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[Webby the Bear]

Hi guys. Long time no speak. Not been about for a while. Been so busy with work.

Anyway omega needs some TLC. Rear outer sills rotted. And inner wheel arches. And panel that forms side of the inner boot… all roughly the same on both sides. Anyway my welding skills are to a point I can do this myself. But just gonna take me a while. Car’s been SORNd but I keep running it and making sure brakes don’t stick on etc.

The warmer weather is coming so starting to think about prepping.

My question is this… I want a real sturdy place to put stands. It’s gonna have to sit on them for a while. I remember when gixer did my rear springs ears ago he had them somewhere either side of the diff. Obviously want to keep sills free so I can easily move around them.

TIA guys

[STEMO]

You have spring ears? Do you find it difficult to keep your head on the ground when laying sideways under a car? Or do you keep bouncing your bonce off the underside? 

[STEMO]

Ah, no, of course. Your upper ear spring would prevent you hitting the car, so you'd just oscillate for a while until you settled down. 

[YZ250]

You have spring ears? Do you find it difficult to keep your head on the ground when laying sideways under a car? Or do you keep bouncing your bonce off the underside? 

 

24 people had read that post and politely ignored the spelling error, myself included. If I had to wager who would home in on it I’d have been right on the money. 
I’m imagining Webby’s head bouncing up and down now. 

[STEMO]

Give yer ead a wobble lad 

[robson]

Dont forget to chock the front wheels.

[Doctor Gollum]

Hi guys. Long time no speak. Not been about for a while. Been so busy with work.

Anyway omega needs some TLC. Rear outer sills rotted. And inner wheel arches. And panel that forms side of the inner boot… all roughly the same on both sides. Anyway my welding skills are to a point I can do this myself. But just gonna take me a while. Car’s been SORNd but I keep running it and making sure brakes don’t stick on etc.

The warmer weather is coming so starting to think about prepping.

My question is this… I want a real sturdy place to put stands. It’s gonna have to sit on them for a while. I remember when gixer did my rear springs ears ago he had them somewhere either side of the diff. Obviously want to keep sills free so I can easily move around them.

TIA guys

Do you have a pair of knackered rear diff mounts?

What you can do is jack the car using the plates at the front of the rear subframe.

Start by driving it forward onto ramps.
Jack the rear using the plates under the donut bushes. Then use a length of 75/75 or 100/100 fence post that is a bit longer than the width of the rear diff mounts. (you could also use a length of scaffold pole for the same purpose as it could be tacked to the rear diff mounts).
Jack this in the middle and place sturdy axle stands under the rear diff mounts.
You should then be able to safely remove the rear wheels, sill covers rear bumpers and drop the donut bushes to lower the front of the rear subframe to allow clear access for cutting/welding purposes.

Also, don't forget to strip the rear seat and boot areas and support the wiring harnesses away from the body.

Ideally, if you have access, then a four post lift with a centre scissor lift will enable you to do the above with a greater degree of safety

[Doctor Gollum]

As an aside, if you're going to the trouble of doing this, you could replace the rear quarter panels, especially if they're rotted out behind the bumper. They aren't too bad to remove and it will give you better access to the nooks and crannies, especially if you need to be doing anything to the inner wheel arches

Might be worth grabbing a lower mileage front end damaged car from Copart/similar for the panels rather than fabricating patches all over the place.

I know that might be a left field suggestion, but it's your car and you either put in the time, effort, or you move on to something else IMHO

[Webby the Bear]

Thanks all for comments… even you STE-hoMO 🤣🤣

Thanks for all that DG. I can weld but I’m not good enough to chop and change rear quarters properly. My methods gonna be… any place my screw driver goes thru and / or looks questionable is getting plated 🤣 not being lazy. I just don’t have fab skills. I’ve done plenty of sills at work (mainly transit connects 🤦‍♂️) but I’ll be doing this on the drive.

But totally take your point about doing it properly. 😃👍

And thanks for info on stands. Much appreciated. DG if u pm me ur nombre I’ll shout some photos over when it’s done (I’d put them on here but since photo bucket went I’m not technical enough to do that 🤣🤣🤣
Cheers boys 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[Webby the Bear]

*shoot some photos over 😃

[Doctor Gollum]

I think you may still have it, or at least my email 

Re the panels, I might sound like alot of work, but in reality it isn't.

Firstly the rear quarter is spot welded to the C plilar behind the trim, along the boot shut to the inner wing (possibly don't know without looking), to the rear panel and the boot floor (seam is obvious with the bumper of), glued to the rear inner arch (before it rusted out) and a handful up the rear door shut.

Much easier to plug weld and seam seal than to bodywork patch panels

The only additional work is removing/replacing the rear screen to access the bottom corner where the quarter meets the parcel shelf.

And you don't have the complication of accident damage before the new panels fit.

And did I mention that it will significantly improve access to the inner arches for you 

It might seem like more work because it's a bigger area, but it should me more efficient, and therefore easier, especially given your circumstances 

[Nick W]

You make it sound so simple.


It isn't.


And where are you going to get new quarters for a <20 year old car?

[Doctor Gollum]

It took a couple of days work to swap out and paint a complete quarter on my white estate. The saloon is a bit more fiddly because of the rear screen.

[Webby the Bear]

Thanks boys. Much appreciated. I’m gonna stick to my original plan. Only cos changing quarters ibe never done and I am so dense it can only go wrong 🤣🤣🤣
I’m starting Friday. Getting that bumper off and making a start 😃😃😃😃😃😃 wish me luck lol

[Webby the Bear]

Evening gays. I mean guys. Hope you’re all well.

Got OSR outer sill welded up, painted and covered in plenty of poo 💩 at the weekend 😃😃😃 I’d have loved to have spent all bank holiday doing it but ‘er indoors wouldn’t be happy. Happy wife happy life! 😎🤣🤣🤣
welding is far from my best but wind kept blowing gas. But it’s not going anywhere. I’ve stupidly “extended” the sill a few millimetres too far 🤣 so I might have a problem fitting arch liner and sill cover but I’ll figure that out nearer time. Got so much more to do before it’s going in for mot.

So got exactly the same repair on the NS. I then have two small patches to weld in on both sides at the front. Then where boot floor meets the wing is rotten. Shape looks a bit of a sod. But if I can get that right it’ll be a lovely repair.
And finally spare wheel well. Rotten where it meets the wing.

So plenty to be getting on with 😃

If I had to guess.. I reckon June it’ll be finished. Like I said I’d love to just sorbs every minute on it but not gonna happen sadly. But. Good start 😃

[Webby the Bear]

Oh and…

When it rains the spare wheel well has a pool of water in it. I’ll have to get the hose out when it’s nice and see where that’s getting in. Joy  unless it’s getting in between bumper and wing and seeping thru the rot. 🤷‍♂️ problems for another day. 😃

I’ve been running it and moving it to stop brakes seizing on. God it’s comfy. My daily is a fiesta which I love bombing round in. But nothing beats the omega. It’s like sitting in arm chairs 😎😎😎😎😎😎

[cam.in.head]

its quite fun relay isnt it but try watching a youtube channel called       yorkshire car restoration     he makes repairs look very easy but does show a lot of detail .and one thing he does is not to try to make a repair piece all from one bit .but to build them up in stages . after watching a few of his videos i guarantee you will want to remake all of your previous repairs again.its that addictive !

[cam.in.head]

and yes you may find that the boot water is from rot behind the bumper, lip seal ,tail lights or sometimes they can rust though the double skinned bit between bottom of rear window and the drain channel.

[addy]

This is a good youtube site to watch. He goes into detail how to do repair panels, the easy way with the minimum of tools.  He is also on Facebook. Alot of people have said, that they wouldn't of done repairs before they had seen his channel.

https://www.youtube.com/@fitzeesfabrications

[Webby the Bear]

Hi boys. That’s for your replies.

cam, I’ve seen the Yorkshire restoration. Very very expert repairs. And addy I’ve not seen fitzy fabrications. I’ll check them out 😃

Seeing these sorts of experts do repairs, I hold my hand up and say I could never do them as good as that. My objective is to make a repair that’s structurally sound. I’m not too bothered about aesthetics personally cos it’s a.) behind covers and b.) covered in 80kg of poo 💩 🤣🤣🤣

Speaking of poo… that is one area I do excel… covering stuff in silicone or grease 🤣🤣🤣

[Webby the Bear]

and yes you may find that the boot water is from rot behind the bumper, lip seal ,tail lights or sometimes they can rust though the double skinned bit between bottom of rear window and the drain channel.

Thanks cam. The water is sat in spare wheel well. It seems to emanate from the shock tower. But rather than dripping down from the top, it just seems to be from the bottom. So I’m hoping I’ll have sorted that when I weld it up. But who knows 🤣 this car has a habit of taking one repair and adding extra ones Willy nilly haha

[ronnyd]

I just drilled a hole at the bottom of the spare well on my Desmond.    It was on borrowed time anyway, after the tvvat who was visiting a neighbour up the road left the handbrake of his Astra off, which resulted in mine being written off. 

[cam.in.head]

tracing water leaks is always a pain. ive spent many times in a boot whilst being hosepiped and sometimes its not where you would think.
but yes finish the repairs and then see .may be sorted.
dont be putoff too much by saying that the youtube guys are way better than you.  they do jt for a living and have all the gear but it certainly helps to give guidance and ideas.its only bent metal after all and its taught me many things, the main being ' dont try to make a repair section out of one piece if you cant.often its easier and neater to make several profiles .
the areas you are now doing are typical omega ones ,rear of sills,inside door shut,inside arch behind plastic cover,inner panel (to seat base !) but as ive said many times ,omegas dont rust anywhere as bad as most 60's-80's cars and never to the point of being unrepairable.