SWB 911R...the beginning

[speedo]

...everything has gone well so far. I'm hoping that with the attention to fit with the fender on, that the welding with the fender off will be right on. Here is the bolted up cooler with the custom brackets before..
And now with the fender in place
From the front
And with the gas tank to make sure there are no issues about proximity to the gas tank...
Although this was a PIA to get the larger cooler "dialed in"...It makes a lot of sense down the road. With a hot 2.7 (either E or RS) the cooling will be more than adequate.

Rocker/quarter panels get attention tomorrow...thanks for listening

[arrivederci]

Having fun I see. Good to see the glass fits up well. Mine is sitting in the back yard ...needed the garage space to work today. As discussed last week, I drained and removed my gas tank to pull the final sway bar pieces off the '72. All was good until I decided I wanted to harvest the block-off plates / ducts from the brakes. So off came the calipers and rotors, leaving the drivers side caliper with too few threads for the brake line. Oh well, I was planning to rebuild the S calipers and go back to stock rotors...guess that'll be done this weekend too.

[Macroni]

Lars,
Great work! Thanks for keeping us involved.
Luke

[speedo]

When I replaced the rockers I removed the last 16" or the quarter panel to give myself access to the doubler behind the lockpost. Some of this metal was the quarter panel, some was the lower portion of the lockpost. Once the rockers were repaired, the task of re-installing the removed lockpost/quarter panel needed to be addressed. I held off for a while, because it involves a lot of creative metal fabrication. Restoration design will supply the lockpost...if you are lucky or want to wait. I only needed the lower section, and the quarter panel to the best of my knowledge is only available from donor cars...and they may be worse than what I have to start with. Here is what the passenger side looks like
At first glance...not too bad, but there are weak areas
and the metal that needed to be removed to facilitate the rocker repair
and the swiss cheese at the rocker overlap are in bad shape
Both inside and outside have suffered

[speedo]

Here is what needs to be replaced with good metal. steel
So I start with a stiff wire brush on my grinder to find good thick steel
Eventually, I do find good metal
But also some weak areas...this could be filled, but I am on a rust removal mission, not a remediation /hide path...so away it goes
cut it out, size, shape and replace
tack and weld it in

and grind it flush
I also laid a bead along the inside

[speedo]

I need to create the same curvature as the old quarter panel. This took a few hours over a few days to create...
and fitting
The former rusted out piece and the new one

Now I need to create the flange to match the flange on the old lockpost
need to make sure it lines up with the old quarter
and tack it in place

[speedo]

this could be easier...but I want to keep as much of the good steel as I can
so I massage steel into place and tack from behind

there is a small lip at the base of the lockpost where it transitions to the rocker...this needs to be pretty exact. Here is the preliminary cut and fit
and more
I think this will work...but need to add the small step down to the rear quarter panel
and tack it all together from behind/inside
and check the fit
from the backside

[kenikh]

So THAT's what you've been welding!

[speedo]

I hit the described areas with weld through primer and to a trial fit


The inner flange that will get welded to the lip that the door seal rubber attaches to...need some more tweaking
Clamped and in place
and tack welded
time to take the ridges on the welds down

With some minor grinding left to do...here is a very solid rear quarter as it joins the new outer rocker
And inside the rear wheel well looking forward...solid

[speedo]

In the fender well looking forward, before POR 15
and the solid door sill before filling.
I will treat both inside and outside with POR 15 and undercoat where appropriate.

Left side will be easier. I got the new "SWB adjustable spring plates" back from the plater and its hard to tell them from factory OEM LWB plates.

[Macroni]

Lars,
How time consuming is this type of work? Is the POR 15 / undercoating sprayed into the nooks and crannies?
Luke

[JCF]

Almost a shame to cover that work up - a real work of art.

[bertj]

Great work. You are a magician.

Thanks for sharing.

[speedo]

I thought I had tackled the worst quarter panel by starting with the passenger side. The drivers side quarter panel had a layer of bondo which the sandblaster revealed. I cut away the lower section of the quarter panel to provide a working area for the inner and outer rockers. This is what I was left with...you can see the bondo layer
This area is the worst...
Before I start fabricating, I need to flip this thing over and remove the road grime, asphalt (a PO worked for the highway department at some point and there was asphalt glued to the entire underside of the car...a primitive form of POR 15), and rust to find decent steel to work with....the before
And after....luckily I found some steel in reasonable shape
I also took the opportunity to remove the layer of bondo on the piece. I still don't like the smell of the gases released when welding causes the bondo to burn....although I am getting used to it.

[speedo]

I'll start by shaping the lower section that joins the outer rocker. I use the existing bad piece to form the replacement part
Here is what needs to be replaced
Cutting, fitting and tacking in place


Here is the completed first step
Welded from the inside initially (although I will ultimately run a bead on both sides)
Trial fit...
So far so good...now to recreate the missing lower lockpost steel

[speedo]

This is so labor intensive...there is no right way to create this ...but lots of wrong ways. This view is looking down at the lower section of the lockpost whare it joins the outer rocker. This area ALWAYS catches the debris thrown forward by the wheel and traps moisture against the outer rocker, inside lower quarter panel and lockpost reinforcement. The strange shape is what needs to be mated to the good remaining steel.
preliminary clamping in place to test fit the small "step".
And once the fit looks good, tacked from the underside
Now, the area closest to the door seal needs to be remedied
And tacked from the back

[speedo]

Weld through primer first
Lets line it up
and tack it
run the bead
And then take the bead down


All done...and the inside of the quarter panel looking forward...nice and strong. I'll wire brush, prep with metal ready, and POR 15

[speedo]

I did a small repair to the drivers side turn signal housing...and gave the car a once over. All the major welding work is done. I still need to weld the lip to the front bulkhead that holds the rubber front hood seal, but I can't get to it while the car is on the rotisserie. I now need to grind down the visible spot welds inside...floor seat buckets etc. I will then POR 15 the same areas and seam seal. Then the car goes upside-down for the last time to do the same on the underside. When that is done, I will prime, undercoat, and paint. The suspension then starts to go back on, as I have to have the car rolling in 30 days to make the date with the painter. That also means that all the fiberglass needs to be fitted...I've got my work cut out for me.

[bob tilton]

My god...you are an artist...truly amazing!

[Macroni]

Lars,
thanks for the update. Can't wait for the next thirty days.
Luke