Just joined? Please introduce yourself.
Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 24

Thread: Wagon Liftgate Rust Repair

  1. #11
    Registered Member MP&C's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013

    Member #:2017
    Location
    Southern MD
    Posts
    1,290
    Laying out the ends for trimming.....





    Here's the piece we'll use to cut out the profile blocks, 3/4 thick steel



    As I am fresh out of good band saw blades, these were used....



    The lower piece was tapered at the bottom as the bottom of the lift gate tapers in below the bead detail..



    .....like so.....



    Not perfect, but should work just the same...



    Clamped in the vise.....



    Then some heat is applied, and hammered the high spots..







    Fitted.....





    and the other end......










    Things don't always work the way you planned. Before the ends were folded, the bottom piece could never be test fit into the opening. Now with the ends folded, it was slipped over the bottom of the lift gate and it bolted into the opening. With the upper bead detail aligned, the lower was considerably off kilter. Slightly off on the contour, I guess.





    The patch piece was marked off on both ends to bring the lower bead detail up into the car for better alignment...



    Here's the driver's side after cutting and welding, shows a much better alignment. Good weld penetration on the inside, the seam at the end will be finished after folding onto the lift gate..







    We may be able to save this yet..


    Working on the other end of the lower patch today, to fix the mis-alignment of the beltline trim, I did get more detailed shots of the process this time...



    Made a relief cut....





    Rear view shows full weld penetration....



    Welds were planished, then ground to just above panel surface, and next weld overlapped, and repeat. The overlapping helps to eliminate any missed welds/pin holes.





















    All done and cleaned up....





    ......for a much better fit..



    Then media blasted the inside in preparation for some epoxy primer...



    .....and did some adjustment of the tailgate fitment.



    Robert



    MP&C Shop Projects-Metalshaping Tutorials


    Instagram @ mccartney_paint_and_custom


    .

  2. #12
    Registered Member MP&C's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013

    Member #:2017
    Location
    Southern MD
    Posts
    1,290
    Was in the middle of media blasting the innards of the lift gate and noticed the threads for these nut plates didn't look too "full" A test with a 10-24 screw showed that some of the holes were so bad that they had a "slip" fit.



    These hold the rubber bumpers on the bottom inside edge of the lift gate. The spot welds are drilled to release the nut plate..





    The new ones are cut out of some 10ga steel, holes drilled and tapped.



    yeah, these threads look much better....



    Where I normally use a couple screws to hold nut plates in place for welding, with the close proximity of the plug weld hole the screw heads would obscure some of the hole, and we would undoubtedly be welding in the screw heads for difficult removal. For this case, we'll use some brass tubing as a spacer. Since the tubing I picked up passes though the screw holes, a sacrificial lock washer is used for it's minimal diameter.





    A dab of anti seize is placed on the screw threads to insure they don't get welded in place from arcing across the threads.. Plug welded, and screws removed.



    Lock washers removed and plug welds ground flush....





    And now we can finish up the media blasting....





    Next will be to get the epoxy primer inside and wait for the new welding wire to show up. I've been using ER70S-7, which has better wetting properties than the -6, and is a bit softer for easier planishing and grinding. I've been using .035 wire and have some .023 on order, so in a couple weeks when it comes in we can finish this up...
    Robert



    MP&C Shop Projects-Metalshaping Tutorials


    Instagram @ mccartney_paint_and_custom


    .

  3. #13
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011

    Member #:115
    Location
    Fort Collins, CO
    Posts
    10,835
    Truly amazing work Robert. Are we up to $11,000 in labor on that liftgate yet?

    I'm curious why you thought you needed the anti-sieze on the screw threads. I know it can't hurt (unless it contaminates the weld), but since there is no electrical path I don't see how you can get any arcing.

    It's too bad you can't just dip that liftgate into an etch, then e-coat the inside and outside with primer. I would have loved to do that with my Nomad body and frame.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  4. #14
    Registered Member MP&C's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013

    Member #:2017
    Location
    Southern MD
    Posts
    1,290
    I've always heard to put the welders ground as close as possible to the weld area. Despite that, I've had instances when welding on nut plates, etc that an arc travels across the threads, and the galling that results requires the installation of new fasteners. After that I've used a slight amount of anti-seize on any threaded hardware, and have not seen the problem since. As you suggested, too much of it oozing out will indeed contaminate the weld, so any excess gets wiped off before welding.
    Robert



    MP&C Shop Projects-Metalshaping Tutorials


    Instagram @ mccartney_paint_and_custom


    .

  5. #15
    Registered Member MP&C's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013

    Member #:2017
    Location
    Southern MD
    Posts
    1,290
    My nephew Chris worked inside the wagon to clean up some of the welds...




    Before closing up the lift gate, we have a couple more items to cross off
    the list. A rubber bumper gets installed at the bottom in case the gates are
    closed in the wrong order, you won't scar up the paint on the top of the
    tailgate...

    The old sample only had one good hole location for us to use...














    Next, the floating nut plate was plug welded to the bottom....





    With that done, we could prep for closing up the bottom. In order to use
    the spot welder along the bottom seam, we needed to clean off some epoxy primer
    where the spot welds would be located. Used and even spacing of 2" and marked
    both flanges...








    In order to remove as little epoxy primer as possible, we decided to use
    the modified plug weld drill bit (the flattened one) over all the errant marks a
    roloc sander would make. In order that the flat drill bit didn't walk all over
    the place, another specialized tool was made....














    Here's another close up of the modified bit...





    .....and the "prepped" flanges...








    Ends tacked in place, and spot welded the bottom flanges together...








    Robert



    MP&C Shop Projects-Metalshaping Tutorials


    Instagram @ mccartney_paint_and_custom


    .

  6. #16
    Registered Member MP&C's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013

    Member #:2017
    Location
    Southern MD
    Posts
    1,290
    A bit more welding.......





    Cleaned up....





    Other side.....









    Only thing left on this piece is the plug welds in the window opening. Need to put the rubber on the window glass and fit it to the opening to see if this part needs shifting prior to welding...



    This might even work....



    Robert



    MP&C Shop Projects-Metalshaping Tutorials


    Instagram @ mccartney_paint_and_custom


    .

  7. #17
    Administrator 567chevys's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010

    Member #:3
    Location
    Woodland Washington
    Posts
    2,413
    All I can say Robert is Thanks for posting this for the site !!! and Wow you are a master at your work !!!


    Thanks Sid

    1955 2 DR Post
    1937 Chevy Coupe
    2023 Ford Super Duty F350 TREMOR
    2019 Corvette Z06
    1955 Chevy Nomad
    1935 Ford 2dr Slant back I have 4

  8. #18
    Registered Member MP&C's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013

    Member #:2017
    Location
    Southern MD
    Posts
    1,290
    Thanks Sid!

    Not much progress to show, but I did test fit the rear window, and finished the plug welds.
    Cleaning the epoxy out of the holes...







    Welds cleaned up.....

    Robert



    MP&C Shop Projects-Metalshaping Tutorials


    Instagram @ mccartney_paint_and_custom


    .

  9. #19
    Registered Member MP&C's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013

    Member #:2017
    Location
    Southern MD
    Posts
    1,290
    Got the tail gate and lift gate gaps done this evening.











    Now on to some quarter panel weld planishing..
    Robert



    MP&C Shop Projects-Metalshaping Tutorials


    Instagram @ mccartney_paint_and_custom


    .

  10. #20
    Registered Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2014

    Member #:2153
    Posts
    2
    WOW that is some awesome work you did there.... Thanks for posting I will need some of that info on my 55!!!!

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •