Front panel to wing joint - bolt or weld?

[cbr600]

Just got Roger Williams book on restoration (£11.99 good deal!!), but one or two points bother me.

He states that the front panel to wing joint should be seam welded & a false seam chased in the filler, similarly with the rear deck to wing.

These are bolt together joints so surely only need proper application of primer/paint/seam sealer etc prior to bolting together? Anyone any thoughts or experience on this??

Thanks

chris

[samco]

If you consider that the panels were painted from new and yet within 5 years nearly all TR7s' had rust creeping in those locations. Even if you seal the surface of the car between the two panels the rust normally creeps up from underneath which is much harder to seal. I am in the middle of a restoration and have done the suggested mod and it looks perfect and will never rust again. People often just fill the seam without welding it but because of body movement the filler will eventually fall out. If you do weld do about half an inch at a time or you will get distortion.

[Hasbeen]

Our 280 BHP 8 had the paint cracking on those seams, 6 months after painting by a recommended painter, using 2 pack.

After a truck backed into the front panel, over the bumper, they were redone by a top shop, with extreme care. They lasted about 9 months.

 

We will seam weld them, & repaint the whole car again, in the near future. We will have to find some way of getting rid of the lanolin we have rubbed into the seams, to slow the rust.

 

I have a stock 7, which is used as a daily driver, fairly gently. Its acrylic paint does not crack anywhere near as badly, but it stone chips much worse, so that's no answer, either.

Edited May 30, 2007 by Hasbeen

[chris turner]

We braze the joint, then put in filler level with wing and front panel. We then use a steel ruler to ensure a straight line and grind out the joint 1/8 inch deep. This looks realy good and does not crack. It has been done on 2or 3 of my cars.

[Hasbeen]

Chris, how deep does that braze go?

Do you think it is adding much strength?

Or is it realy only a non-cracking filler?

how much work have your cars done, since the work?

What horse power?

Have you done any other strengthing?

 

I think its the torque of our 4.6L in the 8 that causes some of the problem.

That, & my sons driving.

He can do 3000 Km in a 7 day leave at home. I think he misses the car, when he's away.

The car gets used for some club work, but none off road, & will have done 6 or 8 thousand Km by the time the paint on the seam cracks.

 

I like the idea of your system, as it sounds like it should be easier to get a good finish that way.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Hasbeen

[stuart]

Triumph themselves used to braze a lot of the joints especially on sidescreen cars as this type of join is slightly more flexible than a welded joint and the shell on a sidescreen car does move about quite a lot!!

Stuart.

[Luxembourg Laurence]

On the full body rebuild I just did on my V8, We brazed and then lead-loaded both front and rear wing joints. I wanted a smooth transition (without a seam) ala Grinnal and after 1000 miles on the road, the front wnig joints are fine, but both rear joints have cracked The body shop is not quite sure what to do. On my other cars, the paint on the factory joints always crakced and I filled them with a very fine smear of clear silicone, but it always looked a bit naff, hence the new approach. The body shop guy was talking about a flexible filler, but I'm worried the (water based) paint will crack again.

 

Sorry no solutions but I share your pain.

 

PS car is a DHC with a roll hoop - great mod, really stiffens things up...