Non rust & welding work since January

Most of our time was on rust, but we have done a few other things over the winter.  I got a big shipment of parts, so there is lots of new stuff to start installing.

 

I did the rear brakes first.  They are old-school drums.  We got new shoes and cylinders.  It takes some trial and error to get the springs and shoes put back on, but I managed.  All of the pictures of the final assemble are blurry, and I am not removing the drum to reshoot. 

Another day John showed me how to adjust valves.  It is a pretty understandable process, and it didn't take long to get all eight done. 

We have worked on the parking brake, replaced brake lines, put in the new alternator, and random other small jobs.  It is really nice to put parts back on the car.  The most recent was putting the front suspension back together.  We have the shocks, springs, and kingpins back on the car.

 I cleaned up the garage tonight and attached my new power strip to the wall.  You're welcome John.

Rust and welding

In the two months since my last post, John and I have done a lot of slow, dirty work.  Most of that time we have been working on rust repair.  We have been learning as we go with a grinder, borrowed welder, and lots of steel pieces.  Ben showed us the basics of welding, and we started work on some of the rails.

In particular, the rail from the cross member to the front on the passenger side was in rough shape.  We cut out most of the bottom and welded in new steel. There were many things we considered, but ultimately we put a two inch strip along the bottom and welded it in.  Of the many challenges, one is that the rail curves up and in toward the front.

Since this is an area that will be completely covered when the car is finished, we added some more structure inside the rail.  John cut some wedged pieces we put in vertically.  It gave us more structure and some good welding points. 






We also cut some sheet metal to weld to the side of the rail.  We just assume any structure we have can only help.  Below is that piece before and after welding. 

 

We spent an incredible amount of time on this rail, but it needed it.  It will be solid.  Some seam sealer and paint and it will look fine too.  It is on the underside of a 40+ year old car after all.  




We also worked on a section at the back of the passenger area.  It was pretty rusty too, so we fitted a thicker bit of sheet metal on top. 

Now we have a better place to weld the floor and more solid support for the rear suspension which attaches in this area.  



We put the floor pan in place to see how it fits.  It is a good fit and I look forward to getting it welded in. 

We had to cut out a little more floor than the pans cover, so we made some sheet metal patches to put in front of the floor pans.  The passenger side was pretty straightforward.  We made a cardboard template, cut a piece of metal to fit, and welded it in.  I did learn about primer that is designed for welding, so we gave that a try.  That is the copper color.

This section of the floor is curved and had limited access for the clamps.  We found that we had better luck putting rivets around the edge and welding between them.

 
John made a patch for the front of the driver's side.  It has some vertical pieces because that is where the rust is problematic on that side.  He is quite proud of his work, but that is just how he looks.

Our hope is to weld the floors in next week.  The car is starting to come together and it is very exciting.  Still miles to go and we have done a bunch of other work recently.  I will post about those soon. 

Carburetors and Welding

Jan 24 - Ben has agreed to come over on Jan 25 with a welder and show us how it is done.  We needed to get some prep work done.  Mostly I had to clean up the areas we intend to weld.  Using a heavy wire wheel on the grinder I cleaned up the side rails.  Not pretty work, but needed to be done. 

John decided we needed to remove the windshield wiper motor.  I think it was related to checking and cleaning the main ground wire for the electrical system.  The motor is nicely tucked up under the dash, behind the glove box.  The main ground wire is behind it. 

After that John set to work on the carburetors.  We know they are an issue because the car ran poorly on these carbs and fine on John's.  They are very particular pieces of machinery.  John showed me the basics which I think I understand.  He found some grit in an area that needs to move smoothly.  We used some compressed air to clean that area and put everything back together.  We will put them on some time soon and see what happens.

Jan 25 - Ben came over with welding supplies.  We spent a good deal of time setting up and figuring out how it works.  I have never welded before and it had been a while for John and Ben.  We wanted to be careful so we took our time. 

We cut some scrap sheet metal and practiced welding pieces together.  It wasn't pretty and took some practice, but we could get two pieces of metal to hold together as one. 

We (Ben) started to attach a real repair piece to the frame rail.  About 2 minutes in we ran out of core wire.  We figured out how to replace the wire but then didn't have the right tip for the welder.  A trip to the hardware store solved the problem, but I was limited on time so our work was done for the day.

I am writing at the end of the second of our two snow days.  I didn't get much work done on the car, but got plenty of exercise shoveling two plus feet of snow.  A large shipment of part arrived, so more new stuff can go back on the car.  I tried installing the new alternator today, but something seems off with the mounts, so I will wait until I have John on hand to help trouble shoot. 

Working on the rust

Jan 10 - Before we can start putting the interior back together, we need to address some rust.  We bought some sheet metal to patch a couple of areas.  We will install new floor pans in both sides, but there is a bit in front of the floors the pans don't quite reach.  We will patch some thinner sheet metal in there later.

First John needed to make a piece to reinforce an area just behind the seat where the rear suspension attaches.  We started with a cardboard template to get us close.  We, John mostly, then cut out the piece and started trimming and hammering to fit.  Just making this piece took hours, but once welded in place it will be solid.  It will eventually be covered by carpet.

 

 

 Between trips to the store for steel and work on the corner piece above, we used most of a day.  We spent some time formulating a plan for rusty frame rail.  It is a U-shaped support, and the bottom part is completely rusty.  The vertical pieces are in decent shape, so we came up with the plan shown in the drawing to the right.  We will weld a small L-shaped piece of steel along the good rail metal down each side.  We will then weld another steel piece to the bottom.  It should be as solid as once we are done.  It will be hard to make the seems line up perfectly, but the top will be covered by the floor and the bottom will be under the car.  It should be solid and good to go.



Jan 17 - I bought the steel we need during the week.  John borrowed a reciprocating saw/sawzall to help with the cutting.  Our main task is the rusty rail.  I think the pictures make it pretty obvious why we need to fix this. 

We started cutting and realized we need a vice.  John actually realized this months ago, but I haven't bought one.  So, I went to Harbor Freight while John stayed and did some cutting.  I used the gift card from Ben and Lydia to pick up a vice and some metal files.  I also went to Home Depot for some lag bolts to attach the vice to my work table.  We screwed some extra wood to the bottom of the table and mounted the vice.  It will come in handy with cutting and bending metal pieces.




When I returned with the supplies, John had already cut the rusty bottom out of the frame rail.  Below is a before and after of the same section. 

The challenge will be getting the metal strip to fit the bottom.  The width is about right for most of the length, but the rail curves up and slightly in at the front.  We cut and bent the piece as much as possible.  There is a lot of holding it in place, checking the fit, making small cuts/grinds, and repeating.  I think in the end we have a piece that will work.  Once welding begins we can hammer the piece into place a bit too.  We also cut and shaped the L-shaped rails which will fit inside the frame. We may be ready to begin welding next week.

We spent the end of the day trying to clean up the side rail on the driver's side.  We will clean it, paint some rust inhibitor, and weld a new thin strip of metal on top.  That too will be covered with carpet in the end, so solid structure is the goal - aesthetics are secondary.

John also worked on the console.  Sadly, the radio was beyond our talents to save.  Sorry, Noogit, but this is where it ends for the radio.


Jan 18 - I wandered into the garage to tinker a little before watching the NFL playoff games.  I am watching them now while I write.  I wanted to remove the master cylinders for the brakes and the clutch and the bracket that holds them.  There were three hydraulic lines to remove first.  The first two (brakes) on the left were no problem.  The third (clutch, pictured on the right) on the right was a different story.  There is very limited access, so I could hardly get a wrench on it.  I had to turn it a little, spin the wrench around, and turn a little more.  Each one of those got me one third of a rotation.  It did eventually come off.

The eight bolts that hold the whole thing in place came out relatively easily.  I also had to remove the tops of the pedals from the push rods.  (I often wonder as I write if I am using the correct terminology and imagine John cringing when I don't.)  I removed the bolt holding the top of the pedals together so I could get the pedals out.  I removed the whole assembly and took the master cylinders off the bracket on the work table. Pictures below show the before and after removal.  The hole in the second picture is where the pedals pass through. 

Fortunately the metal underneath is dirty but in good shape.  No repair needed there.  I cleaned up the removed parts using the wire wheel and put a quick coat of paint on the bracket. 

I also removed the windshield wipers and cleaned them.  The black paint on them came off easily.   It is slow going with the rust and new metal, but enjoyable.  I still plan/hope to drive her this summer.  That seems realistic at this point.