Yes-90 degree weather,broke the winch cable,sure wasn't easy to get it on the trailer without a rear end.
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Yes-90 degree weather,broke the winch cable,sure wasn't easy to get it on the trailer without a rear end.
So it put up a fight huh?
Yep a trooper right to the end.
This project has been 7 yrs in the making with 3 vans bring me to the point I am at now.So if it seems I'm abit picky about rust repair/restoration it is because of that and want to get as close as I can to a daily driver show quality.
The floor pan/wheel well is more visible because of a 3" pipe lift that is planed.I have a second sub frame that I am going to build up with the sbc 383 on it.It will look somewhat like this:
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...ct93Custom.jpg
The matting I spoke of:
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair289.jpg
There is more...hang on for a minute;
Kind of ticks me off the main reason I am involved in this repair is the precious owner hammered down the driver's wheel well for more foot room taring a hole in the wheel well.It is truly a rust free Florida van.He let it go that way to allow the matting under the rubber mat to wick moisture on the floor pan and create rust.This is the cut out of the tare/wheel well area.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair292.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair289.jpg
That will expose the wheel well/inter wheel well more and is the primary reason why this rust repair needs to look original.
I wanted to work on this for the most part standing up.So I found if I jack the van part way with a floor jack,I can then use the bumper jack I have to get it up in the air.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair288.jpg
So the wet matting rusted the floor pan by the area on the drive's gas/brake peddle.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair293.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair294.jpg
It's pretty pitted and has pin holes.It isn't easy to get to it under the van because it towards the inside of the sub frame too.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair290.jpg
It is a sensitive area as well because the center sub frame mount is towards the back of the effected floor pan.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair301.jpg
More of the pitted floor pan;
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair303.jpg
Cleaned up some more:
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair304.jpg
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair307.jpg
So that is where I left it for now.I shot it with this weld threw primer.Not POR yet,but will be.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w...trepair308.jpg
I didn't say the game plan for now is to repair the pitted floor pan once I drop the sub frame for the swap making much easier to weld from the bottom.
Doesn't look too bad, Gary. It should be an easy fix.
The hole part of it,I am really thinking I want to flange it so the flange part is to the inside and the patch panel is flush in the wheel well.So I would have to make a template to cut it out.I would need to buy a bead roller.I am guessing flange the patch panel while it's still flat.I don't own a English Wheel either.That is the tough part because they aren't cheap.Even the HP ones which are junk are in the range of $400.So I was thinking through that is the only way to get a nice smooth curve and still not sure if I can curve a flanged panel to drop into the hole tight.
You should be able to form your flanged patch panel with a domed forming hammer http://www.contenti.com/resources/library/hammers.pdf and a sand bag. If you don't want to invest in a forming bag (leather, shot or sand filled) get one of the tubes of sand made to toss in the back of trucks&cars for winter ballast. Instead of investing in a bead roller for such a small piece, you might consider a pair of flanging pliers Blair BL13229 - Blair Sheet Metal Panel Flanging Pliers - Overview - SummitRacing.com
Roger-I don't mind buying a bead roller.I do have enough work on other projects that I should own one and the shop in Buffalo is too far away to drive to just to use that one.Cool thing is we just got done talking about how to reinforce the ones from HF to make them work like they should.Oh,as the saying around here goes,I do own a pair of flange pliers.It seems someone else needed more than I do because they are MIA.So was my 100 cleco's which I just spent about $50. to replace.Grrrr
When I look at the E-Wheels at HP it seems they have alot of slop in the dies.I mean they do move around back and forth alot.I don't know how that effects the pc your working on??.I had heard the main reason why HP E-Wheels where junk was because the way they are built they twist and there again I am not sure how that effects the pc your working on.I do think I have a eye for metal working to pound out a curve,but in the same hand I also think it is very hard to get the same smooth curves you get with a E Wheel.So it isn't beyond the possibility of me buying one because it would get used with all the projects I have to do.