500 (Classic) Re-Nuovo-ing an Anziano Nuovo

[fiat500]

You're doing a brilliant job, and I would be first in the queue to applaud you in trying to retain originality. But I feel that although it had to be done, as soon as you drilled out spot welds and removed that panel you lost that part of originality that makes such huge effort as reshaping the panel worth the effort. I would replace that panel now, and my approach would have been to have kept trimming back the rot and serious damage until I found sound metal and then weld in sections from new panels.

That's certainly what I would now do with the inner arch. Get some phosphoric acid on it and cheer yourself up finding that you possibly have a reasonably sound panel there. By "burning" the rust away with dilute acid and then rinsing with water you won't lose any precious metal from the thin gauge panels and you will know if I'm right and it's worth trying to retain most of it. If the inner attachment flange to the shell is good I wouldn't disturb it.

 

[MalcolmfromMoffat]

Hard at it I see

You refer to the Map Gas and garden hose, the gas I get but can’t place what you might do with garden hose?

Hammers and anvils I use myself but I will say I’d much prefer to use wooden mallets and wooden backing pieces to suit especially when I’m up against stretching/ed metal. Metal on metal is making it thinner, inevitably. Wood on metal, less so.

 

[Pete O]

This panel was a bit far gone for patch repair, it appeared to have taken a heavy hit and then been bashed clear of the wheel with a pickaxe.
The intent of the gas and garden hose is to shrink a stretched area by heating and then rapidly cooling. Unsurprisingly, the mapp gas does not seem to have the intensity to sufficiently localise the heated area; by the time it's hot enough where you want to shrink it, it's hot in a large radius. I used to have oxy-acetylene at home but no longer. I'm interested in trying a 'shrink disc'. Thanks for the comment re wooden block and mallet, makes sense.
I'm very much out of my element with body repair, hopefully the elves will come in and finish it so I can move on to the stuff I know well.

 

[MalcolmfromMoffat]

This panel was a bit far gone for patch repair, it appeared to have taken a heavy hit and then been bashed clear of the wheel with a pickaxe.
The intent of the gas and garden hose is to shrink a stretched area by heating and then rapidly cooling. Unsurprisingly, the mapp gas does not seem to have the intensity to sufficiently localise the heated area; by the time it's hot enough where you want to shrink it, it's hot in a large radius. I used to have oxy-acetylene at home but no longer. I'm interested in trying a 'shrink disc'. Thanks for the comment re wooden block and mallet, makes sense.
I'm very much out of my element with body repair, hopefully the elves will come in and finish it so I can move on to the stuff I know well.

Ah, the garden hose to cool the hot metal to try and pull it in. That could work, similar to me using a cold wet cloth whilst welding if I sense a high developing. I’ve only once had to resort to a gas torch and it was a very fraught task, very disturbing watching the metal egg up and then frantically trying to move the metal towards centre. I’ve never tried a shrinking disc but they do interest me, the heat must be some way short of an applied flame but by their nature it’s concentrated on the correct area. An airline is enough for cooling with them I think?