Installing a new nose
Low and behold, after sand blasting, I found 2 lovely plates face welded onto the front of my car. They were not sealed so the lacey rust had begun below and behind these plates.
Much of the rest of the structure of the nose below the grill didn't look the best so, desicion time again, new nose or fix this one. Well, in my view, the front end of these cars is one of the many important defining, iconic features.
Needs to be done right.
~Therefore, new
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I started by "gingerly" cutting away parts of the nose.
For some reason, this felt like a much more critical task than the roof.
Some key take aways:
-The inner fenders and the frame rails don't depend on the nose for squareness. Therefore, there is absolutely no need to brace the inner fenders when you take the nose off.
-Use the front quarters to square up the nose
-Use the quarters and the relative position of the factory holes in the inner fenders to square up the nose.
-Use machine screws in the holes you have drilled out to re-create the spot weld look with a much smaller diameter shank to allow you to position and shift the component.
-Re-weld the bottom of the nose to the frame rails
Most of all, like anything, once you get into this, it really isn't that hard to do.
The nose that I got was never installed in a vehicle. However, the upper shelf had been poached and it was a US nose needing some cleaning up since I don't intend to use one of those big front bumpers. However, the shelf not being there made it a bit easier to put in the nose (I think...)
Step 1: Weld in the US bumper holes
-Sheet metal
-Copper pcs (1/2" copper pipe fitting smashed flat)
-Magnets
-Welder
-Air compressor for cooling.
-die grinder.
1. Start with making a template for the holes.
2. Use a metal cut off wheel to cut your sheet metal (saves lots of warping)
3. Set in your cut out, trim to size with a grinding wheel.
4. Hold the pc in place with 4 magnets so that it is flush with the body.
5. Place the copper behind the location you intend to weld and hold it on with the magnet.
6. Tack weld and cool with air.
7. Move the magnet and copper to the opposite corner and tack/ cool in that location.
Repeat 6 and 7 until the pc is tack welded at 1' spacing all the way around. Continue to move the copper and magnet until closed. Then die grind and admire.
Remember, you want to have the surface flush or low. You will need to put some body fill in this area.
Step 2: Mount the nose on the car
Provided you are starting with a fully removed nose, quarters and you are looking at your firewall from the front of your car (note, this may be disturbing for some viewers...)
you are now ready to put on the new nose!
The nose should sit very close to the frame rails. It needs to be welded to them but there is a bit of a gap. Be sure that these are painted and then ground to metal where you want to weld, across the inside back (close to the stabalizer bar, mine is red to match the red Alpina velocity stacks) and on the inner wall of the frame rail.
Mark the locations of the holes you need to drill in the nose. Use similar spacing as with the spot welds to make it look authentic.
Get some small diameter, self taping machine screws. Position the nose and put in 2 of the machine screws at into the top of the inner fender to hold it on.
Now, you need to mount your quarters again to make sure that your nose and your quarters line up. Don't rely solely on this. Look at the factory pass through holes on the nose relative to the inner fenders and loosen your machine screws and shift the nose until the relative position of the nose to the inner fenders is the same. I used the micrometer to center. Don't mess around and take time with this step. It must be centered properly.
Once you are in position on the top, put 1 machine screw in on either of the inner fender verticals and your nose will be secure. Measure and position again if necessary.
Then you are ready to weld it on.
Weld all of your pre-drilled holes closed and grind them flush.
Time for a cold one!
Step 3.
Install the shelf.
Tools
-Blair spot weld drill.
-WD 40 as lubricant for the spot weld bit.
-Lincoln welder
I spot weld drilled out the shelf from my existing nose and drilled out holes in the new nose to weld the shelf in with.
Follow the same steps as with welding the US bumper holes closed using the copper. Use a big welding clamp to pinch the pcs together. Do the supports to for the hood last!
Note that the braces in the mid of the shelf, at least with the way my spot weld cutting went, was a bit narly. Lots of gentle welding and grinding to make it smooth. High fill to finish the job.
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