Updating the Super Street Mopar

[ckessel]

When I used the hole cutter on the cover, I dripped some Triflow on it. Going low low speed with the drill worked great on the carbide cutter. No clogs at all. I know there are more coarse ones for aluminum but I just made do with what I have. My Rage chop saw will cut aluminum, have used it but stop periodically to clean out the teeth.

 

[Nxcoupe]

I use MIG nozzle anti spatter spray, it works pretty well. I've also used nozzle tip dip gel.

Mondello used to sell a specific product for dipping the bits in and coating the aluminum but he's long since passed on.

 

[ckessel]

The VW Thing got dropped off yesterday. Darren will come by today so I can get a game plan going. 1st part of my project fund generation program. Actually thats not correct. The VW is the 2nd. 1st was doing some work on his 06 Honda Element. Cat converter, O2 sensors and lift gate body mount repairs. No pics of that.

 

[ckessel]

Started working on the first area to be repaired today. Sometime in its past, the car had this under area shoved up enough the stretch and tear the main panel where the bumper bracket welds to. I was trying to see if I could just pull the damaged portion down and do a quick weld etc. Thats when I discovered the additional damage. I cut the spot welds on the bumper bracket to get at the problem area. I'm going to cut the damaged stuff out and make up a new portion to fill the hole back in. From there weld the bracket back on.

 

[icetech]

Started working on the first area to be repaired today. Sometime in its past, the car had this under area shoved up enough the stretch and tear the main panel where the bumper bracket welds to. I was trying to see if I could just pull the damaged portion down and do a quick weld etc. Thats when I discovered the additional damage. I cut the spot welds on the bumper bracket to get at the problem area. I'm going to cut the damaged stuff out and make up a new portion to fill the hole back in. From there weld the bracket back on.

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I saw the pics and i was like... WTF happened to his car.. and i don't know any mopar that has bumper mounts like that 6am is fun...

 

[ckessel]

Gotta love "Hair Dryers". My old bosses nickname for VW's. Cheaply made for sure. If that car belonged to someone else, it wouldn't be in my garage. Can't stand them or many of the owners. The definition of "Alligator Arms". Nothing is ever cheap enough for them.

 

[ckessel]

Got the damaged piece out today. Once I had it somewhat flattened out I made a template. Transferred that to a piece of 20ga material. Cut it out, roughed it up with a Hamburger wheel, wiped it down with Acetone, let it dry, then sprayed it with Ospho. After lunch I marked it out to bend up weld flanges around most of it. Thursday I'll continue fitting it up. A friend said he has a spot welder, so thats what I'll use for most of it.

 

[ckessel]

Just about ready to weld the patch piece in. Got it fitted up fairly well, paint/grundge etc buffed off the weld areas. There was a bit of additional damage to some of the surrounding pieces, but I've got most of that stuff dealt with. Tomorrow after I give Tiny Boy[ Zeke] a bath, he's been itching quite a bit which the special shampoo will take care of, I'll get the welding done.

 

[ckessel]

I got most of the welding done on the patch piece today. Started off with the spot welder, an old Miller unit. From there used the Lincoln MIG unit. Tomorrow I'll finish the welding then get some coating spritzed in/on.

 

[ckessel]

Today I finished up the welding. Took a wire brush to the areas of welding, cleaned out the spall with the vacuum, masked a couple of areas off, doused it with the frame spray. Tomorrow I'll put the seam sealer on then work on seat mounting.

 

[ckessel]

Did some seam sealing on the topside of the "trunk". Finished grinding rivets down and cutting the rest of the brackets off the seat. After that, I TIG welded the remaining portions of the rivets to the tracks. Drilled some pilot holes in them in preparation for going larger to enable a tap session. I figured using 5/16" fine would work there and give me the most thread purchase possible on the rivets. The rivets will be the captive nuts. 8 bolts per seat. Drilled the strap material for plug welding to the existing VW floor frames, the long string of holes 1" apart, plus 2 per end for the seat tracks. Continue tomorrow.

 

[ckessel]

Well my first version of seat mounts was a bust. Could not access the bolts because they were hitting the floor. So after tossing variations around in my head last night, I hit upon using angle iron like what is in the pictures. Going this route gives me access to the bolts, both pieces of iron will be welded separately to seat track[ for one] and the existing floor frame[ for two]. Plus this way raises the seat 1.5" which is good.

 

[ckessel]

Lh seat is good to go now.

 

[ckessel]

Got the rh seat in today.

 

[ckessel]

More.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Can never have too many vice grips or c clamps. Lol. Good work, flexing those fab muscles.

 

[ckessel]

Today I sprayed some rattle can black on the seats to cover the welds and new stuff. From there I started prepping the areas around the three big holes in the floor. While I was under the car, I saw signs of Spider action. So, out came the hot wrench. Little bastages are not impervious to heat, unlike some pesticides. Plus no methyl ethyl bad stuff residue left over. I remembered that trick from years back when I worked on the 50 F1. That thing was loaded with spiders, rodent nests etc. Since I didn't want to gas my workmates out with brake clean fumes, out came the torch. Works very well!

 

[ckessel]

Got the topsides of the three holes scraped back. On the first one I experimented on flattening the floor beads. Cut slits into the beads, then hit the areas with the hammer and dolly. I ran the cutoff wheel through again over the slits but ended up with too much of a gap. No biggie as this first one is a test. On the other two I'll just do one cut and end up with an overlap which is fine.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Got the topsides of the three holes scraped back. On the first one I experimented on flattening the floor beads. Cut slits into the beads, then hit the areas with the hammer and dolly. I ran the cutoff wheel through again over the slits but ended up with too much of a gap. No biggie as this first one is a test. On the other two I'll just do one cut and end up with an overlap which is fine.

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Why not just bead roll the matching grooves?

 

[ckessel]

Small areas, didn't feel like pulling the machine out and there will be scoops in the rear ones.
I put the first piece up in place, held it there with the scissors jack. Trimmed it down, fits good. About an inch in all around, I'll be putting scoops in that hang down to catch the under car air to supply the air intake side of the radiator. The one hole under the seat will just get filled in. For the scoop on the first one, I cut a piece out and will form that up tomorrow. Got a call just after I cut it out that my wheel for the wagon was done being powder coated. Had one that was bent. Picked up the wheel, then went to the tire store and got it swapped. It's not perfect but better than what came off. I hit 75 on the way home and all is groovy. Way better than just getting close to 60 and getting wobbles in the steering wheel.