2+2 Rear wheel arch panel work images

[iani]

I know that my rear arches have a lot of filler in them, cunningly disguised by a lot of filler. I'm looking to investigate the cost of having this rectified and I'm looking for images that show this area unpainted. I saw a couple of shots from
VEE12EMAN's car but these focussed on the sill, I'm really looking for detailed shots of the wheel arches themselves. Does anyone have anything they can share? I suspect series doesn't matter as long as they're LWB images?

Thanks

Ian

[Geoff Green]

Look through Chuck's site:

http://www.monocoque-metalworks.com/main/

He has many shots of the inner panels and offers repair panels.

[vee12eman]

Hi Ian,

As we discussed by pm, here are some photos of my S3 arch repairs, sadly I was in a great rush to finish at the time as I only had limited time remaining in the excellent facilities where I was working, so I didn?t often stop to take photos.

I know the S2 has not got a very good parts catalogue as far as images go, so here is an extract from the S3 parts manual, apart from the flared arch, I doubt there is much difference:



As you see, the inner arch adjacent to the wing is formed from two panels, a fairly simple forward arch and a much more complex rear section. I have no photos of them dismantled, but there is one showing them installed, you can see the join toward the rear:



The rear panel also includes a large part of the inner rear panel, which requires a good deal of cutting to remove. Rightly or wrongly, I decided not to replace all of this, as cutting it out meant the shell would lose some rigidity and instead I cut the original panel, leaving some of it in place, which you can see in this shot, looking up from below, immediately after removing the old metal. Apologies for the focus, it was taken more to show the inner surface of the outer wing, covered in rust. I cleaned up the cut edges considerably prior to welding the new panel in:



I then cut the new panel to suit, welding all together carefully afterward. At the time my boot floor was also removed:



Having fitted all the inner wing, it was time for the outer, seen here with some other panels, all of which came with my car:



I marked and cut away the outer wing ? most of it had rotted anyway, then joggled the flange and fitted the repair panel with gripper pins ? you can just as easily drill and use self tap screws. Here is a phot showing the forward end, cut, joggled and drilled:



Next, weld in the panel:



Some considerations:

1. The weld of the repair section is likely to cause distortion. Clamp tightly with lots of pins/screws and weld short bursts with long pauses to reduce heat build up and avoid this. TIG welding using minimal extra filler rod may help, but I chose to MIG at the time as I ws more confident with a MIG welder.
2. Using a joggled flange adds rigidity but use weld through primer to reduce metal to metal contact. I chose to joggle the original wing to prevent condensation running down into the joint and waxed the area later to help further. I also de-rusted and painted the outer wing inner face.
3. It is probably worth considering an entire wing change if having the work done professionally; the entire wing is far more expensive, but labour costs to hide the repair may make up the difference quickly. However, the E-type structure is always expensive as all the joints end up being disguised, there are no exposed flanges and so it is always tricky to weld carefully enough to make the later hide with lead/filler easier.
4. The inner panels are expensive, so it may pay to fabricate repair sections for the inner arch, which will be easier for the S2, lacking the flare of the S3.
5. On completion of the car, my inner panels were too close to the tyre walls and had to be ?persuaded? out. This is less of an issue for the S2 with narrower track and skinny tyres, but worthy of considerations. The problem only occurred heavily laden at speed round corners, but still an issue.

Finally, the finished article:



Regards,

Simon.

[iani]

Excellent Simon, thanks. Unfortunately, engaging a Jaguar specialist isn't an option for me, I will be discussing this work with some local people and these images will help explain what is required. I believe my problems are all in the outer wheel arch area, the leading edge and associated impact to the lower wing area, obviously I won't know for sure until the paint comes off and I'd like to postpone this as long as possible.

Regards

Ian