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.