Driver's Side Frame Rail Repair

It's been tough to make time lately, but I have been getting some work done on the car.  One of the areas that has really concerned me is the frame rail on the driver's side of the car.  I could see that it was pretty nasty looking and wasn't sure how much of it was salvageable.

My friend Justin T. came over to help me do some inspection.  Since the floorpan also needed to be repaired we also cut away all the rusty areas of the floorpan.  Once it was cut away, I was pleasantly surprised.  While there was a lot of rust debris inside the frame rail, it was not as bad as I expected.  It was heavily pitted, but still fairly solid with the exception of a couple of small spots.  This was good news, but it did make me wonder where all that rust debris came from....

Starting point.  Looks pretty nasty.

Justin T. doing some cutting.

Next I got under the car to inspect the front/upper portion of the frame rail. I had seen a couple of rust spots on it, but wasn't sure how bad it was.  Well, it was worse than I thought and was clearly the source of all the rust flakes in the bottom part of the frame rail.  Ugh, I knew I was dreading this repair for a reason.

So, I cut away the rusty areas, treated with weld-thru primer and started making patches.  I also took this opportunity to spray Eastwood internal frame coating all the way up to the front of the frame rail using the included spray tube.  After doing some research on how others had repaired this area I decided on a three piece repair.  Two side pieces which get spot welded on with full beads along the ends and a bottom piece which has a full weld seam along both edges tying all three pieces together.  Since I don't have a lot of metal working equipment this is a lot easier than trying to bend 16ga steel into the complex shape I need.

Once I got the pieces cut I drilled holes for the spot welds, welded the side panels on, then the bottom panel and finally ground it all down.  I think it turned out pretty good!

 

Frame rail after cutting and weld-thru primer.

Outside patch before holes were drilled for the spot welds.

Inside patch after holes drilled and weld-thru primer. 

Outside patch after welding and grinding.

Inside patch after welding and grinding.

Finished product outside.

Finished product inside.

Finished product bottom.

Now that the worst part was fixed I decided to tackle the back portion of the frame rail.  I cleaned this area up really good with a wire wheel, cut out one small rusty area, treated with rust converter, then weld-thru primer.  Next  I cut a reinforcement plate which I placed inside the frame rail, drilled holes for spot welds and sprayed with weld-thru primer.  When I welded it in I also welded the edges to the outside edge of the frame rail.  The welds aren't to pretty, mostly due to that weld thru primer.  Once it was all done I cleaned it up and treated with the Eastwood internal frame coating.

Reinforcement plate cut and ready to install.

Test fit of the reinforcement.

Cleaned up and painted with Eastwood internal frame coating.  Love the way this stuff runs down into all the crevices.

Welded in.

Driver's Side Rocker Panel Repair Complete!

So glad to finally be working on something other than the trunk!  I'm hoping to get the momentum going again so I can wrap up the metal work.  After that there are plenty of other things to repair, replace and reassemble.  But, first I have to make everything safe and strong.

The front inner rocker panels are both pretty rusted... I believe some water must have been sitting in the car at some point.  Looks pretty nasty.  So, I cut out all the rust, cleaned everything up.  Next, a small replacement piece was formed to fill in there area where the rocker panel meets the wheel well.  It was a deceptively tricky piece to shape, but Stuart was up for the challenge and amazed me again.  Thanks Stu!  There was one very small pinhole in the outer rocker, about in the middle of the picture.  Due to its small size and location I will repair that from the outside later.

Next everything got a coat of Eastwood rust killing/sealing zinc epoxy frame coating.  After that all that was left was to cut a panel to seal up the rocker panel again and make it nice and strong. After welding it in we moved the jack stand from the frame rail to the jack support on the rocker panel. Good news is, it seems very sturdy.  Now, I'm ready to tackle the floor pan and frame rail since they are no longer supporting the weight of the car.

Looks very nasty....

You can see the area at the front that looks like swiss cheese.

Front part replaced, treated with rust killer.

All finished and supporting the car!  

Trunk Repair Complete

Well, it's been a very busy summer so far and that means less time to work on the car.  I've also been helping friends with their car projects quite a bit.  It's all been fun though and I expected my progress over the summer to be a little on the slow side.  Perhaps I'm avoiding the enormity of my project and enjoying helping a friend with one we can finish in a day.

I haven't been entirely unsuccessful, however.  The trunk is now complete!  Well, it sill needs to be repainted, but the metalwork and repairs are complete.  FINALLY!  I couldn't have done it without my friend Stuart who is great at helping with metal shaping.

Next.... move on to the passenger comapartment.

Ready for finish work!  All holes patched.

First Floor Patch Complete!

Well, today is Mother's Day.  After lunch, the moms decided to go tour some historic homes.  While they were out I decided it was a good time to get a little work done.  I took a sheet of 18ga steel and started making a patch for the hole I cut in the driver's side floor a few days ago.  It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the contours of this piece are somewhat complex.  I probably could have done it in one piece, but I thought doing it in two pieces would make it a bit easier.

As with other areas of the car, welding the original metal is tricky as it is thin and the thickness isn't perfectly uniform.  So, I do a lot of stopping and starting to try to keep it cooler and reduce burning holes.  This method works, but doesn't yield a nice smooth bead.  I'm sure by the time I'm done with the car I'll have figured out the magic formula of settings, wire size and gas flow rate to make more attractive welds, but these are strong and are getting good penetration, so that's the important part.  Besides, they'll be below the sound deadening and carpet anyway.  :)

It's a small start on the interior, but it still feels good to get a start in there!

New 18ga steel

All welded in!

First Floor Pan Repair

I think this will be my next little project.  This area is on the driver's side where my custom seat brackets will need to attach.  Time for some cutting!

Out with the old.....

Baby Steps

Today I decided to try to get at least one small thing done on the car before I had to take my son to swim practice.   So,  I decided to weld the tow hook back onto the bottom of the wheel well.   All the prep work was done so it was just a matter of welding,  maybe a little grinding.

Welding upside down really sucks.   That's one of the many things this project has taught  me so far.   Add to that the fact that the part I'm welding on is thicker than the part it is being welded to and it's even more difficult.   On top of that,  the spare tire well thickness seems to vary,  so whatever welding settings/speed is working perfect may be way too hot 1/2 inches down the line.   So,  my welds weren't exactly pretty,  but I made two passes and can see good penetration on the other side,  so it should be functional. Time to fire up the grinder!

One other note.   I do NOT recommend Eastwood weld-thru primer.   It causes a lot of popping and difficulty in getting a good weld pool going.   I used it on this part so I'd have a little protection between the parts if/when any moisture gets in there.   I wish I hadn't used it though.

Misc. Parts Refurbished

Here are a few pieces which I have refurbished so they are ready to reinstall.

Pedals, pedal box, brake booster brackets.

Score! Great find at Mid-America '02 Fest 2013

I went to '02 Fest this year despite not having my 2002 on the road.  There are always a couple of people who come while their car is off the road for one reason or another.  During the event there are usually people trying to sell some things they don't need and I found something this time.  Picked up this original spare wheel w/new tire for $15!

Spare Tire Well Repair

The spare tire well was an interesting one that we worked on this past weekend. The inside had some surface rust, but looked generally good with a couple of exceptions.  There was a small area that had been previously patched near the inner fender and a few pinholes under the spare tire centering/securing stud.

Further inspection revealed, yep, you guessed it, another beer can repair!  That small patch was indeed another repair just like the one from the shock tower.  Also, we discovered some pretty bad rust where the trunk floor meets the quarter panel, up to the inner/outer wheel well.

One other area that had me wondering was the underside of the spare tire well.  It looked very blotchy with lots of undercoating.  After some scraping, we found that the original metal had a lot of rust holes.  Some previous owner had welded in a patch from the inside, then just covered up the old rusty metal with undercoating from underneath.  So, we cut all that old metal away just under the PO's weld and then I welded the new seam from the outside. Then I ground down the welds on the inside. 

This process revealed the center area was pretty weak, so I cut it out and welded in a patch and marked where I'll place the spare tire centering/securing stud.  Also, we started forming the patches for the wheel well and trunk floor. 

Wheel well rust being removed by Stuart and his mad Dremel skillz.  Also note the hole already cut in the spare tire well.

Rust removed!

Old section above, new patch below.

Center patch from underneath with wel-thru primer in area for tow hook.

Tow hook after cleaning, some paint, and a new plate was welded for reinforcement.

Overview of the spare tire well repairs.

Spare tire well after grinding and with some of the patch pieces (partially fabricated).

Passenger side trunk floor panel creation

The panel below the filler next on the passenger side of the car was completely gone.  One of the previous owners bolted in a small aluminum bar to bridge the gap and act as a support for the gas tank, but the rest was pretty open.  Hmm... wonder why I had so many fumes in the car?

Stuart and I fabricated a new patch which I welded into place.  I used a piece of 1/4" square steel tubing welded into place to add strength.  I think you could lift the car by this piece.

Still needs final trimming, seam sealer and a small patch for that little gap.

Underside.

Shock Tower Repair Part 2

After cleaning up and prepping the shock towers it was time to put in some new metal.  This process involved cutting the rough patch, then lots of trimming, finessing, welding, more trimming and finessing... until it was all in place.  I welded it in from both sides to make sure it was still strong once I ground the inside welds smooth.

Stuart B. and his mad Dremel skillz

Weld thru primer

Welded in and ground down.  It's a lot smoother than this picture appears.

Halfway through repeating this process on the driver's side.

The Dreaded Shock Tower Repair

Well, I decided to tackle the shock towers.  I knew they had been patched before, but wasn't sure with what.  There was this very hard gray substance speared around over a rectangular area.  When I chipped it away, I found that it was some sort of body filler smeared over... wait for it, Natural Light beer cans!  Yeah, I got a pretty good laugh out of that too.  Behind it was some moderate rust patches and some holes right along the line where the shock support welds to the inner fender.  So, we decided to cut it all out and see what we had to work with.

All cut away

Shock supports have surface rust but are otherwise pretty solid.

 

After cleaning and treating with epoxy based rust encapsulator.

All ready for new metal!

Engine Bay: Painted!

Time to paint the engine bay!  Really pleased with how this turned out.

Prepped and ready

Prepped and ready

Fresh paint!

Fresh paint!

Fresh paint!

Fresh paint!