Re: Larry's 1951 Club Sedan Project

Posted by Larry51 On 2010/1/17 7:10:53
Now I am experiencing a more positive feeling about the project, because I am fairly advanced with the initial stages of a full bare-metal restoration.

Here are just a few shots of how the car looked several months ago, around September 2009. My biggest problem (as most 24th series owners would agree) is the considerable rust in rear floors, in sills and rear mudguards (fenders).

The car, before any bodywork was started . . .

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Reasonably bad rust in the rear floors, adjacent to the Coupe rear windows. This is a known problem, there is a manufacturers kit which was retrofitted to Club Sedans to reduce the ingress of water. See Section XIX of the Service Manual (Fig. 65 relates).

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Here is a mystery hole - This square opening has been cut into the LH side of the transmission tunnel, and I don't know why. (The other rounded hole was apparently cut by previous owner to mount body on a rotisserie). I have had it covered and welded so am hoping it was just a 'short cut' someone created to get to a linkage etc. If I need to 'reopen' it I can do so.

If anyone has an idea as to why it was put there then I'd appreciate your thoughts!

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Here the car is loaded and ready to go off to be blasted. The drivers side quarter panel rust can be seen here, it is about as bad as on the passenger side (RHD car).

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I had considered chemical stripping, that would have been nice to do, but the cost is high. The company I spoke with said they could not fit the entire shell into their tank, nor the chassis (frame).

Also, I would have needed to transport the car a considerable distance. After a lot of head-scratching and getting opinions from people, I chose blasting, but not of the turret, boot lid (trunk lid), guards and doors. All these I have manually stripped using paint stripper and stripper discs.

I had many bits and pieces blasted, including wheels, brake drums, petrol tank. The chassis (frame) was done separately.

Body and frame were media blasted and primed (excepting front fenders, hood and trunk lid, which were chemically stripped and cleaned to avoid any risk of distortion).

Here the chassis is loaded and ready to be blasted. Close-up of the finish achieved.

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Special trolley made up to sit the body on while it is repaired. This has proven invaluable, as I can proceed with work on the chassis while the body is being repaired.

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Here are some views of the body, mounted on the 'trolley' I made for it, and ready for repairs at the metalworker's shed.

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