Body repair the AA way!

[Landy Mann]

From my AA book of the car 1970, use chicken wire...


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David

[JPB]

Oh please. Surely anyone knows that newspaper is a far more suitable material for repairs to structural areas of motor vehicles?

[bnicho]

I bet that car didn't survive for long.

It was probably considered quite acceptable to use gobs of filler and wire in those days. I've got a 1959 edition of a magazine with a similar piece.

Cheers,

[suffolkpete]

I can remember Car Mechanics running an article on how to repair a chassis rail using glass fibre.

[Luxobarge]

Sorry, I don't get it... what's the problem with using chicken wire and filler?

[DoloMIGHTY]

Funny thing is that really was the way that things were done back then, it wasn't thought of being "wrong".

[Landy Mann]

Well being shocked by it must show my youth!

[FredTransit]

I can remember Car Mechanics running an article on how to repair a chassis rail using glass fibre.

WTF??!! The chicken wire and filler I can just about live with but come on, they can't be serious about a chassis!

[JPB]

Just behind and inboard of that chicken wire bodge on the MK2 in the AA book is the front anchor point for the car's rear spring, and there's a lot of energy in a semi-elliptic that's used as a quarter elliptic with two effective fulcrum points so as far as "chassis" bodgery goes, the sills on that are probably more significant than - say - the outriggers on a Herald or Scimitar chassis or the flexing bulkhead of an ADO16 that's started to soften a bit.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the AA had, for example, chosen a sill on an A60 or MK3 Cortina as those at least had box sections running along the floor and wouldn't collapse in a pile as a result of a little Cataloy in one outer sill.

Aye, it was a funny old world back then.