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The start of something big. Frame off restoration
- Thread starter justin_mercier
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HerronScott
Darth Vader
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Justin,
Did you ever hear back from Ratco about your rear shock issue?
Scott
Did you ever hear back from Ratco about your rear shock issue?
Scott
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justin_mercier
Jedi Warrior
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My dying camera finally kicked the bucket, so I bit the bullet and bought a new one. Here are a few shots of the inside of my garage, all cleaned up and manuvered around so that i can work on the body.
One thing you'll see in the center is my parts car, which is now in the garage instead of outside, since the weather is getting to be that time of year when i dont want to worry about snow. I got the body tub flipped upside down for some serious stripping. Also included is a photo for someone who was asking about my rear cross-brace mount points.
One thing you'll see in the center is my parts car, which is now in the garage instead of outside, since the weather is getting to be that time of year when i dont want to worry about snow. I got the body tub flipped upside down for some serious stripping. Also included is a photo for someone who was asking about my rear cross-brace mount points.
rlwhitetr3b
Jedi Knight
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Justin,
Is the wood and body light enough to turn by yourself or do you need help?
Is the wood and body light enough to turn by yourself or do you need help?
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justin_mercier
Jedi Warrior
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I can turn it over myself, I've also got a large 'car dolly' that I made with 6 inch swivel casters that the whole frame sits on with any side down so that I can roll it out into the driveway and back in.
It's bulky and heavy, but still manageable by one person.
It's bulky and heavy, but still manageable by one person.
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justin_mercier
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Update on my body tub. After several nights of wrestling with undercoating and wirewheels... I've spoken with the owner of metal strip of new england, an outfit 20 miles up the road from me in Worcester, and I'm preparing to have my whole body tub chemical dipped to strip it down to clean bare metal. It'll cost around a thousand dollars, but.. I figure at the rate I was going, it'll save me around 50 to 60 hours of messy dirty stripping, and get me well on my way to the restoration of the body tub metal.
I'm going to call him to arrange a time to drop off my body tub, and he said I should be able to have it finished and ready to go before Christmas.
I read about the company in the latest Hemmings, which is how I found out about them. They were used in a TR3 restoration that was written up there.
I'm going to call him to arrange a time to drop off my body tub, and he said I should be able to have it finished and ready to go before Christmas.
I read about the company in the latest Hemmings, which is how I found out about them. They were used in a TR3 restoration that was written up there.
hondo402000
Darth Vader
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I would check on the price for having it soda blasted, if you chemically have it stripped there will be places where you cannot prime it and it WILL rust and over time the rust stains will show, Unless part of their process is to neutralize the chemical and then dip the body in a prime coat.
just my opinion
Hondo
just my opinion
Hondo
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justin_mercier
Jedi Warrior
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Soda wont get rid of the half inch of tar on the bottom, and the places that you normally cant get to after a chem stripping, like inside the rockers, are all coming off for new metal after it's stripped. I haven't talked with him yet about what he does for neutralizing or whatnot, but I've found several other hemmings articles where owners have used him and been happy with the results (enough so to write articles for hemmings)
I'll be taking just the body tub and my boot and bonnet. Plan for my fenders as of this moment is to use a set of fiberglass quarterpannels that I have, which are going to be modified to 'shave' the front indicators, and the rear bolt hole/bumper mount bumps, since I'm going with towel rail bumpers, and will not need them.
I'll be taking just the body tub and my boot and bonnet. Plan for my fenders as of this moment is to use a set of fiberglass quarterpannels that I have, which are going to be modified to 'shave' the front indicators, and the rear bolt hole/bumper mount bumps, since I'm going with towel rail bumpers, and will not need them.
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justin_mercier
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Hit a big setback with the TR6 body tub strip. The place that I'm having my body stripped at had a fire over the last week, and it may now be 6 to 8 weeks or more before they're able to do my tub. =(
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justin_mercier
Jedi Warrior
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Alright, I've done a bit more wire wheeling, and while it sucks, if i follow it up with some light sand blasting, i'm doing decently well at getting everything off. I cant put up with several months delay before getting the car stripped.
As mentioned previously, I had picked up some replacement floorpans from c2cfabrication, but I really was not happy with them. Today I placed an order with TRF for new british motor heratige floor pans, and inner sills.
I think that I'm going to be a lot 'faster' on the interior than I was originally planning. Most of the interior minus the floors is in good shape. Since I am planning on using fatmat (or the fatmat rattletrap product) through the interior for heat and sound control, I think that I'm going to forgoe stripping the whole interior down to bare metal, and instead will just repair the few areas that need repair, and cover it all with the fatmat.
All the undercoating still has to all come off though, ugh! I'm done the whole bottom of the trunk area now for the most part though, now to go to the rear wheel wells. I found a few small rust holes in the bottom of the spare tire well, but i'll get those fixed soon when I start cutting up sheet metal.
Hopefully the new floorpans will be here in not too-long, and then I'll replace one side at a time, and get the whole bottom painted before I flip it back over and hit up the air-craft stripper for the engine bay and rear deck and whatnot.
As mentioned previously, I had picked up some replacement floorpans from c2cfabrication, but I really was not happy with them. Today I placed an order with TRF for new british motor heratige floor pans, and inner sills.
I think that I'm going to be a lot 'faster' on the interior than I was originally planning. Most of the interior minus the floors is in good shape. Since I am planning on using fatmat (or the fatmat rattletrap product) through the interior for heat and sound control, I think that I'm going to forgoe stripping the whole interior down to bare metal, and instead will just repair the few areas that need repair, and cover it all with the fatmat.
All the undercoating still has to all come off though, ugh! I'm done the whole bottom of the trunk area now for the most part though, now to go to the rear wheel wells. I found a few small rust holes in the bottom of the spare tire well, but i'll get those fixed soon when I start cutting up sheet metal.
Hopefully the new floorpans will be here in not too-long, and then I'll replace one side at a time, and get the whole bottom painted before I flip it back over and hit up the air-craft stripper for the engine bay and rear deck and whatnot.
OP
justin_mercier
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Since I'm no longer sending my tub out to be stripped, I started on the metal work this week. The first part I wanted to address was the rear valance.
My car had been in a rear end collision before and the rear valance on it was already a replacement one from the early 90s, but the inner side was rusted out. I spent a few hours with a drill and a chisel separating the rear valance from the inner valance. There will have to be some minor repair on the edges of the rear valance, but it's actually in surprisingly good shape, with no rust holes through it anywhere, although there is surface rust all along the bottom.
The lower inner rear valance however is shot, and totally rusted out all along the bottom. Rather than buying a new one, since this area is hidden anyways, I'll be making repair sheets. The whole bottom edge is rotted out, and both of the sides where the fenders attach are mostly gone. On the driver's side it 'looks' more solid, but a pencil can poke through the metal there. When the replacement outer was put on, it wasn't attached properly, and instead trapped a lot of water inside it.
Time to start fabricating some new pieces of metal this weekend, and to practice sheet metal welding where it wont show. Maybe santa will be nice and get me a shrinker/stretcher so that I can make the curved pieces easier =)
My car had been in a rear end collision before and the rear valance on it was already a replacement one from the early 90s, but the inner side was rusted out. I spent a few hours with a drill and a chisel separating the rear valance from the inner valance. There will have to be some minor repair on the edges of the rear valance, but it's actually in surprisingly good shape, with no rust holes through it anywhere, although there is surface rust all along the bottom.
The lower inner rear valance however is shot, and totally rusted out all along the bottom. Rather than buying a new one, since this area is hidden anyways, I'll be making repair sheets. The whole bottom edge is rotted out, and both of the sides where the fenders attach are mostly gone. On the driver's side it 'looks' more solid, but a pencil can poke through the metal there. When the replacement outer was put on, it wasn't attached properly, and instead trapped a lot of water inside it.
Time to start fabricating some new pieces of metal this weekend, and to practice sheet metal welding where it wont show. Maybe santa will be nice and get me a shrinker/stretcher so that I can make the curved pieces easier =)
OP
justin_mercier
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Tonight I also got my PDWA disassembled and cleaned finally. I was having wicked problems with getting the main plug out, but after a week of soaking it in wd40, i was able to use an air impact wrench to get the cap out finally. The WD40 worked as a great cleaner as well. I've got my new O-rings and copper washer ready to go, and will have the PDWA rebuilt and ready to go tonight.
Here's my first photo with my new camera, this is at 1/4 size of the actual image, and it's still wicked good. Very happy with my new camera =)
Here's my first photo with my new camera, this is at 1/4 size of the actual image, and it's still wicked good. Very happy with my new camera =)
Rhodyspit75
Jedi Knight
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Justin I know you said earlier that the place you were going to use to strip the tub had had a fire. Have you heard of these guy's. I have not used them but they were recomended by a restorer friend. Not far from us. https://metalstrip.net/
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justin_mercier
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That's the place that had the fire =) I was going to use them hehe. I first read about them in a Hemmings article.
Rhodyspit75
Jedi Knight
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Thought it was worth a shot. At least the fire wasn't while your tub was in there. Merry Christmas.
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justin_mercier
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I finished chopping out the whole rear end. The back end of the trunk is really rusty, where the lower rear valance meets the trunk floor, I'll have to fabricate a whole new lip for back here. My new lower rear valance arrived from VB for me to weld in as soon as I get the rust repaired back here. I've been told the best order to do the rear if redoing the lower inner is to weld in the lower inner valance, then fit the outer rear valance and weld it in, and then last weld in the upper inner valance.
I'll probably have to do some fabrication of new lips around the edges of the trunk where the welds are as well, since my taking it apart is now the 2nd time the same metal has been drilled and re-welded and its' in sorry shape.
I'll probably have to do some fabrication of new lips around the edges of the trunk where the welds are as well, since my taking it apart is now the 2nd time the same metal has been drilled and re-welded and its' in sorry shape.
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justin_mercier
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I mentioned it above, but I'm not planning on having the stock heater core/ system in the TR6. I will have seat heaters for 'heat' but I'm experimenting right now for front defrosters. I've picked up a pair of cheap 12v heaters with fans, and I'm disassembling them to construct something to fit under the dash just below the windshield vents on each side, so that if it's one of those weird new england mornings where condensation wont stay off the inside of the window, I've got something for it. It may not work, I know these little electric heater cores draw a bit of power (15A circuit each) so I'll probably wire it up with a relay so that I can use a low current switch with LED indicator to turn on a pair of 15A circuits to run these.
Here's a pair of photos of disassembling the little heater.
Here's a pair of photos of disassembling the little heater.