So yesterday, I got more of the paint out of the engine bay and core support. What a mess of the garage I made. I don't think I am going to remove all the tar and
from the fender wells. I basically hit it with a wire wheel on the grinder and what was loose came off...what wasn't loose is a primordial tar pit. I did clean the firewall where I plan to put my sandwich plates for the tubes that will brace the shock towers.
Friday I picked up a 80cf bottle of 75/25 and decided to hook that up and make sure the HF Titanium welder works on gas. Swapped to .025 wire and feed roller. Changed the welder polarity. Went to change from a flux to gas nozzle.
DUM DUM DUM....I don't have any! There weren't any in the stuff my brother brought with the welder. It's Memphis, TN and there's 2 inches of snow on the ground. I call HF about 3pm, when they answered, I DID NOT ask if they were open. However, I did ask if they were closing early. Nope. Good so I locked the RAM into 4wd Auto just in case....
and made the journey. It actually was so cold here that the snow wasn't really on the main roads, yet. Just blowing around. But the Kroger by my house...good Lord, I bet people are peeling up the floor tiles...there can't be anything left. I went at 7:01 Sat morning when they opened to get coffee creamer, just in case.
I am off today for President's day and we are predicted to get 6-10 inches of snow and more Wed. I doubt we work tomorrow or Wed, but I'll probably make the 15 mile one way journey to check on the warehouse. It's supposed to drop into the single digits tonight and tomorrow night.
Anyway, got the gas nozzle on and the Titanium works fine...actually was wondering WHY I haven't switched to gas sooner. Oh yeah, buying a bottle outright was $265, that's why.
When I was done with the wire wheel, my garage looked like a dirt bomb had gone off. I swept and swept and seemed like put 10 lbs of dirt in the can. Then took the leaf blower and blew off all the dust I could from the outside of the car, the cabinets, tool boxes, etc. What a mess. Makes me certain, if this car gets rid of patina and gets painted, it won't be here in this garage. My wife keeps bitching about the
getting tracked in....I work a while, then sweep. Constantly, but the back door is just to your left if you are looking the core support.
I am certain I am not running the factory heater. If it ever needs heat, I will install one of those tiny hot rod heaters or an electric 'Jeep' heater. I am trying to decide if I want to cut this out and just fill in a big square or just fill in the holes.
I want to leave the ribs, since they add some strength to the firewall. So I am thinking I'll just make a big circle and weld it in and some smaller ones to block the hose holes. I bought a copper spoon so I could just weld the bolt holes up. On the off chance I ever want to put factory heat in, I can cut it back out.
As for the air intakes, I am going to put the factory one on the passenger side, but block it off and not put the one on the driver's side. Just fill in a solid panel. I also think I won't close the driver's side of the cowl up until I rewire the car. It is so easy to work on the wiring from the top!
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