Chris_Collins

First a coat of body deadener underneath and on the floor and other areas to help hide a few minor imperfections. Attached Thumbnails

More news from Jack Neville "got all the filler rubbed back before I took off for Corowa for the week. I gave the body a thorough going over with fishoil and sealed all the seams with butyl mastic. The week in Corowa gave it a chance to dry out so it was ready to paint when I got home." Attached Thumbnails

While I had the body lifted on my gantry I took the opportunity to install new shackle bushes in the front. It took every bit of pressure I could wring out of this G clamp to get them to push in. After that it was time to wipe a bit more filler around and tidy up some of the welds and other imperfections. Attached Thumbnails

Oops! Second photo above not correct. I also got the reinforcing panel around the handbrake added in. There was a dent in the hump I couldn't get out. By placing the panel in position and bolting the handbrake down it pulled the dent up and held it in place while I plug welded the drilled holes. A bit of clamping and tipping th body side to side to get a better welding position. Attached Thumbnails

In the meantime Chris dissassembled his many windscreens until he had enough good condition frames, glass and various screws and brackets to put two good windscreens together. Attached Thumbnails

These went in quite well. My photo is a bit dull though. Attached Thumbnails

Finally got a few more pieces back together. Battery shelf patch welded in and filler added. Replacement pieces added to the side footwells. I first added small tags to help align them and give something to weld to and drilled some holes to plug weld. Attached Thumbnails

Should come up OK. Attached Thumbnails

Folded the edges and then recessed the ends to slip under and level with the existing panel. Attached Thumbnails

I needed a way of pressing in the curve and co-incidentally this arrived today. A small folding tool. Just the right size to put a piece of round bar in the V section. Just had to move it along and press it slowly. Once that was done I dressed the edges with a bolster and hammer. Attached Thumbnails

I completed another patch to go in the chasis where the battery had rusted a hole in the firewall. I cut out the damaged section and formed up a patch. It needs a curved rib formed in the centre so first I did two folds. I don't have a folder but I find you can do a lot with angle iron and G clamps. Attached Thumbnails

I looked at the rear inner guard boxes as they will be ready for use soon. These had been blasted and primed but on closer inspection there is a few too many areas that will need patching and a lot of shape to put back in. I think new ones are in order. I will take the box from this rusty old side and disassemble it as a pattern. Attached Thumbnails

Chris had sorted the best of the front and rear tow bars and supporting brackets. A little straightening and they are ready for sandblasting. Attached Thumbnails

Pictured is once of the several rear bumpers Chris had to choose from. A somewhat failed attempt at providing a tow bar. Hopefully my design will provide a little more resistance. Attached Thumbnails

Two rooves patched and given a coat of fishoil and once that has dried they will be primed and painted. Attached Thumbnails

Some filler and sanding. Attached Thumbnails

Also filled the couple of small rusted out areas on the original roof after welding in patches. Attached Thumbnails

Pictures of the rooves as earlier mentioned. First was to add the rib on the car roof to match the original Tilly. There is a piece of rope which fits between to rib and roof to stop vibration I suppose. Some grinding of the rib to allow access to the bolts securing the supporting timber strut. Also reattached the small gutter pieces to the car roof. Attached Thumbnails

Whilst Mr Collins concentrated on marking holes I spent some time grinding up the welds on the additions to the chassis. Measured up requirements for the tow bar which I will make up once I get the required steel. Rear section is now ready to seal and paint. I think. Attached Thumbnails

Rooves have been blasted and the original just needs a small patch where it had been previously rusted through and filled. The folds inside above the sills are a bit untidy but will be convered with masonite trim eventually so we can live with that. Chris has started working on the body side panels marking and drilling holes. Attached Thumbnails

John Neville is the wizard of the Sheetmetal, i'm just his minion, he might chime in but he's more active on MLU,we have the same thread running there which i'm basically duplicating as soon as he posts something new. Here is more UK centric and we figured we would potentially get more interest and useful information here than on MLU, John Isn't very active here though. Thanks for your interest, folks I'm amazed that after going to Operation Market Garden 70th anniversary and declaring "I must have a Tilly", how quickly things have progressed (escalated? :nut:) andrew, I shall email you shortly in regards to the measurements you want, we have an alternative proposition for you. Cheers Chris

The floor is now welded in, which just left the small patch to do. The patch needed to match the cut off ends of the rotted floor ribs so after welding a flat patch in I heated it up and gently tapped the profile of the ribs in where required. Needs a little more dressing with a hammer and dolly but I can't access it properly in this position so I will finish it off when I can turn the chassis on its side. A few heat shrinks were required also to pull the front area of the floor into better shape and there are just a few welds to grind up. Attached Thumbnails

The left side was out of alignment by about three quarters of an inch. Nothing a little persuasion with a 'porta power' couldn't correct. Attached Thumbnails

The rear box section with internal half inch nuts in place to attach the tow bar was welded in and then the ends of that section welded to the ends of the chassis rail. The right side of the floor lined up correctly so I tacked it in a few places to get that side supported. Attached Thumbnails

When I removed the floor I drilled all the spot welds with a spot weld drill. I left the bottom welds intact after cutting them so I could realign the rear of the chassis rails with exactly where they had originally joined the floor. The rails had crept in a bit with the welds so I needed a porta power to spread them slightly. Attached Thumbnails