Week 11-13

Well, I made a weekly update one week and now here we are 3 weeks later.  Unlike the previous lag in updates, I actually had things to post but life got in the way.

When last I posted, I was trying to finish the fabrication work on the front fenders.  Let me digress for a moment here.  You've heard the old adage, 'You get what you paid for.'  I learned this lesson once again.  

I enjoy the fabrication part of restoration because its about the only thing I can create.  Unfortunately, as I've discovered, fabricating with metal involves grinding, LOTS of grinding.  My tool of choice is a pneumatic angle grinder.  I didn't expect there to be much different between air tools but I was wrong.  I have been really frustrated with the amount of time its been taking to grind down the welds.  I've been blaming it on my compressor.  While at the store the other day, I decided to pick up a little bit more expensive air tool.  It was not my compressor.  My advice, invest in high quality tools.

OK, back to the car.

With the new grinder, I was able to knock out the final clean up of the welds.

With that task done, I can FINALLY start making the car look like a car again.  First step, remount the fenders.  When I first started working on this project, I did a lot of research on how best to tackle the project.  One of the more prominent blogs spoke about not being able to access hinges once the fenders are reinstalled.  This is an incorrect statement.  It is inconvenient to get to the hinges but not impossible. 

Just to prove the point, I wanted to make sure the fender skins fit back just like they did when I took them off.  On some of my trial fits, I noticed when lining up the cut lines on the fender, the lower edge of the door shut didn't.  I didn't want to fight with getting it lined up and weld too so I removed the bottom hinge flange.  Then the fun began.

When I removed the fenders, I used a spot weld tool to cut them out.  These made great alignment marks for reinstalling

Next step was to ensure everything is lined up perfectly.  This is the front edge of the fender over the wheel well.  I used a piece of angle iron clamped on either side of the weld to ensure its flush.

I used the butt splice clamps to ensure the panel was aligned down the length before welding.

With the bottom hinge removed, I could hold the bottom edge of the fender in place.

I didn't do a complete weld job, just in case I have to remove it again but tacked enough places to ensure it won't come loose.

And for the other side, same process

Before welding with the clamps in place.  After each tack, I slid the clamp down before the next tack to keep the panels aligned.

And after all the tacks are in place

Passenger side shut panel all welded up.

With the fenders remounted, Time to check on the fit of the doors.

From a distance, it looks pretty good

Same goes from the passenger side

But up close not quite so great.  At first, I was a bit dejected that after all the work I did it still wasn't right.  This is a shot of the lower driver's door.  You can see the door is not aligned with the fender.  After further inspection, I found that the rest of the door matches up well, only the section around the lower door hinge.

From the inside of the door, you can see the damage done from bad hinges.  The door skin has pulled away from frame causing it to bulge on the outside.  This will be a task for another day.

With the fenders welded in place and the doors mounted, time to focus on the back half again.

When I bought the car, the boot lower panel came with the car but it did not include the rear lip or the front reinforcement plate.  In one of my early post, I showed my fabrication of this piece.  Now its welded in place.

And after the reinforcement plate installed.  

Using the rusted pieces I removed, I took measurements to recreate the hole patterns in the panel.

Final boot lower panel assembly, ready to install.

With my new and improved grinder, I was able to finish patching up the inner fender panels.  Installed it to see how it fits.  Some point soon,, I'll put some primer on this panel.

And the other side

Next week, work on the deck lid and repair of the lower tonneau area.