Ke26 restomod project

[Banjo]

Hi Geoff,

                 That is awesome !  All cudos to you, as many of us would not have the skills or inclination, to tackle what you are doing, to that level of detail.  (No bog involved)

Your pictures tend to indicate, you have a wealth of metal working machinery to work with.    Is that all your own, or do you work in that trade, normally ?.

Keep up the excellent work, & please keep posting pics.  You'd be surprised, how inspiring this is to others, who may be considering tackling, something similar.

Cheers Banjo

[wenisman]

Thanks banjo,

    I actually go to a work shop where they restore cars professionally, and after hours they run classes where I pay time to be able to use their machines and they help with guidance on how to repair. 

So once a week I go to motorretro to do the bigger pieces or do things that I don't have the skills at the time to tackle. But some work I'll do at home, I have a welder, hammers, grinders and a will to use them. So the front apron, all the suspension stuff was done at home

But i don't work in the industry, I'm a desk jockey who has been learning these skills as I go. I took a few tafe courses and through companies like motorretro have gained the confidence to do these jobs. 

Edited May 3, 2023 by wenisman

[Banjo]

Excellent !   There is an olde saying that says;  "a workman is as good as his tools".

Always makes it easier when you have the right tools for the job.

Good work !   I gather the exercise, has given you a lot of interest in the trade.  My guess is; that as you've

"I took a few tafe courses  . . . .       ", You might move to this field untimately ?

What a dream job, working for a company restoring olde cars professionally, would be !

Cheers  Banjo

 

[wenisman]

It's certainly an interest restoring old cars and strangely cathartic. But I'll see how far my abilities go and how Kevin finally turns out. Comparing my work with the professionals in the workshop shows I have a long way to go, but every day is a school day.

Getting a larger workspace with more of my own tools, that would be the dream. I think that would be retirement for me, just working on cars and not the desk job. Right now my garage is a little cramped,

That is my home setup, the suspension is now packed away in boxes and I'm working on the bonnet, some rust repair and then I'll deskin that too. But now on that later 😁

[wenisman]

But back in my own garage I have also finished straightening the grill brace, so now it's nice and straight down the main channel.

 

I am still deciding what to do with the actual bracket for the grill. I might drill out the spot welds and fashion a new brace as this one is very bent.

 

I will give it a paint strip and see what it looks like. But it's rust free for the most part, so a run over with the wire wheel and the rust converter, primer paint and it should be ok

[wenisman]

I started work in the major damage to the tailgate, it started with taking many a profile of the various shapes and curves from the good side. 

And then I started to put the body line back into the center of the tailgate. This unfortunately showed up that there was a large split in the steel that I have tacked together whilst I get the main shape back into the panel

 

Then I started work with the hammer and dolly to remove all the wrinkles and the large creases. This then left the steel very proud as it was badly stretched from the accident. So with a multitude of hot shrinks I have begun the chasing of shape back into the tailgate

 

But it's starting to look like a tailgate again

Edited May 9, 2023 by wenisman

[Banjo]

Hi Geoff,

                 Hats off to You !   You've got more patience than I have, but I sure it will look perfect, when you finish it all.

Cheers Banjo

[wenisman]

The base of the tail gate was templated and then I cut a new peice of steel.

It was folded, shrunk on the seam and then I put it through the English wheel to get a nice crown and get into the shape of the tail gate. Then I cut the rusted bottom section off and I have tack welded the new bottom section in place.

I know this tailgate is taking some time, but the light is at the end of the tunnel.

Next I'll try for it back on the car to make sure the skin is good. Then I'll start fixing the frame

[wenisman]

Quickly putting the skin on the frame, and test fitting back to the car...

It fits, a little tight on the passenger side, but I expected that as I still have some shrinking to go to get the profile right. 

Double checking the glass as well shows plenty of room for the rubber as well.

 

So now it's back at home I'll linish back the tacks and weld it in fully. Then I'll take the wire brush and clean up all the rust and hopefully apply a layer of rust converter and primer. 

Edited May 27, 2023 by wenisman

[wenisman]

And on a side note, after seeing some cars and doing some internet searches I have seen this as a fuel cap/flap option.

https://www.haganauto.com/product_p/fd45rqp.htm

 

 

Would take some work to make it fit Kevin but it's certainly an option.

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by wenisman

[Trufauru]

What a lovely work you are doing right there Wenisman, hats off to you, lovely to see that level of skills being put at work.

Great to see a wagon being saved, that fuel door it's awesome.

[wenisman]

Just a quick update as I have been busy with work and family life. But I have taken a wire wheel to the frame and skin to remove the loose rust, and completed the first pass with some Scotch Brite.

So now that it's clean I have linnished the tacks back so that it can be welded up. 

But there where some more tears in the steel around the edges, so I have tacked those so things don't warp out of shape before the final weld 

[wenisman]

I have had as to take a small break but I'm now back on the tools. I started by welding the bottom of the tail gate in fully.

Took a little trial and error as I haven't used tig on my home welder before. But with a little fine tuning I was happy with the result.

To try and minimize the warping I did a stitch weld tactic. I welded between every alternate tac, then let it cool before I went back and did the finishing pass.

Edited July 16, 2023 by wenisman

[wenisman]

And then the window sill was welded into place

The weld started well, but then there were sections where the parent metal was still corroded so I had to fill large gaps with filler rod

But now the main welding is done I'll linish things back and straighten the weld area.

[wenisman]

Well the linishing back of the welds is done

The window sill turned out pretty well.

You can see the ripples in the light so I am planishing out with the hammer and dolly.