A 65 fastback for me

[horse sence]

I just finished cutting the radiator support out of the old rotten 64 1/2.
It is in very good shape ! I blasted a small spot just see what it looked like under all that crud .

now the funny part ,as nice and rot free as the radiator support is the frame rails were dust in the wind ,complete see through . Not a problem for some one though ,they simply stuffed it with wood and folded a thin sheet of aluminum over the missing parts and covered it in tar ....problem solved ,well ,except for the wood ,the bugs ate it . hahaha!

 

[02 281 GT]

A long hard day drilling plug weld holes and the cowl is in . Welded great until i got to the front lip and pop and spatter started acting up ,made some ugly looking welds but it welded. The welds will be ground down any way and holes will be drilled between them to weld the cowl to the fire wall . Now all i need is the radiator support and the tranny tunnel brace and i can put in the front clip . I tried an original windshield and it fits perfectly .

I wonder what the deal is with that welder. Those welds looks like you ran out of gas and kept welding.

 

[horse sence]

I wonder what the deal is with that welder. Those welds looks like you ran out of gas and kept welding.

It acted like i was welding over braze . The welds penetrated ,they just look ugly

 

[horse sence]

Well ,there is something up with this welder again ! The radiator support went in nice but the welds looked like crap ,they welded with nice penetration on the back but look like crap on the front ! The arc was orange ,it seems to be getting plenty of gas , i even cranked it up a bit ,Good thing for disk grinders . I just need the tranny tunnel brace and weld on the front radious brackets and it done

 

[horse sence]

Wow ,was that a job ! The tranny tunnel brace is out of the old rotten 64 1/2 . It is in very good shape for as badly rotted everything else is . The floor had several layers from ply wood to thin aluminum to fiberglass and even some kind of rubber sheeting glued over the top ,the thing was just waiting to kill who ever did all this ! Now to trim it out ,sand blast it and epoxy prime it .

 

[horse sence]

Oh yeah ! It will clean up good as new ! It was coated in under coat and oily dirt. I have to pick up a couple of bags of sand ,probably tomorrow because it is raining today . I tried it between the floor supports and its a nice snug fit ,i just have to remember the high side goes forward .

 

[horse sence]

Took measurements from Nicks 65 ,the face of the tranny mount brace is exactly 31 inches from the back of the lower control arm mount ,i marked it so i just have to clean it and weld it .

 

[chrlsful]

post 21 finally reveals how a direct head on could have left a core support straight/ripped away the rest like paper. It WAS paper, last body guy(s?) made assured of that w/a 'unintentional crumple zone'. aahahahaa

 

[horse sence]

About the only thing holding them together is the fire wall

 

[horse sence]

Tranny mount brace sand blasted and epoxy primed and ready to go in

 

[horse sence]

I made a deal with old pop and spatter ,give me some good welds on this brace and i wont take mr. Plasma cutter to you ! Haha.
The bracket welded in nicely ,now on to the two front radius rod brackets

 

[horse sence]

The radius rod brackets are welded in . I had to remove the clip from the jig to clamp in the torque boxes . It was tight in the jig ,i had to pry it out ,a little to late to be banging around so the boxes will get welded in in the morning

 

[horse sence]

The torque boxes went in nice ,i think i will wait untill is on the rotisserie to grind the welds . The fire wall is next !

 

[horse sence]

The fire wall is welded to the front clip ,didnt weld bad but could have been better looking .
It ground and a little primer over the bare metal so it doesnt rust up .
Now for the trick ,tab A into slot B ! I will be doing this all by my self so it should be lots of fun!

 

[horse sence]

You have now entered the cussing zone ! Those faint of heart or with sensative hearing should run now!
After about an hour of dragging jacking up and spreading the rails just enough to squeeze the clip in ,it is almost in place . I have to get it to go up 1/4 inch on passenger side with out knocking it of the stands ,i am surprised how well it is aligning all by my self .

 

[horse sence]

Beautiful ! It all lines up ! The top gap between the fender and driver door is good ,one point on the door will have to be ground down ,the passenger side fits just as well but i have to do a bit of work on the lip of the fender up against the cowl to make it pull up . Now for all the welding !

 

[horse sence]

A little welding still around the bottom of the torque boxes and a lot of grinding ...and i forgot the two brackets from the frame rails to the torque boxes and its ready for a floor

 

[chrlsful]

like a housea cards each one supports the nxt 1 and w a y down the line. Good Luck, gotta make the red match the black.
Gettin closer to the end ! Thnx for da pic !

 

[horse sence]

Yep,it will all be bare metal when i am through with it

 

[horse sence]

A few extras i made for it