Welding

Welding
Take the doors, bonnet and hatch off the shell.Check between the sills and the floor these cars are prone to rotting there.If so cut a plate out of a sheet of metal the lenght of the sill and 300mm wide and bend a 15mm lip to 90degrees.Stitch weld this on the outside lip of the sill 1"weld and then a gap of 1".Next make a plate to cover from the lower wishbone mount around the bottom of the flitch and to the front floor pan and it should look similar to this.also cut the slam panel out this is so you can fit a bigger rad.Also cold work the bulkhead area beat it back where the gearbox tunnel meats the bulk head this is so you can fit a bigger gearbox bellhousing.

Make a gusset to fit where the chassis rail meets the bulkhead in the  engine bay on each side. These are prone to coming away because of the stress caused by increased engine power and the rigours of rallying.Seam weld the chassis front to back (1" welds 1" gap).On the front suspension top mount you'll have to make cap to fit over the original. Weld continuously around this point as they are only spot welded.I found it easier to cut 4 plates,2 plates 2" at the top x 5" at the bottom x 5" tall and then 1 plate 2" at the top x 5" at the bottom x 6"and 1 4".                                                                                 Make a gusset for the xmember under the radiator (triangular in shape) to
fit where the member meets the chassis rail (on the HS engine you might only
be able to do one side as the engine might foul - check first for
clearance).

 Seam weld the door apertures, window apertures and anywhere inside where panels overlap. Fill the drain holes with round pieces of 16SWG steel and weldcontinuously around them.You can strengthen the engine xmember by seam welding all overlappingjoints and welding a plate 16SWG on the underside to aid rigidity. Only weld1" by 1" again and take your time so not to build up to much heat and distort the xmember. You can strengthen the front suspension arms in the same way, and also where they connect to the body shell (rear mount) you can plate this up flat with the floor pan again with 16SWG steel and up the inner face onto the tunnel, but make sure to leave a small hole to enable fitment of the nut to the fixing bolt for the lower wish bone or weld the nut into position to make it captive which ever you prefer.

NOW ON TO THE REAR

 On the rear end, make and place skids on the trailing arms front mounts.Enclose the rear of the panhard rod tower with steel plate to strengthen.If fitting a non standard axle you'll need to put some rear turrets in.You can either go to a scrappy and cut them out of a chevette saloon or make some squareones.If you look at the rear floorpan in the boot you'll see an ovalplate at the bottom of the inner arch in the middle thats where you're turret needs to go and then plum straight and drill a hole for the shok.