Build Thread '83 T-top Coupe - Welding Holes in My Rear

[Davedacarpainter]

Ok, I've got a question for y'all. Since the entire engine cradle will be sent to the scrap metal heap when I get to the next round of upgrades, how many of the coils ofmthe spring do you think I can cut to support the front end for moving it around for painting and the such? Two? kind of where I'm leaning right now.

I just want to make it easier to connect and disconnect when I haul Booger to the shop to paint the front end.

I'll probably make some sort of teflon bushings for the shock tower to kind of protect the new paint as well.

 

[droopie85gt]

Just shove some 2x up in there! Like you are a low rider on the bump stops. But yeah, 2 or 3 off the stockers and it's still 4x4 high in the front.

You think your wife hides her excitement??? Mine hides behind questions of when am I going to sell mine so she can park in the garage. What a sense of humor right? I mean, if I thought she was serious, I'd have to tell her to leave or something! lol

 

[Davedacarpainter]

I didn’t get anything done last night, and now tonight looks shady as well.

My wife went to have dinner last night with her friend and was dipping some chips in a sauce. It turned out to have peanuts in the ingredients. My wife is literally deathly allergic to peanuts.

So last night the ER doctors decided to admit my wife to the hospital overnight.

Not much sleep for either of us.

Did she even consider me and Booger and “Our” time before she dipped the chip?!.......I ask you!......I think not! Lol

So, hopefully she’ll be out of the hospital sometime today.

Bright side is she’ll be on some sort of heavy duty antihistamines. Mr Sleepy for her, Boogertime for me!

 

[Ryuk]

Did she even consider me and Booger and “Our” time before she dipped the chip?!.......I ask you!......I think not! Lol

Just as long as you don't ask her. The first thing the ER does is remove the sense of humor.

 

[Noobz347]

I am really very shocked that the jack-stands are not matching.

I just don't know if I can continue to watch this thread under these kinds of conditions.

 

[General karthief]

Jack-n-jill stands

 

[Davedacarpainter]

I am really very shocked that the jack-stands are not matching.

I just don't know if I can continue to watch this thread under these kinds of conditions.

Sure Noobz, I get where you’re coming from, you failed to note this is actually a staggered set of stands. This makes it look more like it’s really badass.

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Just as long as you don't ask her. The first thing the ER does is remove the sense of humor.

That was removed by that honeymoon baby a long time ago

 

[Noobz347]

Sure Noobz, I get where you’re coming from, you failed to note this is actually a staggered set of stands. This makes it look more like it’s really badass.

I smell fish in this story.

 

[Davedacarpainter]

One little thing, I’m getting my free to me POR15 given to me to be ready to use. Hopefully I’ll be coating the inside of the frame rail this weekend with it!

 

[BlakeusMaximus]

One little thing, I’m getting my free to me POR15 given to me to be ready to use. Hopefully I’ll be coating the inside of the frame rail this weekend with it!

It looks like you guys use the same estimating system we use Dave. I recognize the work order

 

[02 281 GT]

I'm so looking forward to the progress on this car. I was skeptical of the color, but I think it'll look fantastic. Especially since it's a four-eye.

 

[95BlueStallion]

Back to the things I'm doing about town.

I got this pile here

From this pile here

A preview of new panels to come!

I haven't pulled the brake booster yet, that's tomorrow night. I'm going to pull the rest of the wiring harness and yank out the old automatic pedal assembly. That brings up a good point, anyone got a manual pedal assembly they're willing to part with?

Then I'll scrub the engine bay down. It's almost emptied out. And then comes the hacking and welding!

I actually did have a fox manual pedal assembly laying around until I scrapped it about a year ago. Had bought it to convert my 351W Ranger, and then @CarMichael Angelo influenced me to stay auto. It sat on the shelf for years and made it through a move just to be tossed before a guy like you needs it!

 

[Davedacarpainter]

I got the woman back from the hospital today at about 4:30, so I had to go work on Booger to make her happy........y'all thought I was doing this for me?

Anywho......I didn't think I was going to be able to work on him, so I left half my tools at work.

Not to be daunted by such hum-drummery as no correct tool on hand I went after the wiring harness first. It's out of there! No more old wiring for Booger! That shelf has pretty much all of the leftovers of the interior. Those springs are from the IRS, don't start.......

Not only did I pull out the harness, I cleaned up the interior. Well......sort of. I still found more change, maybe $2-3. It's been buried under the factory matting. I vacuumed out the loose rust, leaves, rat crap, a couple jihadists, you know, the usual.

I was going to take out the four simple to get to nuts holding the booster on. Yep, that's what I was going to do alright.

I could get to the lower left, easy peasy, lemon squeezy. The other three, on the other hand, need about a 12" extension to reach them. Guess what's not at home?

So tomorrow I'll pull the booster.

I did clean up most of the butyl tape around the windshield too and vacuumed out the the cowel. It was chock full of stuff. Ain't no more.

Here's a few pictures of the floor pan, lovely eh?

Remember that really cool plasma cutter I bought and have been practicing with? The outlets in my garage keep blowing when I use it.

Tomorrow after I get the booster out I will finally scrub the engine bay and make my eb drawing and measure the crap out of things in preparation for the frame rail.

So, maybe this weekend I'll be doing some serious cutting! Yay! All I want for Father's Day is someone to fetch the beer for me and enough argon for my welder to keep going.

 

[RaggedGT]

Great news dave,glad the wife is home .
I had a similar issue with my miller welder-I ended up adding a new breaker in my box and running a dedicated plug just for the welder

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Great news dave,glad the wife is home .
I had a similar issue with my miller welder-I ended up adding a new breaker in my box and running a dedicated plug just for the welder

That sounds what I should do Chris. I want it to work now though!

The frame rail will have to settle for the old fashioned spot weld removers. That's alright though, it allows me to play with my new reciprocating saw.

 

[stanglx2002]

Is there any other room (ex:basement) that is tied to the garage circuit? I have the same issue with mine that the furnace room in the basement is tied to the garage. I have to unplug the fridge in the garage and deep freezer in the basement to not put to much load on the breaker. I will be running its own circuit to not have this issue anymore soon.

 

[Davedacarpainter]

Is there any other room (ex:basement) that is tied to the garage circuit? I have the same issue with mine that the furnace room in the basement is tied to the garage. I have to unplug the fridge in the garage and deep freezer in the basement to not put to much load on the breaker. I will be running its own circuit to not have this issue anymore soon.

Nah, it's on it's own. I just didn't think a plasma cutter this small would trip the breaker.

It's something i've been meaning to take care of. I guess I'll get an estimate to add 220 while i'm at it. PLUS better lighting! A single hundred watt bulb doesn't cut it.

 

[Davedacarpainter]

I've tried posting a couple times and kept getting held up, so, here goes.

It was a very hot day today and I sweated buckets full. So I'm kind of pooped and wasn't wanting to sit out in the heat to do a lot. Though I got some things done.

First off, I brought my tools home! It took all of about 60 seconds to get the booster off.

Here's a picture of the new frame rail sitting on the passenger side.

This is a look down the driver's side interior frame rail. Look how pretty and clean it is!

This is the passenger side. The picture doesn't really show the piles of flaked rusted frame rail. It's terrible! It gets worse as you get closer to the shock tower. I'll have to do some repair of the shock tower as well.

There it is, ready for a scrubbing. It's better that i wait till the morning anyhow to do this part. I don't want the Gunk drying before I rinse it off.

So, tomorrow morning while my garage floor dries I'll do the drawing with measurements of the engine bay.

Then I'll clean off the remains of the old radiator support and start cutting up a crapload of spot welds. I'm not sure how far i'll get tomorrow, let's wait and see!

 

[droopie85gt]

Damn, lot of work being done! Good way to pass the summer. Or pass out.