Bodywork repair

We finished disassembling of the vehicle and continued disassembling of the removed components for detailed inspection and defects detection. We started preparing of the fundamental components of the vehicle, such as chassis frame and bodywork, for restoration.

Before cleaning, we moved frame to welding workshop and installed it onto measuring bench to check for possible damages and measurement inaccuracies.

We manually cleaned exterior panels of the body and applied sandblast to the damaged by corrosion structural elements.

Now all defects caused by corrosion became obvious. There was no any panel of the body which had not corrosion damages.

We cleaned repaired frame in the sand blast camera and moved prepared frame to the powder coating workshop for painting.

We stored restored frame until start of assembling.

We produced necessary profiles for reconstruction of the doorsills.

We produced adequate supports and installed prepared body onto our measuring and welding rig.

We removed outer layer of right A-pillar to provide access for recreation of the inner structure of the post.

We recreated missing part of the outer shell of the doorpost.

We finished recreation of the RHS front section of the body.

We cut away seriously damaged section of the firewall.

Detached part we used as specimen producing exact copy for replacing.

Upper section of the firewall reinforcement profile was destroyed by corrosion.

We produced exact copies of the damaged panels for substitution.

Prefabricated new panels we welded into the place

We finished restoration of RHS carcass joining together new firewall and floor panels.

We continued restoration works of the fundamental components of the vehicle as well as disassembling of the removed components for detailed inspection and defects detection.

Bit by bit we moved across the body replacing damaged areas of the sheet metal structure.

During restoration process, we constantly monitored compatibility of recreated body carcass with other removable body components.

We continued disassembling of the removed components for detailed inspection, defects detection and repair, as well as restoration works of the fundamental components of the vehicle – particularly body shell.

We cut away upper part of the damaged flange for rear wing attachment.

This area originally was created from several layers of sheet metal.

First, we recreated layer belonging to inner wheel arch.

Now we made necessary patch to restore outer shell of the body.

We prepared place to attach new segment of the body.

Finally, we grinded weld seams on the restored area.

We moved rearwards along the flange to the next damages.

We cot out completely damaged area.

New patch manufactured to recreate damaged area.

Last operation, as usual, grinding.

Now we moved to the right rearmost corner – completely damaged complex area consisting of many parts joint in several layers.

We had to remove damaged parts layer by layer to save them as templates.

Under damaged sidewall reinforcement we found serious damages of sidewall itself.

We cut away damaged area of the sidewall discovering damages on the joint between rear corner and rearmost crossmember.

Corner area of the rear cross member also had several penetrating corrosion areas.

Even corner panel of the luggage compartment had penetrating damages.

We cut away all damaged parts – now just thin slice of side panel keeps together this area.

We produced missing piece of metal to get at firm joint between side and rear valances.

Corner of luggage compartment now recreated.

We found spot of penetrating corrosion at the upper part of side recess.

We removed the damage.

Exact copy produced to replace damaged area.

Repaired area of the right side recess of the luggage compartment.

We cut away damaged part of rearmost crossmember.

We manufactured necessary patch panel.

Restored rearmost crossmember in the place.

We use protective primer before welding to protect initially hidden cavities.

We manufactured missing part of the side panel.

Next step completed – side panel restored.

We produced copy of reinforcement rib.

We restored reinforcement rib on the sidewall of the luggage compartment.

Now we produced new corner piece to finish restoration of this corner.

Now this area is again as new.

We continued work on the right side A-pillar – applied protective coating before closing of structure.

We produced necessary patch to recreate shape of A-pillar.

Restored lower part of RHS A-pillar.

Now we moved to the LHS rear inner wing, which had also unrepaired damages after some accident.

We removed completely damaged reinforcement panel – sidewall behind it also was damaged. This will require use of body correction tools, so we first shall finish structure of passenger compartment.

There were numerous penetrating holes in the front wing edge behind the doorsill decoration moulding.

We made cut-outs in the most damaged areas and prepared adequate patches.

We grinded weld seams finishing the surface.

On the opposite side – RHS front wing had similar defects. Rearmost lower corner of the wing was generally lost.

We cut away completely damaged area leaving reinforcement bracket in place.

We produced necessary segment to replace damaged area.

We grinded weld seams on restored area.

Damages on the front corner were wider, so we opted for complete replacement of this area.

We disjoined damaged segment of the front wing.

Exact copy of the damaged corner was fabricated.

There was penetrating corrosion spot at the top of wheel opening.

We cut away whole damaged area to prepare adequate patch.

Now there are no signs of the previous damage.

There was lost attachment flange on the cover plates, which are located between front bumper and front wings.

We cleaned plates in sand blast camera and prepared patches of the missing areas for welding.

We cleaned weld seams finishing restoration of the cover plates.

Front part of the RHS wing suffered from poor repair after some crash and thorough corrosion.

Front panel was separated from the inner structure serving as an air duct.

There were countless penetrating holes on the lower front corner of the wing.

Starting detailed defect detection and repair, we completely cleaned wing in the sandblast camera.

We completely removed damaged section of the front wing.

Here we discovered unwanted penetrating corrosion spots in the fog lamp housing behind cover piece at the bottom of housing. We made necessary patch and recreated housing.

We manufactured necessary cover piece.

We recreated original structure of the fog lamp housing.

We tailored new front corner of the RHS wing.

We reconstructed front corner of the wing and proceeded to the front panel – we cut away damaged areas layer by layer.

Now there were left just undamaged sheet metal pieces.

We used disjoint segments as specimen producing necessary patches.

Upper plate of the air channel again in place.

We produced patch to recreate missing part of the front panel of the wing.

We joined new edge of the front panel with other components.

We manufactured missing part of the lower plate of the air channel.

We finished recreation of the structure at the front lower part of the wing.

Attachment bracket of the front corner was seriously damaged so we produced new replacement part.

We finished restoration of the front lower corner of the wing.

There were serious corrosion damages around the housing of the fog lamp.

We cut away damaged area giving the way for the fresh metal.

We produced necessary patch to recreate damaged area.

This wing suffered from poor repair of the area around the headlamp housing – there still was misshaping of the outer panel of the wing against chromed headlamp ring. Even with thin layer of the tin (as pictured on the photo) panel of the wing was pushed inwards for some 7 mm too much.

We modified our rig to put both wings side by side and transfer measures directly from LHS wing to RHS wing making those both symmetrical.

We continued restoration works of the fundamental components of the body – particularly front wings and body components adjacent to the front wings. To preserve originality we recreated all these complex areas, like headlamp housings, layer by layer

body 2