81 Oldsmopile ( G-body rust repair )

[EME_Mack]

Life has ben getting in the way as it does, but Im still putting hours in to the cutty. Today I finish up the front body mount and most of the outer floor brace. After removing all the old crusty metal I repeated the same thing on this side

Here it is all welded into place. I have the small piece of floor behind the pedals made up but i need to clean the bottom of the floor before it gets welded to the new outer floor.

Heres the outer floor brace welded to the new outer floor skin. I did a little better job and made this one out of 1 piece, the pass side one is made up of 3 pieces.

The pass side had a 4" piece of metal welded over the joint between the 2 braces. this side I planed it out a little better the top extends over the front brace and then opposite on the bottom. the bottom side will get welded once the car is on its side

Hopefully I'll get some time soon to finish the floor and weld it to the new bits.

 

[liquidh8]

Your persistence is great. You need to bottle it up and sell it, hahaha. Looking good!

 

[clean8485]

Truly amazing. Your metalworking and welding skills are some of the best I've ever seen. Keep up the good work.

 

[gearhedjon]

Your fabrication skills are amazing. I look forward to your posts as you progress on this build

 

[EME_Mack]

Its been over a month and I've gotten a bunch done on the body. I finished up the toe board and the side of the floor

Fabbed up the body mount / floor brace

Then started to cut apart the trunk wheel well area.

And heres the new trunk corner and inner wheel well

 

[EME_Mack]

Made up a new rear seat pan

And heres a shot of the new and improved floor, all rust free and clean.

I still have to ad the section of seat brace then the seat mounts for the front, the seat latch things for the rear seat some package tray bracing and finally the rear seat belt anchors I forgot about. When I pulled the rear seat out, the seat belt and anchor plat came with it. It was rusted that bad, glad no one was a passenger back there

Also ordered a new driver rear trunk / body mount since I sold the rear frame rail kit a couple weeks ago. and the mounts are rusted pretty bad the patches that came in Conrad's kit won't work.

Thanks for all the kind words, I can't wait to finish more stuff and get this body complete again

 

[clean8485]

Great work. Please keep the updates coming.

 

[tobyp]

I know you have created alot of your own metal and kidos for that. Just letting you know that there is ALOT of metal in the aftermarket that is not junk which I helped to create. You may like doing so but it can be time consuming if time is money to you. Your build brings back memories of all the stuff I did to my 85 442 frame off.

 

[joesregalproject]

Your fabrication skills are mind boggling, I don't know anyone who would take on such a huge project. Looks like you are replacing more sheet metal than you are keeping. All your welds and seams look incredible. Kudos to you.

 

[EME_Mack]

Today was an unseasonably warm 7* (45 F) So I got outta the house and hit up some junkyards in the area. There are never any old stuff but I managed to get some swap parts. I picked up an fbody shifter and jeep steering shaft for $40 at the first yard. Found a driver fender skin in the rafters at the second yard which I need to go back and pick up. And finally at the last yard scored a taurus electric fan for $25. My trunk floor mount came in, and I found a GN sitting out behind a building in the industrial sector close by.

Yesterday I failed at my attempt to relocate the neutral safety switch/ reverse light switch to the shifter bracket. Im trying to eliminate the linkage the runs from the trans to the steering column. So looking online a 3rd gen fbody had the switch on the shifter and got me thinkin. So heres what I made

3rd gen left gbody right

This is a longer pin that I made to reach the cable. Used a bolt in the end of a drill and a file to machine it down.

And the finished assembly. Its kinda ugly but should work, my only concern is the NSS hitting the under side of the centre console. I might have to lower the mounts on the trans tunnel

The jeep shaft ready for paint. I also have the steering column torn apart and painted but no pics. I used VHTs chassis and roll bar paint.

tobyp did you help create this piece? Its really nice. If I had the funds I would have used the repro panels, but I have more time then money and am trying to save were I can. Only getting panels I can't make like the rocker and quarter, or when I get lazy and don't want to make one ( like this piece ^ ). And with the exchange rate the way it is, its almost double for the parts in Canada. Thanks for helping make the panels and pieces for these cars tho. Im sure they helped save thousands of gbodys from the crusher.