Got the passenger side firewall bracket removed:
Little bit of cleanup/buildup of the firewall along with patching the floor:
I was relieved to have the Plasma cutter to cut up the old firewall bracket in pieces which helped immensely in the removal!
Haven’t been out working on this as much as I would have liked. After my dad’s visit, I was busy cleaning up and catching up. Now I am getting ready for the first week in June which is when I build my front deck and build a shed to help organize everything. I did get out in the garage this weekend, but was mostly organizing and cleaning!
While working on removing the passenger side Firewall Bracket, discovered some more rust near the toe board so I ordered some floor pans from Ground Up to use for patch pieces (I was a little disappointed with the pans not having more of a toe board – luckily I should be able to get by with what I have):
Pictures of the cancer:
Also purchased a new Chop Saw from Harbor Freight. Also got some replacement metal blades and a roller. Will need this when building my Jig around July:
Hope fully next weekend I can get the passenger side Firewall Bracket removed – there is not much left to do with it.
Just about have the passenger side firewall bracket removed. Good thing I am replacing them because the bottom was pretty much rusted out! Used the plasma cutter to cut most of it out. Also used the seam busters to break the spot welds. I tried drilling the spot welds out, but had difficulty locating them. Need to order some floor pans to cut out the toe boards from. Doubt I will get much done next weekend as I will have company this week!
Not much progress made on the car this weekend – had to work on some other ToDo’s! I did decide to build a shed in the backyard to provide me with more storage! More to come on that later.
NOTE: Wednesday April 18th the site will be down for maintenance between 9:00PM-midnight Central time.
Found some replacement subframe bolts from Classic Industries. Went ahead and ordered two of them for connecting the firewall brackets to the jig I am building.
Started working on removing the Firewall Brackets today. Having difficulty locating the spot welds, so I ordered a new tool that should help. Search for ‘Seam Buster’ and you will find the tool (pics below):
Should have this by next weekend and will see how well it works!
Decided to build my own body jig to keep the Camaro from twisting while I work on replacing the body parts. Priced the 1/8″ 2×2’s on the internet for roughly $600 and $100 shipping for 11 12′ sections. Drove down to Mcneilus steel in Dodge Center and got the same thing for about $350 (note: you can buy one on the Internet for roughly $850-$975 plus $350 shipping):
I will start on the body jig AFTER I replace the firewall brackets so I have a good mounting point.
Got the subframe off of the car today. I was dedicating the weekend to that and was done by 10am Sat ahead of schedule! Next is to replace the firewall brackets so I can mount it on the jig.
Spent a half day Sat and most of the day Sun removing the 2nd subframe bolt. Now both back bolts under the seats are removed:
Then I started on the firewall brackets. Used the Plasma cutter to enlarge the holes and worked on removing the cage that holds the nut. I didn’t get the cage removed, but think I have it out of my way for now:
Passenger side:
Drivers Side:
The plan for next weekend is to use the grinder to grind down the nut enough so I can remove it. My cut-off tool is to big to fit, but I think I can get the grinder in. Should take about a day per side to remove each nut.
Harbor Freight had a sale. $40 off of their spot welder. With the money I saved, I went ahead and purchased the 2-year replacement plan. Need to get a receptacle to fit into my 220 outlet I use for my welder!
