Advice re wing fitting please....

[Chilliman]

Morning folks, just doing some overdue body work and replacing front offside inner wing. Having removed the outer wing can anyone tell me if this is the correct way to fit the wing filler piece (850458)?

Some of the things I have found have caused me to question some previous work and if this is correct I'm going to have some serious remodeling to do with the new inner wing at the front end to match the filler panel on one side and the headlight panel on the other....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[boxofbits]

Hi John

 

Firstly I wondered what the profile of the front edge of the new inner wing is like ? Presumably, both panels are not OEM so either could be out.

 

You might be able to drill out the spot welds on the old filler panel, and then make a comparison. If it's the filler panel which is incorrect, it has no real inherent stiffness, so you should be able to modify it quite easily once you establish which panel is at fault?

 

Regards

 

Kevin

[Rob Salisbury]

Hi John, I've just completed this job on my nearside wing so I know how vaguely the available filler panels resemble the originals, however if you take a datum point of the front fixing hole on the wing and attach the filler to the wing using that point once the wing is being bolted on the filler pulls into the required shape quite nicely, (I put in and extra fixing towards the top of the filler), longer bolts help initially which you can then replace once everything has bent into shape.

Cheers Rob

[stuart]

The repro filler section isnt close and they never have been. You need to offer it to your front panel and fit the grill then you can work out which way it needs to go then fit it to the wing and then trial fit the wing (Several times!) Then stand back and curse the difference in clearance between the end of the grill and the wing being totally different each side The apply lots of lead until your happy!.

Stuart.

 

[bob-menhennett]

Stuart,

When we see pictures of your work , we amateur bodywork guys have a long gentle wistful sigh and reflect that one day , if we're really , really lucky we might get somewhere close to your standard of workmanship.

Then reality kicks in and we think again ... no chance !!

You're a Gentleman, Sir and one with a spirit of true generosity , sharing your knowledge with us mere mortals. Thank you.

Bob

[LGFromage]

John,

 

You may find it easier to cut the gutters off the old and new panels and then weld the new to the old. When doing mine I made a tool to hold a short piece of broken hacksaw blade which made a cut parallel to the top surface of the inner wing/gutter and about an inch and a bit below it. A long mig weld then joined the two bits together for a nice tidy job. If you are interested I probably still have the tool which you would be welcome to have.

 

Tim

[Chilliman]

Thanks Tim - the gutter on the new one actually seams to be one of the few bits that are okay..!

 

Thanks Stuart - I had a couple of problem areas- the new inner wing and the new filler section! - I've overcome the filler section problem

 

by cutting the original filler section free from the old wing and repairing it - what a massive difference between the shape of the new and the original, especially the 'offset'

 

My next big job is to cut and reshape the front of the new inner wing which is nowhere near the shape required to get this lot to come together right on the front end

 

Do you lead load the inside face of the wing and filler panel as well to make a niece smooth inner face where it surrounds the grill?

 

I have a feeling the new wing will be on and off many times before I'm happy with the result.

 

 

 

 

 

[stuart]

I tend to try and leave the step to the filler panel visible (obviously seam seal both the inside and outside to protect)

Stuart.

 

[Chilliman]

Stuart - you're a star - thank you..