Repairing Guards

Some of you would have seen the 109" that won the best series 1 at Cooma . I saw the tub in its bare metal unpainted state , just after the professional panel beating job on it. The panels were nice and level .. so it must be possible to panel beat that metal.

As for LR inner guards..as I said before .. nothing complicated about them.. anyone with basic skills could make them up in sheet aluminium. The Lindsay Fox museum employs a guy who hand makes vintage PORSCH bodies in aluminium. He uses wooden bucks and hand beats new guards , with very complex curves in them.

The modern panel adhesives are very good and are used by bus body builders and on train carriages too.

The biggest thing is , time .If you sit down for 6 months and learn metal shaping you can do it... practice is the key . How does Wadsworth do it ? He's human like we are , he's not a alien with superhuman skills. Airframe fiters do all that stuff .. it was an apprentice trade years ago.

Mike

Has anyone tried these rods?

Durafix Australia - Aluminium Fluxless Repair Rods

Would love to have a go but, no need at the moment.

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Originally Posted by discomuzz

Has anyone tried these rods?

Durafix Australia - Aluminium Fluxless Repair Rods

Would love to have a go but, no need at the moment.

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Just gotta get me some of this stuff...looks to be the bee's knees, cats whiskers, ......unbeliveable.....

Hi there

I have tried these rods - they are great but not alot of strength.

Well after a few hours the guard is starting to look good again.

I am going to try and use the mig (just ordered some aloy wire). I spoke with an olds school panel beater and he recomended small tacks followed by a damp cloth to avoid stretching, also to add a back peice to give it some strenght.

Well heading back to work tommorrow and will give you some feed back next week.

All the best

Wayne

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Originally Posted by RobHay

...looks to be the bee's knees, cats whiskers, ......unbeliveable.....

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Yeah, unbelievable, that's what worries me.

Oh well, for 60 bucks it might be worth having a go.

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Originally Posted by discomuzz

Has anyone tried these rods?

Durafix Australia - Aluminium Fluxless Repair Rods

Would love to have a go but, no need at the moment.

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The clue is in the words "brazing aluminium". This means joining a metal using a different metal with a lower melting point and lower strength. Not to be confused with welding.

This does not mean that it does not have uses in Landrover body repairs - for example, it would be ideal for filling or patching holes, but would not be suitable for joins where a lot of strength is required, although a well designed patch could use it in this circumstance. One point to watch though, is that the different metal will set up an electrolytic cell to dissolve either the "weld" or the adjoining aluminium if exposed to moisture - so make sure it is properly painted, and avoid beach use!

John

Have never had any luck with the magic rods, as for TIG as long as your welder has enough grunt, the Al used is very nice to weld.
Dennis

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Originally Posted by chazza

I don't agree with you Lovemyrangie when you say that Birmabright needs to be annealed before beating. I have beaten a nasty dent out of one front wing and found it to be very soft; so soft in fact that I put away the hammer and used the dolly to very gently bump the dent up. On the flat side of the wing I stretched it and tried to anneal my stuff up, but only succeeded in making a big depression in the panel :(

My advice is not to try and anneal flat panels and to keep all welding heat to a minimum. The TIG will only blow holes if the voltage is set too high and/or, not enough filler rod is added to the weld pool. I have laid a bead on an old
86" panel with no problems.

Please note that by "anneal" I mean to soften by heating and cooling slowly - perhaps you understand it to mean something else?

Cheers Charlie

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The process of beating it causes it to harden and become brittle to a point where you beat it and it breaks or any stress on it will make it split.
If you dont agree with me then I suggest you speak to panelbeaters who work on any English vehicles, check Rover panel references and do some reading on Birmabright. And yes I do know what anealing means.....


Birmabright

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

The clue is in the words "brazing aluminium". This means joining a metal using a different metal with a lower melting point and lower strength. Not to be confused with welding.

One point to watch though, is that the different metal will set up an electrolytic cell to dissolve either the "weld" or the adjoining aluminium if exposed to moisture - so make sure it is properly painted, and avoid beach use!

John

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Exactly. This is why Landrover only specify flametip 'welding' ie using oxy acetylene. As birmabright has a magnesium content, this gives it its softness. Any excessive heat or concentrated flame will burn it.

With the electrolytic action, this is also true. There is a specific rod specified for use BY LANDROVER or alternatively you use a strip from an old spare panel.

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Originally Posted by LOVEMYRANGIE

The process of beating it causes it to harden and become brittle to a point where you beat it and it breaks or any stress on it will make it split.
If you dont agree with me then I suggest you speak to panelbeaters who work on any English vehicles, check Rover panel references and do some reading on Birmabright. And yes I do know what anealing means.....


Birmabright

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I agree; the process of beating it will work-harden the metal, but that is not what you said in your first post. I took it to mean that Birmabright in every situation needs annealing first, I have found the contrary when beating it myself.

No hard feelings; sorry if I have upset you, just a misunderstanding,

Cheers Charlie