Triumph Spitfire Metal Work #7 - Bonnet Repairs Complete

Well, I hope they are complete. Should be...mostly...sorta...

With most of the preparatory repair patches done and the POR-15 now dry, this visit was dedicated to getting everything welded back in. It was going to be a shorter visit than normal for a weekend, but I got everything done that I wanted to.

First, I went at the bonnet patches on the two front portions of the bonnet. Nothing too complicated here, since they had already been test fit and the wheel arch portions already done.

Passenger's side welded in.

I didn't completely grind the welds smooth on anything because I didn't want to go to deep and flatten the area out like I had on some spots on the doors. Hopefully this will give me a good area to get the filler applied and not have to use too much of it.

Passenger's side mostly cleaned up.

The driver's side, having come out in two parts, was a bit more tricky to get lined up, but it went in fine.

Part one...

...and part two.

All cleaned up.

I also had a couple of cracks to attend to. I drilled a small (1/16") hole at the termination of each crack to prevent it from further spreading. If you don't do this, even if you weld it up, the metal will continue to crack until you relieve the stress by drilling the hole.

Passenger's bonnet latch cracks, holes drilled.

Passenger's bottom edge crack.

This is just forward of the latch area.Once the holes were drilled, I ran a light weld bead over them and ground it all most of the way smooth.

Next was the rear wing portion of the passenger's side. This was a bit more complicated as I had cut out a sizeable portion of the wheel arch to gain good access for repairs. When I did this, the bonnet sprung a bit as well, so I was concerned on getting it back to the same general area so that I wouldn't have alignment and gap issues when it was time to put it all back together. Only time will tell if I made the right choice, I guess.

Out of an abundance of caution, I also decided to clamp in the bonnet locating cone bracket assembly to help with any flex that might be introduced by it being installed. I didn't want to find that welding in the arch improperly resulted in not being able to get the bracket assembly welded in, so I clamped the whole mess in at the same time, then got to welding in the arch.

Clamping in the wheel arch.

Same shot, different angle.

Same shot, different angle.

Grinding it all down was a bit painful due to the limited access on the inside.With that done, I moved on to welding in the bonnet located bracket assembly. I cleaned up the POR-15 that wasn't covered by metal to prevent adhesion problems when I apply the epoxy primer (they don't get along). I clamped it all up, got the plug weld holes cleaned, and went to town.

Strengthener clamped and ready for the top plug weld.

The spider of clamps.

The spider of clamps.

Once it was all welded in and solid, I used my Harbor Freight Door Skin Repair Kit hammer and dolly to fold over the seam. This hammer is nice because it has a wide, but thin, face made for this purpose. I regret not recording it because it worked out pretty well. I also need to do two spot welds near the top and bottom of the assembly (it was brazed from the factory) but I forgot to get this done before I left.

Seam folded over.

That was about it for that day. I also got the wheel arch support welded in (I mention it the video but forgot to take pics) now that I was sure that I wouldn't be removing it. Next visit I'll get those two spot welds in and then go from there. Cheers!