Minnesota or Wisconsin Shop for Metal Work Options

[DaveB]

Have you thought about just doing enough to make it road safe? Enjoy driving the kids around and get a ton of pictures. Later when they are teens, take some hobbyist welding classes with them and make it a family project to replace the hell hole, floor pans, etc. Pull together a cut list and spend the next several years finding parts with the kids. When they tell the person selling a part that is cost too much, you have success!


DaveB

[collinvon]

Post the other side.

I'm gonna pull off the rocker panel on Monday, or Tuesday and see how it looks. Is the passenger side typically worse from the hell hole proximity?

[collinvon]

Have you thought about just doing enough to make it road safe? Enjoy driving the kids around and get a ton of pictures. Later when they are teens, take some hobbyist welding classes with them and make it a family project to replace the hell hole, floor pans, etc. Pull together a cut list and spend the next several years finding parts with the kids. When they tell the person selling a part that is cost too much, you have success!


DaveB

It actually ran and drove before I parked it, but the reason it was parked is that it wasn't really adding more band aids in my opinion. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the metal work needs to be done for it to be reasonably safe to drive, but the good news is I'm not in a hurry at all. If it isn't worth putting money into, I think that would be my plan is just to let it sit until I can work on it with the kids. Thanks for the input!

[collinvon]

That doesn’t look terrible.

Fingers crossed the passenger side is similar. The, is that a jack point?, is obviously flaky, but I have no idea where the line is drawn between salvageable and needs to be replaced.

[rick 918-S]

Well it was done once. The key to value is doing it correctly.

[technicalninja]

This recent thread shows what a bad one is like.
It's most impressive regarding the guy who is doing the work.
Limited tools and no shop at all!

Works coming out nice IMO.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=368359

Compare your car to that.
I agree with Ben. Pretty decent on driver's side.

It's the passenger's side that gets gang banged by acid then water due to the placement of the battery.
Almost guaranteed destruction if it's ever been rained on.
Rain overfills non-sealed battery, when charged overfilled battery pukes acid all over hell hole.
Lather, rinse, repeat, RUST...

Look at what Fred had to do at that point.
He's a BADASS in my book!
No way I'd go that far on a non-special car.
His is an LE however and that (almost!) makes it worth saving in my book.
He will be completely successful IMO.

And, if I run a battery in the stock location it will be, at a minimum, a sealed AGM unit that cannot leak anything...

[mepstein]

Post the other side.

I'm gonna pull off the rocker panel on Monday, or Tuesday and see how it looks. Is the passenger side typically worse from the hell hole proximity?

Yes

[mepstein]

This recent thread shows what a bad one is like.
It's most impressive regarding the guy who is doing the work.
Limited tools and no shop at all!

Works coming out nice IMO.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=368359

Compare your car to that.
I agree with Ben. Pretty decent on driver's side.

It's the passenger's side that gets gang banged by acid then water due to the placement of the battery.
Almost guaranteed destruction if it's ever been rained on.
Rain overfills non-sealed battery, when charged overfilled battery pukes acid all over hell hole.
Lather, rinse, repeat, RUST...

Look at what Fred had to do at that point.
He's a BADASS in my book!
No way I'd go that far on a non-special car.
His is an LE however and that (almost!) makes it worth saving in my book.
He will be completely successful IMO.

And, if I run a battery in the stock location it will be, at a minimum, a sealed AGM unit that cannot leak anything...

“gang banged“ - Too funny!
The chassis holds a lot of water and battery acid mixture in the inner sections. It sits there for long periods and causes the car to rust from the inside out. There are also a number of inner body panels that are foam filled. They are rust incubators as well. It takes a while to see the real rust issue and sometimes you won’t know the extent until you really dig deep.

[worn]

That doesn’t look terrible.

Fingers crossed the passenger side is similar. The, is that a jack point?, is obviously flaky, but I have no idea where the line is drawn between salvageable and needs to be replaced.

I am going to guess that you are already hooked. Me, twice. Bought unaware of the problems. Don’t want to be the guy that hand’s problems to someone else. Don’t want to see it crushed. So, that leaves you, if you are me, with a MIG welder torch in your hand trying to learn how not to burn holes in the panel.
It can be done. It might help your children learn how to push metal around. It isn’t likely to be fast. I would be willing to swing by a couple of times, on I94.

[rick 918-S]

That doesn’t look terrible.

Fingers crossed the passenger side is similar. The, is that a jack point?, is obviously flaky, but I have no idea where the line is drawn between salvageable and needs to be replaced.

I am going to guess that you are already hooked. Me, twice. Bought unaware of the problems. Don’t want to be the guy that hand’s problems to someone else. Don’t want to see it crushed. So, that leaves you, if you are me, with a MIG welder torch in your hand trying to learn how not to burn holes in the panel.
It can be done. It might help your children learn how to push metal around. It isn’t likely to be fast. I would be willing to swing by a couple of times, on I94.

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