Cary's 73 1.7 Rustoration Thread Options

[cary]

Another word of wisdom for those just getting into fabrication.

PLEASE cover all the glass on all your cars in the spray area when you you start to grind or weld. Those innocent little sparks will pit/melt the glass.


HF moving blankets are cheap.

[cary]

After the rotisserie was finished I went after the rust holes in the spare tire well.
After about 3 hours I had one of the suspension mounts off without too much collateral damage. Only one of the spot weld holes went thru. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) The trick is to watch the color of the shavings. Generally they'll be a bit of rust between the layers. You'll see just a short blip of brown in the shaving. That's when you've passed thru the first layer.


Because of the tight fit I used a 7/64 HF drill bit to drill thru both layers of each of the spot welds I could see. Because they seam welded after the spot welding, a couple were hard to locate. I drilled some from the inside, some from the outside.


Getting the seam welds cut without too much damage was a bitch. Most was done with the air hack saw bent like a noodle. After taking the guard/guide off. This was after I made a many and as big of cuts as I could make with the air grinder on the mandrel.
I'm always thinking would the time I just spent be worth the money I would be paying or charging ............ three hours to get a part off without damaging the part ?
The problem was exasperated by the fact that there was a spot weld under the seam weld. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)


This is a shot pre bead blaster cabinet. The mount is solid as a rock. Measured 13 gauge. Was left in the OSPHO pan drying. The metal in the rusted hole gets pretty solid right close to the rusted edge.

The welding in of the patch will determine how I proceed. Completely rosette weld in the 1/4" spot weld cutter holes? Or fill in and drill a new 3/16 holes?

[cary]

Decided to seal up the inside of the OSPHO'd door. I used the HD Eastwood stuff that I already had. Kind of messy, but should do the trick. I'll probably still seam seal the joint using my finger later. I'll wait till both doors are done.
camera lens must have had a smudge on it






I'll add a picture of the lap joint if I can take it

[cary]

New season of Tool Whore ...............

Nike Hydraulics Dataliner 80 Frame Bench with homemade drive on rails. It was on my retirement wishlist (10-12 years out), but it fell in my lap. It came with a Blackhawk Quadri-Clamp.






I have no intention of doing any frame pulling. Just a fixture to hold the tub in place when replacing longitudinals. For the short term it will give me endless hours of internet research time to figure out how I'll build the 6 or 8 tub mounting fixtures.

[PlantMan]

Finished up the door patches. Had trouble with the grinding. I'm sure the pitting on the backside is causing the issues. Weak spots.




Corner was a bit of work. The channel is two layers and pitted so it was either too hot or too cold.





Blew thru this area about 5 times over grinding.



Ended the day with hanging the door in Super In Laws new fixture. This allowed me to spray down the inside with OSPHO. Drip drying over the old mat.

Cary,
Newbie question I know, but what is the thickness of the sheet metal on the doors, 22ga? I have similar issues to deal with.

What is going on with the job BTW? I worked in the grocery biz for 10 years while going to school....I do miss it sometimes.

Thanks!

[Andyrew]

22ga is about the same as HVAC ducting...


Its about 18ga.

[cary]

What Andyrew said .................

As for the job hunt. Not really hunting. I still consider myself on sabbatical.
I'd like to have a signed job offer, but it hasn't come yet. Wheels of progress move pretty slow.
The process lost 30 days.
1. Negotiating a job change for the person I'm going to replace.
2. New boss took an emergency FMLA to care for his wife after surgery.

But thanks for asking ..............

[cary]

* Switched doors on the engine stand and sprayed it down with OSPHO.
* Super In Law is working on the landlords lawnmower. He finally got it running. Looks like it will need a fuel pump dealy, engine vacuum diaphragm gadget.

Now back to the front suspension repairs.
Patch plate went in without too much of a fuss.




Decided to use the Clecos to hold it in place. Because you cant get your hand in behind the panel to hold it, it took two people. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) I almost bought a one man body shop in Montana years ago. So it kills when it takes two people to do something. What would I have done in that shop.
Yellow circled items are the business end of the Cleco coming thru.




Welding was a little tricky.
1. Dumbass used too much weld thru primer again. Should have taped off the welding surfaces and brushed those on after the sprayed on had dried.
2. Once again welding the 14 gauge mount to the 18 gauge tub.


Gooder as new ....................

[cary]

Now to the other side ................

Cut out the hole from inside the trunk.
It looks like theres a second layer of metal. No, just a completely connected layer of rust. Chiseled it out with a screw driver and the air chisel turned down low.


Filled the spot blaster with glass and cleaned it up.




To be continued. Letting OSPHO dry 24 hours

Welding didn't go too well. Didn't cut out a big enough hole. Edges of the hole were too thin and too much unseen rust under the edge. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)


But it cleaned up ok.


If I was to do it a third time I'd do it in two pieces. The area called out with the star gave me all kinds of trouble.
Doing it in two pieces allows for a complete refresh without removing the suspension mount. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[cary]

On to the tow hook.

I was bound and determined not to drill thru with the spot weld cutter this time. Didn't make any difference I ended up cutting it all out anyway.




Didn't shoot a picture at the end of the day after I cut it out. I could have cut it a little close to the cancer hole. Patch will be easy.


We'll do a little work on the tow hook and transfer the tire tie down to the patch panel.

[cary]

Patch might be a bit over sized. But that will make it easy to weld in. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)


Blip, blip, blip ............... Three blips then cool with air.


I'm really liking the EasyGrind wire and the Cubitron discs.


Prepping for the tire tie down.


Used self tappers this time. Too easy.




Moving right along ............... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

Note : I really like the way the NAPA Weld Thru Zinc Primer sprays out, but its too thick. I need to find the UPOL product. They say it lays down just the right thickness.

[cary]

Now time to install the toe hook. Used the Clecos this time .............





Great Day ......................

[raynekat]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)
Looking great there Mate!
Have an IPA on my behalf.

[cary]

My middle son texted me yesterday and asked what I was doing today.

Answer : Pulling seam sealer from the front trunk. Boring


Pretty easy with the heat gun and the air scraper. Then come behind with a medium straight bladed screwdriver and the heat gun to clean out the seams.


* Super In Law found a dropped exhaust valve seat on lawnmower #2. Opened up the cylinder head, froze the seat for a couple hours and peened it back in. Kind of hillbilly.
But idea came off the Briggs & Stratton website.

[cary]

But as I began to work on the seam sealer in the gas tank area I find my next major rust challenge. Looks like one of the POs did a fine temporary leak repair above the front trunk cable pull. In the close quarters blasting I thought it was just some of the POR15 work we did when we got the car.

Looks like a steel plate and some seam sealer/tar. Don't thinks its tar. It's set up pretty hard.

Here's what It should look like. From 74 2L over in next building.


Here's what the parts car looks like. About the same as the project.

[cary]

Here's the cut out piece that I'll use as a pattern.


Consolation prize : Complete front trunk pull. Handle, mount and tube.


Another odd observation while doing the cutting. The parts car's front trunk seal channel is almost perfect, no rust blow outs.

[cary]

We start the week with a beautiful day here in PDX. 60+ degrees and beautiful sunshine.
* Super In Law got the second lawnmower running. Still might have issues with the switch and starter relay.
* A while later I see him out at the trailer scoping out the frame bench.


I gave him a couple shots of the Celette fixtures to start thinkng about.




Plan is to give it a quick paint job before we bring it inside. I'll use implement paint from one of the farm stores. Orange for the bench. Ford blue for the fixture.

[cary]

So the surgery begins. Kind of a tough spot to work in.

After cutting it out I should have left the hose hole intact. At the time it looked easier. I just couldn't get a good starting point with the air saw.


Lots of pitting from water being left laying in there. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) Which makes for tough welding.


I did run the piece thru the blast cabinet to clean it up.
The white 1" tells me were the hole is if I cut that portion off.


I'll finish up the rest of the seam sealer removal then take it out and blast the seams an the this area. Then we'll start the pattern making.
Should be another beautiful day .................. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/welder.gif)

[cary]

I finished removing the seam sealer in the gas tank trunk. Doing so I did open up 3 holes that were hidden under the seam sealer that looked perfectly fine. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)
EDIT : Added a picture of rust holes that came out with the seam sealer. Circled in yellow. 2/10/16
This is right above the pedal cluster.


When we got back from lunch I put on my Big Boy pants and started removing the wiring harness. It's in the way working on our new rust hole. And it will make spraying the primer much easier. I should have bit the bullet earlier .............
It wasn't all that bad. Was hoping to save the snorkel, but my fuel line fittings made it too tough.






Here's a shot of the nut that holds in the glove box.


While I was doing that Super In Law was working on fabricating the patch panel.
Not quite done yet ............ but it should come together.

[cary]

* Ran downtown to buy 5 new wheels for my rolling stool.

Then set about removing the steering column and the dash. This will give us more room for welding in our rust repair panel.



Plus it will allow me to do a better job of blasting and spraying epoxy primer.