Before moving on to the front body half I needed to complete one more small job...

adding in the curved fender well piece of the trunk floor (previously cut away) and a strip to brace it.

That completed, I'll roll the back half out of the way for now...

and begin work on the front half.

Having received the spring boxes from Moss, the bulkhead will be the first item of business.

Before starting the bulkhead work, a trip to the store for some bolts, nuts, and washers.

I layed out some of the main components on the floor to get an idea of how it all goes together.

Then I moved it all to the bench for a bolt together mockup.

The outer corners of the spring boxes had to be cut...

to clear the floor reinforcements...

as was done on the original parts.

Then the reinforcement braces could be bolted on and their location marked.

Uh oh...I received two right hand radius arm brackets instead of a right and a left...time for a quick phone call to Moss.

Next step was to get the remainder of the sills and the rear portion of the floor pan out so I could trial fit the bulkhead.

Must have been 5 lbs. of Bondo in the sills.

Out came the remaining floor pan.

I could now test fit the bulkhead...

and it looks OK.

Trial fitting the floor pan assured that everything was lining up.

The lower hinge plate on the "A" pillar was completely rusted out, so the entire pillar will be replaced.

Here the square cross member is being cleaned up. It will be used to locate and tack the sill, then replaced with a new one.

Front and back halves of the bulkhead drilled...

and primer removed for welding.

Bolting up the radius arm bracket to the bulkhead half and spring box...

held everything in place until it could be clamped...

and welded. The welds were then ground flat...

and the bulkhead primed.

Before moving forward, a wood brace was attached to the transmission tunnel to prevent damage...

it also makes moving easier and provides a more stable work piece.

The remainder of the floorpan was removed from the passenger side frame rail...

fortunately, the rail only had minor surface rust.

The passenger side foot pan had rust and minor collision damage...

it was removed.

Here is what lurks inside many nice paint jobs.

A section of the flange on the frame rail will need to be replaced.

The fabricated foot pan welded in place...

and the floor pan clamped on to check fitment.

Checking the fit from inside.

The foot pan is actually double walled with a triangular profile.

This is how new joins old; some smoothing and filling will be done before painting.

Checking the fitment once again...you can't be too careful.

The cross member had rust through and was replaced...

with a new member.

Care was taken to get measurements and alignment perfect.

Then a series of checks...

with the floor pan clamped in place.

The floor pan will go in soon...but not yet!

There was a gap between the front panel of the bulkhead and the tunnel...

two pieces of 16 gauge steel closed it.

The joint will be smoothed and a little filler added.

One section of the rail flange had rusted and was reapaired.

The floor pan was tack welded into place along with the rear bulkhead.

The floor pan was then tacked to the cross member.

I've never liked the jack hole in the sill...

so I cut a plug out of 16 gauge sheet and shaped it...

I cleaned out the hole...

and did a test fit.

I used a large welding magnet to hold it in the proper place...

welded it in and then ground the weld smooth.

Here you can see the weld penetration from the back side.

The completed sill is composed of an inner sill, outer sill, and...

front and rear caps. They were all welded up to complete the passenger side sill.

The front frame was raised on blocks and leveled.

Same thing at the rear bulkhead.

The completed sill was clamped into place and leveled.

The "A" pillar was set in place to help locate the sill.

The footwell side panel was checked for fit.

Time to see how we're doing. The rear clip was located above the rear bulkhead...

and lowered into place...bulkhead between the doglegs.

Perfect! Measurements were taken and confirmed against door width and witness marks scribed.

Looks good. Time to move the rear clip out of the way and get back to work on the front.

The sill in proper placement and tacked.

Good fit with the fabricated bulkhead brace.

The footwell side panel was tack welded in place.

Ready for final placement and tacking of the "A" pillar.

The "A" pillar and tapping plates were tacked and the fitting checked...

the pillar skin was chcked for fit...

and finally the door swung and checked for fit.

The pillar skin was trimmed...

and welded in.

Primer will keep the pillar...

and skin from rusting until I begin finish work.

Now, it's time to take what I learned and move on to the driver's side.

Lots of rust to cut out...just like before.

A new section of foot well front pan will again be fabricated.

In the old pan, sand and dirt had accumulated to a depth of 2".

The "A" pillar was cut out.

Cleaned up and ready to start assembly.

The new cross member is tacked into place...

care was taken to get it level and true on both axis.

Finish welded and the weld ground smooth.

The driver's side floor pan was clamped in to check fit.

Looks good, ready to move on to fabrication.

The front footwell pan is cut out of 16 gauge steel...

and tacked into place.

Next the front face and triangular side are cut, fitted, and tacked.

The new work is primed.

Driver's side and passenger side beginning to look alike.

Two brace plates are cut to cover the rusted frame members around the triangular cutout in front of the footwell.

The driver's side plate welded in and primed...

and the passenger side as well.

The floor pans are lining up nicely.

The four componetns of to driver's side sill were prepped and welded up.

The driver's side floor pan was fitted, marked, preped, and tacked.

Everything lined up nicely.

The driver's side sill was clamped, leveled, and tacked into place.

The "A" pillar was test fitted and the position marked. The footwell side panel was trimmed and tacked into place.

Final installation of the "A" pillar will have to wait as the repro part was missing a gusset; a replacement is on order.

It's Starting to look like a car again...well, half of one at least.

Part labels were ground off...

then all the new work was primed.

It won't be long until the back and front come back together...but first, a couple weeks off.

Before moving forward I once again confirmed the fit/location of the rear fender.

I added an angular brace of 16 guage steel to the "B" pillar and outer sill.

I temporarily attached the stiker for checking door fit.

I've tired of waiting for a replacement "A" pillar for the drivers's side; it lacks the triangular gusset seen here on the passenger's side.

I laid out the gusset on some sheet stock....

cut and drilled it...

and bent it to shape.

Here it is installed on the "A" pillar tapping plate.

I used a laser level to verify alignment of the sills to the rear clip.

I fabricated another brace for the "B" pillar on the driver's side...

to match the one I had installed previously on the passenger's side.

The "B" pillar tacked in place for measurements.

The "A" pillar with fabricated gussed was installed and the skin added.

Both doors were hung...

and adjustments made.

An angle was added for strength over the reear bulkhead flange and boot floor.

Doors removed, braces reinstalled, and the car ready for installation back on the rotisserie.

The cut lines for the rear fender replacements.

Another view of the frenched license plate box.

The fit of the door braces was still good on reinstallation.

Lots of new sheet metal...

where there was once just rust.

Before doing any more bodywork my hammer needed resurfacing; a few minutes with the 80 grit flapper disk will do the trick.

Several tasks will be undertaken on the rear pasenger bottom side, first will be to repair some holes...

that resulted from removal of the old boot floor.

Then, using these tools, clean out the old undercoating from the wheel well.

Here the holes have been patched, and sections of the wheel well heated and scraped with a 3/4" chisel.

Then more of the gunk is removed with the grinder and flap sanding disk.

Finally, the air grinder with a medium grit fiber disk.

Clean and ready for primer...

and finally, primed.

Next, I drilled the holes for the spring mount base plate...

so I could locate the bulkhead/floor reinforcement.

Putting a jack and 3"x3" block under the floor pan and lifting helped close up the gap between the reinforcement and the floor pan.

I bolted in place the bulkhead reinforcement and welded the top to the 3/16" plate I had made and installed earlier.

The spring, U-bolt, and base plate bolted in place.

Finally, the damper mounting bracket was bolted on...now, do the same on the driver's side.

Big hole to repair in the wheel well...

and a patch to replace the leading edge.

The patch welded in the front edge....

and covering the hole

The driver's side rear suspension components...

and the primed wheel well.

The major portions of the sheetmetal replacement, less the rear fenders, ...

is now complete.

The rear axle was retrieved from storage and rough scraped with a chisel.

It was then clamped to the workbench and the tools assembled to remove the hub nut.

After the hub nut was removed a steering wheel puller and home made adaptor bar was used to pull the hub from the axle housing.

After pulling as far as it would go, a couple taps with a dead blow and the hub was off.

Tools used to remove the hub from the axle housing.

The axle housing and brake backing plates back outside for more cleaning...

the crud was up to 1/4" thick.

There was also some rust but the not enough to weaken the part.

All the differential mounting studs were in good condition.

After using a hand grinder and sandpaper flapper disk to clean up the housing.

There's still more cleaning to do in the nooks and crannies.

The rear axle housing cleaned and sprayed with "Metal Ready" (phosphoric acid) to kill any lingering rust; ready for paint.

Time to prime the axle housing and differential; this one is the 3.7/1 ratio.

For an LBC enthusiast in Georgia, nothing says "holiday" like the traditional Christmas peachtree with LBC ornaments :)

After priming and hanging in the tree to dry, the axle housing and diff look pretty good.

When disassembling the rear end of the car one threaded stud twisted off and will need repair.

The is the other stud showing the 3/4" of 3/8"X24 threads.

Here, the threaded end of the damaged stud has been cut off...

and here a 3/4" piece of grade 8 threaded bolt welded on. Good as new.

Last job on the rear end was to chase the threads of the studs that will hold on the differential.