Day 105

Today, in a month marked by slow progress, I got some stuff done!

First, I test fitted my rear quarter pop out windows.  These are the ones I got from New Zealand in almost new condition and were offered back in the day as a dealer accessory.  My car didn't originally come with them and I don't plan on adding many more accessories but these are too cool and will help keep me cool!

Also, I used a patch piece I got from someone to repair the area right above the driver's side left knee.

From inside the trunk.  That tube carries a cable to release the front hood.

Inside the car, above the driver's left knee.

Underneath the hood release tube, the metal had rusted through.  It is a fairly complex area, so I got an original German piece and spliced it in.  Happy with how it turned out.

Need to do the A pillars and then tackle the front apron area.  I think to do the best possible job, I'm going to have to remove the front apron.  Sort of like I did with the rear apron to replace the bumper mounts.

Pictures some other time...I'm tired!

Day 104

Today I finished welding on the rear apron.  It took FOREVER!  Between fitting the piece, filling in all the plug weld holes, grinding them down, and making everything look right I had about 5 hours into this piece.  By the time I was finished I was just happy to be done so I called it a day!

Next time I work on the car I'm going to try and get some of the welding in the trunk done.  That includes the master cylinder shelf, spare tire well, and another rusted area up by the driver's side left knee area in the trunk.  I also need to fit and drill holes for my pop out windows.

Also had to do a repair to my shoe :)

I've had them for 10 years and they fit just right!

Day 103

Well I actually ended up having to reweld my driver's side rear bumper support.  I didn't have the heat turned up enough and the plug welds were too cold, which meant the weld didn't "stick".  So I went to test it with a screw driver to see if I could pry it off, and some of  the welds were no good.

I drilled out the plug welds and re-welded them.  No big deal and all fixed!

Today, I worked on the passenger side rear quarter where I had the rust issue below.  You can see both a hole in the sheet metal where the bumper support is and also the rear part of the quarter completely rusted away.

So, first step was to remove the rear apron.  I did so by using my spot weld cutter and removing the spot welds on both quarter panels.

Here you can see the rear apron removed as well as the holes made by the spot weld cutter on the left and right sides.

Pretty nasty shape.

Bad stuff cut out.

Pretty nasty.

Back side.

Old vs. new cut to size back.

Old vs. new front.

I proceeded to weld it back into place.  I really took my time on this.  I made sure to tack weld every few inches.  Let it cool.  Then I'd grind down my spot weld, hammer and dolly if accessible, and repeat.  Probably spent about 2 hours just on this little piece.  It turned out very good!

Tomorrow I hope to re-install the rear apron and possibly work on getting my pop-out windows mocked up in the car so I can drill the mounting holes.