Alfa Surgery, Round 3!

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
02/05/2018 at 13:11 • Filed to: The Alfa Doesn't Have A Tag Yet

Bondo smells really bad when it burns, FYI

More Alfa progress is good Alfa progress. We’ve only been working on it for three weeks, but it already feels like several months of work. Luckily, the repairs are nearing their conclusion.

As part of my “homework” I hit the inner rocker with rust converter, rusty metal primer, and then regular primer. Not a hard job, but someone had to do it.

This Sunday I returned to David’s for round three, the Alfa’s motor mounts becoming increasingly problematic and making for some really weird noises. Whatever, new parts are on the way!

So today was the day! We got to buttoning everything up. Awesome!

We decided despite the damage, cutting out 100% of the outer rocker sounded like an exercise in frustration. As such, we went with cutting it right at one of the inner seams. There is a décor panel that covers this, so even if we weren’t perfect, it is going to be hidden anyway.

Pretty excellent fit.

This went really well, and quickly we had everything tacked in place. This repair panel was AMAZING, and allegedly stamped from the original Pininfarina tooling.

The fender didn’t go as well.

The panel wasn’t as high of quality and we deformed it a bit with the tin snips.

All in all I’d give the rocker a 9/10 and the fender a 7/10. In both cases it is way better than what was there.

Next up, we set the car on fire!

Ok well sort of. David is proper old school and does the majority of his body work with lead. Yes, like the water in Flint. (Too soon?)

Anyway, after watching the process and thinking about it a little, I’m sold. You essentially solder together the welded joints using the lead as both filler and sealer. This has the advantage over bondo, in my mind, in that it seems like with a lead joint water ingress into that joint is essentially impossible, leading to a longer term better fix. With the bondo you never really if it will rot out, but you have to kind of suspect it will.

Next up the lead gets a quick shave (EPA look away).

And then a skim of “finishing putty”. (Fancy Bondo) Next up I’ve got to do a little sanding and then we’re ready for primer

The rest of the day is both (mostly) picture-less and rather uneventful. I cleaned up the chassis rail to get to ready for work, but we had some problems with the hydraulic ram and didn’t get to finish. Next time!

We also discovered that my tie rods are likely original. WHAT. THE. FUCK!? I drove Big Sur on 30 year old tie rods and ball joints! I am retroactively crapping myself.

The drive home was COOOOOLD. Turns out while we were working the temperature dropped from the 40s to 18F. Driving an old Italian soft top home in that weather was… actually really not that bad considering the outside temperature.

My “homework” for the next week is to grind down the welds, get everything in primer, and maybe do some work getting the stiffener cleaned up and ready for work.

Bonus picture: The hammer drawer. Jeremy Clarkson would be proud.

DISCUSSION (9)

arl > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/05/2018 at 13:15

Most excellent work. Keep posting updates.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/05/2018 at 13:17

this makes me sad I am not giving my truck the attention it deserves.

I don’t have a garage, nor tools or knowledge to do this myself, so I’d have to pay someone.

crowmolly > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/05/2018 at 13:47

It’s old school, and requires a certain skillset. Certain cars and restos will require it. Not trying to be a dick but plastic fillers have come a long way and a lot of shops view modern plastic fillers (certain brands) as superior to lead. NOT SAYING THIS IS WRONG AT ALL, it’s cool as hell and you have a great repair! Just that back in the day plastic fillers didn’t adhere as well and shrinking/expansion was a problem, so they got a bad rap and leading was the “sign of a premier shop”. RamblinRover is one of us that can lead. Maybe Rust and Dust, too.

Evercoat makes great stuff. I have a few gallons of their Rage Gold and Extreme. The glazing putty is good because it spreads and sands easy.

I’m really digging your progress, nice work!

Urambo Tauro > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/05/2018 at 13:50

That leadwork is some fascinating stuff. I’ve never tried it before.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Urambo Tauro
02/05/2018 at 14:04

Ditto! I like it as an option, but I think if I was doing it 100% myself I’d lean on plastic filler a little more.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > crowmolly
02/05/2018 at 14:10

Haha no worries. I get that it isn’t the only way, for sure, and I don’t mind a shop using plastic filler. Before yesterday I wasn’t really aware of lead as a filler/ sealer. Neat tool to have in the box, so to speak, but certainly not the only one.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
02/05/2018 at 14:16

Yeah, if the Alfa club hadn’t stepped in to help I’d be in a similar spot. I have the space and some of the tools, but I’ve never cut into body work and would have been terrified to do so. Turns out it isn’t so bad, really... though I have yet to finish anything, so i may be singing a different tune later.

Rust is rust. If you can’t fix it right away, you could consider taking steps to slow the spread, especially on structural components. A wire brush, bottle of rust converter, and can of rusty metal primer can go a long way.

Kiltedpadre > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/05/2018 at 17:05

My work actually has a box full of tools for creating lead joints floating around in a back room. I’m seriously considering making an offer on them since we can’t use them.

I’m not sure when I’d use them, but for the right price it’s one of those sets of tools I may never see again.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/05/2018 at 17:13

Very cool! Glad to see the old girl coming along! I’ve got a soft spot for Italian cars in general, of course, and Alfas are no exception....if I ever had the funds, a classic Italian cruiser like an Alfa Spider or FIAT 124 would join my stable along with my DD and my FIAT 126 (whenever I can finally import it!)