My new project

[FC_fer_me]

Hi all, just a bit of an update on the progress of my rebuild. The rotisserie has been made up and fitted to the shell. Tried it out today and it spins quite easily. I used two engine stands and four jockey wheels to make it. The next step is to send it off to the soda blasters and then to the spray painters to have a coat of primer to stop surface rust while I carry out the repairs and mods to the body. Luckily the soda blasters and spray painters are next door to each other so that makes it easier.here are some pics of the rotisserie in action. Will post more pics when I get it back from the blasters. Cheers for now ,Jack.

[TTV6FC]

Nice job Jack.A brace between the two ends of your rotisserie is a must if you haven't already done this since the photos.Otherwise is can "escape" when you pull the locking pins out and it also takes the load off the pivot points.Cheers,Jamie.

[FC_fer_me]

Thanks for the tip Jamie. I haven't braced it as yet but I will do before I start moving it about. Removed the rear springs and brake line today, much easier with the car in this position. Hope to get it off to the blasters on my next RDO. Cheers, Jack

[jack_fc]

Looking good, Jack!

cheers jack

[FC_fer_me]

It's been a while but I finally got the FC back from the soda blasters. Picked it up and then took it straight to the local carwash to wash all the soda residue off it. I then went for a drive down the highway to blow dry it. Got back home and it decided to bucket down with rain before I could get it off the trailer! These things are meant to test us!!!.Later the sun came out again so I managed to get it dry enough to take some photos. There were no real surprises rust wise and only a couple of previous repairs as seen in the photos. When it is fully dried out I will put a coat of etch primer on it and then get stuck into the rust repairs. Cheers for now ,Jack.

[customFC]

That looks relatively clean.
A nice place to start......have fun.
Regards
Alex

[FE350]

Love the colour of your rides,, my favorite to...

[Phantom]

G'day,Well FC for me,do i spy some serious home brewing going on in the corner of your garage?That's my second favorite hobby next to my car,have gone over to kegging my beer now,too much hassle bottling the stuff.
                                           Cheers Rusty

[FC_fer_me]

You got it right Rusty, been brewing my own for about 6 yrs now and have got it down to a fine art.The bottling's not so bad as I get my better half to help. Now if I could just get her to help with FC, Mmmm

[FC_fer_me]

Just a quick update on my project's progress. Have deoxidined the whole shell and given it a coat of etch primer. Looks better already!.Have cut the rust out of the passenger side floor and removed part of the outer sill to enable repairs to the bottom of the door pillar. This next part will test me as I have no idea what it should look like. I am assuming that the pillar extends right down to the bottom lip of the inner and outer sills. Maybe someone can help me out with a photo of this section, it would be greatly appreciated. I have some new inner and outer sills coming and I intend to replace both outer sills but just the ends of the inner sills where there is some pinhole rust. Here are some photos of the work so far. Cheers for now, Jack.

[TTV6FC]

Here you go Jack,I rebuilt these from scratch as they were a lot like yours.Hope this helps.PM me if you need more photos.Cheers,Jamie.




Note:these pics are from both sides....

[mcl1959]

Jack, Jamie's photos are quite good but don't show the area behind the outer sill very well. If you look at your last photo and imagine the curved section at the right coming right down to the base of the sill - gradually diminishing to nothing. Then imagine the piece of metal in Jamie's last photo underneath the sill extended to match up with this downward sloping piece. This is maybe hard to imagine but what in effect happens is the the base of the inner sill is a sealed section under the sill panel which extends right to the bottom of the sill panel. The outer sill is then attached on top.

Sorry I don't have any pictures - all the times I've done this I've never thought to take pictures of it

Ken

[FC_fer_me]

Thanks Jamie and Ken. I think I've got the idea now. Looks like the hardest part may be getting the the bolthole for the front subframe in the right position and at the right angle. I'll post some pics as I go which may benefit the next restorer. Cheers for now, Jack

[TTV6FC]

Jack,when I rebuilt these sections I made sure I left the inside bolt hole piece in place so that the alignment didn't change.The other advantage I had was that the piece of square tube inside this section was still intact so I could lay the new steel on the outside then just redrill the hole.As I mentioned,I have more photos if you want them.Cheers,Jamie.

[mcl1959]

Yes - very important to get the hole in the right place. Your inner sill looks quite bad and ensuring you get the bolt hole right is essential and can be quite time consuming. First take lots of pics, do measurements and mark datum points. Replace or repair the inner sill with the subframe in place until you at least get sections tacked in place. If the inner sill is completely replaced then redrill the hole through the subframe leg.
Replace the box section and drill making sure that the hole is perpendicular to the inner sill and matches up well with original measurements to the hole in the outer sill.
Once the outer section of the A pillar base has been reconstructed then you can drill through from the inside so that all the holes line up.
Then it is a matter of lining up the outer sill hole when you install it.
This whole process can involve quite a few installations and removals of the front subframe to make sure that all is right before all the final welding is done.

Jamie was very wise in his rebuild to leave as much as possible of the original inner sill and crush tube in place as possible. But if it rusted away there is not much you can do but replace it.

Ken

[FC_fer_me]

Thanks for the info Ken, you have been a great help. I have been taking photos and I have cleaned the existing inner sill up and found that only the front 8 inches need replacing which will make it easier to maintain the correct bolt hole position. I will mark a few reference points on the existing inner sill to work from. Cheers, Jack

[weddo]

Isn't it amazing that when you get a project car that only has rust in "the usual places" it always turns out to be in "the usual unseen, hard to get at and hard to repair places". 
Keep up the good work Jack the project looks great.

regards
Weddo

[EffCee]

Isn't it amazing that when you get the car apart and sandblasted all the faults show themselves. It never looks as bad when it is all together.

Best of luck, Jack. Take plenty of photo's please as I will be following your thread with plenty of interest as I have done with Jamie's as my next project will require a similiar treatment.

Keith
F4+
 

[FC_fer_me]

Thanks for the encouragement Weddo and Keith. The car is an ex Tassie car which might explain the rust in the all the hidden places  Cheers, Jack

[FC_fer_me]

Well I've done a bit more today making up new sill end. I used an offcut of a Rares inner sill and as you will see from the photos with a bit of grinder and welding work I was able to get it to look something like the original. The crush box section was made from 2 pieces of the under floor subframe I cut out earlier. I have tack welded it in position for the moment and as you can see from the last photo I have put a brace between the two subframe mounting points to maintain the correct distance until the floor and the outer sill is back in. I wont drill the mounting hole in the new piece until I put the subframe back on. Cheers for now, Jack