Time lapse full metal Broadspeed GT restoration/transformation

[morris-miner]

He's an artist in the truest sense of the word.

[roger mcnab]

hi doc well it is starting to look good and now i can visualize the finished look and it will look great you might get a full order book out of this exercise
cheers roger mcnab

[Dr.Mabo]

Thanks Roger

And the same welding for the other side. The roof panel is now a lot more difficult to handle. To get a smooth surface I wheeled the roof panel in the English Wheel several times. Finally I did some planishing with hammer and dolly.

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[mk1]

Doc, Your posts always make it look so damn easy

[Dr.Mabo]

Hi Mark,

to be honest, it not only looks easy, it even feels that way form me The main difference is actually only a good and precise plan how to cut the elephant in slices. Then every complex project seems simple. Eventually my planning period took several years

[UHR850]

I am thinking you must be a 1000.000 if you can do things like that.

Kees.

[Dr.Mabo]

The roof panel is ready to get back on the body. I trimmed the front edge and both sides so that they fit the frame of the windscreen and door/quarter light frames exactly. As on all the other welds, I want to butt weld the roof panel all around without adding any welding rod. So it needs perfect preparation on all sides.

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In the first run I just tacked the panel all around. I started in the middle of the front screen frame and continued stepwise to the left and right, then to the sides until the roof panel was fully connected to the body. This took me already several hours because it was a permanent change between tacking, planishing, tacking and planishing. In between I didn’t took photos.

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[GraemeC]

Amazing work - I struggle to make a patch look neat!

[mk1]

Eventually my planning period took several years.

I don't doubt that! But your planning was worth every second!

[Prooij]

Incredible! Really enjoying this thread, your approach to do this kind of work is inspiring.

I also see some wood the create the rear quarter, seems me quite tricky to make (to keep all lines/contours right)!

[morris-miner]

Stunning craftsmanship once again, hats off to you sir.

[hanlminiman]

Coachbuilding skills R U. Fantastic thread.

[Dr.Mabo]

I'm impressed again about all your positiv feedback thanks

In the second run I fully welded the roof to the body. Again I started in the middle of the front screen frame. Luckily there was not much planishing necessary after the final weld.
This is how the butt weld looks like directly after welding. Later I just used a wire brush to clean up the weld.

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As it is quite difficult to align three differently curved panels to form one smooth roof edge, I just cut it out. I formed a patch which fits exactly into the cutout and MAG welded it. I quickly regretted the decision to use MAG welding because I had to re-weld some spots, some of them not just once. Either I grinded through again and again while forming the smooth edge or the weld spots did not sit properly together. With gas welding it would have been a lot easier because the weld can be shaped with little effort and apart of this the welding area is better accessible from the rear as I thought.

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[InnoCooperExport]

Looking fantastic Doc! Loving the approach of slicing the elephant. Keep up the good work

[mk1]

More great progress!

[roger mcnab]

hi doc
those compound curves are a pain in the butt i remember them well from when i was a apprentice carriage builder the timber carriages that we worked on had compound curves on the roof corners and if it did not look right do it again
you are doing a great job should look a picture when finished
cheers roger

[Dr.Mabo]

Parallel to the roof build I took care about the rear end. You may notice the missing roof panel on these photos. First I had to find the correct position of the rear panel. To measure and recheck the correct distance of the rear panel and the body I placed a string on each B-post. I marked them with red paint for the correct dimension. This allows me to check the rear panel distance permanently by just checking if the red dot on the string still correspondents with the rear edge.

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With the parallel and centered position I just had to fill the “gap” between quarter panels and the rear panel. To create a nice flow in the side line and to continue the slight curve of the quarter panel I used a Contour Gauge. Therefore I marked the quarter panel and the rear panel side in 5 cm steps. I took the contour of every step and transferred it to a wooden panel. By the way, the wooden panels are the old ceiling panels of my freshly renovated kitchen. To build symmetrical bucks on both sides I cut out both panels at the same time. The important part was to number them immediately after cutting. Then I just cut out the fillers in between and glued and screwed the bucks together. Ready are the bucks.

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[mk1]

Oh how I wish I had 1/3 of your ability

Great work & inspiration for us mere mortal members

[spraybeateer]

Always good to look in on this build! amazing job and skills!!
Nice gas welding,
From an old body repair man, well done.

[Cole Liggett]

The Doc should start a Patreon account. I would pay a subscription to keep the updates coming.