Indiana Bodge and the Rear Wheel Arch of Doom...

Before I get on to the tale of the wheel arch, here's a shot or two of the crossmember trial fitted...

It's nice to see some solid metal, even if it's not welded in yet :P

And now for our main feature!

I can't remember if I showed this bit...

That's where I put a hammer through the wheel arch on the inside!

This is where I put a hammer through the wheel arch on the outside ;)

I may have put a hammer through both sides of the rear wheel arch, and there may be a hole all the way through, but it wasn't the same piece of metal... Bodge had been at it again!

I'm not entirely sure how many layers there are, but it's more than two!

And this is what I took out...

It's the Book of Wheelarch :P

Thought I'd do a trial fit of the rear quarter panel against the crossmember, just so I could end the day with some hope ;)

The quarter panel can't go in far enough yet as there's still some of the old metal to cut out...

And to finish on a different topic... I can't find the stencil I made for my Death Race logo, so I just cut it out of the old rusty wing and I'll rivet it onto the new one :)

Anything silver is from the future!

This is the length I originally cut the pipe...

 

But with these on the end it was too long, and Constable Doppler may have had something to say about how far out they stuck...

So I had to cut them down a tad...

 

Only a small difference ;)

Welding it on at the right angle was 'fun'... and the small piece of very hot metal that went into my glove was even more 'fun'!

But I think I managed to get both sides to match... and if they don't then it's just hard cheddar! :P

Then it was time to wrap it up (I'm available for present wrapping, reasonable rates)

And the piece of resistance... painted it silver with some of that lovely high temperature paint from Frost :)

It looks a lot chunkier and meaner than it used to, I like it! I just hope it sounds good, but I can't find that out as I can't start the engine yet... due to someone cutting the wiring loom ;)

Exhausted...

Just after I'd got my member out (oooer missus!) I had a visitor...

By the time I'd done the work on the new crossmember my visitor (not even my cat!) had obviously got so tired out with the hard labour that he fell asleep :P

Everybody needs a floorpan for a pillow!

With me being a softy (anybody spreads that information and I'll hunt you down!) I couldn't bring myself to shift the big lump... so I got on with my 'custom' exhaust (an essential part of the rebuild...not!)

My spare exhaust had spent a year sat outside, most of the time in a puddle, so wasn't in the best of conditions...

The other end had rusted through and fell off, but I forgot to take a photo so you'll just have to use your imagination... it was a bit like this, only worse, with holes in it, a bit like a brown swiss cheese :P

 

My plan was (I'll explain why it's "was" in a moment) to cut the rotten part out, turn the pipe around, weld the tailpipe on the end... unfortunately when I tried it for size, luckily before welding anything, I discovered that the tailpipes would be sticking out at least 12 inches behind the car! Oopsy ;)

 

 I've cut the pipes shorter, but again forgot to take photos, so you'll have to make do with a pic of the silencer being cleaned...

 

I'll take the pics of the shorter pipes/etc if it stops raining today!

Dis-crossmember-ment...

Finally, some decent weather!

So I cut the rear crossmember out (mostly)...

 

 

The new piece is nice and solid (of course) but doesn't come with the holes for the floorpan bolts or the captive nuts for the heater tube... and the hole for the tube is slightly too small!

Oh flipping joy :P

 

So I drilled some bolt holes...

 

Then ground the back of the captive nuts on the old crossmember until they fell off (the professional way)...

 

 

And welded them to the new crossmember (after drilling holes for the bolts)...

  

Took me a while to get used to the welder again...

I also enlarged the hole for the tube using my amazing file... most people call it a drill ;)

Just put the bit against the area to 'file', pull the trigger, and waggle the drill around :P

All done :)

One day I may get a new tube, but today is not that day as they're too flaming expensive! I did think about sticking a toilet roll tube through there, or maybe kitchen roll as they're bigger, I'm sure that would work...  I'm surprised Bodge hadn't already done it ;)