Bespoke Mettlewerx | aircraft & boat

Bespoke Mettlewerx

Phone: +61 490 848 212

Add/Update information

Reviews

Tags

• Automotive
• aircraft & boat

23.01.2022 More progress this week. I've been making up repair panels for the outer wheel arches.The outer arches are 18 guage thick so that's the reason I decided to repair rather than shape new ones as trying to shape them in the thicker material would be very hard work. The outer corners needed replacing so I've made up patch panels to fix these-I still have to weld them in. A combination of shrinker/stretcher, blocking hammer and bead roller were used to make them, tricky little things to make actually. Once these are tacked in place I will replace the flange on the inner and outer edge.

23.01.2022 Some late night welding action tonight! Stitched up the drivers side wheel arch. Just needs final planishing and trimming to size then onto passenger side!

21.01.2022 It's been sometime since my last post. Things have been progressing on the Sprite up until a couple of weeks ago.. I have managed to get all the chassis rails, rear spring mounts and rear axle bump stops welded/plug welded together. This was a lengthy process and involved much careful measuring to ensure everything was in the right spot. It would have taken half the time if I could have got the spot welder into the areas that needed fixing but most of these joints only had access from one side. Anyway it's coming together nicely..

21.01.2022 One fender completed, next one well on the way. Nowhere near the amount of work in drivers side compared to previous one.

19.01.2022 Progress on the Oldsmobile fenders this week. The rear sweeping curve of these fenders are prone to cracking which this particular one suffered from. A poor repair had been attempted by brazing the crack together. Accident damage has also damaged most of the rolled lip around the lower edge so the decision was made to make a complete new lower section. A paper pattern was taken and then transferred to metal. I had to block out some shape in the sandbag and then wheeled it out to achieve correct crown. Pullmax die was made to replicate rolled lip on edge which just needs to be finished over a dolly. Then can be trimmed to size and welded in

19.01.2022 Walk around the weld seam!

17.01.2022 Today's progress...Turned the rolled edge over around the outer edge then got it welded in. Next step is to planish out the weld and any irregularities and get it metal finished. Happy Australia Day everyone

17.01.2022 Boot floor and bulkhead have been put together..Trial fitting the wheel arch assembly. Starting to see the fruits of my labor!!

17.01.2022 Almost got this thing finished. 'The Phammer'. I need a decent planishing hammer that has the capabilities to shape as well. This frame should be stiff enough being 150mm Square x 6mm wall thickness SHS. I also incorporated some die holder trays either side. Power will be pneumatic via aircraft rivet guns of varying size. Some small details to do and then it's ready for paint.

14.01.2022 Almost ready to fix the new fabbed chassis rails to floor assembly. There's been some work in adjusting these to fit just right. Combination of spot welds and plug welds will hold these in place..

12.01.2022 Both wheelarch assemblies offered up to check fitment. Looking good, time to start spotwelding together!

12.01.2022 Progress, slowly.... Involved welding up and finishing the outer wheel arches. I didn't go to great lengths of metalfinishing the welds on these as they won't be seen once hidden by the outer panels.

10.01.2022 Road trip=New Acquisition...Mk2 3.4...Awaiting some tlc...

10.01.2022 Just wrapped up the 'B' pillars. They don't look like much but these little parts involved quite a bit of work. I had to turn a small edge over a hammerform so I could then weld on a wider flange section. Once this was done the welds were planished smooth and the separate pieces were assembled together..

10.01.2022 I now have a rear bulkhead assembly! Had a chance to put this together last week. Now its time to get onto the boot floor and rear wheelarch assemblies. Slowly getting closer to having a complete chassis again-Rustfree!!

07.01.2022 One down one to go. Managed to get the drivers side inner wheel arch completed today. File finished the weld seam after wheeling the panel. Smooth and shiny now!!! Happy with how it has come up. Now to finish the left hand side...

07.01.2022 Made some more progress on the Sprite this week. Not the most exciting stuff but it's all small parts that take time. Next job is making the 'B' post/panels, which I have started making the patterns for. Was contemplating going back to the earlier door style without any wind-up windows but haven't made up my mind on that yet. I just like the look of the rolled top on the doors. We'll see!

06.01.2022 Taken a break on the Sprite for a few weeks. My other 'project' is a 1969 420g Jaguar which is getting tidied up to be a weekend 'Cruiser'.. Dad has been doing lots of work on this over the last few months to help me out which has been greatly appreciated being a little 'time poor' atm..Just sharing a couple of pics of some rust repair sections I've got underway, there's a bit going on in this panel-passenger side chassis rail in 1.6mm bright steel..

06.01.2022 Lower fender repair planished and smoothed out. Couple of imperfections need to be taken care of in other areas then I can call it done!

06.01.2022 Started the inner wheel arches this past week. Really happy with how they're coming together. Began by making a pattern from the original and transferred it to some 1mm steel sheet. This was the first real test for my 'Shrinker' and so far I'm really happy with the results that Its giving me. The panel is made in two sections and will be welded through the middle of the radius. Once edges were shrunk it was smoothed out on the English wheel. Still needs some more finishing before I weld the two parts together but the rough shape is there now. Panel will have to be final trimmed once welded together and planished...

05.01.2022 This week I have started to make up the parts that form the rear wheel arch assembly. These panels basically tie the inner wheel arch tub to the 'B' post and rear boot floor. It's good to be making progress!! I will post some more pics when I get all the edges turned and maybe punch some holes in them. I officially used the Shrinking machine for the first time on these, it helped me turn the lip up along the edge of the panel.

05.01.2022 Wrapped up the inner wheel arches this week. Now it's onto repairing the outer arches then the fun part-Assembly of all the pieces begins...

05.01.2022 A few more brackets made last week. These are the rear bump stops and the spring hangar brackets. Each step a little closer!

03.01.2022 A long overdue post. A few pics of the latest parts. I decided to make a new set of these wheelarch support panels. The first set I fabricated without the factory pressings but I was never happy with the look, so I decided to make another set with the original pressings-As close to anyway. This involved making a hammerform from some 5mm plate which I then cut the profiles into. I then clamped and stretched the metal down into this form. I'm pretty happy with the results. The photos show the steps. Now finally I can start assembly with very careful measuring!

01.01.2022 Assembly Time..Starting to come together now! Been a fair process getting these parts to this stage but very happy to finally see these panels going together! A big thanks to dad for his help in getting these together!