the tub and under the bonnet still shone very glossy so before I got too far I stripped the bulkhead and front panel back off and did them with gloss.

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Seem to spend more time blasting and painting parts. Didn’t like the front pulley so that got redone too in black.
Last weekend sat rear tub back on to align bulkhead so I could fasten it up properly. I want to get the front end done except for the wings and make it movable under its own steam.

[AR4412]

Do I not like that roller guide.

I look forwards to seeing more progress pics.

Regards,

[Johnsboy]

A bit more progress this afternoon even though it was sweltering for welding, thoughts of cold refreshing tins of cider in the fridge kept me going.

Inner skin marked for vent apertures

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Holes punched for spot welding, went overboard at 1 inch spacing when 1.5 would have been sufficient.

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Most of the spot welding done. Was worried about warp but when it’s bolted to the bulkhead it’s surprisingly straight.

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Did make one big boo boo though, when I folded the inner skin I put it in the folder the wrong way round so folded the bottom return wrong side of my marks
Managed to clamp it back in the folder and un fold it and redo it.
Ran out of flap discs to tidy up all the spot welds so now it a well earned cider time

[Ridgy]

Making a lovely job there Johnny and also fascinated by the roller setup which clearly works a treat. Beats trying to keep it straight on an external angle with your thumb. You've earned that cool refreshing cider I reckon!

Cheers

Steve

[Johnsboy]

Cheers Steve.

Think tig was the way to go on the top bit as it was a tight joint so it didn’t need any filler wire. I have a foot control which makes it a lot better too being able to boot it and back off when you need to. There a lot more control compared to mig.

It worked well but even though I’d tacked it all together I still had vice grips and clamps holding everything rigid to try and limit warping which got in the way of the rollers, still managed to bow the top but when I spot welded the skins together I had the two edges to work to and a length of 2 inch box clamped to it too to keep it as straight as possible

I’m starting to use the tig more and more as practice for all the ally work on the lightweight. I’ve done one wing and it was a success.

[Johnsboy]

A good afternoon fabricating today. Managed to make all the vent panel hinges and opener brackets from one off cut taken from the inner vent skin.

The hinge pin brackets were tricky, but managed to fold them round a 5 inch nail with the box pan folder.

Suppose I could have bought a new replica vent panel but the skills gained are better on the wallet.

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[CornwallDave]

Great work