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.