BUILD THREAD JRP's '87 Regal Thread
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I moved the dash over to the bed in the spare bedroom so it's up off the floor. I put the radio, the hvac controls and the glovebox back in to clear up some clutter. I didn't connect anything, just put them in place. Yeah the spare bedroom is filled with car parts, but the other half is filled with my sister's sh*t and she moved out a year ago.
And I bought my new welder today too. Hobart Handler 140. I think it's pretty much the biggest machine I can get while still on 120V power. It seems like a quality machine. 5 heat settings from 25 amps to 140 amps and infinitely variable wire speed. I haven't run it yet, I've got to get a spool of mig wire and a bottle yet.
I bought the Hobart cart with it and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I got it because it was already on sale and I didn't want to make another trip. It seems really sturdy and the casters and wheels are nice, but the included hardware was junk and it doesn't have a handle to push it or any hooks to hang the leads. Easily rectified issues regardless.
At any rate it's a huge upgrade from what I had and should be a perfect fit for this project and most other stuff I'll want it for. I'm excited about it.
And I bought my new welder today too. Hobart Handler 140. I think it's pretty much the biggest machine I can get while still on 120V power. It seems like a quality machine. 5 heat settings from 25 amps to 140 amps and infinitely variable wire speed. I haven't run it yet, I've got to get a spool of mig wire and a bottle yet.
I bought the Hobart cart with it and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I got it because it was already on sale and I didn't want to make another trip. It seems really sturdy and the casters and wheels are nice, but the included hardware was junk and it doesn't have a handle to push it or any hooks to hang the leads. Easily rectified issues regardless.
At any rate it's a huge upgrade from what I had and should be a perfect fit for this project and most other stuff I'll want it for. I'm excited about it.
Aw, just treat it like every other Gbody hacknician. If you don't know what some wires are for just cut them off. Either let them dangle for that surprise intermittant short or just use wire nuts to arbitrarily twist them together. Bonus points for using Scotch locks to create circular circuits.
I have the opposite over my parents house, I filled my sisters room with my GTO parts
Both welder and cart. I think you'll be happy with it. Ours has done two full quarter panels, four rockers, a tail panel and at least five patch panels. I also used it on the crossmember for the GP. It's a very capable little machine. For a gun holder look at the ones with a magnetic base. That's what we're using.
I clocked some hours on the car today. I started typing this a couple hours ago and fell asleep halfway through, lmao.
I got my kick panel repair section from RabbitHoleSS a few days ago, should work perfectly for what I need. Thanks again man!
The rest of the interior needed to come out so I can do all the welding I need to without worrying about damaging anything. So I pulled the carpet and seats today along with everything that goes with them, the door thresholds and seatbelt buckles. Got them put aside and began assessing the floor.
The floor was one of the first things I "fixed" when I initially bought the car. And when I say fixed, I mean "covered the holes and painted". For as little experience as I had at the time, they weren't horrible repairs but they aren't the right way to repair the problem.
There were only two patch panels, one over the passenger floor, and one on the drivers side inner rocker area- the metal immediately inside the door pinchweld.
My goal today was to remove the old patch panels, separate the edge of the floor pan from the inner rocker area and determine what is good and bad. Old patch panels are on the right-
The passenger side is fairly simple since it's just the floor pan itself that needs patched. The drivers side is more complicated because that inner rocker area is a little complex. From the factory there were already 3 or 4 pieces of metal sandwiched together in that spot. My initial repair was just a piece of sheetmetal pop riveted and glued over the hole. Later, when the body was off the frame, a patch panel was welded in from underneath, essentially sandwiching in the original panel(s) between an interior and exterior patch panel.
I actually think that the patch welded in from underneath will be okay, but I've been playing auto body archeologist figuring out how many layers of original and non-original metal are sandwiched together in this spot. It looks messy and ugly but I think I can see how it originally went together.
I'm gonna wind up replacing a few decent sized sections of the floor plans because even in spots where the floors are solid, they are thin. I was making dents just by kneeling on it. I'm fat but I'm not that fat.
Anyways, it may not look like a whole lot, but this is the lousy, pain in the *ss work that I don't like doing. Welding in new pieces is easy. There is a guy on craigslist locally who says he has several rust free floor pans complete from rocker to rocker. I'm thinking that may be the way to go as far as patch panels are concerned. Just cut out and use as much or as little as I need rather than buy aftermarket panels and still have to fab some of my own stuff. It'd be cheaper too.
If you are wondering at what point am I going to stop cutting the car apart, fair point, though this part is pretty much the worst of it. There may be a little spot here or there after these sections, but the firewall along with these floor sections are definitely the worst of it. The car never will be a show car and make no mistake, that is not my goal. My goal is to properly repair my own previous improper repairs so there is no covered up or hidden rust.
Now that I have my own welder, my own compressor, better lighting, heat, (and now daylight) in my own garage, I can work on my own schedule and do this stuff when and as I feel like working on it. I still need to buy a bottle of C25 but that may have to wait until next paycheck.
I got my kick panel repair section from RabbitHoleSS a few days ago, should work perfectly for what I need. Thanks again man!
The rest of the interior needed to come out so I can do all the welding I need to without worrying about damaging anything. So I pulled the carpet and seats today along with everything that goes with them, the door thresholds and seatbelt buckles. Got them put aside and began assessing the floor.
The floor was one of the first things I "fixed" when I initially bought the car. And when I say fixed, I mean "covered the holes and painted". For as little experience as I had at the time, they weren't horrible repairs but they aren't the right way to repair the problem.
There were only two patch panels, one over the passenger floor, and one on the drivers side inner rocker area- the metal immediately inside the door pinchweld.
My goal today was to remove the old patch panels, separate the edge of the floor pan from the inner rocker area and determine what is good and bad. Old patch panels are on the right-
The passenger side is fairly simple since it's just the floor pan itself that needs patched. The drivers side is more complicated because that inner rocker area is a little complex. From the factory there were already 3 or 4 pieces of metal sandwiched together in that spot. My initial repair was just a piece of sheetmetal pop riveted and glued over the hole. Later, when the body was off the frame, a patch panel was welded in from underneath, essentially sandwiching in the original panel(s) between an interior and exterior patch panel.
I actually think that the patch welded in from underneath will be okay, but I've been playing auto body archeologist figuring out how many layers of original and non-original metal are sandwiched together in this spot. It looks messy and ugly but I think I can see how it originally went together.
I'm gonna wind up replacing a few decent sized sections of the floor plans because even in spots where the floors are solid, they are thin. I was making dents just by kneeling on it. I'm fat but I'm not that fat.
Anyways, it may not look like a whole lot, but this is the lousy, pain in the *ss work that I don't like doing. Welding in new pieces is easy. There is a guy on craigslist locally who says he has several rust free floor pans complete from rocker to rocker. I'm thinking that may be the way to go as far as patch panels are concerned. Just cut out and use as much or as little as I need rather than buy aftermarket panels and still have to fab some of my own stuff. It'd be cheaper too.
If you are wondering at what point am I going to stop cutting the car apart, fair point, though this part is pretty much the worst of it. There may be a little spot here or there after these sections, but the firewall along with these floor sections are definitely the worst of it. The car never will be a show car and make no mistake, that is not my goal. My goal is to properly repair my own previous improper repairs so there is no covered up or hidden rust.
Now that I have my own welder, my own compressor, better lighting, heat, (and now daylight) in my own garage, I can work on my own schedule and do this stuff when and as I feel like working on it. I still need to buy a bottle of C25 but that may have to wait until next paycheck.
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No problem Im glad to see it put to use. I wish I could've found an old factory floor pan before i bought mine.The goodmark doesn't come with inner rockers attached and sherman only comes in halves but has the inner rocker attached. Plus all the work of removing braces to put on the aftermarket pan. I have access to a big metal brake so I made that inner rocker
.That inner rocker doesn't have to be as complex as factory if the rust doesn't make it to the body mount. Hopefully you don't get the "while im their" virus too bad. I know Im infected. But whens all said and done youll have a rust free car you "built" and can be proud of. Looking forward to watching you fix it.
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