Hello All...

[Hell Driver]

Nice to see the car is kept warm and dry in the living room, (pictures on the wall)

Good luck with the work, the condition and rarity of the rest of the car makes it well worth the effort.

[thebear54]

I'm back....with a quick update on "MARILYN"
Last week the Type 1 V343 was driven to the body shop along with the replacement roof bit.
It was not long before a rather large chunk was surgically removed in preparation for the re-build.

Once the damaged bit was removed most of the metal stress was relieved and everything went back into alignment quickly.

Today the new panel is being prepared so that there will be plenty of overlap on all skins before welding.

John

[MCHUDD]

Hi John.
That looks pretty drastic but it will be worth it in the long run.
Can't wait to see the finished car.Good luck.
Cheers Mark.

[Hell Driver]

Hope it goes well!

[SteveP]

Hope it goes well!

^^ This. Glad to see the car is being saved though

[thebear54]

Progress is a wonderful thing.
After many hours of fitting, cutting, measuring and cutting some more I was called to the body shop with a few bits to give my final approval on the fit...


We had to make sure there was at least a 5 cm to 10 cm overlap on all interior as well as exterior panels before anything was permanently secured in order to maintain the integrity.


Within the next few days everything will be spot welded in before the final seam welding.

John

[MCHUDD]

Hi John.
By the time the body shop people have finished with it, it
will look like new.
Cheers Mark.

[thebear54]

I certainly hope so Mark...I certainly hope so.

John

[classicswede]

Looks like tehy are doing a top job. If I was doing it myself I think I would have replaced the full roof to save the hassle of getting any ripples out from teh roof skin and no weld line

[SteveP]

I think swapping a full roof was probably dropped due to the cost of shipping?!

[volvosneverdie]

I think TheBear69 deserves some kind of forum award for going to such lengths to straighten up Marilyn.
I suggest a V3M Knighthood. Or at the very least, a V3M O.B.E.

[Evoman]

I think TheBear69 deserves some kind of forum award for going to such lengths to straighten up Marilyn.
I suggest a V3M Knighthood. Or at the very least, a V3M O.B.E.

+1 our very own new years honers list

[thebear54]

I think TheBear69 deserves some kind of forum award for going to such lengths to straighten up Marilyn.
I suggest a V3M Knighthood. Or at the very least, a V3M O.B.E.

+1 our very own new years honers list

Sometimes you just have to take extra ordinary measures to save a rare car. The sad part is that this V343 was perfect (except for electrics ) before the tree limb came crashing down...but she will be resurrected and be back on the road shortly.


The huge question today will be....do I really want to work with cold metal ?? The temperature is predicted to be only -25 c for the next few days !! LOL
John

[thebear54]

Yesterday all the welding was completed so this morning all seams were sealed, interior roof support was glued and bolted back in as well as a first skim coat of filler to the roof.







We are just waiting until the urethane sets up on the inside support before going any further.
Hopefully by the beginning of next week we can replace the hatch and side window.

John

[classicswede]

Great progress and all looking very good.