Winnie Hornet Restoration

That's really good work, well done.

keep going - eventually you get past the stage where for every hole you fill, you find two more, then it's all plain sailing!

Thanks for your kind words guys, did a bit more today some more lead to gie it more layers then smoothed over.[img][/img][img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]

Did you weld the repair piece in place and then filled the edges with lead, or did you solder the piece on ?

I think that soldering panels on a car is not as strong as welding, as you add the soldering metal but don't melt the steel to form a join. A quick search on the net shows that the process of hard soldering is a lot more complicated to do properly. So my advice is to weld all repairs, especially in structural areas of the shell.

CMC wrote:Did you weld the repair piece in place and then filled the edges with lead, or did you solder the piece on ?

I think that soldering panels on a car is not as strong as welding, as you add the soldering metal but don't melt the steel to form a join. A quick search on the net shows that the process of hard soldering is a lot more complicated to do properly. So my advice is to weld all repairs, especially in structural areas of the shell.

Actually I'd love to be able to weld, I'm looking for money to buy a welder so before I can I use silver solder, brazing the piece in first then filled the gaps with the lead for a good finish, if done properly it's as good as welding using the conventional method this method was used in the olden days.

Today I decapitated winnies roof. I have left 1" of the old roof to keep the rigidity and give me more material to mate the new roof with.
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Next I will clean and smooth the edge of the new roof then shape it and straighten it for a nice fit ready for welding

Poor Winnie! Topless photos on the Internet! :p
Seriously though, amazing work!!

Coco_ChanElf wrote:Poor Winnie! Topless photos on the Internet! :p
Seriously though, amazing work!!

Yes I know she looks quite poorly right now but she will shine in the end. Thanks for your comments.

Coco_ChanElf wrote:Poor Winnie! Topless photos on the Internet! :p
Seriously though, amazing work!!

Hey Robin,

Why did you part with this?

Hey Johnny, It's due to my change in circumstances, I'm not around much these days and sadly have to use my money wisely on more important things in life, it was sad but thats life.

sorry to hear that mate.
Do you have another elf/hornet?

The car has changed hands again and is now safely tucked away with me

That's so cool, I was thinking we'd never hear from Winnie again

Oh excellent mate, I'm glad it has gone to the right person take care of her.In fact since all the work has been documented here, you can undo all the bad work that has been done so far and start a fresh. No I dont have another one and the next time I have disposable dosh I'll buy a complete one which I can drive around without trouble. Good luck budd.

Winnie is now a bare shell and ready for cutting and chopping for new panels.

Pictures soon

Cant wait to see pictures Jonny, I came across two rear lights and rear quarter glass in my garage which belong with winnie. You may call me on 07894342041.

UPDATE:

The Hornets now called "redhorn".

Well after looking at the welding that you had done by a garage I decided the whole lot had to go. Its the worst garage repair I have ever seen and there is no foresight in how he was ever going to complete it... If that was his intention?

I'm not going to say I'm the best at anything but if I think its bad then its REALLY BAD!

Robin, you should get your money back mate!

The car now has a new roof and the shoddy welding is coming out. Not much car left in structural areas

I would also like to ask why on earth the welder cut a new heel board up and only fitted a section in under the rear seat? It was welded to the old rotten heel board meaning it does absolutely diddly squat! lol not only that he had left the rotten mounting areas in too!

Let the horror unfold....

The inside looks iffy but on first glance look acceptable..


Then the idiocy unfolds...


Yes, he really has welded new metal direct to the rust thats falling off the car... how the hell is that supposed to hold any weight?


The front floor pans were over old rotten sections of metal and about 1 3/4 inch too high so they had to come out,


The on to the rear repairs, these mostly pulled off by hand.






More soon

I see what you mean man. That is shocking work, expected from an amateur bodger but not from a garage taking money for they work. Name and shame to protect others please!

At least you're going about it the right way. I would have commented on the roof, having done one myself, but I guess you've sorted that properly too. When I did mine I cut just inside the seam as shown, but then ground away all traces of old roof. Welding a new one it is a tricky job, easier with a spot welder but I only had a MIG when I did mine - dressing the weld smooth took ages!

I feel so sorry for Robin having sunk effort and money into her and having had bad repairs. This is the sort of thing I fear would happen to me because I am so naive about cars. Luckily Coco hasn't needed anything structural yet!!

Will continue to watch progress with interest!

asahartz wrote:I see what you mean man. That is shocking work, expected from an amateur bodger but not from a garage taking money for they work. Name and shame to protect others please!

At least you're going about it the right way. I would have commented on the roof, having done one myself, but I guess you've sorted that properly too. When I did mine I cut just inside the seam as shown, but then ground away all traces of old roof. Welding a new one it is a tricky job, easier with a spot welder but I only had a MIG when I did mine - dressing the weld smooth took ages!

Unfortunately the remaining section has alot of rot too so was completely removed into the pillars.
The pillars were staggered and joined is the same way a roof chop is done.
She now has a MK4 roof as I could not get an earlier one. The rear window section was fun to get right as this is different from the later cars. I will get some picture of this soon.

Thanks for getting in touch

Coco_ChanElf wrote:I feel so sorry for Robin having sunk effort and money into her and having had bad repairs. This is the sort of thing I fear would happen to me because I am so naive about cars. Luckily Coco hasn't needed anything structural yet!!

Will continue to watch progress with interest!

Me too, He is a really nice guy and I met him years ago when he got winnies/redhorn's interior from me.

Its shocking that a garage would do this, and not only that but a garage who states that they know mini and classic cars!

Thanks for watching and I will get more posted up soon

Johnnypoopoopants wrote:

asahartz wrote:I see what you mean man. That is shocking work, expected from an amateur bodger but not from a garage taking money for they work. Name and shame to protect others please!

At least you're going about it the right way. I would have commented on the roof, having done one myself, but I guess you've sorted that properly too. When I did mine I cut just inside the seam as shown, but then ground away all traces of old roof. Welding a new one it is a tricky job, easier with a spot welder but I only had a MIG when I did mine - dressing the weld smooth took ages!

Unfortunately the remaining section has alot of rot too so was completely removed into the pillars.
The pillars were staggered and joined is the same way a roof chop is done.
She now has a MK4 roof as I could not get an earlier one. The rear window section was fun to get right as this is different from the later cars. I will get some picture of this soon.

Thanks for getting in touch

Wow - that's real commitment! I fitted a used Mk3 roof from a donor Clubman in mine. I know what you mean about the rear window, just done a similar job in replacing a rotted frame top and cant rail with a section from a donor car on a Clubby. Takes a lot of aligning and it's tricky to dress the welds. The spot welder was useful for the roof join!

I have looked for your build threads but cannot find them, can you link me please?

Spot welding is best but unfortunately in this case its no available

Remember this picture?



Here are close up shots of the structural welding carried out around the subframe mounting areas. Shocking.

finally i see some welding that's worse than mine!

hope things improve...

Johnnypoopoopants wrote:I have looked for your build threads but cannot find them, can you link me please?

I don't think I put them on the forums - it was before the days of forum! They're on my website here and here.