Qiuck Question ----- What guage sheetmetal is a teener or perhaps more to the point, what guage to repair her?? I get to put my fab skills to the test and learn to run my new MIG .. Fortunatly for me and the car I'm not a total novice-- just used to thicker stuff--- like steel boats. There's enough left I can make some patterns Thanks for the info. Maybe one day I'll get to this thing again!!! Yea right . The deeper I dig the more rot I find!!! More questions deeper in the thread. Thanks guys.

Original metal used works out to about 19 gauge. Upon advice from 914world, I used 18 ga for structural repairs and 20 gauge for non-structural repairs.

Make sure you turn down the heat when welding the 20 ga!

Best of luck to you on this project...I am in the middle of it. Like you, I just bought a mig welder and learned how to use it.

Practice on scrap metal until you are comfortable. Over and over before you weld anything on the car.

Bob

Thanks Cam Rahn Bay 70-71

I have been using 16ga for all structural repairs. From what I could tell most of the structural panels sold are in the 16ga range. Also I asked on the board a while ago and the general opinion was to 16ga. The non structural can be a little thinner

John

You can get the stamped replacement sheet metal from Restoration Design. Looks better and saves time.

And I would definitely recommend using them but there are so many parts that are not made or areas where you only need two inches of a simple or expensive panel and its just quicker and easier to make it yourself.

Cheers,
John

I've gone to 18ga for body patch replacement and 16ga for structural. Even used 14ga in some places like around the firewall where the clutch tube exits.

Engman (sp) makes a cheap kit for doing a basic repair. Think it ~100 bucks.

So I've gotten under the skin of the cruel mistress and in places she seems to be layered. This is in the area of the main long , top and bottom ,specificly next to where the fuel pump mounts. This does not appear to be a PO patch but factory. The area above (beneath, behind) the triangle jacking piece and the corresponding area above. (the bottom of the hellhole) Thoughts on repairing this??? I'm thinking overlaping patches to duplicate factory construction, OR Maybe one big thick patch to speed the process???? There are a few overlaps in the corner of the hell hole sheetmetal where all that ties together. What's the preferred method here?? Overlap or butt weld. I'm leaning toward butt weld.

Also the duplicate panels I've seen (Auto Atlanta, Restoration design) don't dupicate what I need. So It's fab time.

Lets see some pictures!!

Yes and I would say butt weld.

What part do you need that isn't made? Most of the passenger side long pieces are made.

John

initial review I'm messed up here somewhere. Can't seem to post pics. It will take the number on browse and I hit add this attach than add this but the pic does'nt come up.???

There are several steps to adding an image for some reason.
1. "Browse" for the image
2. Click "Add this Attachement" I think you have done these two steps
3. Place your cursor in the post where you want the image to show
4. Click "Add into Post" I think this is the critical missing step
5. Finally click "Add This" to post to the forum

Hope this helps
John

I'm not real computer literate. I'm trying the stuff you say but don't have "add to post". I have "insert image" and when I click this it tells me I must enter a URL If I knew what that was or where to find it it would probably help. I think it's my computer ID ,right ? But how and where ???

Are the pictures very large? Maybe they are larger than the maximum size for a post?

John

May be I think 36something by 24something as in 4 digit something.

I usually shoot for an 800 x 600 jpg with a little compression. This usually puts the image in the 150kb range. I think you anoy get about 500kb worth of space in a give post.

John

I'm not sure what version of windows you are using but you could install Gimp. It is similar to Photoshop but is free(open source).

You could also upload the images to a service like Picasa(http://picasa.google.com/intl/en/) that automatically resize your image for web presentation and then download the resized image

It looks like Google has a project called Picnik(http://www.picnik.com/) that is a free online image manipulation program also.

John

Thanks I'll check that stuff out. Got to go out intothe real world get dirty. and sweaty It's a balmy 108 here in Apache Junction

Click to view attachmentsee the layersClick to view attachmentinitial review

This is a cross section through the longitudinal from the factory. The only replacement part that is not technically the same is the inner longitudinal. However several people on the board have suggested fabricating an outer skin of the panel to effectively make it appear similar and give a little extra strength. The space just above the longitudinal in your lower image(part of the firewall) is not available that I am aware of but it is should be easy enough to fabricate from sheet steel. The rest of the pieces (including the engine shelf are available) I am assuming that the bottom of the longitudinal is in bad shape as well. You will want to check it al the way to ionfront of the passenger side door. Generally on this side of the car any panel that isn't easily fabricated is available from Automobile Atlanta or Restoration Design (sometimes in several configurations depending on what needs to be replaced)

Click to view attachment

John

I am assuming that you didn't get this car in Apache Junction, AZ(from your signature) I would have expected an AZ car to more rust free.

John

I would poke pretty hard on the bottom of the long. As opened up as the top is you will probably find some holes in the bottom as well. May as well fix those while you are in there.

Yes the bottom of the long has some rot too although not as severe. The acid must not have made it down that far as often. And yes this is not an AZ car. It came from the Pacific NW. One of the PO's had it for 16 yrs and garaged it when he wasn't driving it or it would be alot worse! Thanks for the info. Now I have a better idea of how to go about repairing it.

Based on the hole on the top I would wager that the hole on the bottom is worse then it may initially look

John

Perhaps I already pulled off the triangle and cleaned it up a bit. It's not prettty but it doesn't cover as large an area. I don't probe gently.