openinverter forum

I was quite busy the last days and did more work tackling the rust and reassembling all the parts.

First the new subframe bushings got pressed in with my Subframe Bushing Tool (https://www.printables.com/model/634138 ... shing-tool). This tool makes it really easy while it would be a MAJOR struggle otherwise. However after eight bushings, the threaded rod was done. You can see how the threads are curled to the left.
Next up was the steering. In order to make a 180° turn I bought some additional fittings. Also the return line is M18 not M16, so we needed some adapters too. The inner and outer tie rods were replaced and the steering rack got a lick of paint. It will rust again, but that's okay. The passenger side inner wheel wells are done now and received their third and final coat of paint. The drivers side needed some more attention, so they are lagging behind a bit, but that's for the next post...

As discussed previously, there is a rust hole in the rear wheel well on the drivers side. Unfortunately the metal around it was quite thin as well, so the small hole requires a rather large patch.
A friend of mine gave me a piece of DC04 sheet metal, which is very bendable. So with a new set of hammers and dollies (Chinas finest), we got to work: First the old metal had to come out. This was rather tricky because it's such a confined space. For a normal angle grinder, there was not enough space to make most of the cuts. The Dremel was fine for this application, but I only had some crappy cutting discs and used up like 20 pieces...
As you can see, the inner metal structure is fortunately in excellent condition, so there is no need to repair it. To make a metal patch, I first created a paper template that fits exactly into the spot. This was a bit tricky because there is a bit of a depression in the metal which obviously does not transfer to the paper. To compensate for this, the metal was cut out with ~1cm more "meat" on the circumference.
So anyway I started blasting.
In the first two pictures you can see the outer edge where the additional material was left and the third picture is the final patch in it's position.
The metal looks a bit rough because the hammer and dolly set is really missing a hammer with a ball end. Also you can see the result of the depression in the metal, on the lower edge there is a bit of a wave where too much material is present. This wave was cut off though, so it didn't really matter.
A better approach would've been to use a bead roller to create the step and perhaps shrink the metal a bit.
I even have a bead roller and shrinker, but I didn't feel like setting everything up
The next step was cleaning off the Machinists Blue and drilling the holes for the spot welds. The red primer is weld-through primer, but it doesn't weld great, so I cleaned the spot weld holes and the outside edge up.
The welds don't look great in some areas, however the metal was quite thin on the right side and it blew holes instantly, so there's a bit of material excess. Nevertheless I have no doubts that it's stable and durable again.

The welds got covered with seam sealer and the rest of the wheel well was cleaned and painted with Brantho Korrux 3in1. The seam sealer will be painted tomorrow when it is (at least mostly) cured. The rear brakes also got assembled and adjusted, so the rear of the car is mostly done. Mostly because I need new shocks and bump stops and the rear brake hoses have to be changed, but that will be done once I can move the car to the lift.
The front subframe was reassembled as well with the new sway bar and the steering box and bolted back to the vehicle. For now the bolts are still lose, but at least it's back in. The next steps will be reassembling the front suspension so I can get the car off the jackstands and on my lift. Then I can install the motor and gearbox and prepare for a first drive. Maybe
The coupler has to be made and the adapter plates have to be finalized before that happens though.