Took out a few remaining things on the car's interior. Nothing photo-worthy. Took the heater core assembly out, the wiring harness, and the steering column and pedals (brake pedal is still in there, though).
No new rust, but something has to be done about the pockets at the bottom of the cowling. They're clear full of dead leaves and dirt and crap. I'm going to have to figure out how to drill some relief holes, so that stuff doesn't collect there anymore.
The next step is to wire wheel some questionable areas and verify whether or not they have to be repaired. I don't anticipate much. At first glance, the inside wheel houses on the back look OK. Which is really good, and really unexpected. Outside wheelhouses are just as jacked as the quarter panels, and will have to be replaced.
The little kerosene garage heater works pretty good. Wasn't cold at all out there--although it was a pretty nice day outside, anyhow.
I also jacked the car up another 8 or 10 inches in the rotisserie. That will make rotation a little easier, and make the job overall a little easier. Jacking it up was simple. And it allowed me to center and tighten the brace between the rotisserie stands.
One of the next things will be to wirewheel out the rest of the insulation--which will all be replaced with nice modern stuff. Once that's out, I will start on the floor panel repair I mentioned earlier in the blog.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
garage heater
Been cold as a witch's tit in a brass bra out here lately. I picked up a small kerosene indoor-safe (?!) heater. I'm not sure it will belt out enough heat, but it should be good. Except the cold air blows through that garage like the walls aren't even there.
Hopefully the heater will do the job. I'd hate to have to put things off until the weather warms up, but it's just too darn cold to work in that unheated garage.
The unit I got was the small 10,000 btu DynaGlo heater, from Lowe's.
Hopefully the heater will do the job. I'd hate to have to put things off until the weather warms up, but it's just too darn cold to work in that unheated garage.
The unit I got was the small 10,000 btu DynaGlo heater, from Lowe's.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
It's a sad, sad day
After more than a year without interwebs at the house, I finally had to break down and do it. Got the CenturyLink up and running just now. It feels good, it feels bad. But it was just so darn inconvenient having to run around town to take care of all the diddly-crap online stuff we have to deal with these days.
Good news: I'll be able to post some of the car's build-up in almost real time. This is good, because from here on out, the car is almost all build-up. The teardown is 99% complete.
Good news: I'll be able to post some of the car's build-up in almost real time. This is good, because from here on out, the car is almost all build-up. The teardown is 99% complete.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Up, up and away!
Here are some shots of the car on the rotisserie. It's easily wheeled in and out of the garage, and very simple to reposition the body. I do need to jack the whole thing up about 6 to 10 more inches, to make it just a hair easier to spin and work on the underside of the car. And I need to make some minor adjustments to the long connecting bar.
Just another view, looking out of the garage.
And a view of one of the attachment points on the rear leaf spring shackle. I will have to make some kind of arrangement to work on the attachment area, as there will be some repair/reconditioning needed under there. It may end up swapped up to the bumper, or I may see if one mount will hold while I work on the opposite side. I'll just have to see when I get to that point.
It was an incredible feeling wheeling the car out on this thing. The rotisserie is worth every penny, and every minute of time.
Next up: working on the trunk, quarters and roof. I will be hitting everything with the wire wheel to make an assessment of necessary repairs, and coming up with a plan of attack. There are still some minor parts that need to be stripped out, and I'll be spending some time digging all the old insulation, padding and dirt from the interior. But really, that's not even an afternoon's worth of work. I think the most important thing now is to assess the quarter panels and rear wheel houses. Most likely all of that will have to come off the car and be replaced. Question is, do I do that first, or the roof first. Questions, questions. . .
Just another view, looking out of the garage.
And a view of one of the attachment points on the rear leaf spring shackle. I will have to make some kind of arrangement to work on the attachment area, as there will be some repair/reconditioning needed under there. It may end up swapped up to the bumper, or I may see if one mount will hold while I work on the opposite side. I'll just have to see when I get to that point.
It was an incredible feeling wheeling the car out on this thing. The rotisserie is worth every penny, and every minute of time.
Next up: working on the trunk, quarters and roof. I will be hitting everything with the wire wheel to make an assessment of necessary repairs, and coming up with a plan of attack. There are still some minor parts that need to be stripped out, and I'll be spending some time digging all the old insulation, padding and dirt from the interior. But really, that's not even an afternoon's worth of work. I think the most important thing now is to assess the quarter panels and rear wheel houses. Most likely all of that will have to come off the car and be replaced. Question is, do I do that first, or the roof first. Questions, questions. . .
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Got it!
Got the car up on the rotisserie last night. It was cold, dark and nasty, but I got 'er done.
The rear brackets worked perfectly, but it was a little dicey getting the car jacked up high enough to attach them to the rotisserie. I think in the future, I may make a longer vertical adjustment arm, just to have around.
I wheeled the car out of the garage this morning, and the rotisserie makes for very easy handling. This was such a good idea, and is working out so well, that I'm suspicious. Things never work this good.
Today I'll be cleaning out the garage, moving a bunch of the car parts into my basement, and organizing my work area. Then I'll get to work cleaning up the car, getting the old undercoating off, and getting a plan for the roof and rear quarters.
This is the coolest damn thing. I don't know why, but I am ALL geeked up about it.
Pictures to follow in my next post.
The rear brackets worked perfectly, but it was a little dicey getting the car jacked up high enough to attach them to the rotisserie. I think in the future, I may make a longer vertical adjustment arm, just to have around.
I wheeled the car out of the garage this morning, and the rotisserie makes for very easy handling. This was such a good idea, and is working out so well, that I'm suspicious. Things never work this good.
Today I'll be cleaning out the garage, moving a bunch of the car parts into my basement, and organizing my work area. Then I'll get to work cleaning up the car, getting the old undercoating off, and getting a plan for the roof and rear quarters.
This is the coolest damn thing. I don't know why, but I am ALL geeked up about it.
Pictures to follow in my next post.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Half full, or half empty?
I have the front part of the rotisserie finished and attached to the car. It works perfectly, so far. Attachment was simple, and the mount is solid. The picture you see here is without the safety pin, which I added last.
Picture of the safety pin, and the verticle adjustment.
A side view of the attached rotisserie.
The front mounts are very simple. I just cut the ends at a 45 degree angle, and welded in a small piece of 1/4" stock. The picture here doesn't show it, but all I had to do then was drill a hole for the bolt. The bolt fastens directly to the castle nut in the front subframe mount.
One thing I have had to do is re-tap the nuts that I've welded on for the stop bolts. The heat from welding distorts them just enough to make it difficult to turn the bolts in. It's a quick, and easy process to re-tap.
The last thing, which you may have noticed from the first picture, is a peg to hold the 3/4" wrench for the stop bolts. I simply drilled a hole in the side of the rotisserie, dropped in a large steel nail, and tack welded it in place. Makes a perfect little hook. I may add at least one more to both sides of the rotisserie, so there's a place to hang the safety pin as well.
All in all, this is turning out great. I have the rear mounts to build up, and then the body will be up and ready for cleaning and repair. It's very exciting.
On the rear, I am reconsidering mounting to the bumper brackets. I think I will mount to the rear leaf spring shackle mounts instead. It just looks easier than fabricating a mount for the bumper brackets, and may be more secure.
With the rear wheels on, the front rotisserie rolls very easily, even on my rough garage floor. Moving it around when the whole thing is up and ready is going to be a cinch.
If all goes well, I should have this part of the buildup wrapped up this weekend, and I can move on to actually working on the car again, removing the old undercoat, repairing the two spots on the floorpan, etc. . .
One other thing I didn't mention was welding in body supports. I've seen conflicting recommendations out on the web, so I may skip some of it and move on. I will have to weld in supports before I cut out the roof and quarter panels, but I may not have to do it just now.
Picture of the safety pin, and the verticle adjustment.
A side view of the attached rotisserie.
The front mounts are very simple. I just cut the ends at a 45 degree angle, and welded in a small piece of 1/4" stock. The picture here doesn't show it, but all I had to do then was drill a hole for the bolt. The bolt fastens directly to the castle nut in the front subframe mount.
One thing I have had to do is re-tap the nuts that I've welded on for the stop bolts. The heat from welding distorts them just enough to make it difficult to turn the bolts in. It's a quick, and easy process to re-tap.
The last thing, which you may have noticed from the first picture, is a peg to hold the 3/4" wrench for the stop bolts. I simply drilled a hole in the side of the rotisserie, dropped in a large steel nail, and tack welded it in place. Makes a perfect little hook. I may add at least one more to both sides of the rotisserie, so there's a place to hang the safety pin as well.
All in all, this is turning out great. I have the rear mounts to build up, and then the body will be up and ready for cleaning and repair. It's very exciting.
On the rear, I am reconsidering mounting to the bumper brackets. I think I will mount to the rear leaf spring shackle mounts instead. It just looks easier than fabricating a mount for the bumper brackets, and may be more secure.
With the rear wheels on, the front rotisserie rolls very easily, even on my rough garage floor. Moving it around when the whole thing is up and ready is going to be a cinch.
If all goes well, I should have this part of the buildup wrapped up this weekend, and I can move on to actually working on the car again, removing the old undercoat, repairing the two spots on the floorpan, etc. . .
One other thing I didn't mention was welding in body supports. I've seen conflicting recommendations out on the web, so I may skip some of it and move on. I will have to weld in supports before I cut out the roof and quarter panels, but I may not have to do it just now.
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