The ugly welds on the inner fender well of the driver rear fender have
been dressed out as much as was desired. Since this is to be a race
car and will be undercoated, these don't have to be perfect.
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Same on the passenger side. The plan is to drive
this car when she is done.
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The spare tire well cleaned up very well. No rust
holes to fix here.
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The firewall however continues to show new holes that need to be patched.
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Unfortunately, the inner cowl showed even more
rust. The entire cowl corners will need to be removed to fix what is
underneath.
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The transmission access panel cleaned up very well.
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The inner rockers were from a doner vehicle, another
'56 wagon that had donated parts to repair a friend's '56 convertible.
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POR 15 loves pitted, rusty, and sandblasted metal.
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The other side of the inner fender well.
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POR 15 has a great finish.
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At some point in time, one shock mount had been ripped out. The hole
had been moved slightly to accommodate. We replaced the mount point
with a frame mounted bar to eliminate this weak point. Also, when the
shock ripped out, it punched a hole in the floorpan. There is a patch
panel just above the upper shock area to fix that hole. There was a
second small patch panel just behind it, caused by rust most likely
from water coming in through the punched out hole that the original
owner never fixed.
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The floorpan overall showed little rust, just the few patch panels that
have already been done under the seat areas. One brace end had to be
replaced.
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The entire bottom of the car was coated in POR
15. Chassis Black won't be used here as Second Skin will be used instead,
for heat and sound proofing.
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There is enough work and room for a father and
son team.
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Seam sealer was applied to all weld seams to waterproof
the bottomside.
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The cowl corner was removed on the driver side
to allow access to the rusted area..
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Close up of the cowl rust.
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The inside of the cowl area shows signs of the
rust, indicating that this area rusted from the outside in, unlike the
floorboards.
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Daylight can be seen through the metal.
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More daylight. All of this area would need to be fabricated, since the
donor we had access to no longer had this area.
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Kurt decided that a single large patch panel was
best for the driver side cowl. The rusted metal was cut out and a new
piece fabricated..
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The cowl sections were a setback. So while we
waited on parts, Kurt finished other sections of the bottom side. Other
interruptions slowed us down as well - a surgery for Kurt on his shoulder
to repair a torn rotator cuff and remove a large cyst, months of rehab,
then a change in the garages.
The smell of the POR and other chemicals kept seeping into the house,
causing concern. So we decided to swap the contents of the detached
3 bay storage garage with the contents of the attached 3 bay garage.
We started in Jan 2011 and didn't complete until May 2011.
During the garage project, our friend's 1978
Olds blew an intake gasket. The block overheated and he feared heat
related problems. As the engine had never been rebuilt, he decided to
remove the engine and rebuild it. A local machine shop did the engine
work, but we did the R&R in the new shop. That slowed the shop change
down. But it gave time for Kurt's shoulder to heel so that by the time
he was ready to start on the wagon again, his shoulder was ready, the
garages were swapped, and the Olds was back on the road.
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For the garage swap, Kurt decided that the best/easiest/safest
way to move the frame, engine, and transmission was to reassemble the
drive train. The frame, front and rear suspension, brake and gas lines,
and exhaust are all reinstalled.
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The transmission waits to be dropped in.
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The transmission was mated back to the engine.
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Without the body in place, the engine and transmission
drop right into the frame easily.
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Out in the new workshop, the cowl section fabrication
begins.
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As this area is not visible and is not structural,
Kurt opted for an easier pattern than the original stamped curves.
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Um, you're not supposed to be able to see through
that area, right?.
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The passenger inside cowl area shows rust as well.
Round 2.
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Kurt tried just removing part of the cowl for access, but then found
the rust was more extensive.
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The entire passenger cowl section was removed. The rusted out area was
cut out and the rest cleaned up.
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The welds with the new welder are much cleaner
on the driver side cowl.
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The inside of the driver cowl, spot welds done.
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The inside of the body was coated in POR 15. Almost
ready for the heat and sound proofing layers.
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The inside of the cowl was coated as well, to prevent future problems.
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The driver cowl, completely welded up, coated
in POR 15, and seam sealer applied.
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The outer cowl is trial fitted on the driver side.
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The passenger cowl section, screwed into place
for a temporary hold. Both cowl sections were coated with weld thru
primer
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Time to weld up the driver side.
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