I still needed to fix some more of the Rust holes on the Coupe. The Pass side is done.. Fixed the rear part of the Beltline, and the the hole near the 1/4 Window. Took the Pass side Door out, ground down the Roset welds of the panel that covers the Channel. Fixed the rust on the lower part of the Door and a Bullit Hole, and put the Door back in.
Hey, Killer repair work! Is that a P6? What tooling was used to make the swages, custom ground? Swankey devils C.C.
Thanks guys. Its a P7. The Stepdies came with the Machine when I bought it. I got two sets, a shallow and a deeper set. This was done with the deeper set... I just started on the Driver side Door. Its in a worse shape than the Pass side Door was. I'll post more pics later...
I got some more work done... Because the Door was worse than I thought, and I had to cut away more than I planned at first, I decided to wait with that one untill I got the Driver Side 1/4 Panel done. Reason for that is that the Pullmax was still adjusted for the Step Bead and when I use the Pullmax for the Door, I would have to adjust it again to do the Dr Side Bead... That one was a little worse than the Pass Side as well, so I had to make a bigger patch for it. The Beltline has a lip on the lower edge so I had to copy that so it would wrap around a Brace that the T Coupe's have at that spot. When I had the rear part tacked in, I made the front part. After that I finish welded the pieces, and ground down the welds. In these pics you can also see a bullet hole I repaired. ( only 3 more bullet holes to do... )
With this thing... I hammered the Sheetmetal over it with a Rawhide Hammer, except at the upper corner. It had to be stretched there so I used a different Hammer. After that, I did some straightening on my anvil, and a bit of Shrinking along the edges to get the contours right...
Fixing a Bullet Hole... Where the Bullet went through the 1/4 panel, it ripped and stretched the metal. So the fist thing I do is heat that area cherry red. ( about the size of a Quarter...) And then while its still hot, I gently tap it back into the right shape.
After the metal is back in place, check it for straightness. Sometimes ( because of the heat ), the metal around the Bullet Hole is shrunk a bit. This one wasnt, it was stretched so it needed a tiny little bit of Shrinking. Heat it up again ( carefully ), and cool down with a wet rag. Check for straightness again. ( it can be overshrunk a bit, since it needs to be Welded and hammered on anyway...) Weld the rips up with the O/A set. Grind down, Hammer flat, Check for straightness again.
you are a metal magic man! you have more metalworking skills in your pinky then I will ever have in my whole body!
Wow. Great work, that is going to be killer when you get it done. You are fixing areas that most would have real difficulty with, and making them perfect. Very inspiring Dan
Back to the Driver side Door... The whole lower part was worse than the Pass side, so I decided to cut the lower lip off as well. I made a new piece with the right curve to match the original contour. I cut out the lower inside part of the Door, trimmed the new piece to fit and Tack Welded it in.
Then I made a panel for the outside. The lower lip isnt straight... It curves in a bit( when you look at it from the side) and bows out ( looking at it from the bottom ) So The Bead I put into it had to do the same thing. After that I put a lip on the lower edge . I trimmed the panel to fit, and Tack Welded it in. Then I Hammered the lower lip over so it crimped around the repair panel that I made for the inside. I welded up both panels. and ground the Weld on the outside panel down. A bit of hammering to correct where thw Welding had moved the metal around too much. And then I test fitted it on the Car... I still need to grind down the welds on the inside repair panel...
Very nice Alex! Thanks for helping me learn something today at work. (Can I go home now) Looking forward to seeing this car in person sometime soon!
I welded up pinholes in the Beltline beween the Rear Window and the Decklid. And I put in the Latch I ordered from Snyder. I made a bracket to bolt the Latch to out of 1/8" sheet. Drilled it for the Key and drilled & tapped 4 Holes to mount it. Then I made a Striker that the Latch will catch on, and Welded that in.
This tread just reminds me of all rust I have to fix on my 32. I feel your paint bro. I feel your pain. grinding cutting fabbing tacking feeling heating bending hammering welding. Did I mention grinding and grinding?
Wow! That's really impressive. How do you make the folded over part on the curved peice without kinking it, stick another sheet in the gap when you bend it?
First I made a template of the curve of the Bead on the car. Then I used that template to cut the lower edge of the new piece. Then I measured the distance of the flange I was going to put on + the width of the beltline. That came out to the distance of the top of the beltline, and I put the Bead there. Then I put a Flange on the lower edge, and hammered that over a little tool I made ( I'll take a pic tomorrow ), to give the folded over edge. Then I carefully bend it over the round part of my anvil ( an old driveshaft would work too...) That closes up the folded over edge so I opened that back up once I right bend in it.
The Jalopy Journal
