Started out the bottom straight section with my cut-off wheel then switched to my air body saw. The saw was working good until it shook itself apart – what do you expect from a Harbor Freight tool? I re-read the reviews and stopped when they commented that it shook itself apart. So now things are on hold until next weekend when I decide between a replacement saw from Northern Tool or Lowes. I am leaning towards Northern Tool as it has good reviews and is a little cheaper than Lowes.
What is left of the Harbor Freight junk:
Now for the moment of truth to see if my measurements were acceptable. I took the piece I cut out and it fits well within the piece I will be patching it with. So once I get it all cut out, I can trim my replacement piece to match what was cut out. You will notice that the inner piece is raised some which provides me with even more wiggle room!
I won’t be able to do anymore work on this until next weekend! Check back then!
Had a little bit of time today so played with the patch pieces because before I can replace the firewall brackets, I need to patch the toe-board areas. I must also take into consideration where my patch will connect with the full floor pan I will be replacing. So after studying some pictures of a full floor pan, I cut into my two partial floor pans for the pieces I will use to patch.
Used some tape as a guide so I cut as straight as possible:
Other side:
Cleaned-up the edges a bit and decided on focusing on the passenger side first where the rusted-out area was bent up from removing the firewall bracket:
So I used the plasma cutter to trim some of it away so the pan will sit in there better to give me an idea of where to cut next:
The plan for tomorrow is to cut the floor area smaller than the patch panel, then – if time permits, trim the patch panel to fit in the cut-out area. I should also mention that there are two ways to do this: either lap one piece over the other (easier) or butt them right next to each-other side-by-side (harder). I want to butt them together which is a little more work and difficult, but should have better results in the long run.
Started out using my Harbor Freight plum bob and crayons to get some reference points. Because the body is on jack stands and not 100% level, the measurements are slightly off from what the manual says.
Firewall bracket to floor and mark with Crayon:
Subframe mount under seat to floor and mark with Crayon:
A little off from what the book says… Repeated five times to ensure the measurement was accurate.
Now start drilling spot welds from inside the car:
and from side bracket:
Start working from middle of car to outside of car using the seam buster (from earlier post) and pry bars to gently pry the bracket away from firewall:
I wasn’t sure if there were two columns of welds like the passenger side – there weren’t:
Bracket removed!
Floor and toe-boards to repair before putting new firewall brackets on and BEFORE replacing with the full floor pan:
Tonight after work I re-arranged the jack stands to their final resting place until after I complete the floor pan. Also got the shell as level as possible using jack stands. You’ll notice the jack stands are supporting the rockers – the rockers are also what I used as a reference to ensure the body is level. Now I should be able to get some good measurements to record and compare to the manual.
My shipment of 6 more cans of Zero-Rust arrived yesterday and since the weather is supposed to get cold in a couple of days, I got some more painting done. Just have five more pieces to do tomorrow!
10 cross pieces 6″ 2.5″x2.5″
For the casters: 6″ 2×2 and 2 6″ 2.5×2.5
For attaching the car to the jig (various lengths):
2 @ 27″, 2 @ 23″, 2 @ 19″, 2 @ 16″, and 2 @ 13″
These are all that remain to be painted for the Jig:
Went out and bought a plum bob and crayons from Harbor Freight. I wanted to get a sample measurement of a couple of key mounting points referenced in my manual. I was 7/8″ off and believe it is because my body is not yet completely level. Before starting on the floor pan this winter, I need to level the body as much as possible and record as many key measurements as possible for reference when re-assembly.
Been busy prepping and painting the body jig. First, I sanded off the weld-thru primer that was left over, then cleaned the metal with Eastwood Metal Wash, then used Prep Step and finally painted with 2 coats of Zero-Rust.
Here are the two 11′ pieces of 2×2:
Here are the T pieces of 18″ 2×2 welded to 6″ 2.5×2.5 pieces:
Here are the 2 6′ pieces of 2×2
I still have more pieces to clean and prep for painting, but needed to order more Zero-Rust and will need to wait for that to arrive to finish painting the parts of the Jig.
Got some time during the week to just about finish up the Jig (the paint (POR-15) will come later)
I have to re-do one piece where the nut broke off. I will finish sometime next week.
I have gone through one spool of wire so far working on this!
Just have a few hours worth of work left on this, then it will be ready to assemble which will be after I complete the replacement of the full floor pan!
Got some garage time in between other projects this weekend… Started out welding the angle brackets (there is a square top plate with a hole drilled in it):
Then welded the angle brackets to some 2×2 square tubing. Notice each piece can be attached to the car in three different spots. These are what will attach to the car:
Then I took the nuts and threaded them on the bolts and placed them in the holes to tack the nuts in to place removing the bolts afterwards:
One side is done for this batch:
2nd side is done for this batch:
Next I need to weld some 2×2 tubing to the 2.5×2.5 tube that I prepped below:
