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inner sills, outer sills, a post...where to start?

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seanb

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So im working on restoring an early midget. This car has a bit more rot than i thought it would. looks like im going to be doing the inner sill, rocker, a post, and floors. The question is where should i start? everything is connected to each other. i was thinking that inner sills would be first then a-post to check the door gap, then the outer rocker panel followed by the a post skin. then when all this is done on both sides do the floors. does this sound about right? I have heard about tweaking the door gaps by jacking up under the transmission tunnel with the car sitting on jack stands. do you get the door gap where you want it then weld the inner sill? or would you all ready have the inner sill welded up and lock the door gap in when you weld the rocker? im just trying to wrap my head around this. i know i have allot of work ahead of me and i just have to do it one step at a time, i just want to get those steps in the right order so i don't have problems later.
 
A couple of thoughts - Whatever you do, brace the car really well. Adjusting the door gap by bending the car probably doesn't bode well for the future of the car - don't forget you will never get "Honda" gaps.

Your order sounds pretty good - inner, post, outer. (I don't do body work though so let someone else confirm)

I don't know if you are a welder but another thought is another body. It might be worth having your VIN plates <ahem> fall onto another body. There seem to be a few around,

Don't know how solid this is

https://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/2866965838.html

or

https://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/2821625190.html

even this might be worth it if you cost it out

https://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/2831007572.html
 
well guys the deal is i have a completely custom front suspension welded in the car now. i bought it that way and specifically for that reason. I had pondered with cutting out the suspension and moving it to another car but i think i will just repair the car i have. its an early midget and that's what i wanted anyways.

Mark-that photo album is full of great information. you must be a master at welding and bodywork by now! funny thing is my car also has a replacement rockers pop riveted over the old rockers just like your car had. mine also has holes in the floor with steel pop riveted over to patch it. i guess the guy didn't have a welder.
 
When you have the car you want you know it.
That's part of what makes it "your car", and you wanted to brush up on the welding anyway right?
It will add to the sense of accomplishment when it's all done.
Plus there's no better way to really know your car than to rip it apart and put it back together.

Boy, look who woke up on the bright side this morning! :jester:
 
RickB said:
When you have the car you want you know it.
That's part of what makes it "your car", and you wanted to brush up on the welding anyway right?
It will add to the sense of accomplishment when it's all done.
Plus there's no better way to really know your car than to rip it apart and put it back together.

Boy, look who woke up on the bright side this morning! :jester:
Click to expand...
Your new nick name is Sunshine :smile:
 
Well I did the same job you are inquiring about but just the driver floor pan. As was suggested brace the car well before removing anything, I actually mounted mine to a platform to keep it as square as possible. Eastway and some others sell a spot weld remover which is a special drill bit, you will go through afew of these but they make the job simpler and easier. You will find that the Inner sills are the true back bone of the car, I bought all my metal from VB and for the most part it fit pretty good but you will have to do adjustments and cutting. If you can get away with doing just the lower A Posts that will give you a little relief, you will most likely have to replace the door hinge, you pretty much have to put the A Post back together skin and all at the same time to get it right. The outer sill is the least of your worries. Use your doors as guides as necessary to make sure thinks are going back together correctly.

Good luck

Mark
 
thanks for the bright outlook Rick! I believe i have found "my car". all of the points you made are spot on. i have an order from moss coming in this week so the real work will begin soon.
 
seanb said:
well guys the deal is i have a completely custom front suspension welded in the car now. .
Click to expand...

~Oh~, ~that car~. The red one the suspension guy had. Seen it at the X.
 
yeah, its "that car". he was going to use a supercharged v6 i think. im going to use a 2.0 duratec engine. It will be a while before i worry about engine stuff though.
 
Harbor Freight also has the spot weld remover bits.
 
There are many places where you can't get a clamp to pull two pieces of metal together, so I tend to rivet it all together...then...weld.
 
IMG_3544.jpg


previous attempt at a "restoration" i guess. the entire replacement rocker has been riveted to what was left of the old rocker. you can also see in the pic rusty holes in the floor pan "patched" with thin steel and aluminum rivets. guess the guy didn't think any of this was structural.
 
IMG_3546.jpg


close up of one of the larger "patches" in the floor. Pop rivets are the only thing holding it in. guess it beats having your feet touching the pavement!....I didn't know harbor freight had the spot weld cutters. i will have to check that out.
 
lol ok yeah thats the good part of the car. that guy def knew what he was doing. who knows when the riveting happened.

IMG_3553.jpg


IMG_3550.jpg
 
Agree that the front end work makes work onthe rest of the body look a lot more attractive. WOW!!!! How much do you suppose he sourced and how much did he fab??
Spindles are???

Kurt.
 
-New Wilwood's tall spindles
-New Heidt's Superide II narrowed tubular upper and lower control arms.
-New Afco double adjustable coil over shocks with 4" stroke
-New 10.5" vented rotors with Wilwoods four piston calipers
-New Schroeder torsion bar
-New modified Triumph Spitfire quick steer rack 2.5 turns lock to lock.
-The complete suspension hub to hub is only 1.5" wider than the stock front end was.

that was copied directly from the add when the car was listed for sale. the PO worked for Heidts (they do muscle car suspension) and had an engineer friend design the suspension. Now he works for speedway. it really is beautiful, the coil over and top A arm brackets are tig welded. The a arms are tig welded, looks like the same guy did all the tig work, maybe a heidts welder but im just speculating. if i can get the rest of the car up to snuff i think it will be a sweet ride!
 
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