Popular Post nzstato Posted June 5, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 5, 2020 Going to put this here, its not very interesting but it might help someone. This is the same picture as above, it 'looks' good but has alot of problems. In below, the red circles highlight some massive hollows (1") in the panels. You would think the solution is to get a hammer and bash them out but those hollows are a symptom of the problems.... The blue section is massively stretched and it has a brace behind it which is bent, the green shows the lower edge which is bent into a curve. With flat panels like this I need to sort the edges first and the rest should follow.... Here I've drilled the spot weld of the brace out (the clecos are holding it in) and using a leather sandbag with heat and the hammer have shrunk the green section back in, it has pulled alot of that lower hollow flat. Straightening this flange was a right pain. I ended up heating the edge and got medieval with the hammer and dolly. It doesnt look pretty but its now straight across the panel which is most important. Its still hollow below this, but thats due to some stretched ridges which continue from the green section, I'll planish the fold out and then shrink them down.... 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzstato Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 Been starting on these door skins. Went down to Paynes Alluminium to buy a few sheets and met the absolute GC of an owner. When he learnt I was making door skins for a LR he personally went out to the warehouse and got about 3 of his guys to scurry around looking for what I needed. When the sheets werent going to fit into my truck he got another one of the guys in the yarn to put them on their shop truck and drop them to my house. They've got 4 depots across the country and national accounts, and they did that for 2x sheets of a cash sale..... Anywho, back to making these skins, I'm doing the rear 'barn' door first..... Peeled the original back to the frame... Then after a bunch of measuring (there is a slight taper/narrowing to the top of this skin) I folded the edges over. This is me doing the top edge, my folder isnt quite long enough to do this length but it will do the sides. The cheap alternative is to line your fold up with a straight piece of steel, clamp it to that and then form the break with a soft hammer and a dolly to stop the rest of the sheet curving back. In doing this I did stretch the fold a bit in the middle which caused a curve (this alloy moves really quick), no problem as will use my kick shrinker to bring it back straight Fold the side edges down on my panbrake and a quick test fit... 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted June 11, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 11, 2020 And then the bottom and close to done... I have a friend who runs a profile cutting business, I'm going to get them to cut a shape out in 1/4" steel for me to use as a hammerform to bend the flange around the door handle correctly. Had a bit of a play with the profile to make the side doors. The 'hip' line profile is pretty straight forward, I'm going to use the cut tubing from the bullbar I took off this thing to make a pipe anvil. Plus think I'll make a wider panbrake out of angle, it will make this all alot easier. I posted on one of the FB pages that I was making these and if anyone wanted some if I made extras. Got responses totalling ~20 skins (way more than I expected) so it looks like I may end up being in the repro business.... 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted June 28, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted June 28, 2020 Been a little quiet on the LR front.... Been gearing up with some homebuilt tools to manufacture these door skins, I have a bunch of interest from others who want me to make skins, including someone who has just purchased a Forward Control S2 - they are a unique door to that model which should be interesting. Anywho, made a 'mini' door just to confirm my steps. The door handle opening was done by making a hammerform from a 1/2" plate cut to the correct shape, I radiused the edge on it so it would give me the right kind of 'roll over'. Currently have made these from 1200-H14 but might try and get something stiffer next time which will help with dent resistance. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted July 12, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 Bit more time in the shed. Got these skins knocked out. Hammerform approach worked really well. Would ideally have access to slip rolls to do the radius a little bit better (and a nicer folder) but got there in the end... Will drop the frames off at the blaster, still alot of work in the back doors 31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted July 16, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 16, 2020 I'm sure most of this is boring as hell but it might help 1/100... The rear doors in these are notorious for rotting out... which means they are extremely difficult to find decent ones second had and the new reproductions are orribly expensive... I've cut that whole section away (all of these frames are going to the blasters). This little section is the cause of all of the problem. There are drain channels here (which look like an engineering afterthought) which get clogged with crud and rust out into nothingness, then you get water in the frame an the whole lot rots out. I will be making new drain channels . I'm not going to reskin these front doors, they are ok enough, I did however spend some time taking the dings out where I can (the ones hidden by the frame can stay there...). Working alluminium is SO nice, it moves so easily and files out well... 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzstato Posted July 19, 2020 Author Share Posted July 19, 2020 Have transfer box #3 to see if this one is any good. Later suffix D (Barry points there...). After cleaning all the crud off it this one turned into a minter, didnt bother pulling the shaft/bearings as other than a little bit of spline wear (I really cant be choosey at this point..)looked in great nick. Got it all mounted back in, new gaskets/orings etc, all went reasonably well 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted July 20, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 20, 2020 Lining up another batch of these skins for people who want them.... have all of my steps pretty well sorted but thinking of getting a smaller radius setup on my pipe anvil 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted July 27, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 27, 2020 I am now 'Facebook Page Guy' 12 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted August 2, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 2, 2020 Try as I might I just couldnt get the lower quarter right, its just far too stretched and hollowed to come right again. Annoyed me so much I cut it out and started alloy welding a replacement in. Welding this burmabright isnt the easiest thing in the world, got 2/3 of the way through and ran out of gas. The fuel tank has a lead it it when the level is over 1/3 tracked it down to a section where the seam was separating. Took it into my glassblowing shop to repair, way easier to use the gas torches already set up there. I sent the second row doors and the rear barn door away for sandblasting. When you go to pick them up and they say "you've got your work cut out for you..." you know you are in for a treat.... Pretty much the entire upper box channel which starts from the window channel is gone (both sides) from those blasted drains. Decided not to much around and make it from scratch.... I really wish I had a wider folder good enough to do this kind of thing (save the $$$) as I'm having to make the channels in 2x sections... 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted August 24, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 24, 2020 Getting there, first lot of pics update.... The alloy at the side of the seat box was cracked corroded.... folded up a new section, did I say I'm a fan of clecos...? Also the bottom of the battery box had some small rot which I fixed. The drivers side doesnt have any factory underseat storage (since in the SWB the fuel tank sits under there) so I folled some more sections up to create some space. Perhaps for a small diesel heater in the future... 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted August 25, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 25, 2020 Going back a few steps, I couldnt for the life of me get the hollow out of the rear of the tub, just too much damage/stretch with my limited skillset. I bit the bullet and chopped it out for a new piece. Welding alluminium (especially thin stuff) is a new thing for me, bit of a learning curve compared to steel - way less forgiving. Its an ok job in the end, maybe a bite the bullet and use a skim of filler. As I was welding (flat panels are a pain like this) it was pulling the weld high and recreating the hollow, a quick spray of water cools it and pulls the panel tight again. 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted August 30, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 30, 2020 Quick job to get these frames sprayed with epoxy. Using a kit from United paints, suits me well and good $ point. Going to drop into Bunnings today to get some seam sealer but doing any final tweaks to get the skins laying right. I've kept all of the old skins I've pulled off as they make handy patterns for making replacement skins - still making sets for people as I get enquiries. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted September 6, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 6, 2020 Got the rest of the skins on, not 100% perfect but good enough for a LR and making these from scratch I was suggested to use an etch on the alloy. Its quite thin and transparent so was hard to see if I was laying enough on but seemed to work out ok.. And some epoxy to cover it all up... 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted September 15, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 15, 2020 More painting.... pretty much decided not to bother with any filler. It can rock its history with pride 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzstato Posted October 18, 2020 Author Share Posted October 18, 2020 Still plugging away but have been a bit slow... Roof has been stripped and I've fixed up a few holes and redone some of the rivets Its pretty tight in my single garage now... am working on the cab sides to mount fixed glass rather than the original sliders. Resoldered on the fuel gauge and cut some new gaskets. Need to fix it back into the chassis so I can drive it round into the shed and start mounting up some of these body panels. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted November 26, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 26, 2020 Been a bit slow but painting isn't all that interesting.... Have all the major panels in epoxy now... Still making more of these skins, been surprised how popular they are, even sending a set to ozzy this week. 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted December 3, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 3, 2020 Shot some colour last night... super happy with the tone it comes out with. 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted December 7, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 7, 2020 Got my dad to help me pull this round into my shed so I can start assembly - this ended up being alot easier than I anticipated.... You'll see in previous pics I had the tub hanging by the rafters with some rachet straps, sketch but quite effective. Its not too heavy, just bulky so again was straight forward to get into position. The frame/tub which I straightened more or less by eye looks to have lined up well, or no different than it would have left the factory.... Also loosely positioned the tub sides to get them out of the way more than anything... Was able to get the fuel tank mounted up before everything was set into place no problem... Planning to replace alot of the bolts with new metric so should start getting everything together pretty soon... 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post nzstato Posted December 13, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 13, 2020 Gave the gearbox a lil clean and made a new gasket for the top cover (it never had one). The selector mech is still a bit sloppier than I'd like it but tough to make it much better with the current set up. Got alot of the sills/box bolted in. These dog legs are notorious for rotting out at the bottom (exposed to mud from the rear wheel). Got most of a repair done and checked the fitment. The b-pillars arent quite where they need to be so may need to be cut/re-welded. I'd love to replace the whole sill/b-pillar but at 3K plus shipping a side that isnt going to fly.... 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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