I know why they came up with this (trying to avoid installing air bags) but it was subject to so much failure that it was quickly bypassed. Like one of the PO's did. Now I have to remove his/her modifications, removing the blue jumper wires and toggle switch, and installing another bypass that is not seen and that does not require any user input. My understanding is that this safety belt interlock was only used in 1974. Fun to be had by all! Almost forgot, Happy Easter!
Slowly moving forward. Some home projects took priority over the car but did manage to get a few hours in.
Removed the wheel lip moldings but had a few stuck screws. For those that don't know there are several ways to remove these. Some of these are to drill them out (does not leave much of a stub to grab onto), grind them out (have to be careful not to damage the trim piece),or turn a stripped phillips head into a standard by grinding a grove into the head (usually works well). Anyway, the moldings are off and only one needs to be replaced as part of it was missing.
So, if you were restoring your car back to the way it came from the factory, here is an original blackout. Looks like it was shot from left to right, not from the underside.
Snuck in a few hours and got the first checklist/board completed! The doors are off, the dash is out, the AC/Heat has been removed, the wiring is gone, and the windshield and back glass are both out. The car is pretty much stripped. Now I have to come up with a new list that will have removing the gas and brake lines at the top, followed by a bunch of bodywork items.
Yes Sir, have a several tables that look like this one. Did I mention that I hate mice, actually not the little beasts themselves, but the damage they do. They left the wiring alone but made a mess of the headliner. Not sure I can save it and a new one is $$$$$$.
More $%#@&^ mouse houses!! The only real areas that need "real" bodywork are: The rip in the sheet metal on left side quarter, the rust/rot on the lower left quarter, and the right front footwell. Hmmmm, did not have a pic of the footwell. You will see it soon enough, sorry about that. Have to take a cleaning break as the shop is blown up by this and a couple of other ongoing projects.
Shop cleaned up so back to work. Before I replace that lower quarter panel I have to straighten out the backside of the rear wheel well. I don't know what happened but the rear edge was torn up. I need to beat and bang on it now, before I do any bodywork on the lower quarter as I don't want to shock the repair. It took a little but it came out fine, will need to spot weld it and re-seam seal it. It looks a little wavey but the other side is the same. I was going to do the lower patch but that whole 30 minute fire watch would make it a late nite.
I try to be open to new ways of doing routine tasks. Heck I even switched from 3M Red Spot putty to 3M Platinum Plus Finishing Glaze several years ago on the advice of my paint supplier (I was one of two customers that still used Spot Putty). I love it and wont go back. Now a friend told me to try grinding out spot welds instead of drilling them. He said it was much faster, it was much cleaner, and I would want to always grind them out once I tried it. Well, he was wrong, wrong, and wrong. On this panel removal I tried both ways and drilling out the weld had better results (would have even been better but I could not find my box of spot weld cutters). Anyway, the damaged panel area has been removed but it did expose a little more rust damage on the drop down that will also have to repaired. Note the curved cut at the rear. I am not a fan of 90 degree cuts as it tends to fatigue the metal over time (see de Havilland Comet plane crashes in the 1950's caused by square windows). I also got the wheel well spot welded so it is ready for seam seal.
Little more rust damage to the drop down than I want to repair so I ordered up a new panel but it wont be in for a few days. Decided to fix that gash in the drivers quarter panel. Started out like this:
I got the body line from the passenger side so I could make a template of the contours.
Then I made the same body line on the driver side.
Slide hammer does most of the work as I can barely get to the backside due to the outer doghouse being in the way. Several hours later it is getting close.
The gash is pulled back together and tacked and filled.
Pretty clean project you have going on here. Just by looking at your first little repair you have a lot of talent. This will be a fun build to follow. Good luck.
Sooo, the guys that sent the wrong drop down (for a Scamp) are going to send me the correct one. It will be here tomorrow, so I have a little time to repair the passenger floor.
I first need to cut down the repair panel.
Now I can test fit it.
Then scribe the outline on a black background
Cut it out
Just missing the fuel line that I might save
Add some Zinc weld thru primer
While that is drying, drill out where the plug welds go
The knock out tool works great but a hole saw bit would have also worked.
Time to weld it in
I know, I know, the forward welds look like a chicken took a ****, but I ran out of shield gas and tried to finish up! Bad idea, now I will have to grind and I "HATE" having to grind.
How about a little humor.
A new style of fuel line connector:
Motor mounts must have been by a different person on the left and the right sides, WTF:
The right front floor pan is in. If I had to do this repair again (with the engine and transmission being out of the car) I would have cut the spot welds at the right rocker line and the welds at the firewall joint. This would have left only two cuts to make (the trans tunnel and just forward of the seat mounts). Basically, half of the welding/grinding work. I think this would have been a little faster and cleaner. Either way works so it is what it is. And to the purists out there, I know that floor pan is not "factory" correct but this a 30K build at best, not a 60K build so it will be just fine.
Never a problem, just a situation that needed resolution! I tacked that 1/4 panel repair piece into place and things were going GREAT. Then when I was grinding off the excess material I noticed this.
It was my own damn fault as I noticed the gap between the pieces had disappeared. Should have just stopped, got out a thin wheel, and cut a small gap between all the tack welds. NOPE, I had the bright idea that I would just take a little extra time to allow the weld to mix as I was spotting it. Esa no es buena idea! Anyway, I had to go back and repair it.
Then take it back down, did I mention I hate grinding. Should learn how to TIG weld.
This is what the plug welds on the lower side look like.
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Still need to do some more work as the new quarter did not have as wide a lip as the factory panel and the rear section needs to be matched up. Easy to do, just more time.
