It's been quite a while since an update. But the project has been coming along. We've been progressing along several fronts more or less simultaneously: continued disassembly, body prep, and preparation for rust repair. At the time of my last post we only had a vague idea of what rust repair might entail. I had already planned to do the floor pans, and knew that right front fender and joining plate needed serious work. I've since added to that the right outer rocker (apparently wrecked at one point and more or less bondoed over, plenty rusty underneath). I've now got most of the replacement parts in hand, and am just about ready to dive into that.
The outer body has revealed some surprises as well. Most shocking was the discovery that the entire driver's side rear quarter panel had been replaced at one point. Behind the door and under the window it wasn't done too poorly, but the weld along the outer edge of the decklid opening is really ugly. Once the cutting and welding begins, it may be tough to resist the temptation to do a better job on it.
Below is a brief chronology with photos of the progress over the past few months. Once again, reference to the technical forums here were invaluable in conquering many obstacles. I've actually had to cut or break surprisingly few things to get them apart.
Back in October we were concerned with revealing the full extent of the body work needed. So with our trusty Aircraft Stripper, and lots and lots of razor blades, we stripped everything down to bare metal, did some sanding and rust treatment, and got many parts epoxy primed in our garage/paint booth. Not a bad job either for first-timers. With the help of some Pelicans, we also acquired most of the major body parts needed: front and rear bumpers (replacing fiberglass), a passenger side fender, and were able to include those in the initial body prep. When I first saw the depth of bondo on the hood I thought it was going to have , but it was surprisingly straight once stripped. I can't begin to explain why 3/8 inch deep was necessary.
Once we got some of the body at least stabilized, I started cutting out the floor pans. Nothing too novel here. Drilled out hundreds of spot welds.. Went through half a dozen drill bits.. still ended up needing the angle grinder to cut many parts out. Along the sides I've mostly cut along the inner sills, leaving the under rocker part intact. With a passenger side outer rocker replacement needed, I wanted to leave as much structure holding the front & rear of the car together as I could. I'm planning a door frame brace, along with a front to rear brace as part of a rolling rack soon to be added. Then I can cut out the remainder.
Over the last few months, my day job has reasserted itself, but I've managed to keep things progressing. Right now the car is almost completely apart. The front suspension came off and apart this past weekend, and is in reasonably good shape. Removing the rear suspension is really the last major task before the serious chassis work starts. All this I had initially resisted doing, or more accurately was in deep denial how much work the car really required to make roadworthy. But I'm come to realize it's got to be done well, both for the car's sake, and for safety's. I would never have been able to fully enjoy driving something whose underpinnings I couldn't completely trust. So we're too deep in to turn back now. Among other highlights below is my application of multiple Pelican favorites in separating the extremely difficult passenger-side tie-rod: copious amounts of PB blaster, much brute force pounding, cranking and cranking on the gear puller, multiple rounds of heating and cooling. Truth be told in the end I just cut it off beneath the mount. After everything was disassembled I finally was able to drill and push it out, saving the strut.
The car is now little more than a 'tub', and is no longer even a roller. Now, in addition to the metal repair, we're in for a whole lot of cleaning and parts replacement. My girlfriend/partner in this endeavor got us a nice, small sandblaster (30 lb capacity Campbell-Hausfeld) that's been great, and which will see a lot of action over the coming months. My goal is to have the rust repair and floor pans done by the end of the summer, and then to begin rebuilding and replacing the suspension. Once again a roller we'll begin the serious preparation for paint. For those reading for the first time, this all will precede a complete engine rebuild (that is at least completely disassembled already).
There's a lot to do!
Mike