Triumph Spitfire Metal Work #6 - Bonnet #3

Almost caught up! Work continued on the bonnet, still in the repair and preparation phase.

Most of this visit was a continuation of the past visits, fabricating repair patches and getting stuff covered in POR-15. Specifically, I focused on the wheel arch bottoms that required repair. I approached each essentially the same - cut out the outer portion (the bonnet itself) to expose the inner portion (the wheel arch). Then, cut out the damaged wheel arch, patch both it and the bonnet as required, and get the whole area covered in POR-15.

I started with the passenger's front and removed both damaged areas.

Passenger's front with both bonnet and arch cut removed for repairs.

I cut a simple repair patch and fixed the bonnet portion. The wheel arch was in bad shape and I had to make a complete piece vice patching one in.

Bonnet portion is nice and clean compared to the the wheel arch - yuck!

Bonnet repairs started.

I was able to make a replacement piece for the wheel arch, but it was rather painful to bend as it is c-shaped. To make this a bit easier, I did one flat piece and then one 90-degree bend piece and formed them all as I welded them in, checking fit with the repaired bonnet piece.

Wheel arch 90-degree repair piece ready to be welded in.

With that side ready for POR-15, I moved to the driver's side front. This didn't look as bad from the outside, but there was significant pitting on both the bonnet and wheel arch which again required new pieces vice patches.

Bonnet area removed epoxing the pitted wheel arch. Doesn't look too bad, but it was.

The wheel arch didn't look too bad upon initial inspection, but as it is with rust, once I started to clean it up, hunks of rusty metal flaked away, exposing large holes. The backside of the bonnet in that area had lots of dirt and sand caked on it as well as some of the wheel arch stuck to it. Large pits riddled it as well.

Bonnet cut out and slightly cleaned up showing extent of damage

I changed my repair plan for the bonnet in this area mid-stream, but still removed most of the area for repair. I decided to cut a bit more of the bonnet back in this area as the pits on the wheel arch appeared to continue under the bonnet. Luckily, they stopped right in that area and further repair was not required.

I fabricated new wheel arch pieces following the same general method but was able to use a single piece of metal to make the piece as the patch wasn't a full "c" and was easier to bend into shape.

All welded in and ground down.

The step on the the bonnet is where I cut down a bit more. With those wheel arch areas repaired, I painted them and the backs of the bonnet pieces in POR-15 and left them to dry until the next visit.

All painted.