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Thread: 39 Ford Project

  1. #161
    Registered Member busterwivell's Avatar
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    So have I

  2. #162
    Registered Member Custer55's Avatar
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    Progress update

    So when I last posted the firewall was done other than welding everything up I decided to put that on the back burner to work on the lower cowl sections before I finished that up.


    I posted this picture previously but here is what the drivers sided looked like before I started. The crease in the cowl looks like the fender was pushed in against the cowl at some point because the crease is right where the fender bolts up.


    Before removing the lower part of the cowl I added a couple of braces to keep things in place once it is removed.


    After lots of drilling spot welds and some cutting at the lower hinge area the lower section is removed for repairs.


    With the lower section out of the way I got the crease hammered out closer to where it needs to be. I had to use my welding torch and heat up the metal to move it back out which was fine as it will need shrinking anyway as bad as the crease in the cowl was.


    Next I cleaned up the running board, bolted it back in place an mocked up the front fender to make sure everything would still fit.


    Another view of the fit. A few high and low spots in the cowl compared to the fender so more hammer and dolly work and shrinking will be needed.


    Before I did any more work on that though I wanted the lower door pillar more secure so I started by making a replacement for the rusted piece at the top of the picture. The original piece had a bumped up section in it but I made mine flat as the new floor pans that I have you need to flatten out that part of it anyway.



    Bolted and tacked into position with 1/4" spacers. The spacer at the door pillar I threaded it and used a spacer so the bolt is centered on the body mount hole in the frame. That way everything will line up properly when the body mount cushion is put back in place.



    After doing a lot of shrinking with the torch and hammer and dolly work I think it is pretty close. I didn't get a picture as I just held the fender in place to check the fit but it was much better and all the oil canning was out of it. At this point I reset the door as well to make sure that still fit as before which it did.


  3. #163
    Registered Member Custer55's Avatar
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    Progress update continued




    The removed lower section cleaned up and ready for the repair process. I ended up cutting the area by the door pillar out in a couple of pieces so that will have to be welded back together as well.



    View from the other side.



    With the end by the door pillar tacked back on to check the fit. I left a gap to match the saw cut thickness where I tacked the end back on so it wouldn't get to short to fit right. A couple of the holes that were drilled out to remove the spot welds make good register points to make sure it was back in in the proper location.



    Clamped and pinned back in place after cutting out the rusty areas that would need to be rebuilt. The plan is to fab and tack in place as many pieces as possible to maintain the proper fit.



    First piece fit up ready to tack in place.



    And with the next 2 pieces fit up and tacked in place. At this point I took the whole thing back out to make the last piece of the puzzle and weld everything up.



    I ended up cutting out a bit more of the old here as it made the last piece an easier shape to fit up.



    And the last repair piece tacked in place ready to finish all the welding and grinding.



    All welded up and ready for a bit of primer before reinstalling on the car. At this point I had all the spot weld holes welded up also except for one that I will use for alignment when It goes back in.



    And a shot from the other side.

  4. #164
    Registered Member Custer55's Avatar
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    Progress update continued




    Before it could go back in I need to fix some rust here where the metal was very thin and had some pin holes to big to weld up.



    The repaired lower cowl section back in place again to make the patch so it would all fit together.



    Repair section formed and tacked in place. I didn't get it tacked in perfectly centered so the gap was a bit big on the one end but I made it work ok.



    All welded up and finished out. Not perfect but it will be hidden behind the fender in the end anyway.



    Here it is with primer on the sides that will be hidden when welded together. You can see some round bare metal spots. I punched out some masking tape and covered the areas where the spot welds will be before spraying on the primer.



    And finally clamped back in place ready to weld it in place for good. I have a couple more rust spots on this side to repair yet then I can move on to repeat the process on the passenger side.
    Brian

  5. #165
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    Really nice work Brain.

  6. #166
    Registered Member Custer55's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bigblock View Post
    Really nice work Brain.
    Thanks,

  7. #167
    Registered Member Custer55's Avatar
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    Progress update

    So before moving on to the lower cowl repairs on the passenger side I had a few more spots on the drivers side that need some attention.



    This spot was too pitted and had pin holes all the way through the metal so a patch will be needed.



    This is the hole I ended up with to find metal solid enough to weld on. The area just above the hole I was able to just weld in a few of the deeper pits as it was all in good shape otherwise.



    Here is the patch formed up, fitted and ready to tack in. I used a flanging die on my bead roller to form the bump out area which didn't actually work all that well but the only time this will be visible is when the hood side is removed. I came up with a better way to form it after I had it done so the ones I need to replace on the passenger side should come out better. More on that later.



    Tacked in place.



    And all welded up and finished out.



    So here is what I came up with to make a piece for the repair on the passenger side. Just a short piece of piece of 1" dia. heavy wall tubing with a radius ground on the end and a piece of 3/8" flat stock with a 1 1/4" hole drilled in it and a slight radius filed in top edge of the hole.



    I started to form the piece by just laying a piece of 18 gauge over the hole and then hammering the tubing down into the sheet metal to start pushing it in the hole.



    Then I clamped it in the bench vise to continue the process. This could be done a lot easier with a shop press as well.
    Something else I need on my wish list.



    And here is the end result which matches the original better than what I did on the drivers side. It will take a bit more work to fit it up yet but it will be a good starting point for the repair.

  8. #168
    Registered Member Custer55's Avatar
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    Update continued

    The last spot needing repair on the drivers side was in the seam area between the upper and lower cowl sections.


    The area circled will have to go. All pretty thin metal in that area but all in good shape around it.


    The plan was to cut out this area including the flanges on the inner structure with a 2" hole saw but since the metal was so thin in the middle where the pilot bit for the hole saw would go I had to tack on a piece of solid metal for the pilot bit so the hole saw wouldn't just walk all over the place and make a mess.


    Here is the view from the inside with the hole completely cut out. I will be making the patch in 2 pieces with a flange bent on them to duplicate the factory seam and rebuild the inner structure at the same time. This area needs to be strong as it is where the hood hinges bolt on. (which is what probably caused the rust hole).


    Upper piece of the hole fitted up and ready to tack in place.


    Tacked in place.


    All welded up and ground out.


    Lower piece fitted up and tacked in place.


    All welded up and finished out. Looks pretty close to the factory seam.


    And finally a view from the inside of the repair. That is where I left off today.
    Brian













  9. #169
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    One works with what one has. When doing any repairs our wish list always gets longer.

  10. #170
    Registered Member Custer55's Avatar
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    Progress Update

    Before moving on to the other side of the cowl I did another project to see how it would turn out. I needed new rocker panels where the door sill seals go so I wanted to try to make my own instead of buying them.



    Here is a view of the drivers side. Pretty much rusted away other than at the rear of the door opening where it was still in good shape.



    This is the passenger side which is full of rust holes as well but still enough of it left to use as a pattern.



    The first step of the process was to bend a 90 in a piece of 18 gauge. Doing this in 2 pieces because my cheapie bending brake is only 36" and can do about a 24" length at most on 18 gauge.



    After some work on the stretcher and shrinker the fit is looking good. At this point I still need to bend the lower flange in towards the frame. I did this by scribing a line about 5/16" above the top of the running board and the using a vice grip to bend it a bit at a time until I could finish it up with a hammer and dolly.



    With the lower flange done and fitted up at the rear door opening I have it screwed in place to make the piece for the front of the door opening.



    Front section formed and getting it to fit. Same process as the rear section other than being taller at the front of the door.



    Screwed in place at the front with a couple of tack welds to hold it together. Now just need to take it out to finish welding the pieces together.



    This shot and the next one will show why I like to leave about a .030 gap when butt welding things together. (easier said than done on most patches but this one was fairly easy to get the gap I wanted) This is what the tack welds looked like on the side I did the welds on.



    And the view of the welds on the back side of the seam. It will be a nice solid weld seam when it is done.



    And here is the finished piece. I don't plan to add the indents that the factory rockers had in them as the sill seal which seals against the bottom of the door pretty much covers the hole thing up anyway. Not perfect but much better than the rusted mess it was. Final installation won't be until after all the floor boards are fixed as this piece will sit on top of them.
    Brian

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