fiestaturbo.com

[matteoman]

Ive messaged the guys on the ebay add seeing if there willing to sell just one

I wouldnt weld the whole panel in id just cut the lower valance bit off the bottom and weld it to mine as the top half of the panel is all good

I best be figuring out how to repair that big hole in the rear valance. Not got a clue at the moment

[jayrs]

the repair arch will come with the bit to wrap around and meet the back panel, basicly its got the bit where its rusted to a hole on your car mate

[matteoman]

So technically all id have to do is drill the spot welds out remove the bit thats rotted, Patch the bit behind it if there is an inner panel im not sure?? then just weld the new one on.

Buying them panels seems a lot easier then plating it

Thanks lads im glad i got 2 people dedicated to helping me out im learning alot beer tokens are on the cards

[jayrs]

basicly yes mate.

behind the bit thats rotted, there isnt a inner panel as such, it over laps the ends of the rear panel, as well as being spot welded to the tail end of the inner arch, basicly where thay plastic and rubber flap is.

again, if you have a gand on knuckles thread, im sure theres pics on there of what is behind as i removed the complete quarter panel on the drives side, and had to make a repair to the rear panel part as that was rottoed ina small place, but yours should be fairly easy, you might find once you remove it that some edges on the inner panel where it over laps need a bit of attention, but again, untill the old one is off, you wont know for sure

[matteoman]

Evening mate

You got a link to this Knuckles thread? lol you keep mentioning it but ive not seen it as yet.

I wanna get started now but im not getting the wings until Tuesday and im still yet to purchase the arch. Im not sure if its gonna be best for me to buy one inner arch repair panel to save me time?? and have you got a link to the correct one or not. It would save me making patches i could just cut and weld the correct bit in.

Cheers chap

[jayrs]

sorry dude, thought i linked you to it before?

ah well, half way down page 51 is where i started on it, knuckles started with the updates then i took over, but from page 51 on is what ive done to it so far

this link should take you to page 51

the-recaro-fiesta-restoration-update-20-10-vt142671/page1750/

this is a inner arch lip, confirm it is the side you need before buying, but im sure you could get these cheaper from a panel supplier, search a few on line in your area and see what comes up

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Fiesta-I ... 416ae51f16

[matteoman]

Oh that rebuild thread lol. Yeah you linked it to me before thats the one read in depth

I have one panel supplier a few miles away ill get onto them see what they can get for me.

I guess for now its just finish buying in the panels then pluck up the guts to actually cut into the car lol

[jayrs]

thought i had.

yeah its best to get all the bits before hand, but if you take the outer arch off and find the inenr arch ok its a waste of money, but i eppect your need the lower part of the lip though

[matteoman]

Definatly gonna need a part of the lip as you can see in photos theres a bit missing lol. I cant even whip the arch off now as its not good weather at the moment and my garage space is taken by the Ka project

[jayrs]

ah not gunna be a nice job outside then , i hate working outside in the crap weather now, must be getting old

[matteoman]

My garage is to small to do anything anyways mate. I can just about put an engine in the ka its so narrow!

Might have to ask my LPG boss to lend me a corner in the unit and his welder too while im there

[jayrs]

, go for it mate

[matteoman]

Well another update guys

After the advice from jayrs i took the rear card off the passenger side to have a look to see if the sill was cut off and welded on rather then welded over the top and it was done properly.










Im not sure what this means im guessing its rusty on the inner sill


Check out the inner wing well i think that looks good im sure you know better

[jayrs]

is that rust on the arch in the last pic?

the rust shown in that gap in the few last pics is the jacking point support, they all rot there, it should really of been repaired, but not much can be done about that now.

[matteoman]

It was flakey paint matey not at all holed. Prodded with my trusty rot finding screwdriver and its solid. Is this good then? Obviously further back youd see the bit thats bad but from here we cant see that.

Hmm well at least the sill was cut off and welded on not bodged on hey.

[jayrs]

anything thats solid and rot free i would leave, just cut the rotton bit out.
unless its easier for you to replace a bigger bit , but only you know whats easiest and best for you

[matteoman]

Its the outer arch lip thats just started to blister still solid though id probably find it easier to do a bigger bit as my first panel.

Was taking a look at the valance today



That hole is making me worry. I looked inside and its rotted the edge of the middle valance panel. Im feeling a bit out my depth on that one because just below that hole a previous hole is filled with filler and i could do with someone who knows that what they are doing to show me that properly

Also where its brown round the bottom edge is frispy as well hence why im opting for the full wheel arch.

Anybody willing to help me do this job just let me know? travelling is not a problem just want a good job doing with the panels i supply.

[jayrs]

wouldnt worry about that bit mate, that is easier to sort than a arch imo.

if part of the mian back panel is gone, just cut the rot out and stitch a new bit of metal in.
or go to scrappy, find a mk3 that isnt rotton where yours is and chop the bits needed out, and trim them to suit what ever it is you need on your car

[matteoman]

I think ill drill the spot welds out and trim along the top to get rid of that big hole so basically cut a square out of it. Patch the main panel and then cut the bit off the full arch i am buying and tack it in that will work yeah?

As for the bottom half of it i was thinking do the same thing cut along the line at the bottom and just do the same again cut the bit off the arch panel and weld it on.

This should all work as long as the arch panel has the bits i need

[jayrs]

yeah sounds alright to me mate, although, the arch repair panels do have the lower corners

[matteoman]

Yeah i know but im not confident putting the whole thing on just yet so ill do the arch which i feel more confident at believe it or not and then just cut out the rotten bits on the valance and patch with the bits left on the arch that fit the holes. Ideally id want a new valance but not this time round its only a standard shell.

[jayrs]

if it dont need one, dont change it mate, if you replace the whole back panel its a fair bit of work drilling out sport welds etc, if the lower part rots though, you can get lower rear valances

[matteoman]

Every brown bit on the above photo is either holed, filled with a blob of filler or very crispy and weak mate im just trying to get my head round things thats all.



I am thinking of cutting along the black line as anything outside the black line is sweet but is it easier? also is the panel we can see a skin ontop of another panel or is it somet i can cut off my panel i have and just weld in nicely remembering to patch the middle valance?

Thanks for the help again i ask so many questions but im learning

My wings arrived today

[jayrs]

dont bother cutting along the black line, that part is a skin, which covers part of the inner wing and is sport welded on, your betetr off finding the spot welds and drilling them out and removing the panel completely, then repair any rust on the mian back panel and then fit the new bit back over and weld it on.

once you get the replacment repair panel, your see just what i mean and where you can and cant cut


this is part of what i done on clarks car, wrong side to what you need, but you can see where the old panel overlapped, and with the blue one sat on, where the spot welds are likey to be

[matteoman]

Very daunting lol spot welds are not a problem. Ordering the panel the end of the week so will wait and see what i recon i can do.

Mate this is an epic job for me but if i pull it off im gonna be well chuffed.

Just in case anybody didnt see if pipe up if you know what your doing and are in Birmingham haha

[jayrs]

your be alright with it mate im sure

[matteoman]

Like i said mate its the first cut, Its just the knowing how much to take off sorta thing to be able to weld the new corner piece on..

Looking at the rot i have on the valance dont you think it looks like it will not be to pretty on the middle panel? It looks right bang in the middle of where it makes a semi circle arch up n over

[jayrs]

measure twice cut once is the thing to remember.

as for where the rot is, i reckon your be ok as far as the back panel goes looking from the outside.
if any of the mating lips on the inside have rust to the point it will break and need replacing you wont fully know untill the outer panel is removed.

it sounds like your a bit worried about the job, but there aint nothing to worry about really, if you remove the outer panel and theres grot on any part of the inner panel and it needs fixing, then fix it, its just a case of cut the rot out and weld new metal in.
just cut as little out as you need to.

but for the outer panel, cut the bare min off you can to get 90% of the old metal off, offer up the new panel, decide where you want/need to cut it (making it bigegr than the cut on the car) cut the repair panel, then use that as a template to the car and make the cut line, then follow that line and your end up with a hole the right shape and size for the repair panel, this means your end up with a butt joint, and dont worry if theres a small gap between then, as the weld will fill it, just try and make sure the gap is as small as it can be, so again, measure twice, cut once.

[matteoman]

measure twice cut once is the thing to remember.

as for where the rot is, i reckon your be ok as far as the back panel goes looking from the outside.
if any of the mating lips on the inside have rust to the point it will break and need replacing you wont fully know untill the outer panel is removed.

it sounds like your a bit worried about the job, but there aint nothing to worry about really, if you remove the outer panel and theres grot on any part of the inner panel and it needs fixing, then fix it, its just a case of cut the rot out and weld new metal in.
just cut as little out as you need to.

but for the outer panel, cut the bare min off you can to get 90% of the old metal off, offer up the new panel, decide where you want/need to cut it (making it bigegr than the cut on the car) cut the repair panel, then use that as a template to the car and make the cut line, then follow that line and your end up with a hole the right shape and size for the repair panel, this means your end up with a butt joint, and dont worry if theres a small gap between then, as the weld will fill it, just try and make sure the gap is as small as it can be, so again, measure twice, cut once.

I am worried mate never done it before but a lot of people are saying with my old job line it should be doable if i just take my time and asses the job in hand etc. So its best to drill the spot welds out and trim along the top of my red line on the picture above?? Because i dont want to replace the arch and that as one panel its to big for me. Id rather do the little repair on the arch and then focus on the valance corner.

Basically looking at the picture where would you cut it? baring in mind the brown bits you can see are either holes filled with a blob of filler or crispy metal.

Cheers mate

[jayrs]

thats fair enough mate.

i would cut it as i did on knuckles car mate if i was to do the repair that your car needs.

only downside to this though, is the repair panel does not come with the hole stamped in to allow for that plastic vent that clips in, so that would need to be cut out.

that plastic vent has small tabs that hole it in, they will prob break when removing it so be carfull

[matteoman]

Its just a matter of me looking at it and deciding where to make the vital cuts i suppose if i screw it up ill sort it when and if i do.

Yeah cutting out a vent hole isnt a problem. I insure the car in less then a month so it will probably be welded as and when i can live without it on a weekend or something i have the wings just need to find one single full arch repair panel every one seems to sell them as pairs grr

[jayrs]

that guy on ebay not willing to sell just one then?

heres just the LH side arch repair panel

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-FIESTA-M ... 2ebda53c7f

another a tenner cheaper, but postage is a tenner so about the same price

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-FIESTA-M ... 1e6d813198

what ever one you get, be sure it is 100% a mk3 mk3.5 one, not a mk4/5 one, as there is a difference, and that difference is the shape at the bottom of the main panel, i.e about where the buper sits, on the mk3/3.5 it has a flat (look at your car, you see what i mean) on the mk4/5 its rounded, and will not match up.
if you plan to cut it in a way that you dont use that section, then the rest is the same on the mk4/5 repair panel


you know thinking about it, i prob wouldnt cut the whole section out if i was doing it in 2 parts like you plan to, so for just the back part, i would cut it in a place with as little work as poss to make it right after, so where ive marked in green lines, is where i would cut it

[matteoman]

Ill purchase one of them panels on monday when i return from a wedding im attending this evening yeah the guy didnt want to split them i mailed a guy in the classifieds on here asking if hed split one but he didnt want to either lol

I think the way you said about cutting it i will do it that way it looks a hell of a lot easier to line back up again and weld it nicely.

I will reply in more detail on my return im due to catch a train in half an hour and ive not even made it to the city centre hahaa

Cheers matey have a good weekend.

[jayrs]

if you cut it right, it will line up fine.
if it doesnt look spot on after welding, it wont show being behind the bumper, but dont let that put you off doing it right
just kidding mate

shame they didnt want to split them, but i guess they dont want to be left with a odd one

[matteoman]

Back from my weekend away with the ka forum! fecking awesome weekend.

Anyways one of the guys there even offered to come weld the new arch in and replace the corner of the valance with me. Legend hes coming down from chester too lol

Will report back!