1959 Peerless Restoration

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nigel c
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by nigel c »

7, 8, 9, 10....here I come, ready or not! aaar ha, FOUND YOU!

so this is where you've all been hiding, quite nice in here but still along way to come. 8)

anywho, this radiator cowling caper. may I make a suggestion? you may be looking at this from the wrong angle, literally.
why not fit the fan or fans in the nose of the car (when fitted)
I'm running two fans (from two old estate cars) cut n shut to just fit inside the air intake. all sprayed black so you don't see them (but you can hear them!)
the original cars had a cowling/duct that came from the front of the car's nose to the outer front edge of the rad. these were (foolishly) disregarded most times by owners and so over heated.
running this format allows you to keep the horns and the engine bay looks standard.

I'd load a pic but whey to techy for me :(

the other thing about the airflow on these cars is that anything over 30mph (in the UK anyway, yea I know...its cold all year!) and they really don't need cooling. the amount of air that is rammed through the front of the car is staggering (so long as you have the rad duct fitted)
the Le Mans car had problems with the bonnet (read hood) bulging under the pressure of the air trying to escape. from this I think they strengthened the road cars bonnets with frames etc.
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Martin Keller »

Hi Dean,

Any updates on the Peerless Project. or for that matter the extension to the Car Barn (aka your shop / garage).

:drive
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Martin,

Hope all is going well. I told myself that the Peerless project would have to wait until the barn addition is complete...and I am so close. I'll post a few photos in the "...cars and getting a place of their own.." thread.

But to answer your question directly. What have I done in the Peerless since my last post....uhhhhh - nothing! I might have even gone backwards as I used some hose clamps that I bought for the Peerless on the Warwick.

Dean
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Martin Keller »

HealeyBN7 wrote:Martin,

Hope all is going well. I told myself that the Peerless project would have to wait until the barn addition is complete...and I am so close. I'll post a few photos in the "...cars and getting a place of their own.." thread.

But to answer your question directly. What have I done in the Peerless since my last post....uhhhhh - nothing! I might have even gone backwards as I used some hose clamps that I bought for the Peerless on the Warwick.

Dean
Sometimes going backwards a bit makes the final outcome so much better but in the case of using the hose clamps I know that they were most likely used for a good cause and most likely made you smile so I do not think that is going backwards in the least and as for your addition to the auto barn I just wish I come back as a car that gets as pampered as the cars you have do. :thumbs:

:drive
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Steve Simmons »

Heck I used the rebuilt engine for my '65 project in the '67. Now THAT'S going backwards! Hose clamps are far easier to source more of.
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

I know it has been a long time, but I ran out of excuses to start the Peerless body work.

First step was completing the stripping of the grunge, paint and interior surfaces. A new soda blaster, 200lbs of soda and a couple dozen 40 grit grinding disks removed most of the surface cracks and prior repairs. I still have the hood, trunk and a door to finish up.

Here in this picture you can see the bare body on the buck after the soda blasting.
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Unfortunately the prior sanding and soda blasting wasn't enough to chase out all the stress cracks. Cracks are everywhere. Here you can see a close up of a fender that where the paint was sanded off, but not deep enough to deal with the cracking resin.
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Here is a sort of before/after shot. On half of the fender the cracks were chased and removed. The other half still needed to be done. The gray filler is old bondo. It was used to form the top of the fender detail. A difficult feature that will have to be recreated.
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Most of the body had been hit and repaired. No single panel was spared. In one case a fender detail was created with just resin. 1 1/2" of resin with no mat or weave.
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In another area they used expanded steel, wood and toggle screws to form a fender.
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I found what looks like a replacement "A" piller post after grinding away course weave and several layers of dry cloth. I should be able to save it and glass it back in with chopped mat.
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If you are wondering what goes here, so was I. The cut, screw holes and 2" gap was a contender for the largest single formation of bondo ever outside of a gallon can.
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After the really offending sections had been removed you can see that there wasn't much left to work with.
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There are several areas like the nose section that I soon realized that if I were to remove all the poorly repaired weave, I wouldn't have anything left and that would only be feasible if I had another car to pull a mold from....wish I knew where I could find another Peerless or Warwick.
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The tail section that was hit and repaired. I'll have to remove the lower section completely to get out all the dry cloth. I am holding off on this removal until I fit the side fenders.

In this last shot you can see the replacement panels being offered up to the reinforced chassis. There are now steel struts holding the roof and additional braces holding the corners of the fenders.
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Hope to start glassing some things back together this weekend. I think the best place to start is the rear fender or B pillar as I can set that square with the pop out window. From there the door hinges will need to be installed on the temporary frame, so the door and front fender can be fitted. fun fun
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Happy birthday to me!
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by tannyo »

Did you purchase the body parts from The Peerless and Warwick Register? I wonder if it would be less expensive to buy a replacement body.
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by VWNate1 »

WOW :eek: .

I'm glad you got this car as mere mortals would have scrapped it :bow: .

Keep up the good works and up dates too please .
-Nate
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HealeyBN7
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

tannyo wrote:Did you purchase the body parts from The Peerless and Warwick Register? I wonder if it would be less expensive to buy a replacement body.
Ah yes, but where is the fun in that. :)

Actually I pursued that pretty hard and after the UK guys looked at my photos, they determined that my body was good enough to rebuild and they were not interested in making a full replacement for me. :( I am lucky they agreed to create the side panels!

With a little extra work and having the Warwick at hand to make molds, I should be able to get reasonably close. UPS just delivered 20 yards of mat (various weights) and several hundred dollars of resin... It will harden into something!
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Steve Simmons »

Holy cow. I never would have guessed it was that bad. Being completely feeble in bodywork and especially glass, I would probably have bought a new body even if it weren't the original type. There were a lot of aftermarket bodies for TR chassis back then so there is probably something still out there. Kudos to you for going original though!
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Larry Kluss »

Almost ready for paint!

It is a huge job, but I think you're doing the right thing by saving it, and doing it right. Besides, you don't want to sit around and get bored.
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by DaveC »

Yikes - that's unexpectedly rough... Given that 1/3 of the weight was in bondo, perhaps Ian et al would reconsider the new shell now. Your right to use the original though, and it'll look wonderful when you're done.

Let me know if you want to use my P1 as a mold, in case anything you need to do is one of the differences.

And congrats on the badge :)

dave
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by gorms68 »

Now what would they do on Overhaulin'? :devil:

Thank goodness the car ended up in your hands and not Chip's!
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Made a little more progress. Glassed the rear panel bask together and fabricated a new rear deck hinge and B pillar. The plan is to fully set the B pillar and A pillar before tackling the door and front fender.
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Here is the outside after a few layers of mat.
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And from the inside the fender looks almost like new.
IMG-20130825-00513.jpg
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So the B pillars are just rusty flat steel pieces that are supposed to be bonded to the back side of the door strike area. You can see from inside the rear fender that this one lost all it's bonding and is fully rusted. There are not supposed to be screws in those holes, just a small amount of resin and glass. Needless to say, that didn't work out so well. Both were free to flop around.
IMG-20130831-00525.jpg
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I fabricated a pair of new B pillars from steel and perforated stainless. A little careful measuring, use of a 20 ton press to bend the pillar and a new B pillar emerged. At the top of the new B pillar the perforated stainless will catch a greater section of the roof area.
IMG-20130831-00519.jpg
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Again, looking up from the inside the rear wheel well into the door strike area, where you can see it held in place before bonding. There is an additional attachment point near the top of the fender to ensure it stays put.
IMG-20130831-00524.jpg
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And from the outside this time without the rust.
IMG-20130831-00528.jpg
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It will need paint before installation. Tomorrow I hope to finish up the passenger side. That is, if it not too hot.
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Made a little more progress setting the door opening. In this photo you can see that the window track is temporarily installed. This is helping define the position of the A pillar. It is interesting that the track is so steeply inclined. You can see that it is really angled inward. If you asked me a couple years ago, I would have said the side windows were perfectly vertical - not so it appears.
IMG-20130901-00529.jpg
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Note that in this photo looking toward the front of the car MGB style door hinges are mounted to the temporary frame. Eventually, I'll create a mating mount inside the door. I am hoping that there is enough adjustment to allow for all three axis of alignment movement.

Yep - still missing is the front fender, but access is so nice without it.
IMG-20130901-00530.jpg
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And here you see the A pillar bonded in place. It will take several more layers of mat to get it finished. I am using laminating resin (with no wax) to allow for additional layers without the hassle of sanding. That is, if I am able to add the additional layers while it remains tacky.

By the way that screwdriver is playing a critical role in keeping the dashboard from falling out.
IMG-20130901-00532.jpg
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Bored yet?
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Fifty Six MGA »

HealeyBN7 wrote:
Bored yet?
Not even a little. Love it.
____________
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Larry Kluss »

Keep posting, Dean. It is interesting to see how you are going about reconstructing the damaged areas. Quite impressive, but not for the faint of heart. :)
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Still churning out dust and terrible smells.

I decided that it was time to set the front fender and play with the door hinges. A couple years ago when I was working on the frame, I made provisions for frame extensions using MGB hinges. They slide in and out on tubing and a blind nut plate. Since I gave away the original rusted Peerless hinges, I am really hoping that these will work.

Here they are bolted to the buck. You can also see the window frame mounting bracket - it is the rusty one. It will eventually interfere.
IMG-20130901-00536.jpg
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Here is the front fender reacquainted with the body.
IMG-20130906-00541.jpg
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And here is the lower sill area. Both fenders included the sill area. All I had to do was line it up and glass them back together.
IMG-20130907-00549.jpg
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After cleaning out my supply of clamps, glassing is now a possibility.
IMG-20130907-00556.jpg
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And the front fender gets a similar treatment. Now I am beginning to associate the terrible smell of resin with progress.
IMG-20130907-00561.jpg
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The original door frame was really non-existent. It relied on the glass shell with a small bonded pad near the hinge area. The glass, brass frame and winder mechanism is heavy and causes the door to sag. This welded triangle supports the latch side of the door. I am pretty happy with this. Now I just need to making a matching one for the passenger side.
IMG-20130909-00573.jpg
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And with the door open...
IMG-20130909-00575.jpg
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And the door closed. First time without clamps.
IMG-20130909-00579.jpg
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Now onto Goodwood!!
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by wellwoodautorestoration »

Dean . I am impressed!! Everything is coming together as you envisioned. One suggestion. On your internal door support make the rod coming down from the hinge into an adjustable one by adding a threaded section able to be adjusted back and forth. This will allow the back lower corner of the door to be pulled in to the body if required. You may not need that feature now but.....
Best of luck with the rest. Almost ready for paint!!
Cheers, Dave
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by HealeyBN7 »

Good idea Dave. I think I accommodated a similar adjustment by leaving the tail of the triangle section about 3/4 inch off the bottom of the door. This way I can remove shims should the door want to sag a bit more. That said, I might just take up your idea and install a threaded adjustment as it will be easier and allow the entire lower support to be bonded to the door.

It is really a guessing game at this point. The buck is similar to the existing frame, but I am sure that it will prove not to be exactly the same. I'll have to make final adjustments once the body is back on the real frame. I will have to say that it is nice to be working at a reasonable height.
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by Steve Simmons »

Looking great! On T-Series cars we use steel strap welded to a turnbuckle in the center. This is then screwed into opposing diagonal corners of the door. This allows the door to be "warped" as necessary for a better fit.
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by DaveC »

Wonderful, Dean. congratulations on making so much progress. Enjoy Goodwood!
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by nigel c »

WOW! Dean you really are getting on with this rebuild! most impressive. people used to ask me why did I persevere with the body on my car, they would say "you must be really dedicated"....my reply, "no, just blind stupidity!"

but you my friend are on another level! :bow:

going back to the comments about getting the top line on the front win......sorry, fender.
BP front wing (Small).jpg
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this is how I did mine. I gave it a liberal coating of two pack primer. then struck a line down the wing with a thickish PVC tape.
this gives you an edge to work up to on one side only. flat the primer/filler etc towards the edge of the tape.
then when your somewhere near happy clean it back and run a pen down the edge of the tape. then remove the tape and you should have a pen line left.
use this to strike a new line of tape along the fender on the other side from before.
then work this side of the fender. working up towards the tape again.
the process is laborious but using the tape allows you to keep the line and not flat it off...and it soooo easy to flat it off!

oh yea and long bed sander, can't stress enough how good these are for the Peerless bodywork. I have an air one as well but you do need plenty of cfm to run those and the hand held save you loads of gym membership money!

this set my re-spray date back by about a week (working at night only :( ) but was worthwhile as when you sit in the car you look straight down that line, and believe me O.C.D. doesn't come into it, it would drive anyone mad!

hope this makes sense, if not, I feel a long distance phone call coming on.....no point me popping over as Dave has emptied your beer fridge anyway........ :oops:
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Re: 1959 Peerless Restoration

Post by gorms68 »

Very impressive Dean!! WOW that car is going to be the best going to be the best Peerless in the world when it is done.
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