In Over My Head Restoration, No More Excuses - Just Start Cutting... Options

[BeatNavy]

Ok, here goes. I picked up this '75 last April in lower Maryland. It was advertised as a 2.0, it has a 2.0 badge on the back, and it looked pretty good from a distance (or with beer goggles).

[BeatNavy]

Ok, last weekend was replacing bearings and tranny seals on my other teener – very greasy and dirty – this weekend it’s back to IOMH (in over my head) restoration and getting dusty. What better way to spend a weekend than in a cold garage cutting steel and bondo? So I put aside some time and did some more exploratory surgery. I’ll have at least three more stupid questions for anyone that can answer them as I assess and figure out how to repair:

1. The long up to the door frame
2. The suspension console and long inside engine bay
3. The hell hole itself

Based on what I saw this weekend, I think the “RD shopping list” Scotty helpfully put together for me in post #20 is looking pretty accurate about now.

First the long under the door. Cut away some more steel and here’s what I have (apologies for picture quality and lighting):



What??? Leftover mouse stuff in the heater channels?? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/new_shocked.gif) My first reactions to this are a) where did God’s little rodents live prior to the first 914? and b) is my spot-weld removing technique actually worse than my welding? Anyway, there was a fair amount of loose rust and other gunk in the longs. The lower third of the inner shell is possibly salvageable, but it gets to the question I have on this. Here are a couple of other views first:


and



And, after some cleanup and chipping away the loose and rusted metal:


and



So here is first stupid question, or set of stupid questions, for today (#4 overall): What I didn’t realize is that there are two layers of steel on the horizontal section of the long. Is that correct? I’m trying to decide if that’s the way it’s built or not. But I also see what might be a seam right underneath the first bracket for the heater hose. It’s rusted so much it’s hard to tell, but maybe that’s a layer of steel from a previous PO fix. In the picture above you can see the jagged edges where I’ve torn out one layer of rusty metal up to just under the heat pipe. The lower layer doesn’t look bad. The top layer has a lot of surface rust that could probably be treated and sealed.

Should I simply cut out that top layer to some point and fabricate a replacement to weld in attached to the inner shell and then marry up the outer long piece? I see how George cut the whole bottom section out and welded a horizontal section along a good portion of the long as shown here: College Budget Restoration

I guess the answer may sort of depend on whether there are really two layers of metal there and whether or not one or both should be replaced. If there aren’t two layers along that long, I think I can minimize the actual fabrication and replacement required on that inner long.

Oh, and the seat belt mount came out in the process. I’m not sure whether or not that can be cleaned up or not. I may have to fabricate a solution there. Right now that's not the biggest issue I have, as I'll post something on the suspension console soon...