Hubcap for Ebay item

I'm auctioning off some left over hubcaps from my Datsun Roadster resto.
For those following it off of Ebay here is some pics i've added which I can't fit on my ad.

'HOLEY' COWL

I must prefix this by saying cowl replacement is not fun. My driver side cowl was horrifically rotten and was in need of new metal. I decided to get only the partial replacement panel as the rust hadn't traveled more than 18" over from the edge of the drivers side cowl. Take a look:


Yummy...

I used several tools to get to this point. Removing the spot welds was a pain as anyone can tell you. I believe I removed 35 of them to get to this point. The real trouble is when you use a chisel or pry tool to drive between the upper and lower cowl. It's almost impossible not to distort the flanges in the upper cowl.
I'll do my best to flatten them out afterward but it's a good thing that most of these areas will be permanently covered.



Zinc weld primer was used around the areas I am going to weld

Por-15 layered onto the bottom and top of the new cowl. No way will I ever want this thing rusting again! I also added some seam sealer to any joint I felt might pose a leak problem.

Here we have the lower cowl installed. Welds were ground smooth and a good layer of Por-15 was put over the new and old cowl. I had to use a stick and a brush to try and reach as far over to the other side as possible. I couldn't quite reach the passenger cowl but that looks to be in great shape. If the opportunity makes itself available and I am able to access the passenger side I will repeat the painting process....hopefully I won't have to.

Shock it to me

Hey, have I gotta deal for you. How bout a $2400USD coil over suspension for a mere $1900? Well I had to jump at the chance for this. An unopened Ron Morris Performance front coilover suspension kit. Makes my trumpet want to stand up and sing. Not much gets me this excited but the opportunity to purchase this kit and still save a few bucks was not a difficult choice for me. I purchased it from a fella on the East coast of the US. He bought it and changed the direction of his project and decided to list it on one of the mustang forums that I'm on. Using Escrow.com and a few weeks + 140 bucks later and I have this kit in my hot hands. This thing is built VERY nice. The instructions were easy enough to understand and I can honestly say this can be installed by your average backyard mechanic.

Here we see the coilover, upper and lower arm as well as torsion bar installed.
Did I mention that with the money I saved I purchased a front disc brake conversion? This kit included EVERYTHING I needed to do the swap for about 700US. Yes, you could get it cheaper but not with all the options I got.
It came with a new power steering booster with brake pedal and master cylinder. Proportioning valve, new Kelsey/Hayes style calipers, directional rotors, dust shields, lines, dust caps, and all the hardware and grease fittings needed. This Kit was unbelievable. Send me an email if you want and i'll forward you the info.
Tadaaaa!

August 2009 - We're in for a real shock!

Ya, I know. Cheezy title but you'll figure out what i'm talking about soon.
I see I have a new blogspot friend joining me. Hi Lilia! Lilia was my grad date from wayyyyy back. Not going to mention how far back :) Thanks for joining Lilia!
Also I received some emails from some old friends and co workers who are going to be following this blog. I guess I'm gonna have to spice things up and make myself look better than I really am.
Here we go...

Next on my rust hit list was replacement of the battery apron. This was almost an easy install but once again the replacement parts required a bit of encouragement to fit. What a PITA.



As you can see I created some stitch welds here from the outside of the apron. This created a fairly seamless look when viewed from the engine bay. No grinding required :)

Since i'll be pushing some pretty big numbers from my motor I decided to add the same reinforced shock tower treatments that were used on the Boss 302 Mustangs. I was lucky to find a guy on ebay who was gracious enough to sell me a full reinforcement package that he designed himself which replicates and betters the old system. It consisted of two wrap around plates that mate with the existing tower reinforcement plates as well as an additional plate that stiffens the inside of the shock tower where the tower meets the frame rail.

JULY 2009. I'VE BEEN FRAMED!

Isn't this a beautiful site? Rust. Ahhh... For me rust isn't such a bad thing cuz' not only do I get to put brand new metal in it's place but I also get to practice more welding!
Ya! I turned to my trusted friends over at Mustangs Unlimited for the 2 pieces that make up the front frame rail. I ordered the passenger side (Right) but what do they send me?


The drivers side (left)... what a bunch of turnips.
The good news is I now get more practice by fabricating a new inside box frame rail from a left side to a right. This was not easy as they are quite different.
Here i've cut and began reshaping the left rail to work on the right side. I won't get into the boring details of what I did but rest assured, i made it work :) Some fancy work here to try and replicate the original
Notching of the old frame for removal of the rusted piece (view taken from the top while inside the engine compartment)
Cutting out of the old frame rail is now complete

The new piece fits great. A lot of care and attention was taken to ensure that this was welded square and true as any misalignment could cause a lot of problems with the other body panels I needed to replace (not to mention the front bumper)
OK, so not the prettiest weld but this was thick metal and I wanted to make sure that it was SOLID! Note patching of one of the bolt holes. Since I was using the wrong side I need to plug the old holes and redrill to match the original ones. Since the outer frame rail gets welded beside this I wasn't worried about grinding the welds on the inside of this box. Unfortunately I didn't photograph the next step but trust me, it worked out well...
See?

Tackling the engine compartment

Rust never sleeps so I didn't want to take a chance with the engine compartment. As shown before the batter apron was toast so I carefully removed it. 3 bolts a bunch of spot welds and lots of cutting and grinding and viola the old tray is gone!


There was also small traces of rust that had been forming on the radiator support. Once again I had to weigh the option of trying to repair spots against the cost of buying a new rad support and re and re'ing. New rad support won. Heck...i've got lots of money tied up in this thing. Whats another 120 bucks?
(spot weld cutter)
Taking out the rad support was a lot more difficult than I had imagined.
Although these pictures look like they were done over a period of a few hours it's actually taking
me weeks. A busy work like and home life with the family only offers up a few hours of my own time to tackle this project. Nevertheless this is my choice for relaxing hobby.




All done. The rad support and battery apron are now off. Lets see what kind of things are rearing their ugly heads now that half the engine compartment is exposed.

Floor pan replacement. Drivers side

I decided to tackle the drivers side next. Same procedure as before.
Here we see the new floor pan and seat platform. I decided to buy new seat platforms ONLY because I butchered the old ones taking them out. Not a costly item but of course, it's adding to the cost.

Here is the underside of the floor pan where the new pan meets the tranny tunnel. Because this could be seen if anyone looks at the underside, I wanted the seem to look as flawless as possible. I used etching primer before I laid a light coat of bondo.

After sanding down the bondo you the distortion of the metal becomes evident. After another thin layer and some heavy high build primer this will look nice and seamless.


In this shot we see part of the front drivers floor pan with the floor-to-firewall panel (this was a new replacement panel) all seam welded to the front firewall and tranny tunnel. This shot was taken while standing inside the engine compartment.

The body continued

After rough cutting around the frame rails I had to bring out the trusty spot weld cutter and drill out the welds. What a pain this is. After my 157th weld I figured out the easiest way to do this. If you cannot see the weld run your finger along the seam and you'll feel a small divot in the sheet metal. This more than likely will be your weld. Take a centerpunch and drive it into the middle of the divot. From there the spot weld cutter (using the type with the retractable center needle) will center itself quite nicely. After I cut out the weld I used a cold chisel to drive between the two pieces and separate them. EZ


Last restoration I learned a valuable thing: Don't try and seam weld without first laying out some tacks. Unless you are using the right equipment and are and extremely good welder the panels will warp on you. Even welding tacks every 1" apart could cause distortion if not done properly. Since i'm not an expert welder I decided to set my tacks every 2". Then from there go back and place one in between. By the way those body magnets are the cats a$$! From this point I laid down my seam welds. I was careful not to weld too long as I felt that with my skill i'd distort the metal. So, I'd lay a 2" weld and then move further down the line, lay another 2" weld and continue. Then I'd go back and continue from where I left off repeating the pattern. This meant more grinding after I was done but I would rather grind than have to reheat sheetmetal and try to straighten it.
Some of the jonts weren't butt welded. Some, like the area in the back of the floor pan as well as the area near the front tunnel were lapped just like the originals.

Dealing with the body issues

Here i'm assessing the body damage on the passenger floor pan. I could have bought a patch panel for such a small area but for the low price and for the sake of a few hours of extra work I decided that i'd replace the entire floor pan.
I first tried cutting the seat platform and pan using a metal "zip" wheel. The sparks and dust was horrific. Not to mention the time it took for it cut through. I decided to use my cordless sawzall. Heck, it was worth the try. Wow! Did this ever make of quick work.
After I cut out the seat platform I laid the floor pan on top and quickly marked out my cut lines. From there I deducted around 1/2" just because I didn't want to overcut and find out the my floor pan wasn't big enough for my opening. After cutting out the old floor pan I could easily trim the 1/2" to suit.

Back from the blaster and painter

I sent my car mounted on a rotisserie to a local
blasting shop. They held the car for several
weeks. I didn't care as I was not in a rush
to get her back. It actually gave me time to
clean up the disorganized mess that had
formed in my garage. The blaster used several
grits of ground up media to accomplish what
I feel was a superb job. I received a phone
call from them (Randy) one day and was told
that they had finished stripping the entire car
inside and out as well as the loose body panels
that I brought in. From there Randy called a
local painter (KMS Tools) and within 3 hours
they had picked the car up and with their own
trailer drove it around the corner. From there
KMS layed several nice layers of epoxy primer
on the car. They did this without myself even
knowing. I found out after.
Unbelievable service!

Jan 2009 - Setting on the rotisserie

Using a Mustang kit from Autotwirler
I was easily able to mount the front of
the rotisserie to the cars bumper bracket
mount on the frame rail. Easily done on
the drivers side but the passengers side
was rusted out (see earlier pics of
battery tray rust). It would appear the
leaking battery acid did more than just
rust out the tray.


Since I needed to remove everything
from the car anyways I decided this
would be a good time to drop the rear
end. Drum brakes...bye bye. I'm installing
a 2000 Cobra IRS into this baby so this
is going to head to the scrap heap: the
side of my garage.

Here is a view of the rear mounting
support of the rotisserie

Here is a nice pick showing the belly
of the beast. Removing the last few
items was MUCH easier now that she's
on a rotisserie :)