Fellas,
I've never welded before, but am at the point in the hell hole repair where I can actually start putting metal back in. I have the engine out, all rust cut out (including the old battery tray and support) and need to weld in a new engine shelf and top of the long where hell hole is.

There are two AC lines that come through the sidewall (above battery) that are connected to the compressor. These were fed through grommets in the sidewall and had to have been done prior to "charging" the system.

I carefully placed the compressor on the rear decklid during all of this in the hopes of not having to disconnect these lines (only because I don't know if I can without recharging it).

So.. my question is.. Can I safely weld in new metal in this area without having to remove those two lines? I REALLY don't want to have to hassle with AC stuff after it's all back together. Reason for this is the AC works great and I don't want to mess with a good thing

(you can see the two lines near the top by the negative battery cable post)

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(the pic below is just a more recent picture of the hell hole area)

Click to view attachment

A feel any good welder could do it no problem since they do not pass through engine shelf. I am always more concerned about rust damage beyond the hell hole. Indeed check for this. I would wrap hoses up with wet rags prior to welding for piece of mind.

I go above and beyond for a Ravenna green car, my favorite !

That sounds like a plan. I guess I'll wrap them up in wet cloth before tacking anything.

For that piece in the top of the long that has the hole in it in the picture, is that piece usually just tacked in around the perimeter in a few places, or is it seam welded the whole way?

The top of the Long would have been spot-welded to the inner-wheel-house wall (that the battery tray was fixed to). But I think if you're repairing that top section of the Long, I personally would seam weld it..inch by inch, giving plenty of time for the weld to cool each time. I use compressed air to speed things up a bit..

Recently did the same job myself..