We have the Technology...We can rebuild her...

thrown_hammer · 04-03-2003, 08:13 AM

Lighter...Stronger...Faster...
Well at least stronger.

The panel is on the way from eintz911's. I took out the rear window and marked my cut lines. jrg77 is driving down from Gary and Kevin Stewart my stop in. Also the guy that bought my silver car and a friend with a 928 will be by. Anyone else that wants to stop in let me know and I will get you directions.
The plan is to prep the car by trimming out the rust and getting it ready for the new panel. Here a some pics of the current state.
I will document everything as we go along.

jmz · jmz's Garage

MAN THATS UGLY....so sorry

thrown_hammer · 04-03-2003, 08:19 AM

Tim Walsh · Tim Walsh's Garage

OUCH! that almost makes me want to cry.

Are you gonna change the tranny fluid while it's easy to get at? (always look on the bright side of life)

dickster · 04-03-2003, 08:48 AM

its the flintstones!!!

sorry, couldn't resist.

you gonna remove that interior trim? its a bit close. what about some welding mats, have you got any? cover up the engine etc.

good luck.

thrown_hammer · 04-03-2003, 09:01 AM

Yeah I am gonna remove the rest of the interior in the proximity and cover the engine/trans with a welding blanket. The pics make the rust look worse than it is. Most of the rust is removed in the pics. The combination of the gold paint and oarnge glue on the panels look like rust. I still feel pretty good about the car. For what I paid it has MANY upgrades.(like a completely rebuilt 3.2 with all upgrades and approx. 1500 miles) One thing this has allowed me to do is check for rust in places I normally couldn't see. It is solid everywhere else. The damage is from the indside out, not from salty roads. So the underneath is very solid. Time to make Lemonade!

targa80 · targa80's Garage

Looking at the pictures is the rust that extensive to warrant cutting out the whole shelf back rest and seats. From what I see I would only cut out where the rust has eaten away. I would cut out a part of the shelf. The back rest looks solid so I wouldn't cut that out and I would cuit out the individual seat sections that are rotten. Naturally I am not there to see the real damage so I am just suggesting an alternative to cutting the whole section out.

Bobboloo · Bobboloo's Garage

Shawn, I'm glad to see you stay upbeat about it.

It'll be interesting to see if the handling improves. Although most of the cars rigidity is handled by the crossbeam behind the seats I'm sure this area of sheet metal still helps in keeping the cars chassis square.

john walker's workshop · 04-03-2003, 10:39 AM

yeah, the backrest looks good, is it rusted? even the tunnel top could stay. just replace the smallest sections you can. and butt weld is better than a overlap.

RichMason · RichMason's Garage

I'm not a structural engineer...but I worry that if you cut everything out, it may alter the alignment of the car/frame. I gave up on mine when I noticed that the piece of metal above the engine lid would have to be cut. This was the only piece of steel holding the two sides of the car together between the tailight/license plate area and the roof. While I realize that the roof and the floor pan and I guess the torsion bar tube go a long way towards holding it all together, what affect will removing all of that metal have?

Adam · Adam's Garage

Disconnect the car battery and probably the DME before you start welding, Shawn.

Good Luck! It'll look great when you're done.

Kevin Stewart · 04-03-2003, 04:56 PM

Shawn what are you using to cut it with, we use small high speed die grinders to get a smooth cut. If you decide to jack the car up and put it on stands put it on four two foot rail road ties, then add jack stands at the rear and front bumper and misc spots under the car so nothing moves. dont forget to cover everything so the sparks dont burn anything, (just a reminder) what time are you planning this? Let me know, Kevin

makaio · 04-03-2003, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bobboloo
Shawn, I'm glad to see you stay upbeat about it.

Me Too! Good luck.

pwd72s · 04-03-2003, 06:58 PM

My best wishes as well...and if this isn't an arguement to keep the rear window seal fresh, and to park in a garage, I dunno what is!

thrown_hammer · 04-04-2003, 03:37 AM

We are starting at 9am with a moment of silence and a few quotes from "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I left the whole day open. Good thought on disconnecting the DME I hadn't thought of that. I have hand snips, a hand held abrasive cutoff and a dremel. Charles is sending me a welding blanket if he has a spare. I ordered my new seal from PP a couple days ago.

Dan Owens · 04-04-2003, 06:11 AM

Shawn,

Man that makes me want to puke when I see that. Hat's off to you on finding it and repairing it.

Dan O

jrg77 · 04-04-2003, 10:02 AM

I have never heard of a replacement seal on a rear window as maintenance... I thought my 82 Regal was bad with a door frame that moves... Wow!

You're a pretty big time gut to take this sort of project.

Chas White · 04-04-2003, 06:01 PM

I know we'll get to this part eventually, but I'm curious as to whether you intend to cut that piece out of another car and weld it in, or fabricate something. I would think all those wierd curves on the bottom would make it really hard to make new metal fit. I haven't seen any place that sells replacement sheet metal for that area.
Anyway, good luck.
C.W.

thrown_hammer · 04-07-2003, 04:43 AM

A fellow Pelican is donating the entire panel for the cause! (Thanks again Charles) Right now the game plan is to cut out the yuck and weld in good from the replacement panel. I will post details about the weekend this AM along with progress pics.

jrg77 · 04-07-2003, 05:25 AM

I went and checked out the damage. It is definitely repairable. I even got to cut out one of the bad patches. If time permitted this could be done in a straight week.

Thanks. Shawn, for having me over.

Don't forget about the idea to support the shelf panel with rollbar-type tubing. Who knows it make make the car stiffer!.