Day 24

Well, today I started by thoroughly cleaning the donor framehead, just to see what I had on my hands.  7 hours later, I had cleaned, prepped, and disassembled it!  I even got to work cutting out part of the old pan where the donor pieces will go.

I was going to wait to hear back from some friends and family about the technique to get the good metal out without damaging it.  I decided just to do it on my own, take it slow, and stop if I encountered a road block.  In the end, I did end up talking to Shawn who basically confirmed what I had already done.

area marked, you can also see the rot/thin metal

inside was as expected.

yummy.

the pan is upside down in this picture but you can easily see where the "water line" is where water got into this area and sat, and sat rotting away the bottom part or "ears" of the Napoleon's hat.

blurry picture, but this is the "new" hat.  It looks like rust, but it is really just red dirt!

the bottom plate of the "new" hat.  also just minor surface rust.  great condition.

what the "ear" looks like separated.

and a better look inside.

So it turned out pretty good.  I prepped the area and will be getting the pieces media blasted before being put back onto the pan.  After that, I need to finish some finishing on my battery section patch, weld the jack point on, and then start finishing the pan!

Remember how terrible the aftermarket parts were...I think getting the right parts will be worth it after all.  Even after the drive to California and back.  :)