Thread: Ally bodywork, repair or replace

If you're going to do stuff like that, you'll need a TIG welder with good low power control. Welding thin aluminium can get ugly quickly!

Also - flat panels will distort a lot with the heat, and it's really hard to get them back flat again. Although, if you are going to repair a tear, and are happy to then bog it then paint it it is feasible.

Am not sure if the body panels are pure aluminium (are they "Birmabright"?) so they may need special welding rod to do a nice job.

Found this on another site:

Birmabright is a trade name of the former Birmetals Co. (Birmabright works in Clapgate Lane, Quinton, Birmingham, UK) for various types of lightweight sheet metal in an alloy of aluminum and magnesium. The BB2 is one example, of which equivalent specifications are British standard NS4, American 5251 and ISO designation A1 MG2.

Birmabright is best known as the material used in the body of the Land Rover and other classic British vehicles So you will need to use a 5356 type filler alloy (approx 5%Mg) You are right to clean and prep with wire brush make sure all traces of paint, corrosion etc are removed. DONT preheat the sheet or you will run into difficulties.

Form an arc between the Tungsten and the sheet wait until a silvery pool appears then "dip" the wire into the pool and pull the rod away this should deposit a small amount of filler into the molten pool don't try and melt the rod under the arc and sweat it onto the surface you wont get any penetration. -

I won't be doing any welding, that'll be a 'take it to the experts' job. I'm more interested in the philosophy more than anything else.

Hi Crackers
I had a thread running for a while under Galvanising(series 1 section). In that thread I bought some Ali sheet from the local Metal supplier though in 2mm not the 1.4mm. I then made some moulds out of ply to form the rear panels over. Even though they are flat, they will roll in around the wheel arch and have bends at corners. I drilled out the spot welds to remove and reuse the original bracings. With thicker material the welding was less inclined to get ugly. I found this was a happy trade off between keeping things looking original, reusing what I could and having thicker material in service. The car still looks good and the Ali sheet fused to the original inner tub ok. Normal MIG running Ali was able to fill various other holes acceptably in other panels where holes were drilled. I also reskinned the doors where electrolysis had claimed the originals. Again I used 2mm which feels more solid though is light enough and still has the Ali characteristics.

Alternatively, one could treat it like aircraft skin and do proper "insertion" repairs using appropriate rivets.

If one wants the vehicle to look its age, this is the way I would go. If a full 'as new' then weld, grind and polish, and for dents etc, learn to use a "shrinking" hammer; OR fabricate new panels.

Cheers

RF

Cheers

RF

Originally Posted by brendanm

Hi Crackers
I had a thread running for a while under Galvanising(series 1 section).

Thread found and bookmarked. Looking forward to reading it.

Originally Posted by Rick Fischer

Alternatively, one could treat it like aircraft skin and do proper "insertion" repairs using appropriate rivets.

If one wants the vehicle to look its age, this is the way I would go. If a full 'as new' then weld, grind and polish, and for dents etc, learn to use a "shrinking" hammer; OR fabricate new panels.

Cheers

RF

Cheers

RF

Interesting thoughts there. Tell me more about these 'insertion' repairs.

I really am open to all forms of repair at the moment because essentially, my end vision is no more than me driving her at the moment ie, it has yet to be developed. Good time to start methinks.

Surely it depends on whether you are trying to restore to an "as new" condition, or to produce a vehicle with "patina" that looks like it has actually been used? And whether that machine will be used, or will live in a showroom somewhere.

Whilst I am not aiming for perfection, I have found that panel beating Land Rover panels is relatively easy and removing dents and dings to an acceptable level is quite straightforward. The biggest problem is when the dent is in an area where there is little or no no access to the back of the panel (around SIII headlights, for example).

Equally with modern welding technology it is not that hard to fix a tear or a hole. If you try it with an old fashioned straight AC TIG then you need a good operator, but it's far easier with the new-fangled digitally controlled waveforms and a foot pedal! And if the repair is just for looks, there's always the miracle_aluminium_welding_repair_stick that the "but wait, there's more" guy shouts about from his booth at all the shows. And lets not rule out the farm repair using flattened Coke cans and pop rivets - it's just as valid if you're restoring to "as used in rural Australia" specification!

My own issue was whether to paint panels with all their faults, or to fill and block them to perfection. My decision was that a Land Rover was never a show car, it was a working vehicle and therefore would inevitably get dented. In my mind any repairs should reflect that, and so filler has no place on a Land Rover. Repairs should be made to look reasonable, recover any lost strength, and maintain safety and corrosion resistance. But filler, blocking and spray putty are for vehicles of a more glamorous nature!

Repairing or replacing damaged parts simply comes down to availability, ease and cost. Some reproduction parts are made so poorly that they're not worth using, and sometimes it is hard to get a genuine part that is any better than the one already fitted. If the aim is to keep the car original then repair is the best way, but repairing to factory appearance can be very expensive. If you expand "original" to mean "original specification" then genuine replacement parts, either new or secondhand, are fine. But will it cease to be a Land Rover if you fit a reproduction part?

If you worry about it too much, then you start to think about other aspects of "restoration" as well. Modern paints are much better than 1950's paints in many ways, but they're not what was originally used. Rustproofing was not a big feature in the 1950's, and if the restored car will never leave it's climate controlled showroom it probably still isn't important today. Uprated brakes, electronic ignition and other improvements for reliability or comfort have no place in a "factory" restoration, but if you intend to drive it?

A good friend of mine has a collection of old trucks and tractors that has has restored. He finishes them the way HE wants them, even if that is not 100% factory specification. Sometimes he takes them to local shows, and sometimes rivet-counters will declare them to be the wrong colour or have some other slight imperfection. But as he says, his machines are at the show, running and looking good, whilst the rivet-counters never actually seem to have a machine to display....

Enjoy the restoration, whether that means spending weeks reaching your idea of perfection on a single part, or just getting the vehicle usable and registered!