I finished the outer B pillar repair today.
Repair piece trimmed down and holes punched for when I fit the middle panel:
Clamped in place:
All welded in and welds ground flush:
And finished with a light coat of etch primer. I’m really happy with this repair.
Next up the C pillar, thus far I’ve cut back to fresh metal and started fabbing repair pieces.
Welded in the B pillar repairs today.
And checked against the outer B pillar. I’ll get that welded in tomorrow.
Made a filler piece to raise the inner sill to the same level as the middle sill. Once I finish the B and C pillars I should be able to get the side panel fitted.
More prep on the O/S today.
Cut out the rot on the inside of the B pillar. Most of the rot is isolated to the bulkhead so I shouldn’t have to make too many repair sections (thankfully).
Made the first of a few repair panels I’ll need:
Trimmed down the O/S closing panel and spent a fair while getting the fit right. I joggled the edge on the new panel which gets tucked under the old panel. The panel has the returns like the original either end so I’ll be able to replicate the spot welds joining it to the B pillar.
A bit of a change from all the chassis work I’ve been doing (it’s not finished yet, but I want to get the O/S bits sorted before I turn my attention to the N/S floor and the delights that the sliding door track and middle sill will offer).
Started grinding the paint off the O/S panel. Found an impressive amount of filler, however the metal underneath is solid.
Drew a straight-line across the panel and committed the cut (I didn’t have to cut quite as high as I originally thought which will save some effort). I’ll come back to this panel once I’ve sorted the B and C pillars.
B pillar condition wasn’t too bad, however the front arches are knackered (which I already knew):
Checked the fit of the B pillar repair against the new arch (it fits better than this picture suggests; the clamps fell off):
And cut the B pillar repair down to size. It still needs a bit of fiddling to get a perfect fit. I’ll then use this to aid me in fabricating the inner bits of the B pillar repair.
