Progress, The 2011 Hershey show gave me another shot of motivation Options

[saigon71]

Got some more done on the teener last week. Welded in the 1/8" thick vertical inner long support that ties the engine bar mount to the inner long. It was tight welding the rosettes at the engine mount. My first attempt was an epic failure as the welds didn't hold. I re-drilled for bigger rosettes:







Fabricated an inlay to match the factory lip in the area of the reinforcement. I should have made it about 1/8" longer vertically...but I should have plenty to weld to:



















Fabricated the final piece to close in the inside of the long, rustproofed and seam sealed a few areas:

[mepstein]

Go Bob Go! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

[jsayre914]

Go Bob Go! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
only 7 months left to finish it.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[saigon71]

914 gatherings are awesome for two reasons. First, I get a chance to catch up with 914world.com members. Secondly, I get additional motivation to actually want to drive a teener to such an event. Been firing on all cylinders after Matt's event.

I have decided to go a different direction and only use part of the Brad Mayeur longitudinal reinforcement kit. This is not a knock on Brad's product in any way, shape or form. His solution is both well-engineered and well made. It would be nearly impossible for me to replicate the double wall design of the original long. I took a look around the shop and realized that I had a surplus of RD clam shell. With the 1/8" thick reinforcements already welded into the long, I decided to use ribbed sections of clamshell to complete the remainder of the outer flat section:

[saigon71]

Welded in the aft piece of clam shell, indexed to matched the passenger side. Flattened out a piece of copper tubing I had laying around to use as a heat shield for the heater hose that runs through the long:

[saigon71]

Aligning the jack post was a lot of work. I mock fitted the rocker panel cover and held a ruler behind it to see where I needed to be horizontally. Vertically, I measured down from the fender lip. For depth in the clam shell, i measured out from the rocker cover:

[hot_shoe914]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smash.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sunglasses.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif)


Would you quit screwing around and finish this thing already! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif)













































Keep up the great work! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)

[saigon71]

A key concern with using the ribbed clam shell in this section is the strength of the jackpost area. Both sides of the post itself were welded to the clam shell. I had previously bought a standard jackpost support, so I cut it down to use on the inside. I will be using the Brad Mayeur support on the outside. The post was capped on the backside to prevent crud from getting in there:

[saigon71]

Took advantage of the nice weather and shot weld thru primer on the post supports and "clam shell jack post" outside. I added drain holes to both the inner and outer support plates:





There is a section aft of the flat part of the long that was completely rusted away. I started screwing around with templates to make the piece by hand, then looked at the surplus clamshell again. The overall fit is nearly a match, it just needs to be bent. I made some relief cuts so it would bend and went to work. Still have some more to do on this, but I think it will be a solid solution:













The current state of affairs in my garage:

[okieflyr]

Sweet work Bob! I am envious of your metal shaping skills. Keep up the good work and she'll be back on the road soon enough!

[Porschef]

Welding is a skill; it is also an art. I'd like to learn it, the abilities shown on this forum are nothing short of amazing.


Looks like you're getting close Bob, keep pushing. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)

[OllieG]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif) Incredible stuff as always Bob...you should write a book!

Ollie.

[ChrisFoley]

So you're gonna drive it up to my open house on 09/15/12, right Bob?

[hot_shoe914]

So you're gonna drive it up to my open house on 09/15/12, right Bob?

I bet he would for one of those nifty bar b que spatulas.

[saigon71]

Thanks for the encouragement gents. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

This project is daunting. So many times I roll out to the shop with the best of intentions but end up doing something unnecessary like sorting bolts instead of actually working on the car. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[saigon71]

So you're gonna drive it up to my open house on 09/15/12, right Bob?

I bet he would for one of those nifty bar b que spatulas.

Not gonna make this one. I am confident I will be attending more events when the car is on the road. Hope all who attend have a great time.

Will the food network be on the big screen? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[VaccaRabite]

Bob, great work as always!
Roll man roll!

[Eric_Shea]

Hershey 2015!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[saigon71]

Seam sealed and applied "rustproofing" to areas that will be enclosed when the jack support plates are welded on:







Finished up the final piece of outer long fabricated from surplus clam shell. Going this route saved me a lot of time:

[saigon71]

My calculations were a bit off on one of the pieces for the drivers side long. Needed to add a filler piece:







Welded the outer jackpost support on and sprayed piece with primer: