drawings and welding hints
 

Does anyone have , for a MkI*:

1) a dimensional drawing of the bulkhead seperating the front and rear comartment?
including
2) engine cooling shroud/intake?

The driver's side of the bulkhead of my carrier was cut shorter than the gunners side. Has anyone had luck welding sections of new steel to the bulkhead rather than replacing the whole thing. If yes did you use mild steel or alloy?

Thanks again all!

yes i patched mine in and am happy with the results. i chopped the remains to make a level datum for the missing top half of the bulkhead to go back......its just 5mm steel and can be laser cut at most places... i had forwarded copies of the bulkhead (DXF) out for folk...my laptop containing the file is broken so i cant forward it to you...others might help.


tips.

Make sure you do all the drilling for the angle iron before the side armour goes on... or if the side armour is on drill the holes for the uprights before wleding in the bulkhead (otherwise you wont get the drill in)

make sure you 45 deg cut the new steel where it meets the old steel (and do the same for the old material) so you create a nice valley for the weld to sit in, you get best penetration this way and the weld can be dressed back to be invisible when complete.... i put a second bead of weld on the engine bay side of the bulkhead under the angle bar and is invisible...just added extra strength...


Cheers

Richie

EDIT:- use mild steel not ally as there is some strength required in the bulkhead...just my opinion though

Richard that is a big help. Using mild steel would be nice. (read cheaper and more convienient!)

Is the bulkhead ballistic steel (Hardened?)? Did you have to preheat the weld area to avoid cracking later? Did you stick weld? If so did you just use a mild steel rod?

In the past I gave up on arc welding. Repairing automotive sheet metal with stick was not pretty when I did it! (Man can I blow holes in thin steel!) So I bought a MIG welder. I can do flux core or use argon gas. It should do 5 mm of mild steel ok. This is what I planned to use. What do you think? I can get some one to do a bit of arc welding if needed.

Thanks again

no i used Mig... the plate is mild the squares at the top corners rivetted on are 8mm ballistic steel and the ducting was made from 5mm ballistic.....

just make sure that you clean the surfaces before welding very thoroughly... i prefer a gas mig over none gas any day of the week, it should not crack if welded propperly

Not meaning to hi-jack, but if anyone can help with the same info,I sure would appreciate it.This seems to be a very common problem,the top half being cut off.