tr7triumph.com

Hi,

I've removed the nose panel, de-rusted it and sprayed it but one thing is bothering me... The area where the nose panel bolts to the wings appears to be a joint which is prone to flexing which ultimately rusts. I have been tempted to seam weld this joint but am starting to think it's best to accept it flexes and use a seam sealer instead. The wing and nose panel have been sprayed separately, a light coating of seam sealer applied to the mating faces before bolting together and wiping off the excess, would this be a sensible plan?

Thanks,

Rob.

I treated the mating faces properly with primer/topcoat before bolting them together.
After that a high quality black sealant was used in the seam ...

How easy is it to remove the nose panel? I'd presumed it was welded in.

It is welded, 6 bolts hold the panel to the wings, a row of spot welds hold the tabs on the body just above the bumper and about half a billion spot welds hold it along the leading edge of where the bonnet sits. The angle of the last bit made it difficult to drill out the spot welds without going all the way through and i have since puddle welded every hole i've made, lots of work. It now has no rust on it and and dings and dents have been sorted so will look ace, it's just a right pain!

Cheers beans, using black sealant will look excellent, it never crossed my mind as i was trying to make it invisible. thankyou!

Rob.

Also what some people do is weld/braze the seam then grind a line into it

Back in the day, Grinnal filled the seam with weld and ground it flush to create a seamless finish. This was also done to the join between the rear deck panel and the rear wings. I have this on mine.

If these areas were filled by lead loading instead of welding, is there a danger of stress cracks appearing?

Adam

Stress cracks would not appear, it would just be even more of a pain to remove the nose panel should you need to.