Body Panel replace Time

[munters]

My name is Marcel and I’m restoring an 1966 Alpine S5 at the moment.

I would like to know how much time I have to calculate to repair/replace some Bodypanels.
Wich ever you have done could you give an estimate in hours?
the 4 Floorpans,
inner and outer sills (L&R),
Door skins (L&R)
front Valance.
Trunk without spare wheel
Front Xframe Leg L&R
I will use the panels from Victoriabritish
Any input would be really helpful

 

[sunalp]

Hi Marcel,
Time is always the one variable that , at best, is a guess. You never know what you're going to find
once you start taking a car apart. Floors alone can take weeks to get right. Also depends on how much
of a perfectionist you are. From what you list as replaceable sheet metal, you would save a lot of time,
not to mention dollars (or francs) by finding a more rust free shell. You will have a lot more time
and money tied up in this one than you'll ever recover. By the way, Victoria British panels need
a bit of modification , as do most replacement panels, to fit well.

What kind of skills do you have?

Cheers!
Steve

 

[Gordon Holsinger]

My name is Marcel and I’m restoring an 1966 Alpine S5 at the moment.

I would like to know how much time I have to calculate to repair/replace some Bodypanels.
Wich ever you have done could you give an estimate in hours?
the 4 Floorpans,
inner and outer sills (L&R),
Door skins (L&R)
front Valance.
Trunk without spare wheel
Front Xframe Leg L&R
I will use the panels from Victoriabritish
Any input would be really helpful

Marcel I have been into beams for years I have found that replacing panels is a time consuming experience. Floor mans can be a real bear you may find that the inner rockers require repair and replacement and can require experience and equipment. I have to agree with sunalp that you may be better off finding a solid body. Photos of the rust would be helpful. There are many on this forum who can give you advice on rust repair and the feasibility of repairs.
I bought a good body no rust, decent paint, but so far new brakes all 4 corners, new interior, going through the engine, new weatherstripping, and many smaller details. Restoration can get expensive, and time consuming. Good luck on your car.

 

[Alpine 1789]

I will use the panels from Victoriabritish

Welcome to the club, Marcel! Steve's advice is solid, but if you do decide to go with the current car, I especially want to second his recommendation to avoid the VB panels, or at least their floor panels. It is possible they have changed suppliers, but I was given a set of them a few years ago and they were worthless. They bear only a passing resemblance to the originals and would take a tremendous amount of time to weld in. They are also thinner than stock, which would concern me because the floor is an important part of the structural integrity of the car.

There was recent discussion here of sheetmetal that contained names of and links to some of the suppliers members recommend. In particular, you might want to give Jeff Howarth a try, since he is in Europe. I have no experience with his panels, but others highly recommend him. http://forum.sunbeamalpine.org/index.php?threads/body-panels.26123/#post-178451

 

[65beam]

Tiger Auto in Dayton finished the restoration of my series 4 in March of 2012. We went from a bare metal body to a rolling, painted shell. He had no rust to deal with but due to crash damage from years ago he did have several areas where it was easier to replace rather than try to work out the areas because of the location on the body. For that reason most of the right rear fender was replaced along with several other panels. I hit two trees back in March of 1970. Doug rebuilt the front cross member and the rear suspension and handed me back a painted rolling shell with windshield, door windows, bumpers and grill set. The time involved was right at 400 hours.

 

[Alpine Addict]

There are several sources of body panels including the UK. Some panels are poor. Some of the re pro rocker panels do not have the correct profile. I cannot recommend a source as I have little experience with them but maybe some other forum members can help.

 

[jumpinjan]

The ONLY rocker panels that actually fit are Martel made. Good luck trying to find some.
Jan

 

[jumpinjan]

Tiger Auto in Dayton finished the restoration of my series 4 in March of 2012.

I was the one that handled dipping the body, Bob. It was here in my shop before Doug's
Jan

 

[Gordon Holsinger]

The ONLY rocker panels that actually fit are Martel made. Good luck trying to find some.
Jan

Jan what happened to rob Martel his stuff was good.

 

[jumpinjan]

He closed his business maybe 10 years ago now.
Jan

 

[puff4]

I believe some folks irritated him rather a lot and he decided to quit making Sunbeam panels.

 

[65beam]

Doug hears from Martel and I heard that Rob was making panels for other cars. There may have been a controversy that lasted a log time and the panels he had went to Randy Willet in N. Hampshire. Doug had a few front valance panels that he bought from Martel years ago but we had to buy another panel needed to replace crash damage on this car from Randy. Doug had a few of Rob's recent Tiger pieces for sale at the United this year.

 

[65beam]

I was the one that handled dipping the body, Bob. It was here in my shop before Doug's
Jan

Jan,
My wife paid Mark's invoice for dipping the body in the photo.

 

[munters]

Thank all of you for your replies.
Yes, Im from Switzerland, but Im also in Canada and the Car is in Canada.
Im a mechanic with a good soldering and tiny body panel experience.
I think to find a body is not easy or at least i was not succesfull. (except england right side driven)
The car is completely disasembled and I alredy bought all the panels. (should have asked here before).
The more I saw, the more i felt this is going in a bad direction. I asked a body shop to tell me how many hours the would think and the answer was between 850 and 1000. but this would be the same price range as a tiger on the market. So now Im a bit lost what should I do.

 

[Gordon Holsinger]

Thank all of you for your replies.
Yes, Im from Switzerland, but Im also in Canada and the Car is in Canada.
Im a mechanic with a good soldering and tiny body panel experience.
I think to find a body is not easy or at least i was not succesfull. (except england right side driven)
The car is completely disasembled and I alredy bought all the panels. (should have asked here before).
The more I saw, the more i felt this is going in a bad direction. I asked a body shop to tell me how many hours the would think and the answer was between 850 and 1000. but this would be the same price range as a tiger on the market. So now Im a bit lost what should I do.

Minters I many years ago worked as an auto lines adjuster. Somewhere in my collection I have an old collision guide that had the alpine in it. I will try to dig it out.

 

[munters]

Thanks Gordon. any info helps of course.
Ok the Floor pans I ordered from Sunbeam Spares Co un the uk I hope those are better then VB. But the door sskin and inner outer sill I have from VB.

 

[PROCRAFT]

Time is all it takes, I can't even tell you how long I spent putting floors,rockers and more I made all the panels my self bought nothing,just materials.

 

[DanR]

Joel, Not all are as talented as you my friend! From the time I started on the BW35 GT til now has been quite a roller coaster event.... Bought some and made a lot myself. Probably the hardest is getting the panel under the doors because of the original curvature. They are not straight as some replacements have been known to be!

 

[junkman]

Randy Willett's outer rocker panels fit, no BS. If you can save the bottom door line, tuck the the trimmed rocker underneath it will save a lot of teeth gnashing. I was lucky enough to get a full set of Rob Martel floors with the green car and they are a ton of work even still. Probably took me at least 200 hours.

 

[DanR]

I bought an English Wheel with a bunch of extra pieces to work with late in the process of restoration. I still haven't mastered that thing It really helps if you want to make curves such as needed in the rear panel.

Here is a picture of where I made a panel for the GT using the "rusty piece" that was cut out as a pattern. It took a lot of time to make the replacement panel, but I did it for both sides.

Time, time, time, just time! Now think how you can feel once your time has proven you can do it A great feeling.

Off the subject, but, it took me more than three years to get my Straight back headers for the V6 finished. More than a half dozen shops had my Alpine (BW35 Gt) on the rotisserie in which they had agreed to build the headers, but reneged on the deal. Finally one day I made a decision that I would "do-it-myself".... Ordered a bunch of pipe fittings, elbows, U and J bends and started "cutting and pasting" them together. One week later, I was a proud Gent! I had the headers tacked together and they fit perfectly. If I an do something like that anyone can.

As an encouragement to you (anyone) that a look at some of the Alpine (s) on U-tube that were restored. here are some that amaze me that anyone would even "think" about doing a restoration project on them.

My '65 SIV GT BW35 was headed to the scrap yard when my friend gave it to me. I almost took it straight there myself, but after 25 years of inside storage I started the restoration, stopped after a bit due to all of the rust, then began again after making the decision that I did not want to loss another rare vehicle ! Untold hours! Still lots of work yet! But one thing for sure it is now a solid Alpine just awaiting the paint job.