I have been doing - slowly - a body of resto on my 1303.
A note to newbies
I read and watched lots of how to's and the bug me video's etc. Take them as a guide - not gospel !!!!!
My two halfs met again today. I have replaced the floor pans, heater chanels and front frame head.
I was VERY careful to make sure all new panels went in the same place as old ones - as per how to's etc.
I braced door openings, measured mounting points etc etc
Today I cut the braces off the doors as I realised I was going to line everything up from scratch :-(
the aftermarket replacement panels (from the same supplier ! ) done line up.
some of the mounting holes line up while others on the same panel dont - arrrrghhh !***!!!***
Anyhow I hung the doors back on, bolted the holes that line up and got a pry bar out :-)
I bolted as many 'top' to 'chassis' mounting points as I could and with lots of prying of door openings etc I started welding.
At the end of a day I got one side finished (the othe tack welded in )
I love the way the door fits - way better than it did before ! I keep opening it and closing it again as it fits so perfect ! - you know, when you give it a gentle shove anf it makes that nice 'clunk'.
Anyhow - the point is - no point with all the hours of pre prep, as the replacement panels aren't the same !
A note to the pro's
As I said half the holes line up - the others are out by as much as half and inch !
What would be your recomended tool for enlarging the existing holes so they line up with the threaded holes ?
I was thinking a metal rasp - stone - or even a milling cutter ?
Need to make room for the TransAm, eh? :) I am a ways away before my wife will even let me look at something else to fix and it will take me a while..
Did you have to replace the bottom of the A-pillar? (the one that the door hinges on). If so, what was your sequence of events? First the heater channel to the body, then the post to the heater channel? Or did you do it differently?
On mine, I first finishing the frame (floors, etc), bolt the channels to it and weld them to the body. I secured both door openings by welding braces across them to prevent movement, so I think they can wait until after the channels are secured to the body. After it all aligns ok, I'll replace some lower panels and the driver's door post. Was wondering what you thought of that? Or do you know of an even better way?
Initially, I thought I had to replace the front firewall, but I think I can cut the bad material out and replace it. I did get a cool new toy: one of those pneumatic scalers. Had never used one before -- if Rambo had to fight rust, he'd probably have one too! Makes a awful racket, but does one heck of a job!
Yeah ! Actually got to get the bus in the garage for the mot (english thing ! ) work.
The firebird will go where the bus is for now ( I collect it tonight :-) )
I was looking at VW's on ebay (not to buy - just looking ! ) just before logging off I clicked on classic auto's - just to have a quick brows (again - still not buying ! )
There she was ! 30 mins left to go. Wow! - i thought - that would be cool, and not alot of money either. I showed the wife and she aggreed ! (this wife is so much better than the last one ;-) ) So as you know , I won the bidding :-)
I 'repaired that section' - the other day I took my bus over to the steel mill and bought two full sheets (handy thees busses ! ) one 18swg and one 22swg. I am finding it very easy to use. Cut yourself a pattern out of a cornflake box then trace it onto your steel. I am using tin snips/shears to cut it out. It bends your steel up but its easy to straighten again (for a long straight cut I use an angle grinder, cutting disk, and some angle iron as a striagt edge) To bend it I clamp it between two peices of angle iron on my saw horse and bend it round with the hammer. I repaired this section at the same time as / part of, fitting the heater channels. (see below)
This is the point of my post !!!!
DONT DO ANY WELDING to your heater channels until you have your body bolted to your chassis and your doors hung.
I took all the precautions shown in bugme etc
Fist of all I was VERY surprised to find how the new floor pan and frame head holes had very loose tollerances - like half an inch out on some.
I replaced the floor panels, then frame head. Then I bolted the heater channels to the floor pans, loosely (the bolts I could get in - some of the holes in the floor pan I will have to 'move' ! ) Then with the frame head bolted loosely to the chassis I could jack the back of the car up to meet the body to make sure the channels fitted / didnt foul on parts of the body. After several up and downs with the jack, little bits of tweeking to the body and channels, everything lined up nicely. I had my door openings braced with a peice of angle welded to each post.
So with everything fitting nicely and the car weight now on the jack I removed the stands (saw horses) and put the car on 4 axel stands. I tried the doors, they didnt fit well (I cant remember how well they fitted before ! ) Plus I had to use a lever to move the body about on the chassis to get it lined up. I figured the two back bolt in the rear wheel well and the two frame head bolts would do, but once these were in I found I still had to move the body about a bit to get the bolts in, that bolt to the tunnel each side of the fire wall (front).
None of this 'tweeking' would have been easy if the channels were welded in !
So, now I have the body lined up with the chassis, I started on the door openings. With the doors hung and hinges ajusted I found I could set the door alignment by supporting the channel under each door post (as in bugme) and you can compensate for hinge wear by lifting the car up (by hand) by the bottom of the door furthest away from the hinge. This moves the front post a bit (cant do that if its welded ! ) The rear post can be 'tweeked' too. Also the channels can be moved in and out (towards the tunnel) and up and down to adjust the line at the bootom edge of the door (not if its welded ! ) Your running board will come in handy here too. Make sure you can open the door with it fitted !
Like John Henry says you nearly have to rebuild the whole car to make sure 'everything' lines up beforer you start welding.
After a while I had the door opening and closing like a brand new rolls royce ! :-)
I spent a while just opening and closing the door with a big grin on my face ! It might sond a bit strange, but you will see when you put the effort in to get it so good, its realy gratifying to see the result :-)
with the one side done I started welding in patches to the front firewall making sure I keep the top and bottom seperate ! (po had welded a patch over both parts, wleding the top to the bottom )
Remeber that if you are repairing where the Master cylindar fits, make sure it still fits afterwards !
Maybe on the next one. I am a bit of a perfectionist and I dont think this one is up to a standard where I would post phot's on the net !
Yeah, I have access to my father in law's toyota pickup, so will be doing the same soon. A 4x8 sheet is a little large to handle, so will probably cut it into smaller pieces. I'll have to do similar things, I suspect. A while ago for a different project, I made a brake out of some angle iron and hinges so that'll come in handy.
Ok, thanks for the warning and advice: I'll do the same. I was thinking to tack the front and back of the channel in first, but it is better to make sure everything aligns first, then.
Wow -- frame head work. That's a bit of work, from what I've read. I am impressed and am not worthy... :)
fixtured things pretty well to make sure it all worked out.
So at this point nothing is welded in, then? I'll try that too.
That must have been fun to undo - not!
I think mine is ok. My scaler shows weak metal pretty quicky, so I will find out for sure soon.
I hear ya - I'm the same way and can drive myself insane if it isn't to my liking. This one is just a 72 but, after I've gotten some practice on this more recent bug, I'll try to get an older one (my daugher wants a vert :) and fix that up.
Maybe post a pix of the finished project, though -- I'd love to see it and others here will too.
That what I thought and why I stopped work for a few months wondering if I was up to it ! As it turned out it only took half a day to cut the old one out and weld the new one in :-)
basicly I measured from a point on the tunnel to the two front most corners of the frame head and made sure the new one was the same I also took a straight edge from the floor pan to the frame head and made sure the elevation was the same too. It was a 'sinch' as you might say ;-)
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