WOW! I don't know if I'd have time, money or ambition for a project like that!
My car had no rust and still broke me with upgrades and repairs!http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1267458502.jpg

I was right there with you too.....my rear parcel shelf was nothing but fiberglass bondo. Such a mess but now replaced and all is right in my porsches world!

No, it just had the look I get when the Argon isn't flowing or i'm too far away with the tip. It's fine, be proud of what you are accomplishing!
:D

Tip closer and check the Argon flow - got it! Thanks Gary. The metal is so thin, I'm afraid I'll blow holes if I get too close or stay on the trigger. I need to practice on some scrap pieces before moving forward.

Subscribed, I have a 1970T with similar issues, they are a labor of love.

Just an offer for advice. If you don't already have one. Go to Harbor Freight and get an instant-on welding helmet. It will be the best $40 you'll ever spend... I promise. Then you can be on and off the trigger as much as you need and believe me, you don't want to be on it continuously, you will simply blow holes through the metal. At the same time, you want to get good penetration, (still talking about welding here) which means lots of heat. So enough heat to ALMOST blow a hole, then stop for a second or two, trigger again, repeat as necessary.
It looks like you got your hands full, good luck!

So much for the first weld - it was rubbish I tell you! Found a bunch of pinholes after applying primer. Had to go back and re-weld until all the pinholes were gone. Turning the power down on the welder helped too.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1268799056.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1268799081.jpg

It doesn't look like I'll have to cut the rain chanel on the driver's side?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1268799360.jpg

And, as expected, found more rust and fiberglass in both rockers. :o Doesn't look too bad though, I might be able to get away with patches instead of replacing the whole thing. (it seems for now anyway) The journey continues...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1268799803.jpg

Really curious about how you're gonna solve that issue with the rockers. Our '67 has the same issue right now

The inners look nasty too. Spotweld cutter and new outers/inners..... I have sets waiting to go into my car too. My car looked pretty good.... till I ground like 1/2" of bondo off the rockers, and could see the inners :p

Careful with cutting too much at once. I know it seems like an oxymoron, but the rsuty panels still lend some rigidity to the body. Cut too much out and you'll wish you'd welded in a body jig. Take it slow, replace one piece at a time, ensuring one repair doesn't get in the way of the next.

Good work man...you sure do take on a project with gusto. Anyhow, the local guys are here to help, if needed. Just ask.:)

Hey Brian, I got a new 13 amp angle grinder for my birthday last week. I was going to break it in on the Land Rover frame, but...

I was thinking that your Porsche was either parked next to your Pacific Ocean for awhile, or it's from the Salt Capital, Detroit!

Hey , Brian
It looks like you've got your work cut out for you for the next year or so !
I've just finished mine , Your Duck Tail turned out great , I'll post some pics this weekend !

Thanks for the support and kind words gentlemen. I was just about to throw in the towel...just kidding;)
While we're here, does anyone know what this is:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1268924744.jpg

Is it factory or another patch attempt? I've seen rectangular stampings in this location on other cars but never saw it in "bare metal" form. It's very soft metal, I can move it around - aluminum? What's the purpose? Aren't there issues with dissimilar metals being in contact for long periods? I know it was a definite "no no" with Boeing aircrafts developing corrosion.

Looks like lead. Probably an unfamiliar sight on a Boeing, but a great factory filler on cars!

It's lead; you'll find it on joints all over the car. I heat it up and coax it into a glass jar. If you have plans on attacking the a pillars at the cowl then you'll really get some experience with it.

What is a good alternative for its use then? I abhor body filler. Leave the gaps untouched?

:cool: Hey Brian, heres the pics of your duck tail that you sold me.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1269302519.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1269302624.jpg

Mich Matt- Replacewith more lead. It's calming to work with and gives great results. Just watch out for signs of mercurial madness. (kidding, do the normal H&S recommendations for lead HAZMAT)

There is a good synthetic lead mimic aroud that is applied the same way- blowtorch etc. Can't remember the name but I've use it with reasonably good results. The real deal is much better though, just be careful. Now, where is my hat? lol.

I've seen "plumbers solder" used for the same thing.

You know the big thick bars of solder plumbers use for sealing gutters.

If you know someone who works/worked in the telecommunications field they may be able to put you in touch with a linesman.
They make gas tight seals in cable with solder... These guys are good.

Anyway I watched one of these techs re-lead a friends ancient Austin Healy.
Just plumbers solder, a gas torch and a swipe of leather. He made it look easy.

Take it slow and steady. You are doing a great job. Practice welding and work on the settings for your particular welder with regards to welding sheet metal. Once you dial it in, you will notice a big improvement. Be sure to mark the settings on your Mig so you do not have to do it again if they get bumped.

The nasty thing about welding rusted/ground off sheet metal is sometimes it's just so thin you burn through (even on initial spark) on even the lowest setting of some MIG's. Never tried it but I suppose using a VERY thin wire and a low setting might work..

You got that right brother. Like welding friggin tin-foil, even at the lowest settings! Then there's the grinding - it's gotta be at least two-hundred times harder than steel. :rolleyes:

neat project

Hey Brian! SmileWavy

We need more progress pix! It has been what, 3 months since the last round? This is Bryan from last week. I was picking up my permits for the shop :D

Check out the garage progress so far (link in my signature).

Let's keep in touch. I want to see what else you have done to date. No doubt you are getting good at welding? If no one has mentioned this, on the thin stuff you might try a sheet of brass as a backer to help prevent blow outs. Steel doesn't like to stick to the brass so you can congregate your puddle and keep it in place for a sec'. I have yet to try it after reading it somewhere but I have been wanting to see how well it works after personally dealing with 'Tin Foil Blowout' syndrome on other cars I have welded on.

B

If you plan on replacing lead with lead, make sure you wash it down right before applying paint to it. Just had a talk about this with a guy who does high end jobs in Atlanta.

Hey Bryan -
Your new garage is going to be a killer man-cave! I take it the foundation is probably poured by now? And by the way, thanks alot for resurrecting this post man! I'm almost embarrassed how little I've done this summer.

The welding is improving, mainly because I think I finally have the settings on the welder dialed-in. Here are some updates:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282535080.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282535144.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282535179.jpg

This part has been a royal pain in the ass:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282535411.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282535467.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282535529.jpg

After days of welding and grinding, welding and grinding, I finally had all the pinholes covered:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282535565.jpg

Then I decided it wasn't good enough, so I started over with a different approach...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282535935.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282536001.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282536043.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282536077.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282536103.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282536127.jpg

Definitely like this route much better. Hopefully, I'll have it buttoned-down in a couple of "months" and then move over to address the rockers :eek::
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1282536676.jpg

It is definitely easier to remove more of the rusty metal and go back to clean areas and straight lines than it is to try to fill in little spots. Looks great.

What size wire are you using?? I like .023" tends to have less burn through and wets out better on the gauge of metal we are working with. You may have to buy an additional drive roller or flip one around to use the flat insted of the groove on one side depending on the make of the machine.
And as one of the guys in the shop says trying to teach new guys, " if it dont sound like frying bacon on high, it aint right"!!

Keep up the good work

Regards

Brian,

The pix look great! We will have to swap welding notes sometime...errr...you can tell me how to do it right..heh.

I am certainly close by so if you need a hand or get stuck without a certain tool or something give me a shout!

I want to see this project of yours once I get my current project under control =)

I should paint, "..if it don't sound like frying bacon on high, it aint right!!" on our welder here at work... :D

Great quote and good advice! Thanks

I've heard that before. I'm using .030" - is there really that much difference between the two? If so, I'll go pick up a roll of .023 tonight! Fryin up the bacon.;)

Yeah, smaller wire on sheet metal. You have chosen some tough areas to weld. When you can't get the gas nozzle down within a 1/2" of the work, your stick out may be too much. For the good bacon sound, get in close with the torch.

Speaking of torches, you should have a small oxy/fuel set up. When you get done grinding and find those pin holes, braze them. You could lead them too, but it takes a lot of cleaning and tinning before you can flow the solder. Brazing need to be on clean metal too, but a stainless steel wire brush will get it pretty much there.

A spot sand blaster is very handy as well for this kind of work.

You're doing an excellent job. Look for DarrylD 's posts and his web site for some really good tips on this work. He did a marvelous 912 project and documented it all.

Heeeeere's Darryl: DarrylsGarage.com - Car Restorations by Darryl Deppe

Done yet?

I was reading about the guy who cleaned out his garage so he could work on his Carrera backdate project and thought, hey, we haven't heard from Brian in a long time!

Not even close dude. Moved on to the suspension pan. Guess what I discovered? Yup, more RUST. Lateral tank supports are history and there is rust behind it on the inner fenderwells too. Shweet. :cool:

Brian?! I see you are buying parts from the Pelican classifieds! You must be making some progress. What are the latest updates?

I finally have a car and as soon as the shop sheet rock is mudded/sanded and painted I am moving in!

Yup, trying to gather parts whenever I find them. Sounds like you'll be jumping on the "slippery slope" soon too. A 69T huh? Congrats. What's the story? I'll have to come over & take a look.
Funny that you should post on this thread now - I was just thinking how long I haven't posted...feeling a little guilty. I'll have to get back into it.

Finally, some updates...
Skipped the rockers and stayed on the front-end:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1315626148.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1315626323.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1315626354.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1315626383.jpg