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July 2007
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I picked a good sunny day to wheel the car out...
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...and do a little preliminary cleaning.
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After vacuuming out a LOT of crud I hosed it out...
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...gee, I sure hope I didn't cause any RUST :)
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It was also a good test of the new rotisserie, which worked GREAT!
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I stripped a rear fender to see how much rust I would have to deal with...
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oh boy, send the small patch panel back to Moss and order out the full rear arch replacement panel!
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I temporarily primed the raw metal; with the heat and humidity you can watch it rust.
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Passenger side door gap was tight in the front...
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and the rear.
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I marked some reference points...
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and measured the gap closely.
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This is the distance I was measuring.
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Lifting slightly under the sill...
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opened up the gap a bit.
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Bottom tapping plate might need replacement...
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since somebody chose to use large wood screws in place of two of the three original bolts.
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The only good bolt was frozen tight...
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and had to be drilled out.
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When you think you only need a screwdriver to remove a door, think again!
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The door off and a fabricated brace installed.
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It attaches like the one on the driver's side, at the striker plate...
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and top hinge tapping plate.
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The passenger side home made floor pan...
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was removed.
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Here's what's left of the rusted out battery/heater tray and the passenger footwell side panel.
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The opened up engine bay. An aluminum bolt-in battery tray will be fabricated.
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The remaining tray flanges will be ground flat.
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The front inner fenders will be cut away keeping only the framework for attaching the aluminum panels.
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Front inner fenders cut away and primed.
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I didn't cut away the top panel on the driver's side; I will need to trial fit the Tilton pedal box before doing so.
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The larger rear fender patch panels arrived; they will do much better!
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August 2007
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More primer in the engine bay.
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Stripping the rear clip.
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The back valance had been hit at one time...
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whoever repaired it was better with Bondo than with...
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a hammer and dolly.
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Fortunately though there's not an structural damage...I'll try to save this panel.
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Stripping the transmission tunnel.
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The rear bulkhead didn't look too bad...
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might be able to save it and the front of the trunk floor.
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The section right behind the seats needs nothing but primer and paint.
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Time to hammer out that back valance.
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First, a coat of primer...
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the left side is not bad at all.
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then sand off the primer...
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hammer and dolly out the dents, primer, sand, hammer, repeat...
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until most of the dents are gone.
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In keeping with the "clean lines" look...
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I decided to shave off the fender beading...
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on both rear fenders.
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The grooves will later be filled and sanded smooth before painting.
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Next, turn it up on the side...
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and start scraping.
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LOTS of rust...
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everywhere you look.
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The trunk floor has to be replaced.
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Not sure about the bulkhead.
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When the rotisserie is rotated to the most vertical position, the index holes don't line up...
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the quick and dirty fix is to tie strap it and ratchet it tight.
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The trunk floor is rough cut out...
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then the remaining small pieces.
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Rear valence will need some attention later on...there's a couple small perforations in the heavy rust.
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A 1"X1" steel spreader bar is added for reinforcement...
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it will later have plates added to support the rear legs of the roll bar.
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Out comes a portion of the bulkhead...
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here's why...the spring pocket, a key load member, is virtually gone...
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The only way to get in there and replace it...
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is by removing the bulkhead front and rear.
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There are six braces that join the two halves of the rear bulkhead; rather than spending $26 each, I decided to fabricate my own.
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A template was cut from card stock, then transferred to 16 gauge steel to match the originals.
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The steel was cut out using an air shear.
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Then it went to the 36" metal brake to have the two flanges raised.
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This is the first...
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and then the second; note that they are mirror images, one for the left side of the bulkhead, one for the right.
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The bulkhead pieces were first cut close to the tunnel...
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then the welded flange removed and the tunnel ground smooth.
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The same was done for the inside face of the wheel wells...
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and the front face.
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The bulkhead removed.
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The lower portion of the dog leg (the angled section just to the rear of the door) is beyond repair...
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on both sides; they will be replaced
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Before starting to trial fit the trunk floor, the lower portion of the rear fenders were cut away...
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as well as the rotten braces separating the wheel well and the trunk area...
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new pieces will need to be fabricated as replacements are not available.
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The trunk floor was set into place...
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and clamped.
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The fit is not bad...
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but there will be a lot of fill work to do.
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There will be reinforcement added between the top of the floor and the added steel tube.
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The decision was made to cut the car into two sections for better access...
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to the doglegs that would need replacement.
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Some boards and two furniture dollies were assembled and the car dropped from the rotisserie.
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Twenty minutes later...two halves.
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The sills were cut free and the dogleg cleaned up and marked...
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both came off at the same place.
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Measurements were made and transferred to flat stock.
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An air shear was used to make most cuts.
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A left and righ lower dog leg would be constructed.
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The pices is composed of two parts, this smaller being the face the door closess to.
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A large arc can be cut with the shears, but not a tight radius.
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A hand brake is used in the tight spaces.
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The step drill was used as the 16 gauge was too thick for the hand punch.
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A bead rooler was used to form...
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an offset on one edge of the large flat that would mate with the top of the inner sill.
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Welding up the parts.
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The lower dog legs will be tack welded in place for now...
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until the two halves of the car, and sills, come back together...
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then they will be finish welded.
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The back half was flipped over for easier access to the bottom; more cleaning and grinding.
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It was then hoisted up so I can work on both sides of the trunk floor easily.
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The lower rear valance has some rust through; next step will be to add a patch strip across the full width.
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I started by curring off an inch and a half strip...
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all the way across.
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Next I laid out a piece of new sheetmetal with a lap flange on each side; it will then be sheared down the middle.
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Here I've just started forming the compound curve in the passenger side patch strip.
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The patch strips curve top to bottom and from the car's center to the outside end.
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The existing sheetmetal will lap over the flange and be plug welded.
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The passenger side strip continues on into the curve below the taillight.
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Clamped and ready to plug weld.
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The curved end.
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First plug weld.
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After completing all plug welds I then stitched welded the overlapping edge...
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then ground the welds flat.
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The rough finished curved end.
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Then it's on to the other half.
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The full patch welded in and ground flat.
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A few minutes will be needed to straighten out the valance before the floor goes in.
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The valance patch from the inside of the boot.
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The valance straightened and ready for the boot floor.
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The rear valance was primed before starting the boot floor.
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The angular braces in the boot had rusted out ends that were removed and the edge folded back at 90 degrees.
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The areas about to be covered by the boot floor were primed.
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Then the boot floor was tacked to the wheel wells...
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on both sides.
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The floor did not pull down completely tight but is solid...
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I may need a little filler between the flange and the floor pan.
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Next will be the front section of the floor pan and the bracing strip...
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as well as tacking the rear of the boot floor to the valance.
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The two halves of the reinforcement strip were formed similar to the rear valance, but just curved along the short axis.
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The reinforcement strip was plug welded to the 1"X1" reinforcement spreader and the boot floor and then the edge stitch welded to the floor.
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Inside the boot.
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The welds were then ground flat.
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Both sides welded in place.
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The boot floor in place and primed.
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September, October, and November
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