Rear bulkhead - nearside - Part 4

This repair is a bit of a milestone, really. It sounds silly given that the restoration has such a long was to go, but to my mind it is a minor landmark. Why? Because the area currently being fixed is the last hidden bit; the final repair that nobody will see - it is the last bit requiring me to make areas from my stock of steel and create sections that roughly follow the original curves of the car, which nobody will ever appreciate other than an MOT inspector. From here it is all new outer panels, like rear wings and the rear lamp section - lovely, big, thick panels that everyone will see, metal to metal with no homemade interpretations and all as BL nature intended.

But for today, it was all about breaking the back of the area around the rear bulkhead and trailing arms. This little project has also given me a lift, because I was actually dreading the work to come. To recap, it had been patched up with great thick wads of steel, strongly welded right over frilly bits of original TR7. Everything about it was horrible, especially as the area is a mass of structurally vital twists and turns. I could not repair anything that was present - it all had to come out, in a reversal of the assembly at the factory.



This was AFTER I had cut away the previous repair panels. Here you can see what remains of the original panelwork. Don't forget that the suspension trailing arms all connect under here . It is a pretty important area - see the pic below which shows the view through the other side, after the grot had been cut out.

 

This is about where we were in Part 3 - the grot cut away and a trial fitting of the left hand inner trailing arm repair panel (under the clamp).

After welding in the new floor repair panel a few weeks ago, today was all about getting started on putting some strength back in to the upper area. First, I prepared the left-hand side trailing arm repair panel and secured it in place with a self-tapper and some clamps. After some satisfying sizzling noises from the MIG, it was looking very good.

That left the hole above it (which I will do another day) and the remainder of the bulkead area. I made a repair panel for the latter from two sections of steel, which I shaped and cut to fit and then spot welded together. It could have been MIG welded, but I hadn't used the spotter in ages and just needed to have a go with it.

First the lower section was offered up...

...then the upper.

After lots of trimming, cutting and fiddling to make everything line up, I grabbed the MIG and started to weld.

The results again were pleasing, with nice, strong and smooth welds replacing Dot Cotton's attempts of yesteryear. The only bits left to do are (a) bridge the rather large gap on the upper right edge of the lower panel (see below), (b) make an extension panel for the left-hand inner trailing arm section, to bridge the remaining hole (again, see below) and (c) flip the car and just do a spot of remdial welding underneath, where the various bits all meet up (new repair areas, trailing arm mounts and floor).

Okay, so I got carried away in the introduction as there is still a bit to do finishing this area. But mentally I have finished it, as all that remains are the tasks listed above and the final boring bits, like grinding down the welds, painting with zinc-rich primer and seam sealing.

Next stop (in a few stations time)... replacing the nearside rear wing. But I mustn't get ahead of myself as there is still a bit to do.

Next stop, the rear wing replacement. Cool.