Author Topic: 1964 230SL restoration in UK (Read 239312 times)

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #250 on:** November 19, 2015, 06:59:46 »

I was kindly sent the barrels and caps from a later heater control assembly courtesy of CTaylor and Naj, thanks for that. With those I managed to cobble together my heater control. It is not strictly correct but is functional.

The left hand plastic mount for the bulb holder was broken and I guess worst case I could have glued it back together but there were a couple of bits of plastic housing missing so it would have always been a bit of a bodge. Fortunately the RH side seems to be exactly the same part so I used that on the LH sde and replaced the RH one with the one off the later control which doesn't need the wire holder piece. If I find the correct bulb holder before the dash goes back together then I'll replace it with the correct one.

Seems to be OK although I haven't fully assembled it all as I need to clean everything first. I need to clean and polish the plastic levers to see how they come out. I would like to use them again if I can clean them up sufficiently. I had ordered a new assembly from MB but when it arrived it had the later style levers so I returned that. Seems that there are a few different types aftermarket, some have one clear heater lever, some are tinted, mine is either tinted or old....

I suspect like most things if I can stick with original items I'll be better off. They are pretty scruffy though so we'll see.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #251 on:** November 19, 2015, 07:15:44 »

I carried on with cutting out bits of my car last Saturday. It is all getting a bit more involved than I had planned. I was hoping to be able to nibble away at the bit of frame rail that had to come out between the rocker and the rear seat cross member, and then slip the new piece in to place, but there was just no access to it. I had already cut out the rotten metal at the bottom of the cross member to replace it so figured I may as well take the end of the cross member out to give me better access for the repair.

I was worried that this might unsettle the body a bit but was pleased that when I made the last cut nothing had moved. I also took the bottom of the B-post off so I could get in there to take out the last piece of frame rail. It all seems very well supported on my cradle so I think I was worrying unnecessarily.

I did think about getting a new end piece of cross member made rather than repairing the original so it didn't have any welds in it but it is such a complex shape with the curved ends that sit on the frame rail and it seems to fit the repair panel really well so I will just make new bottom sections for it and weld them on then refit that piece of cross member after it all goes back together.

The inside of the panel that holds the trailing arm mount is a bit pitted on the inside but I am very reluctant to change it as the replacement panel looks like it might not be very good, I will order one and see what it is like but I think I may give mine a good clean and rust treat it all. I'm sure it has a few years in it yet...

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #252 on:** November 19, 2015, 07:32:29 »

My rocker dilemma continues...

I cut a couple of bigger access holes in the bottom of the LH rocker to have a better look at them inside. I really don't want to replace the whole thing as it looks like a nightmare of a job. I priced up the replacements from SLS, Poland, and Mercedes. The MB ones are significantly more but I think if I wind up doing the whole thing then that is the route I would go as they are genuine and one would hope the fit is correct. Also I'm still sticking to my original MO in that I want to use genuine parts wherever it is not prohibitive to do so. Thus far the only thing I have not had the stomach for are the bumpers.

It looks a pretty invasive repair though, and mine just aren't bad enough to warrant all that upheaval. I know too that no matter what they just aren't going to go back in as well as the original ones that come out. At the moment I am going to stick with the original plan of replacing just the bottom section where the pitting is. I cut out a pattern for my sheet metal man but his folder isn't long enough to handle the full length so I need to find someone with a bigger machine.

It's pretty annoying as that is one of the few areas of the car that looked pretty good as it was all coming apart but the sandblasting just showed up a couple of small holes in the bottom of the rocker, it would be like a patchwork quilt by the time I'd repaired each one, and the metal in the bottom is quite pitted so I'd rather deal with it all. It is what it is I guess.

I stuck my phone in through the holes and took some pictures of the lunar landscape inside my sills.....

These are all the LH rocker looking forwards.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #253 on:** November 19, 2015, 07:33:52 »

The first one is also looking forwards and the next two are the LH rocker looking back.

Crazy huh!

The plus side of doing it this way is once the bottom is cut out I can give everything in there a really good clean and if it doesn't come out well I can go the whole hog. I think it will rust treat absolutely fine though. We repair Corvette chassis in a worse state than this without too much trouble.

RobSirg · « **Reply #254 on:** November 19, 2015, 11:56:12 »

Doesn't look too bad Scott - I'd be treating and patching as you suggest........as for my project car......... I bought new sills from K&K but mine were in much worse condition.

I get what you say about buying original MB. I bought many panels from Poland and Germany and most had some minor fit issues (some major) which ran into huge labour costs to correct. Some were so badly out of dimension we didn't bother installing - we simply cut parts off the replacement panels and patched.

If/when I do another - it will be MB Original all the way (within reason). Hopefully the K&K sills don't give us trouble when they get around to that part.

Rob

mnahon · « **Reply #255 on:** November 19, 2015, 13:42:20 »

Hi Scott,

I agree with Rob that they don't look that bad.

I'm really enjoying your pictures of the rockers. I'm pretty convinced that most of our cars look similar or worse in that area, though most of us never look. It's pretty clear from your pictures that water was sitting in the bottom of the rockers for extended periods. I think this was one area of the car where the design could have been better to give that water a better chance of getting out; or not getting in, in the first place.

Meyer

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #256 on:** November 19, 2015, 21:10:57 »

No they aren't too bad, I think replacing the bottom section along it's length will be a good repair that is strong and invisible. I don't think there is a real need to get into the massive task of replacing the rocker in it's entirety, but I don't want to do numerous patch repairs either.

I think on the whole I have gotten away fairly lightly with body repairs compared to what some of you guys are having to deal with. I paid quite a bit for this car at auction though, being led to believe it was rust free and it clearly wasn't....Still, ultimate responsibility lies with me, I should know better!

Meyer I think all cars have water traps and weak spots somewhere, Corvettes suffer in pretty much the same areas all the time. I can't imagine they were ever built to last 50 years or more so I guess they aren't doing too badly. I'll paint inside the rockers before I close them up, and after as best I can. I'll also inject all the box sections with a rust preventative to protect what I can as best I can.

Rob so far I have gotten most of the repair panels from Mercedes even though some have been repro as they weren't available OE, the only parts I have been very unhappy with are the floors under the rear parcel shelf, they are pretty bad but everything else looks like it is well made. I got the rear frame rails and seat members from K and K, the rear frame rails look nice although not perfect, the seat members are quite different and I will only use sections of them.

Better that than not being able to get anything though.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #257 on:** November 30, 2015, 07:54:06 »

Fairly slow progress I'm afraid. I don't seem to have an awful lot of spare time for this car at the moment.

I spent last Saturday trimming the chassis repair section to fit, which seemed to take an eternity. It fits not too badly on the whole though. I started out by measuring a couple of points to get a rough dimension, then I double checked that with some cardboard templates and gradually whittled it down until it fits.

In the pictures there is a gap between the two pieces but I was having trouble holding it all in place and doing up the clamps on my own. When you push the piece in it seems to but up nice and tight so I think will go in pretty well.

I think I will need to put a split along it's length a little ways though so I can get both corners to tie up with the original piece as the profile seems just a little off.

The Saturday before I repaired one of the splash guards but we had a power cut at work so I had to go home and have a nap instead.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #258 on:** November 30, 2015, 08:07:08 »

I spent the afternoon starting on the repair pieces for the rear cross member. This took longer than you would imagine. We aren't that geared up for metal fabrication because we have never had to do that much. We have always had lots of chassis sections for Corvettes and I have a good metal fab guy near us. We are gradually running out of these parts though and the last two frames that Ronni has had to repair we have wound up having to make a lot of the parts so I am in the process of trying to get a decent metal folder and whatnot to set up a little metal shop at our place.

I think I need to get my finger out on that one....Anyway it's getting there slowly. These aren't finished yet as they need a couple of tweaks here and there, I also don't want to go to far with them until I have got the rocker in and decided if I am going to replace the trailing arm mounts or not. I was hoping to avoid that but I think they are too pitted. I am concerned about the quality of the repro parts though

I talked with my fabricator about the repair sections for the rockers and his folder isn't big enough. I found another place that can do them but think I am going to get the ones from SLS. I really need to get myself organized with this and get them ordered as the next stage to cut the rocker out, but I don't want to do that until I have the part here and am ready to go, but I seem to be dilly dallying a bit.

Maybe subconsciously I'm too scared....

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #259 on:** December 03, 2015, 07:16:29 »

The new alternator arrived a couple of days back. It is an AL74X 55amp alternator and is externally regulated. My original pulley doesn't fit, the fins on the back of the fan catch on the alternator housing. I think it needs a 2mm spacer on the main shaft. I have a 3.8mm one off a Corvette that fits so I'll wait until I have the engine back and can mount it before I go getting anything machined. It may be that the spacer I have doesn't throw out the belt alignment and will do the job.

For anyone looking I got it from Summit Racing of all places and it was significantly less there than anywhere else with only a $10 core charge, in fact I expected to get an email saying the order couldn't be fulfilled but it turned up no problem.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #260 on:** December 03, 2015, 07:27:06 »

On the same shipment was the chrome windshield trim pieces that I was missing, along with the replacement inside door handle and parking brake cable housing. The windshield trim pieces are in good shape, one of the bits that goes under the catch had flattened out a little but I got that back into shape with my favourite hammer and have sent them off to be rechromed.

I also had my sheet metal guy make me a repair section for the rear panel that had been cut for speakers which I'm very happy with, so when I get the car down off the jack stands I'll make inroads into getting those let in.

I have ordered the rocker repair sections from SLS so hopefully they will turn up soon. This is the first time I have ordered from them so be interesting to see how that goes. It is probably going to be in the new year before I really get chance to get into this in a big way, Our rotisserie is in use on a Corvette at present and I really want to use it on this job, also I'm just too busy to take any time out for this project at the moment, and I really want to be able to set aside a couple of days to get the old rocker out and the new one in rather than it drag out over a series of Saturdays.

That's the trouble with working, it really does eat into ones day....

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #261 on:** December 03, 2015, 08:08:10 »

I've also uploaded the two most recent videos to youtube, nothing particularly interesting in either, and they are mostly for my records/history file but for anyone interested....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA_IKRB0DMw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMtP4caLza4

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #262 on:** December 06, 2015, 08:32:50 »

I spent Saturday buggering about with odds and ends and decided to repair the hole that was in the front part of the rear inner fenders and the B-post. Thought it might be easier to get into it with that part of the chassis rail out the way. I could also do my weld from the inside of the B-post there as it is cut out at the moment.

Not much to say about it really, cut the rot out, made a new piece and welded it in.....it was pretty awkward to get to and a bit fiddly. The repair for the inner fender has two curves to it so that took a little while. Can you believe this took most of the day to do both sides.

Pretty significant though as it is the first bit I've put back in the car rather than cutting bits out..

Shvegel · « **Reply #263 on:** December 06, 2015, 22:20:32 »

I thought my rocker panels were solid until I thumped them with a rubber mallet.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #264 on:** December 09, 2015, 21:02:13 »

Yeah I thought mine were too until the sandblaster proved me wrong. Still I'd rather find out and deal with it now. That happened with Ronni's VW, I had all new sills fitted around 7 years ago and the guy I had do it fitted them over rotten heater channels, so I had to do it all again last year and have the whole car repainted....but that's a whole 'nother story!

I had to stay at work tonight to paint some rockers for a 63 Vette that Ronni is working on so they are ready for tomorrow. Rather than watch the paint dry I sandblasted and cleaned the horns and gave them a coat of primer, so at least I used my time wisely....

I know it's a bit random to be doing the horns now but if I start grinding or whatever then I have to hang around for another hour on spark watch. It all makes sense really!

Jonny B · « **Reply #265 on:** December 10, 2015, 17:35:41 »

Did you re-test the horns after re-assembly? I understand these can be sort of finicky.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #266 on:** December 11, 2015, 08:51:41 »

I haven't reassembled yet, I tested one after I had taken it apart and it worked OK.

There was some pitting on the grilles so I filled that last night and will sand them down today, then I'll need to prime again and top coat them. It looked to me like the horns were gloss black rather than satin black, would you agree with that?

I have also ordered some gasket paper to make new gaskets from and I don't think I'll get that for a couple of days so I doubt the horns will go back together until next week.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #267 on:** December 15, 2015, 06:08:45 »

I started on the repair of the rear bulkhead where the holes for the speakers had been fitted. A friend of mine had made me a repair section.

Ronni's dad gave me a spot weld drill he'd had for a while and not used much, and it is absolutely superb:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BERGEN-AIR-SPOT-WELD-DRILL-B8212-/131671320747?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

I hadn't seen one of these before and was a bit sceptical but it is a mega thing. I would recommend one if you have more than a couple to drill out, once the depth is set you just drill away without worrying about going through the second skin. I normally use a spot weld drill in a normal battery drill and you have to watch it a bit on the depth, this made it a piece of cake. Yopu definitely need goggles though, it spits out shrapnel like I don't know what!

Anyway they are sort of there, I just need to put a kink on the outside bottom edge and then trim the bottom flush, weld them in, and hey ho silver!

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #268 on:** December 19, 2015, 07:58:26 »

Have been carrying on with the rear seat panel and have got both pieces welded in. I need to grind the welds smooth now and then spot weld the bottom of the panel in, I left the gap on the right of the panel a bit too wide so that part didn't come out too well. Nice to see it without the holes that were chewed out of it though.

I'll finish them up today and then press 'The Chief' into action, I've used it a couple of times on some Corvette work and it certainly seems an awesome piece of kit.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #269 on:** December 19, 2015, 08:09:15 »

I spent last Saturday trying to repair the LH inner fender below the battery tray. Had a real waste of a day on the car and must admit wish I hadn't bothered. I was trying to keep the repair small but the metal around it is quite pitted and thin and I wound up just blowing holes in the original panel. My repair piece kept getting bigger and bigger and I was still struggling so decided to abandon that repair and hide it in my 'Bag O Shame'.

I can't show you the end result because I was so hacked off with it I didn't take a picture and can't now because I won't look at it....

I will have to order a new inner fender and cut out the piece that I need, making that bit is beyond my metal working skills, if only these cars were GRP!

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #270 on:** December 19, 2015, 08:15:57 »

The new rocker repair sections arrived from SLS, They look pretty good. The profile at the top of the rocker has a sharper bend than the factory one so if you wanted to use it to repair a short length it would pose problems trying to match it up, but replacing the whole length shouldn't be too bad.

I had a measure best I could and it looks like it may be slightly wider overall so that might prove a challenge although hard to say until you start offering it up. I have got a pair of original ones coming on my next USA shipment thanks to the eagle eyes of Shvegel so will see what they are like and then decide which ones to use.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #271 on:** December 20, 2015, 06:26:43 »

I ground the welds on the rear panel yesterday but didn't do the spot welding, I'll wait until there is more to do.

I would have preferred it if it had come out looking perfectly smooth and needing no filler but I was a bit nervous of the metal getting too thin as it had to be ground on both sides not just on the top of the weld. I guess once it has had a light skim then painted and carpeted over it will look great.

I'm pleased with the overall effect though, nice to see it without the speaker holes, they really did bug me. At least when you look inside the boot it will all look proper now.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #272 on:** December 20, 2015, 06:46:38 »

I started to look at the soft top storage bin yesterday afternoon and as usual the job got a bit bigger. There were a few pin holes in the inner fender, not very many and certainly not enough to replace the panel but figured I'd need to deal with those before going any further.

For the most part I was able to drill them out and let in a 5/16" disc that I punched out of an offcut or just spot them in, there were two areas that were pitted and a bit thin so I cut those out and will make two new bits to go in.

I have been curious about these drain holes as I have read on this forum about the rubber tube that directs water into the rocker. I don't have this and after a bit of research it seems that the drain holes I have are typical of an early 230SL, there is just a round hole drilled into the side of the storage bin, and there was a right angled steel guide spot welded to the inner fender to direct water down into the rocker. This is where all the rust is on my inner fenders.

I am wondering if I ought to modify my storage bin and put in the later style drain tube or just leave as is and re drill the hole on the new piece that I will let in to the storage bin. At least then that keeps the car a bit more proper like an early car, or should I take this opportunity to improve the drainage....

There was a bit of pitting in the corner of the bin where I think this tube would go so water has clearly laid there for a while. It is worse on the other side. I wonder if the later cars just had the hole in the corner and did away with the drain hole in the side that I have.

Don't know if I'll get much chance to do any more for a while now as we shut down for Christmas next Wednesday and I'm not sure if I'll get the opportunity to do anything over the holidays. My rockers will be here in the new year so will need to finish this bit off and then they will become priority then. I'm just fiddling about with these smaller bits until they come.

jameshoward · « **Reply #273 on:** December 20, 2015, 09:29:36 »

I think improving the drainage is a no brainer. MB did the mod because Plan A wasn't up to the job. I had to sort out this issue with my car also.

Scottcorvette · « **Reply #274 on:** December 22, 2015, 07:33:08 »

I'll go for the later style of drains. I am wondering if it might be a further improvement to extend the hoses so that the drain exits the rocker rather than emptying into the rocker itself.

I made a start on the repair pieces for my rear inner fender last night, they still need a bit of fettling but the basic shape is there.

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Author Topic: 1964 230SL restoration in UK (Read 239312 times)