My '75 (the Bat Mobile) has been sitting idle in my shop with the drive train out for a few weeks now.

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Prior to installing the new 2056 that Richard built for it (sitting at the right in above pic), I wanted to clean up the engine compartment.


As I was removing the old sealing rubbers, I remembered that some repairs were needed (the car had A/C at one time and the dealer hacked up the passenger side engine shelf).

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I just acquired a new engine shelf, battery tray and support and am looking for a mobile welding guy (with 914 experience) to cut out the old, weld in the new and a make a couple of patches on the firewall.

Prefer someone close to the South Bay area ... any recommendations?

Call this guy. Joe George. 818 416 2232. He came to my house way back when I first got he car and spent six hours cutting our rusted metal. He would cut out a new piece with an angle grinder and butt weld the new piece in place. He is an ablsolute wizard with oxy-acetyline. Give him a call. Joe lives in the valley but came all the way down to Orange County to work on my car. He carries everything he needs with him in his truck.
Cheers, Elliot

I am going to give him a call as well. I need sway bar mounts welded.

Thanks !

Hi Mark,

Between my long repair and flares, your welcome to borrow my wire feed if you want to have a go at it yourself.

Mike

Mark,
You know Milt would probably come up for this. Let me know if you need his contact info.

Kev

I talked to Mark and thanks, Kevin.

BTW, I just wanted you guys to know that Joe George is one of the best. I've never met him, but I've seen his work and I know who he has worked for and that's some of the best shops and builders around plus lots of individuals.

Update: Milt is coming up Saturday to take a peek at a couple of projects.

Thanks for all the input guys

Keep us posted. I need my clutch tube in the tunnel welded back.

Good stuff!

Glad to see you're still around Milt. You're one of the first 914 guys I met about 10 years ago.
Cheers, Elliot

Did a quick de-greasing on the new replacement sheet metal parts today, will prime them this w/e.

Scheduling Milt to come work on the car mid-next week ... will post progress pix for you all then.

Here's what's wrong with the engine shelf

It's a good thing Milt is coming up to help. How did you expect to fix the engine shelf with a piece of cardboard?

I took some pix, so whoever the interested party was, could size -up the problem area prior to driving all the way to Harbor City, The original pix lacked adequate detail, so I snapped some more with cardboard in there to highlight the area

In addition to the engine shelf needing repairs, a PO installed a crappy make-shift battery tray and bridged the gaps in the missing sheet metal and deteriorated rubber seals with foil tape ... nice, eh? There's a couple of small holes in the lower passenger-side firewall that need patched too.

When Milt's done with the engine compartment, he's going to weld in brackets for the hydraulic rear trunk lid supports (that I purchased back in 2007)

... and, a set of [Mikey914's] new rubber engine compartment seals are going in before Richard installs the new 2056

It'll never be a show car, but it should be a fairly decent/solid driver when completed

We got started and I cleaned out all the old rusty stuff. Just getting ready to phosphoric acid treat all of the areas down there and I caught a nasty case of the flu. Hit me like a brick the night of the first day of work.

Soon, I'm gonna try to hold that MIG torch between coughing spells.

Milt,
Hope your feeling better soon. Stop by next time your over my way.

Kevin

Milt cut out the bad metal and ground down where needed, then applied the phosphoric acid to neutralize any rust:
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Next was trimming and fitting patches:
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While Milt was still prepping the area, I primed the new metal parts:
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Hell Hole and Shelf Patches:
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Completed welding including new battery tray and support:
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Milt ground down the welds and I primed again, then brushed seam sealer on Wednesday, hope to finish up with painting this w/e ... (and will post additional pix)

Thanks again, Milt

Welding is an interesting sport. I welded at the top left side of the tray first, then over on the right. Immediately the inner fender blows through right there. I had to chase it up the wall.

As someone once told me, it's like trying to weld up a screen door.

But in the end, with a little clean up and some paint, it will last another 30 some odd years. Or more since a liquid lead/acid battery won't live there.

Good workin' with ya, Mark.