Rust repair before paint, The quest for solid metal in the driver side Long - 73 narrow body/4 rebuild thread Options

[Montreal914]

Edit: I might as well make this my rebuild thread...

Original post; I got side tracked on my Microsquirt build as I have decided, after 11 years of ownership, to finally get my car painted to get her ready for her upcoming 50th birthday. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Knowing these endeavors can take a lot more time than initially planned, I hope to make it in time... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

Originally bahia red 73 1.7. The goal is a narrow body 2056 Microsquirt, VW Tornado red, 5 lugs conversion with 16" Fuchs.
Front: 914-4 A arms with rubber bushings, 911 3" pin struts, Bilstein inserts, Alfa Brembo, vented rotor, stock torsion bar, 19mm sway bar, turbo tie rods, and 19mm master cylinder.
Rear: Drilled hubs, 914 PMB stock calipers edit: 914-6 calipers replica, 914-6 solid rear rotors, 140lbs springs, stock sway bar, rubber bushings.

But before I get the pleasure of installing all of these beautiful fresh goodies, I need to tackle the not so fun stuff... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

I have already started fixing some of the rust issues and will share that progress in the near future but right now, I wanted to post some of the issues i have on the passenger side front fender. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) I have searched and read many of the builds here but I would like some inputs from the people who have gone through this mess.

I am trying to understand the construction of the rear part of the fender, more precisely the area joining the front cowling.

Below is a sketch of how I think it is made but i would like someone to confirm...



Having removed the seam sealer in the upper rear area, I have discovered "this" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) which is not really unusual, but clearly a pain to fix. I am not sure though what I am looking at. If my sketch is correct, I guess the inner rusted layer is from the fender rear bulkhead that actually becomes an inner layer on the rear upper point of the fender by the door and cowling junction.





I might be able to cut this from the underside preventing me from cutting the outer surface of the fender. But I would like to better understand what is happening at the junction to the body.
How many layers are there from the fender, one or two?
Is the metal peeling off at the joint to the body the metal from the bulkhead/inner layer, or is it the outer fender layer?

As a reference, this if the situation of the channel, surface rust, but how bad? Is there a way to better know without destroying? Maybe poke with a screwdriver? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)



Comments appreciated (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Montreal914]

Thank you for asking! Clearly not as much progress as I would wish for. More house work got in the way... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

But the passenger door got the same treatment as the driver's side one. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)




But now the next and hopefully the last major metal fix is the driver's side rear fender... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

The car had been hit and poorly repaired in the past. Here is what I have to deal with. The rear part of the fender bulges out.



After removing the Bondo, not very surprising, here is what lies underneath. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)



I have been looking at this for quite some time and have had a few recommendations as to how to tackle this. I have a couple of options: removing the rear half of the fender and fix it using this piece I got from Bruce Stone a few years back:



Although this might be a lesser intrusive surgery, I am very concerned at the vertical and other butt weld scars it would leave. I am working with a 120V Lincoln MIG with 0.025" wire, not a TIG welder, but most importantly, I am a beginner welder... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

The second option which is a lot more work would hopefully keep the line of the rear fender.
I got this whole dry and straight fender from Vince and I have been starting to prepare it for the swap. The fender is almost complete but has been cut short in some areas that I will need to be address. That being said, these are somewhat in hidden areas so should be more or less masked.

Here is the doner whole fender:




First area of some missing material:




And second area missing metal (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)




This means I will need to cut the car in the trunk seal gutter in the outer vertical portion and weld there.




In the meantime. I have started preparing both doner parts the rear half yellow piece and the marathon blue fender. It is coming along but this actually more work that I expected. I drill through the spot welds in some areas, while I grind them down in others where I want the mating flange to be hole-less, all depending on which side I plan on doing the plug weld.







Finally the fender is almost relieved from the other parts (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif)




This corner was no fun to deal with...




The work continues in the preparation of the donor parts. Still fully undecided as to which option to use, but I am leaning towards the whole fender replacement. I am definitely not looking forward to cutting the car's fender and prep the shell to match the "new" fender. There are a few zones that I can see as being tricky... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)