Tag: tunnel bottom
Repairing Straight Section of Tunnel Bottom Plate
by Garage Weasel on Jun.02, 2021, under Chassis
On the frame head end of the tunnel bottom plate, there was severe rust damage and it was actually rusted through. The only way to repair this is to cut out the damaged area and weld a new piece in. As far as I know, there are no repair panels readily available. In fact, I only know of one source in Finland and I don't want to wait that long or spend that much for a complete panel as I really only need a few inches of it replaced. So I decided to just cut out as much of the flat areas out as necessary and retain the raised portions of it, which would be difficult to reproduce. I started with piece of 2mm plate that I had left over after making the piece for the tunnel rails. I used the jig that I made for the tunnel rails to hammer the straight crease on the sides where it is flat and bent the domed area basically by hand. I managed to get it to match closely to the tunnel bottom plate. It took quite a while and was very difficult to match the shape. Once I was satisfied with the shape, I cut the needed flat areas out of the tunnel plate and then cut the new repair piece to match it. It's a bit off in the pictures below, but I did adjust the fit to be more uniform throughout the joint. I welded it on both sides, ground down and dressed the welds on the outside of it. I will trim the excess width off of it later when fitting and welding the tunnel bottom plate back on the tunnel.
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Welding The Tunnel Bottom Plates Together
by Garage Weasel on Jun.04, 2021, under Chassis
I decided to weld the straight section of the tunnel bottom plate to the additional bottom plate section that I removed and make them one piece. The reason is that I can get an overall better welded joint as I can weld on both sides. I did that and also added a connecting plate on the wide end. This helps to hold this end in place and also gives me an additional layer to weld to and strengthen that joint. I sprayed the connecting plate and the area under it on the bottom plate with U-POL Weld #2 Copper Weld Through Primer.
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Next, I ground down the welds on the outside and then sprayed the inside areas that will not be welded on with Eastwood Matte Black Rust Encapsulator to seal and protect them.
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After the rust encapsulator cured, I place the bottom plate back on the tunnel and then checked the fit of the frame head bottom plate with it. At least in this area, the frame head bottom plate fits well. In other areas, not so much. That's a problem for later.
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