The 'E' Type Forum

I have a quick question regarding the weld near the rear license plate area:

Is this the original finish of the weld (above the license plate)?? it looks very, very rough...

Even a piece of MIG welding wire is left there.

Original or someone has been there before and tried to master their welding skills??..






Tadek

That is factory original.

Thanks,

Wow, it does not look too good..

Was it lead-loaded? Or just left bare?


Tadek

Not leaded, just painted.

Thank you both for reassuring me that my car had not had a rear end bump after all!

I often wondered why the OTS and FHC were finished differently in this area. On the OTS the two panel flanges are spot welded together and then covered by the chrome trim.

I've also noticed evidence of what looks like MIG welding wire which is a process I thought was not used widely until the 70s. However a bit of research shows that it was used in the late 50s onwards when it was discovered that a much less expensive inert gas such as CO2 could be used.

A lot of the panels on the E type also appear to have been tacked with brazing prior to spot welding presumably to keep the panels aligned.

Fascinating stuff all the manufacturing processes involved making the body.

Simon

Agree about the brazing in specific locations. My theory is that the brazing are fixed and special alignment points and would be carried out by the Master Fabricators. Once those important points are fixed then the lesser skilled [ and lesser paid ] guys n girls would finish the job. Those are the people that left a bit of mig wire behind

Just my theory

I would have given my arm and a leg this was not a factory job...

Well... We should put it on the factory fit section - I will take some better shots later this week.

Best Regards,

Tadek

I thought this was well known! Many people surreptitiously run their fingers along the number plate area as it tells you whether than car has been accident damaged or restored - most owners would expect it to be smooth and properly finished.