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!

Engine Bay Prep

I've been continuing to strip everything out of the engine bay and clean/grind all the rust and loose paint.  I plan to paint the engine bay satin black using Chassis Saver brand paint.  It's very similar to POR-15.  My local automotive paint supply store sells both and said they preferred the Chassis Saver.  It was slightly less expensive, so I figured I'd give it a shot. 

Finally convinced Justin to go crazy with the grinder!

Grinding complete, remaining paint scuffed and ready for new paint.

Grinding complete, remaining paint scuffed and ready for new paint.

Score!! Great junkyard find!

I've been trying to decide what to do for new seats.  My first choice is a set of e21 Recaros, but those get pricey fast.  Second choice, perhaps first for comfort, is a set of e30 sport seats.  The only downside with these is that they require you to ditch your factory mounting brackets and fabricate your own.

I came across a great looking set of e30 sport seats which were the correct color, so I decided to go that route.  I'm putting an m20 in, so modifications are certainly not off-limits!

Pics before I removed them from the donor car.

Interior cleaning begins....

After pulling out all the seats, carpet, etc. I could see some of the holes in the floorpan.  Some I knew about, some I did not.  Next up is removing the tar insulation from the floor.  This stuff is a big pain to remove.  I did not use the dry ice method, so I can't speak to how well it works, but the heat gun and scraper method was not quite as bad as I expected it.  Huge thanks to Stuart B. and Justin T. for all the help scraping this stuff out!

Tar removed, residue still there

Big pile of insulation.  Note convenient hole in floorpan for insulation removal.

Residue removed using Xylene - Thanks Justin!!

Residue removed using Xylene - Thanks Justin!!

More Dissassembly

As long as I'm pulling the motor, might as well pull the subframes too, right?

Rear subframe removal

Subrame out!

The Project Begins

After enjoying the car over the summer, taking it to some events (including the Mid Ameria '02 Fest Fall Drive), I decided it was time to take the car off the road 'for a couple months' to tackle the floorpans and such. 

Remember that motor that we put in Chris F.'s e30?  Well, just so happens he had a very well cared for m20 motor taking up space in his garage.  I decided to go all out and do an m20 swap 'while I'm in there'.

The new motor... will it fit?

The new motor... will it fit?

Out with the old...

Old and new...

Super dirty engine bay.

After some more disassembly and cleaning.