My First Build Thread, and a long time comin' Options

[skeates]

So...technically I started this restoration a month ago, but now it has a thread (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

A little history...This was my first car. I picked it up for $1200 back in high school and had it towed home with mice in the glove box and hoses going to no where in the engine compartment! My dad and I had it up and running off and on for three years before I shipped off to southern California for college. It has sat in the 'rents driveway for 5 years now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) waiting for the restoration that it deserves

Well...now that I'm edumacated and have a "real" job (and also have moved back to Northern California) my pockets are slightly deeper than in high school and the build has commenced!



So far I have stripped it to a tub, built me a rotisserie and washed off about 30 years of road grime and PO molestation. Along the way I even made a new friend! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[skeates]

Its been so long since I've posted on this thread that I was curious if it was still around. After a little break in work on the 14er (...not my choice) I've finally started work on her again!

Since my last post I was able to pick-up a replacement passenger long from a parts car in So Cal, and have used it to replace the rusted one. A couple of pictures of the process are included below. In the first picture you can see the jig I made to make sure that the suspension console on the new piece aligns correctly. You can also see the fancy tools I used to mock the new piece in place.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/lh3.ggpht.com-3684-1280706980.1.jpg) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/lh3.ggpht.com-3684-1280706980.2.jpg)

Once the new long was in place I decided that I should start piecing back together the passenger door jam, and also check how the door gaps were holding up. After tacking in the lower door post I went to fit both the passenger and driver's doors. Unfortunately, neither one wanted to line up well (though the driver's side would at least close...). After a lot of measuring and comparing against that handy body measurement reference here on 914World I decided that the passenger side of the front cowl had sagged a bit and moved forward in the whole long replacement process. Half an inch makes a big difference! So, using a scissor jack and a jig, I proceeded to push out the door gap on the passenger side until I was getting the appropriate measurements. When I put the doors back on they fit whole lot better, but still, far from perfectly. Both sides now close, but they both need to be lifted in order to do so. The passenger side is still a whole lot worse than the driver's side (At least it closes now). The frustrating thing is that I can't find which measurements are off! Every measurement I do to compare the two sides are withing 1/32" from each-other. Here are some pics comparing the two sides:

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/lh6.ggpht.com-3684-1280706980.3.jpg)(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/lh3.ggpht.com-3684-1280706981.4.jpg)