Inner wing patch thickness?

[g2k]

Puma failed its MOT for rusty rear brake hole ferrules, 30 minute job I thought.......NO :-( . When trying to get the flexi hose seperated from the brake line, I discovered, behind that rubber carpet, a hand sized hole in the inner wing(s) immediately around the brake hose bracket extending down then along about 30cm at the bottom where it joins the chassis (the chassis is fine). I think the thickness of this is somewhere between 1-1.5mm, is this correct, what are peoples' experiences?

 

[TylerB]

I think it's around 1-1,5 mm but not sure. A hand sized hole, that sounds not good -_-
Will need welding in any case. Some pics would be better to see how bad it is. Also it would be wise to check other places on the car too, if it is so badly rust out there there is a fair chance it is not the only spot in need of welding.. Grtz

 

[g2k]

The second was after a bit of a cleanup, the first was as discovered. I have a mig welder and am reasonable with it, just have no sheet steel where I currently live, the only place that sells it that's open tomorrow go up to 0.75mm so I'll have to wait til Tuesday. I think the other side is a bit manky but not quite so bad, the rest is fine, the thing only failed its MOT because of brake hose ferrules :x they obviously missed that because it was behind the carpet.

 

[redexr]

I've welded up and restored a few cars over the years and you must use steel of the same thickness really to maintain the strength, although I doubt you'll ever find an expert to prove your thinner repair is inadequate, Using same or slightly thicker metal will also make welding much easier as thin stuff is easy to blow holes in. I've used old electric storage heater front covers to good effect in the past.....I invented the Fiesta Dimplex :roll: but it only works between midnight and 7 am, and runs out of heat about 1pm :lol:

 

[TylerB]

You'll have to cut out even more but I guess you know that. I did mine with 9mm steel, is perfect for bending and knocking it in the right shape once you are welding it on. It's more then strong enough too for this place, going bigger is not necessary i think. If this is the only MOT fail it's not that bad

 

[g2k]

9mm, surely a typo :wink: This is an MOT pass, they never saw it, it failed on the brake hoses :lol:

 

[TylerB]

Sorry, should be 0,9 mm offcourse

 

[tuonokid]

This is a common place for the Puma to rot and is of normal body thickness steel so about 0.9 sounds right. Unfortunately it joins onto the chassis rail on it's bottom flange (where it rots) and as the two elements are of a different thickness of steel the best way to repair it is to cut out what is rotten, right way down to the bottom flange and then make your patch to suit, drill holes through the bottom of the patch, plug weld onto the chassis rails through the holes and then weld the rest of the patch on as you normally would. With my MIG I would use power setting one for the patch and power setting two for the plug welds as the chassis is thicker.
Barry

 

[g2k]

Thanks for the help, have some 0.9 ready, just need my mig regulator to turn up then I can start. The lip on the floorpan is also rotten, which is a massive PITA, I don't think it's gone inwards yet (fingers crossed). It's not quite as bad as this, but not far off: http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=29365&p=349421&hilit=rust+floorpan#p349421

 

[g2k]

Quick update; MOT passed, puma is on the road for another year, thanks guys. Though after grovelling underneath it for several hours and seeing the state of the underside, it'll need a full restoration within a couple of years.

 

[TylerB]

[post]356343[/post] Quick update; MOT passed, puma is on the road for another year, thanks guys. Though after grovelling underneath it for several hours and seeing the state of the underside, it'll need a full restoration within a couple of years.

Now this is what we're doing it for, helping each other. I would consider a full restoration asap because rust might get a LOT further within a couple of years.