Been working out in the garage this week between Christmas and New Years. I don't feel like I am making a whole lot of progress but at least I'm doing something other than sitting on the couch.
One of the repairs I'm doing is on the B-pillars. The previous owner cut large holes in both B-pillars for speakers. Sure I could have left them or just welded flat metal over the holes. However, since I have the donor Monza I cut them out of it. I'll weld them back into the B-Pillar and grind the welds. It won't be a perfect fix but it will be the right shape and it will be hidden behind the interior panel. I just feel better doing it this way.
B pillar repair.jpg
One benefit to the gaping hole is I can clean out the quarter panels. There wasn't much in there actually. It also gave me access to fix the striker. The striker had been punched through the steel. Part of the issue is that there is an aluminum washer/spacer between the striker washer and the body. Dissimilar metals cause corrosion. I pushed it back into place and used a hammer to flatten it back into its original position. I'll weld it back and grind it flush. I'll be sure to paint the aluminum washer/spacer before reassembly to prevent the corrosion from returning.
striker.jpg
Started cutting out the bad spots in the floor on the driver's side. The left rear pan was really bad and I removed the entire piece including where the seat belt was attached. It was rotted above the seat belt bolt hole. The donor Monza has one good floor pan and it happens to be this one so It will go right into place with a little work.
left rear pan.jpg
The left front pan looked worse that it was. I chiseled out the thin metal that lays on top of the heavier "frame" plates underneath. I still have more cutting to do here. The worst spot on the whole car is the corner in this pan. It is going to need a lot of work to fix the underlying structures. Most of this work will get done from below but I'm planning on cutting out more of the toe kick area as well.
left front pan.jpg
left front pan 2.jpg
I hope to start welding the floors back into the car soon. I also reached out to a couple blasting places to see about stripping the shell. Still waiting to hear from them on a ballpark price. I started cleaning up the engine compartment and roof but it is becoming obvious that I will need more aggressive methods to get it to bare metal. Once blasted I will put the whole car into an epoxy primer to prevent rust. The areas that need body work will get ground back to metal, fixed, and epoxied again.
I have to keep moving and motivated! I really would like to get the floors done and the bulk of the body work done before spring.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.