With the majority of the welding done, and the
roof stripped ready for sanding, we noticed how much everything echoed
through the empty body. The resonance became too much, so Kurt decided
to spray on the heat and sound proofing.
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First the heat proofing was applied to the floorboards and the inside
of the roof.
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This stuff sprayed on so thick that you could
see exactly where you had sprayed.
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The transmission hump is completely coated with the heat proofing.
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If you look closely, you can actually see the material as it leaves
the spray gun nozzle.
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The bottomside is treated similarily. Almost ready
for sound proofing.
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It was easy enough to spray and see, so Kurt let
his son try a hand at the spray gun. He will need lots of practice before
he can spray his Ranchero.
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Once it dried, it was easy to see where a second coat was needed.
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The sound proofing was a different color, making
it easy to see where you had sprayed and where you hadn't. It also sprayed
on purple and dried black, making subsequent coats easier to see where
you were.
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The completely coated bottom side, 5 layers of heat proofing and 5 layers
of sound proofing. The floorboards also received 5 layers of each. The
inside of the roof only received 3 layers of each. The resonance of
the panels was cut noticeably. So far, Second Skin seems good.
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The firewall had a second case of the measles,
this time marking the areas where body work was needed to smooth out
the rough spots.
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We are finally starting to see progress on the
wagon!
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Small amounts of putty applied and worked, then
coated in primer to check the finish. Once it looked good, seam sealer
was applied to the seams.
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All the factory stamp marks were left, including
the wrinkles in the transmission tunnel.
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The driver side cowl, sealed and ready.
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The passenger side cowl area. So much better than the holes we found
here.
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During the garage swap, all the parts were boxed
for moving. Not all the parts were labelled on the outside of the box.
Kurt couldn't find the cowl access covers, so he fabricated new ones.
The new piece was put in place and sealed down, then the very next day
he found the one of the original parts.
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For Christmas 2011, Kurt received both rear
tail lights, the body mount bolt kit, body mount bushings, gas tank
strap seals, and the gas tank O ring and grommet. Much to his wife's
dismay, in going through the boxes on Christmas Eve, he found the original
body mount bolt kit and bushings that had been purchased months before,
boxed during the move and hadn't been able to find. The worst part is
that everything ordered for the car was kept in a spreadsheet on the
computer, but somehow these parts had not been updated upon purchase
the first time. Fortunately, Ol' 55 has a great return policy. Thanks
guys!
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As we started the final prep to spray heavy primer
on the firewall and cowl, Kurt decided to investigate the rust he had
noticed on the windshield corners. He found lots of pinhole rust and
metal the crumbled away from a gentle poke.
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The passenger corner isn't as bad as the driver
corner. Our best guess is that the windshield leaked for some time,
causing both the corner and the inner cowl rust problem.
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The driver side corner is really bad and will
need to be replaced. Unfortunately, this is part is critical for the
fit of the windshield so that it won't leak. It will be best done once
the body is back on the frame and braced up.
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The driver side corner rust. Another setback.
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Before we put the body back on the frame, Kurt
wanted to install the gas tank. He fixed the dent caused during the
swap when something was dropped on the tank, then resprayed the tank
with Tank Tone and clear.
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The odd shape is due to the spare tire well that the tank wraps around.
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The gas gauge was working fine in the wagon. However,
the float in our daughter's Ranger
developed a pinhole and filled with gas, causing the gauge to always
read empty. So Kurt borrowed the float from the Chevy and fixed the
Ranger, so that she could go back to college. The replacement one shown
above is the one from the Ford dealer, now going back in the Chevy.
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One gas tank reinstalled in the body.
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We had to order the sending unit gasket, so the
fuel sender isn't reinstalled yet.
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The passenger rocker rear joint was welded with
the old weld and will require body work to dress out the ugly welds.
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