The "BadSunbird"

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The "BadSunbird"

Postby Badsunbird » Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:13 am

And more yet!
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1979 Pontiac Sunbird Coupe


The "BadSunbird"

Postby Badsunbird » Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:15 am

And more pictures yet again.
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The "BadSunbird"

Postby Badsunbird » Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:42 am

*{0v0}*
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The "BadSunbird"

Postby Badsunbird » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:14 am

Here are some pictures of the latest progress that I have made. It isn't much, but every little bit is a step forward. Alot of welding this last time around, pretty much all of it is done until I rebuild the front suspension. Then I will weld up the inside of the upper & lower control arm areas. I have decided to seperate the floor pan from the bottom half of the firewall. I will fit and weld the lower firewall and then lay in the floor.
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The "BadSunbird"

Postby Badsunbird » Sat Sep 22, 2007 2:21 am

Here is the frame rails & Inner Engine Compartment
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Postby spyder_xlch » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:00 pm

Badsunbird, did you use any kind of bracing when you cut the floor out? Also, where did you put the jackstands under the car?
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The "BadSunbird"

Postby Badsunbird » Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:28 pm

Hey Spyder_xlch,

No I did not use any bracing. The structural integrity of the floor was already gone before I started cutting it out. In fact, after cutting the floor completely out, there was only a difference of an 1/8th of an inch in my measurements. I can pull that back together with a set of 3" ratchet straps from side to side.
I cut most of the floor out sitting on the jack stands which were positioned underneath the rear axle below the shock mount and up front under the lower control arm at the shock mount to simulate it sitting on the ground on it's tires holding it's own weight.
One other thing that I did slightly different was to pick the car up in the front & rear with a fork lift, instead of using the conventional floor jack. This way both sides of the car were supported equally and no "twisting" of the body was introduced by using a floor jack. Once you have the car positioned, up on the jack stands, and begin cutting the floor out, it is highly recommended not to be moving the car around. Simply leave it as it sits until your repairs have been made, if at all possible.
I hope that this is of some help to you, as far as spreading of the body, I haven't had any problems of that nature so far. If I do, I will be sure to note that in any of my future postings.
Thanks & Take Care!
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Postby spyder_xlch » Thu Sep 27, 2007 10:45 pm

Thanks for the reply. My floors are probably worse than what you had. (see my garage) I'm 1/2 afraid to open the doors for fear the body will sag. Mine is also on jack stands placed where you said. I guess if your body didn't sag then mine shouldn't. I was going to brace the body but after reading your post maybe I'll just support the rockers with blocks just for insurance. Thanks again.
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Postby Badsunbird » Thu Sep 27, 2007 11:16 pm

Spyder_xlch,

I would have to say that judging from your pictures, your car has alot more cancer than mine. The floor pan on my car is the only place where there was an over abundance of rust. The rest of the car is in spectacular shape.
I would have to say that as long as your rocker panels are in good solid shape, ( front & back ) that you shouldn't have any problems. But if you have any doubt to their integrity of being "nice & solid", I would definitely put cross bracing in your door jambs for that added sense of security. Once you get or see any body sag, it is pretty much too late.
Back when I used to do restoration work for a living, we most generally only seen that kind of problem with convertibles for the most part. Occasionally you would see it in a "hard body", but not very often, and it usually wasn't that bad that it couldn't be fixed by putting it on a jig or a rack. (frame machine)
Hope everything goes well and let me know if you might need anything else. Thanks & Good Luck!
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1979 Pontiac Sunbird Coupe

The "BadSunbird"

Postby Badsunbird » Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:08 am

Have been busy once again. Finally got the lower firewall trimmed & Fitted.
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The "BadSunbird"

Postby Badsunbird » Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:21 am

Have the floorpan trimmed up & fitted as well now. I have been waiting a year for this! I'm glad it is all ready for sand blasting and welding now. It sure feels good and looks even better in the car instead of sitting on the table.
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1979 Pontiac Sunbird Coupe

The "BadSunbird"

Postby Badsunbird » Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:27 am

Well it sure looks alot better now, and I feel as if I might be making a little progess. Here is how the floorpan looked after I had trimmed all the "fat" off of it and just before I put it in the car.
I Sure am Happy that it is ready to go!
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Postby gerbsinmd » Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:14 am

Thats an amazing piece of work!! Replacing the whole floor, wow! Nice job!!!!
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Postby AusRs » Sun Oct 21, 2007 9:12 am

thats a big job ....i am sure glad i did not have to do that much work on the floor
!!!!!!
question
why did you stitch the suspension tower and not fully weld it ??
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Postby Badsunbird » Sun Oct 21, 2007 2:37 pm

Thanks for the compliments everyone, and you are right, it was ALOT of work indeed. But all in all the rest of the car is in great shape. There isn't any rust in the "usual" places, and in my opinion the car was worth saving since the floor was the only thing that was rotted out. If I couldn't have found another floorpan I would have just fabbed up a "flat" one out of sheet metal and made my own cross bracing out of 1"x1" sqr. tubing to support it. I think if I come across another h-body in that kind of shape, that is definitely what I will do!
The reason I stitched the towers instead of welding them solid was to still allow for some amount of flex in fear of welding them solid might cause cracking or tearing of the sheet metal further down the road. I read an article awhile back stating that you should weld them in 3" increments, so that is basically what I did. I also read that filling the rocker panels with expandable foam helps in stiffing up the rigidity of the body as well, but I'm not finished researching that subject, so I'm still not sure if I'm going to do that yet or not.
Thanks Again everyone, Hopefully the rest of the project will move along a little smoother & quicker now. The floorpan is what basically has been slowing me down and holding me up from proceeding quicker than what I have.
Here are some pics. of the pass. side of the car, you can see that it really is in pretty good shape.
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