Restoration Tip: MIG, TIG, or Gas? Choosing the correct weld

When doing metal work it is essential to understand and choose the correct welding technique for the job. Even if you are not doing the work yourself, understanding proper welding form allows you to evaluate the quality of work that is being done on your car. If the restoration shop does not apply the correct techniques then it should be a red flag that they are lacking in the necessary knowledge to do a good job.

The most common welding techniques used are MIG and TIG welding. In MIG, a steel wire is fed by a gun and this is the material that is added to make the weld. TIG, on the other hand, requires the operator to add material via a rod with one hand while heating the metal with a special torch in the other hand.

Instead of me laboring on the differences the following video does an excellent job of explaining MIG and TIG and their respective strengths and weaknesses. In addition there is excellent information on general body repair.

Pay particular attention between the 1:00 and 2:00 minute marks as very few body shops know or respect the dangers of doing MIG repairs mid panel.I have stared at more than one car in the sun and seen exactly what is warned about:

(If the video looks black just click on it and it will start)





There is a third technique and that is to Gas weld using a torch and welding rod. This is the most difficult technique, requires the most skill, and is the least forgiving to error. That said, it results in a seamless repair and is the technique that was used when the cars were made new.

We have chosen to Gas weld all of the body seams because it leaves the most perfect surface and minimizes the need for additional filler when finishing the panels.

Special thanks to Stacey David and Gearz Television for the video clip. Gearz is an excellent program with some very good technical segments. It is worth looking up on YouTube or on TV if your cable provider carries it.

Fixing a weak spot on all Dino's: The lower rear body repair

All Dino's suffer from rust in a few key places but none more common than the area behind the rear wheel arches. This location is made up of the outer curved panel you see and an inner panel that makes up part of the structure and gives stiffness to the rear shape. Where these two panels meet is a folded edge of metal and as you get further away from the edge the panels get further and further apart. Essentially they create a triangular funnel with no drain. So big is this area that it would be easy to put 2-3 litres of water in there with nowhere for it to escape and no wonder the metal rots here. In fact a rust hole is the only way to drain the water that is trapped.

With this area still untouched by the last shop it was a straight repair with nothing to correct. Normally this would be fixed by cutting out the rotten piece of metal and welding in a repair section. While there is nothing wrong with this way of dealing with the rust we decided to take it a step further. To this end we introduce RM's master metal worker Jim. Using traditional metal working tools and techniques, Jim used an English Wheel and Planishing Hammer to craft an all new rear section. The plan being that this piece would be welded in place exactly where the factory had most of their seams making for an invisible repair.

The groundwork was being laid: spend more time on the metal work so that the body requires less correcting with plastic filler.

The photos below will show the progress from before we started to finished and primed. You will note that in some images the background has been blurred. This has been done intentionally to maintain the privacy of the owners of some of the cars that are being worked on.

Oh one last thing....we did add a drain hole but it is masterfully integrated and almost impossible to see.

Introducing our savior in body and paint: RM Restorations

As posted yesterday 01464 has had a turbulent time in getting her body re-finished. In late March however work began in earnest at RM Restorations in Chatham Ontario Canada a little over 2 hours from where we are based. In searching for a new body shop we looked high and low and managed to really get on well with the folks at RM.  Things felt good and we were right.

Some followers of the blog may know the name RM for their international high end vehicle auctions where some of the rarest and most expensive cars in the world are sold. Perhaps more impressive are the restoration works that they have. Employing a staff of 30 strong and operating out of a 50,000 sq/ft+ facility in rural Ontario, RM restores some of the most historically significant cars in the world.

Every restoration shop says that they are among the best but RM has the trophies to prove it. These accolades do not come from the local show and shine, but from the most prestigious shows anywhere. RM normally enters class winners at Pebble Beach (2 wins this year alone) and vehicles restored by RM have won Best In Show at Pebble Beach 4 of the last 10 years. In the world of restoration, this is the biggest prize in the world.

We are under no illusions that our Dino is not in the same category as the multi million dollar cars that dominate the lawn at Pebble so we were a little timid to approach them. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Right from the outset the staff at RM were very welcoming and took a real interest in our project. A professional time line and budget was created showing the many areas where money can be saved and the trade offs that go with it. Make no mistake RM only knows great but even within that there is room and it was nice to be given the option right from the start.

After our initial experiences we knew that communication and documentation were key as we were now having our third kick at the can. Continual progress and attention to budget were essential and so far we have been very impressed.

Many readers may think that going to a shop like RM is staggeringly expensive but they would be wrong. Quality takes time and time is billed by the hour so the bills do pile up but right off the bat the labor rate at RM is lower than our previous shop which immediately tells the lie to those who would write them off as being the most expensive option out there.

Now for some facility photos from the RM website.

Lastly here are some photos from Pebble Beach this year where RM won its class with this spectacular Talbot Lago:

Getting messy with spray paint: Finishing the instrument housings

Back in March we posted the crazy task of micro welding new threaded studs to our instrument casings. For those who missed it here is the link:

http://dino246blog.blogspot.ca/2012/03/crazy-task-4-micro-welding-most-obscure.html

Now that the casings are back from plating we decided to finish them off in preparation for their assembly. First task was to mask off with great care the surfaces we wanted to leave alone. Then a very light blasting with glass removed any residue and plating from the threaded stud and other hardware on the case. Next came painting the inside of the unit using a flat white paint (this is to most evenly reflect the light bulb that illuminates the instrument at night). To do this we found that the best way was to put on a latex glove and hold the instrument when painting it. Sure we got paint all over our hands but it was the most efficient way to articulate the part as needed in order to paint it well. Last came the delicate process of unmasking everything. From start to finish a crazy task for a part that lives deep in the dash but we feel the results are worth the effort.

More shim talk: Images of the blueprinted head

Yesterday we made an important point that is worth repeating regarding the shims that are used to set the valve lash on a Ferrari Dino engine:

Thinner than about 3.40 mm and the cam can clip the edge of the cam bucket rather than ride on the cam.

Thicker than about 4.00 mm and the weight of the shim starts to play a role as it becomes heavy enough to move between the bucket and the cam with the possibility of the shim dislocating at high engine RPM's that could result in engine failure

We did a lot of research on the correct shim thicknesses before machining and found that if you are going to do a job like this you need to find someone who speaks the language. Lucky for us David F. at Ferrari Service of Bedford is so knowledgeable that he is fluent in Ferrari (www.fluentinferrari.com).

David outlined the risks of going too thick or thin and the closeup photos below help illustrate this where it can be clearly seen that if a shim is too thin it can cause the valve lobe to clip the edge of the shim bucket.  As for going too thick, it is hard to illustrate so lets just take David's word for it. Trust me this guy knows his stuff and we thank him for sharing his knowledge with us.

Now for some finished shots of the heads with all new solid stainless steel valves (to replace the fracture prone sodium filled Ferrari parts), beryllium valve seats, and freshly skimmed deck surface. Some readers will note that the block was not skimmed where the head gasket mates to it. Again following David's advice, once we determined that it was perfectly flat, we left it alone as machining it would improve nothing and only introduce unnecessary risk.

Lastly some may remember images of the butchered head plug where an SAE plug was forced into a Metric hole. Well Gord B. acquired a special tapered tap, worked his magic and here is the result: a perfectly installed plug.