Next project- 1965 Austin Cooper 1275 S

[Gary Schulz]

I may try to weld on two new bottoms to the subframe but it will be a challenge separating the old metal without destroying the vertical pieces. I would like to be able to make it look original in the process so I would need to come up with a way to stamp MOWOG into the bottom! I think the actual material is around 0.062" thick so it may be a bit challenging to cut to the exact required shape...

Are there any new production wet subframes that are decent?

[Gary Schulz]

I was wondering if someone who is working with a straight shell could make a few measurements for me. I am looking to compare the dimensions of this fine example in three areas around the doors. The first is the outside dimension across the flanges at the cross member-

20201022_120511.jpg

Next is the dimension at the "knee" of the curve at the bottom front as shown in the following picture-

20201022_120744.jpg

And finally at the top of the dash-

20201022_120704.jpg

All measurements should be referenced to the outside surfaces of the weatherstrip flanges.

Thanks for any help...

[1071bob]

Always worth trying to restore the original subframe. Mine stated off with some rust holes in the lower plate so I cut it back to clean metal, I managed to save the MOWOG stampings and welded them into the new panels. I had to repair one of the vertical sections as well. I made my own panels but I think Magnum do a full length repair section.

[AndyPen]

AS ever - such impressive work Bob!

[Ronnie]

Link here on subframe repair (and more) been on the forum before > https://www.pakwheels.com/forums/t/proj ... /109834/62

[Gary Schulz]

Indeed nice work on the rear subframe Bob.

Any chance I could get someone to confirm those dimensions I mentioned above?

[1071bob]

In the order of your pictures :-
50 inches
50 inches
45.5 inches

[Gary Schulz]

Thank you Bob. I am seeing approximately 50 1/8" on the outside surfaces of the door seal flanges. I guess this would be considered a normal fabrication tolerance possibly

[Gary Schulz]

Started pulling out various dents and using my new portapower tool to straighten things up. I have an area on the rear quarter that was pushed in centered on the body seam between the bottom of the quarter and the sill. This area is hidden behind the rear pocket area so can't be pushed out from the inside. Picture makes it look better than it is. This section is dented pretty heavily but the area at the seam is pretty strong so is tricky to pull out.
How would you experts approach this problem?

20201029_161834.jpg

[Craig]

I would use a pinch weld clamp and pull with slide hammer , pulling beam or come along.

[Nick W]

There are quite a few useful tools nowadays, but you could knock up something similar in angle iron, and using a pinch clamp on the seam as Craig sayes.
We did this van without having to strip out the interior fully, saving hour of time

[Gary Schulz]

Looks like nice work but uses welded studs (I think?) to pull on. I guess I will start with a seam clamp and slide hammer but I am afraid it will just tear off the seam!

[Gary Schulz]

I did decide to tackle rebuilding the subframes because I think there is no substitute for the original quality and fit. In the process of cutting out the bad sections and welding in new sheet metal (0.050" thickness appears to be correct).

One quick question arises- are those two holes in the center of the rear cross member supposed to be there? I can't think of what they are for except maybe someone had a center exit exhaust when the car was used in competition?

20201106_114817.jpg

[Gary Schulz]

Starting in on the bodywork and got the FE removed. Both of the engine bay side panels (I don't know what the proper names are for any of these) are really bad. Not rusty but just seriously battered and hacked up. Since the back part of the wheel well is battered at the bottom, does it make sense to replace this whole panel (wheel well and engine bay side panel)?

I fear that removing this is a pretty monumental job and I am concerned about getting it all put back together. Would love to hear your thoughts...

20201201_125154.jpg

20201201_125449.jpg

[Gary Schulz]

I guess I am referring to the replacement of the complete inner wing in the above^^

[GraemeC]

I'm not sure the available repair panels will remove all that battering, and it may make them harder to fit as you'll need to knock it back into the correct shape.
So I suspect you will end up having to buy a complete inner wing and then, looking at some of the previous 'work' at the front of the panel, complete replacement may be the best solution?

[Gary Schulz]

Thanks Graeme. So you would think replacement of the complete inner wing is in order. I am having a very hard time trying to see how the whole thing is welded together. The spot welds don't show up on the flanges very well. Anyone have any pointers to a thread where complete inner wing replacement was documented? I found this one that may help- http://mk1-forum.net/viewtopic.php?f=6& ... nt#p161668

[Gary Schulz]

I am puzzling how to replace the complete inner wing and I was wondering if someone could tell me how to reproduce the spot welds as shown in the center of this picture.

20201202_083619.jpg

It would seem that it is impossible to do spot welds at this point unless the panel shown in the following drawing gets removed. The drawing is a cross section (horizontal cut) of my interpretation of how the inner wing, inner and outer hinge panels, door jamb and inner panel go together. I have never gotten into this level of bodywork so it takes some time to figure out how to replace some of these panels.

20201202_085539.jpg

So I would need to remove that inside panel in order to replicate those spot welds? Probably better to just plug weld it then?

Sorry for all the questions but all this metalwork is a bit intimidating to me.

[Wilder1992]

Yep I believe the inner and outer a panels are spot welded to the inner wings before being assembled to the car with genuine panels. There should be some pictures of original NOS inner wings on this forum that people have used.

Ideas from other builds are always good if they don’t mind me using them as an example. Some great thinking on this forum.

http://mk1-forum.net/viewtopic.php?p=197844#top

Cheers
Jack

[Gary Schulz]

Yep I believe the inner and outer a panels are spot welded to the inner wings before being assembled to the car with genuine panels.

So the trick is to use a hole saw to cut an aperture in that inner panel to fit the electrode through. Good idea.

It is a nasty and ugly job trying to find all these spot welds on the inner wing. Things don't come apart too easily so it gives me an even greater appreciation of the work going on with the restoration of HOY!