| As you can see, the front spring hanger (the one at the
front of the leaf spring) has completely rusted through, it has been
plated a number of times (i.e. steel welded over rust). Those bodged
MOT style welded repairs are now rusting through as well. The best way
forward here is to cut the whole thing off, especially as new spring
hanger on a plate repair panels are available for only £20 or so.
Note the yellow chalk indicating MOT failure area. Its just not a good idea to plate over rust- it comes back in no time. Best to cut all the corrosion out and weld in a new piece. The crusty old hanger was cut off and the new hanger on plate supported by a jack and slid about till it was in the right place (mounting points at the right distances from the other suspension points). Then the edges of the plate were scribed accurately onto the floor pan, cut out to the line and the plate was tacked (butt weld tacks) into place for a final check of the measurements. The rest of the rust you can see will be dealt with once the car is securely back on its wheels. I didn't want to cut away too much at a time. |
 |
 |
 |
| The spring hanger complete with
plate was then butt welded to the floor of the car. The floor was found
to be a bit thin at the top of the picture- thats why I blew some holes
in the floor whilst welding! so a square section was cut out and a new
plate of 1mm steel accurately butt welded in here. The "Iceberg
principle" is clearly at play here! |
 |
| |
|
