I ssomeone missing 5 pounds of bondo?

Look at the some of the worst workmanship ever on brazing in a new panel.The still pictures show even more damage the lower I go on the fender. I dread seeing just how bad the sills and inner fender well are going to be. This was done with a respray in about 1982 and it is rusting from the inside out…

This repair is way above my skill level so AWG is going to have to visit me from down under and wave his welding wand no this job!!!

Gerard
Loveland, Colorado, USA

We once found a row of empty oil cans covered over where a rocker (sill) should be. The sedans were not worth much and the repairs then show it. A friend sold a complete, but rusty, MK2 for $99 on Ebay back then.

Phil.

Learned a new skill that I really did not want to learn. The trick to removing bondo is heating it up with a torch until it is brown like a marshmallow. Then use a chisel or a scaling needle tool to rip that crud easily out of there.

My question is,: should the back wall / inner fender well be a round smooth surface or is there a fin on the back wall behind the tire. One side of the car has this “fin” and the other is nice and curved. I think someone did an “L” shaped butt weld to repair an inner fender well rust hole. I could take a video but I am so exhausted right now and covered in bondo dust, that the shower is calling my name. FYI I absolutely used a high quality mask to avoid any toxic chemicals. I did see factory lead on the leading edge of the sill and I am glad I was wearing this lead style mask.

Gerard

Here is a pic of my inner front wheel arch ‘under construction’. I think this shows two options for the ‘fin’ you were talking about. There is a seam between two panels running vertically. Down at the bottom the of the wheel arch you can see the wheel arch extends below the foot well section. This could also be a ‘fin’? Both my wheel arches are like this.
Cheers.
Dave

This is exactly what I have on the left front side of the car but NOT on the left side. I will have to take a closer look to see if more butchery has taken place in repairing rust in the past.

Is this fin necessary, as it look like on a large bump the tire would hit the fin?

Gerard

I am not a very good welder, but have been forced to learn metal shaping so I can make patch panels…(especially for a corner behind the wheels etc), as no patch panels are available for 420G…they may well be for MK2 ?

is that accident damage…or a couple of pieces roughly brazed in to cover rust ?

I have a similar repair coming up, same corner…10yrs ago I brazed in a section, as it was too hard and time consuming for my skills at that time.

I will need to remove the door, reconstruct the lower A-pillar, and area that is rusted on yours by forming new inner and outer lips.

One thing I have learned is to make a patterns out of thin aluminium (throw away baking dishes)

This means I have an accurate mold to check for shape…I do this before I strip the bondo

I also have to make separate pieces and weld them together, lacking advanced metal shaping tools

a contour gauge will help a lot to

take off that front wheel and check directly behind the tyre where the toeboard panel joins the inner guard and floor

I’ll raise your 5 pounds :slight_smile:
This is a ‘repair’ that was carried out on my 3.4 ‘S’

Yep: I’ve kept the hunks of Bondo I found on Tweety’s flanks… just to remind me.

:face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

This proves idiots have worked on cars all around the world and left their signature in bondo!

I just went to a shop today where there was an Allard ($$$$) which had recently been in an accident and to the owners dimsay there was a bunch of bondo and probably more throughout other areas of the car.

Gerard

I have an invaluable tool for inspecting cars…a fridge magnet…only takes a few minutes to go around the suspect areas, if the magnet wont stick, you have your answers

I take two magnets - a weak one and a strong one - when I look at a car. Both are wrapped in cotton. Vendors never have taken issue, I want to buy and I’m not going to scratch.

Good ideas; This is not an option as we have owned this car since new and the painter/fabricator is long gone. So I have to slowly deal with the problems as they arise. Ugh!

I should take a video with a magnet and check everywhere.; just by tapping, I can hear that the sills are NOT in a good way

Gerard

Looks like Martin Robey sells a lot of metal bits:

https://www.martinrobey.com/jaguar/classic-saloons/mk-ii-mk-2/body/body-panels-2

Gerard

I use the “Joe the plumber” type advertising ones that are plastic covered, flexible, and about 1" x 2"

They cannot scratch anything and fairly weak. A stronger magnet will stick on even 1/4" of bondo

the other thing I do is lie flat on my back, pop my head under the sills, and run my eye over the lower inner seam, a rusted car will show evidence there…You can do this on (most?) Jags without lifting the car

I do my best to remove every speck of rusted metal and replace it with fresh new steel, however, a very thin coat of 2 part filler is usually needed to smooth out weld lines and contour.

regretably there is filler in my car, it has a puzzingly large number of dents,
I would just have to be honest with any potential buyer on the long list of repairs I have carried out