Thread: Work junk, and junk... at work. By 'junk.

Howdy, Bronco / Bill. Hey wait, that didn't come out right lol.

Those are stump pullin slicks on the Ford. This Chevy has plywood pizza cutters.

I go in swinging every day, but today good contact with the ball was made. Saying that because the customer popped in unexpectedly and was fairly blown away by what he saw. Boss told me afterwards that he had said "I sure wish you'd send me a bill and some pics!". Perfect. Thats how it ought to work. It just makes me feel good to know I'm ahead of the curve... setting the pace rather than racing to keep up with expectations. I like the phrase "Under-promise and over-perform" and try to work it that way when I can see it coming.

The presentation was exactly ripe for him to walk in near the end of the day, you'll see...

I spent a couple hours touching up butt welds and placing missing plug welds, and bumping spots here and there. Planishing and what-not. Scratched and cleaned the surgery areas and bombed it all then shut the trunk to step back and squint at it. You are welcome to squint with me and call stuff out if you see it. She don't sit so square as she did on stands. Messes with the eyeball.












I cleaned up stall and car, looked up at the Pontiac clock, logged my time and it was 11. Man, I needed my sandwich before chopping roof. What can I...

Ah! The long box over by the metal brake! Yes, this will fill that time slot nicely and pile on more visual progress because boss is ready to bill for a chunk. On with it-











Yeah now thats more Z-28ish and there went a bunch of my new gaps! I can dig it. Look it over for a spell, I have a date with sandwich. Have your safety glasses ready here shortly please.

Are you as tired of looking at pics of the same thing over and over as I am of looking at the back of this car? I know its been a... hey wait! Something changed here and its all rusty. Man I love to chop, lets move on.














Just as I suspected! The old quarter's tab that connects it to the inner structure had been hacked. Weak. There are other ways that could have been done stronger and luckily now I can correct it somehow. We can also finish welding the rollbar and paint the top of it. I've got a lot of flanges to clean up. By the way thats an 8mm Zebra cobalt spotweld bit in the pics above, and a house painter's 3-in-1 tool. In the pic below, my trunk key is on the floor. It can't fall from the floor.

Originally Posted by JamesIvey24

that looks like a sweet rim it's rolling on in the front, what's the story.

Those are just made out of plywood for use in situations like this where the car won't be moving much. They have photo-bombed many a build!

Today sure felt like work. I have never done a roof on anything old, so I am figuring this out as I go. Always wanted to see how this is done and now I'm finding out.

Taped the heck out of the drip rail's exposed portion. Too much pitting was present for me to locate the welds visually in the rail seam. So, using a 3 x 3/16" 3M cutoff wheel, I carved away everything that was first layer. I'll show you as best I can-




















Can you see all that? Here and there, scraps remained in these pics. I did not take pics after the sanding session because I wanted to drop that roof skin on for an initial fit check. Stand by...

It took some hammer-coaxing to get the lid to drop down far enough to clamp. All the corners were non-exact so based on experience, I did not get alarmed and just tried to force it into shape gently by whacking corners with a light slapping spoon and medium weight hammer. Resistance is futile. It fits.

But the right side had been bent a little on both ends and that didn't help. This is as far as I got. The clamping and screwing and checking everything may begin now that the corners are down. I stopped before prepping for any coatings on the inner structure. Theres stuff I want do do to it first, and the front piece (mirror mounts to it) is badly pitted. Willing to use it but, well, you'll see later. Today's mission was to find out if its really gonna work. The new roof. I predict success but with adventures. Panel bonding adhesive might not be in until Tuesday and that suits me!

Here's the visuals-









Homework is to study the last pic. Rail area roof remnants in foreground. Bonus Q: What does the triangle mean?

Preesh!

You may have noticed in the previous pics, that the roof was kinda poofed up where it meets the right quarter. Like there was extra steel there or something. I had a suspicion that the real problem was in the bends...

I lifted that corner up and stuck a heavy slapping spoon under it up next to the rear window opening. Then on the side near where the black screw is, I bumped it inward with a plastic 3 lb shot filled soft dead blow hammer. So as not to leave a mark. Well, it worked, mostly.

The new flange sucked in toward the quarter quite a bit when I re-clamped it. But not enough. So I just used my hands instead, and bent it a little. That was enough. Now it fits closely and only needs a little mashing down to go flat with the quarter. Fits pretty nice actually.

The next thing bothering me was that the window openings seemed to be too far rearward in relation to the rails. Hmm. So I lifted the whole skin then just put the front edge even with the old then clamped it there first. Lowered it, drilled a hole through both front flanges so I could use a punch to draw the skin forward, and screwed it down.

Then I plopped the rest of it down into place and the front stayed put while the rest still fit. The match-up on the rear flange is less good but OK, with enough room for good plug welds. The skin hangs over the old flange just a smidge.

The left rear corner needed a stamping line moved over a little as you'll see. Nothing major, just had to have it screwed down tight so I could hammer that right.

The rail areas actually fit OK too, but the driver's side will require more clamps when bonded for optimal fit. See pics. Oh yeah, pics...













This will be another 2-part episode, sans the brief messages but with a pause. Theres time to go out to the lobby for another treat.

For them that just want to see underneath the dang thang, to look at how I'll handle this rust... here ya go!

First I used a crud thug with wire wheel.

Then I used a small wire wheel on a die grinder.

Then I used 40 grit on a DA.

Then I used a red scuff pad.

Then I blew it off and cleaned it. Foamy glass cleaner then wax and grease remover.

Didn't get too carried away with any of that, but the scuff stage was thorough.

Then I welded the quarters to the inner quarters directly, at the tops in the sail panel areas. You'll see small tabs I made toward the rear in that area, where I needed to span a small gap.

Note that these tabs are not yet welded to the quarter, only the inner. I will adjust the depth on them (bend out if needed) with the roof skin screwed down so that they hold the panel at the right depth. Ahead of that where I welded it directly is where you can screw all 3 panels together and the depth (the in-n-out) is right.

That front piece sure is pitted and even has a few small holes in it, but its still solid enough to work with. I think. Used worse.

The products shown are to be used here. What you see is the converter applied with a brush and half dried. It will sit over the weekend then I'll sand it again and apply the encapsulator. It will be better than it ever was because I found lots of bare areas. This treatment works pretty well for us.

OK then. The little arrows on panel flanges around windshields and rear windows mean "Put molding stud here.". Everywhere theres an arrow, theres a stud welded on for trim clips to snap onto. Just my observation.

Today our hero stopped by again at the right time and saw good visual progress. Heres how it went-

Sand sand, clean clean...












If nothing else, the rust converter layer grips the rust and helps pull it off when sanded. The beams across the middle had just the right rust amount for the converter to work well, so less sanding was necessary there.

The painter and I conferred and agreed that rust encapsulator was the right thing to use on the pitted front piece. But that the rest of it was OK for epoxy. So I put two coats of encapsulator on with a brush then sprayed DP90LF with DP402, two medium coats. And thats how I handled that!

The ditch in the rail where I plan to bond was masked off and will be scratched and cleaned again before that.














I barely got started on the next thing, but I did. Hang loose.

Heres the next project, those quarter-to-tail panel gap issues. I had already banged them around some by the time I took these. Cutting up the quarters here seems to me to be the path of least resistance so I cut a couple patches and stopped since it was quittin time.

Tomorrow I gotta switch off for a few, and inspect /write-up the master issue list for that '69 on the lift. I'm probably not going to fix that one from the sound of it... but the boss likes my comprehensive lists. Then back to this I suppose-

With the pay week ending mid-week, of course the plan is evolving on the fly and its push-push time because everything is urgent. Sounds like crash work, don't it?

Today's plan has me yes doing the '69 metal work. I comitted to having the '68 roof fully installed by tomorrow's end, and another guy is to step in and do mud on the 68. And I'd start on the '69. But I wasn't finished with the 68... doesn't matter... the other guy is plenty good.

Just whatever, me fix. Off we go-



I found the '69 to be like this:

Trunk hinge bracket on one or both sides are positioned incorrectly, holding the package tray and rear window filler panel in a twist, relative to one another. A deck lid would never line up!

Other than that, she's alright. Needs rocker work, not too bad. Cowl, firewall, all floors, roof, tail panel are all new and owner-installed decently. It must have gotten a little too 3-D at some point due to the mini-tubs. Not a problem, at least I don't think so.

It has one usable fender, doors are cruddy. Decklid new and dented, just like the full quarters. We also got rear window panel and a 3pc gutter kit.


So back to the '68- continuing from the patches I made yesterday that may or may not make sense yet. Come on, I'll show you in detail-











See whats going on there? I stared at it awhile and this was all I thought of for a solution. Fitted that patch edge to the quarter's edge and welded it up. Next I'll cut the face of the quarter right next to that seam.

Here was the tool pile for the next step-



Now I slice the quarter and bend it out for the contour I need, leaving a void to be patched. Also trimmed the edge of the patch flush with the tail panel's face.






I made another patch for that slice, with Tape Aided Design. Slapped a piece of 1 1/2" masking tape over that and traced it with my pen, then stuck it on a scrap as my rough pattern.

Another post will take it all the way, til I ran out of day....

I let the patch lap over the quarter face while I welded up the inside edge, and made sure to keep that flush with the trimmed edge of the first patch.

Once that was like I like, I trimmed and leveled out the second patch and quarter, and welded that as I went. It came out alright but will need some filler at the bottom. After appropriate grinding and touch-up welds, I rattle-can etch-primed it because its humid out. The wind was working against me a little in my stall welding today, but I opted to keep fresh air and light coming in and just dealt with it.

i did some ugly 1/2 blind welds today, aka could not really see wtf i was welding lol muffler bracket, and trust me your layered up tack welds look better lol

you make this crap look easy man, but thats your years of experience showing through.

Experience is doing, so keep on doing! Merry April 20th, SD. Try sheetmetal plug welds, you'll be a champ in no time.

Today was a slam-bam put the roof on day. Its on now. Didn't stop for pics during the bonding process, for the camera's sake. Its a rubber glove affair.

But there are a handful of pics-

This is how I transferred the exact old weld locations for new plug welds. Taped the old flange and marked them, then using my screw holes as register marks, I placed that strip on the new flange and made pilot holes with a Snap-On 1/8" double ended drill bit from the topside. I patterned from the rear and used it up front too. Front was too pitted to find them all. Notice theres a skipped weld place near the four corners, in a ways. I suspect that might have to do with side crumple zones so I honored it. Its near where the cage sits.




Flipped her over and went some more. Used a HF nitrided stepped bit with the tip busted off and drilled four steps deep except at the windshield end where I went only three. Four is about a quarter inch on this small bit. Sucks having the tip busted but it still works, kinda. See scratches around holes, lol. Anyway, drilling from the underside leaves the burr on top.



I chose to put four sheets of Hush Mat on it and call it did. People use this stuff like wallpaper but i think its mostly just heavy. Kinda avoided the dome light area just in case. The roof sounds solid when patted with open hand.



The gently grinded edge is adhesive prep. 36 grit on a new 2" twist lock disc chucked in a die grinder at low RPM. After that, you clean with thinner. Then using a 3M Automix gun loaded with a panel bonding adhesive cartridge, dispense a bead to bond areas. I spread it out to cover all bare surfaces with a slice of a plastic bondo spreader then apply another bead. This happens on both panels and is per training and instructions. Sorry no adhesive pics at this time. I was in high gear, but the work time on the goo is about an hour.




So I hollered at my bud and we set it on the car. I have a bunch of these 8 mm bits that worked just right to clamp it down in the rail channel. I fussed over the clamps for most of the work time then I left it be whilst I et.







Zap-n-smoke, three hours later all the plug welds and corners are done. And yes this morning I test fitted this once before bonding, and checked my tabs at the quarter top flanges for correct dept then welded those and etched 'em.





Clamps could have come off today but I left them overnight because there was no reason not to.

The plan is to patch over the places where GM used lead. More on that if I do it. I tweaked the Miller 212 settings and found a sweet spot that worked nice for me. Each weld hole was clamped and / or screwed tight, and cleaned with a flat nose 6 mm spotweld bit like I showed before, and there are some places it looks nice enough. Not many bad uglys and no detectable warpage at this point.

That new in the box roof dent- I was able to push it out a little but I believe a little mud patch is the safest bet there. Not too bad.

You may also be delighted ha ha to know that the nasty old front piece of inner structure... welded up nice even where it was shaggy. Should be an easy enough grind session. Whew. Its all solid now!

I suppose I'll switch to the 69 tomorrow? What a day! Glad its over.

So that's where all the broken drill bits end up.

Those mostly still have some life left in them. Had to knock a couple of those loose, that got into the adhesive. But yeah, I just have a bunch of those I saved at a previous job.

I get to finish... the week anyway... on the 68.

Off I go, sparks flying

This was yesterday's close-up stuff-















Result of a couple hours' smoothing, and the rest of today's tasks in a moment...

After grinding down welds per usual-










Etch primed the quarter seams and welded more up front, for fill mainly.






Made these patches to go over those quarter seams.








Then again, more zap-n-smoke. This is as far as I got today. Well I did start grinding a little...






There was warpage below the right patch that I'll need to deal with but our filler will lay on a solid bed this way, rather than bridging a flanged joint.

Originally Posted by spazzz

Sumb1tch, thats some metal Zen.

Do you just zap and snap those patches or do a couple and cool

Lots of bouncing back and forth. I'd make 4-6 zaps then switch sides but after a couple rounds of that it needs a couple minutes of breeze.

They say using a blow gun to cool is bad so I quit that. But sometimes I speed it up by (with gloves on) placing my hand above the hot spot, flat on the panel. Heat wicks into my hand then I move the hand to a cooler nearby spot, aiding thermal transfer. If theres a gentle breeze thats best but yeah... there will be waiting. You can tell though, that I started on the passenger side first. I was prepping the other patch while I began welding the first one. Its a crash course in thermal dynamics and time juggling. Thats one of the key things in metal work, as with engines and castings. I have developed my ability to "see" heat (by knowing how much I've created) and have given much consideration to how it travels in sheetmetal. Its a learned skill more than a talent. Definitely a Zen type activity, its something I can control.

The patching over the seam could be done more nicely with more time, but I had to go-go-go at the end. Like all of them. If stress is not present, it will be created for me. I had to absolutely fly through today and there was little opportunity to get pics. I reckon I'm due to slow down in that department, theres about 500 images here already.

Heres what I got-

Left side, carefully welded:



Right side, grinded but not sanded or tapped on for shape.



Left side is a little flatter but as you can see, a trench still exists. Actually two trenches. Theres so much difference in height between the two panels... its like when you shave a drip rail on an old truck and find out the door does not line up to the roof edge as imagined.

If I can advise here, for another doing same, I'd say that the top edge of that patch can be expected to level out nicely. But there will remain a horizontal step out where the quarter's face begins at the bottom. Either do it perfect (difficult because its tied to the inner structure, giving llittle control over that) or live with the ridge and blend it in. It will never be a nice flat place and it was never intended to be. But you can feel better about not burying an overlapped seam under filler.

This one at least got some clean-n-strip disc time just barely-



This was the kicker, I had to pack it into a five hour day as well. It lines up from the other angle too now. Just had to walk out, no time to take it further...



When I had three tacks left on the top patch, the welder gas guy that I thought would be in early next week arrived to change gas bottles. I went back at it... and the day turned from not just having to hurry on something that can't be, to now the welder doesn't work right. I'm not sure the right gas is in the bottle despite the label. No adjustment of gas flow could get me back to where I was with the nice bzzt-bzzt welds. It was just one of those days when you don't look up the whole time and without a moment to spare while things try to work against you.