I made that jig to connect to the trans mounts, both suspension ears, and then a couple tack welds on the floor pan. That way the locations for the suspension mount are repeatable. The plates rest firmly on the inside of the consoles, and there is a nut welded to the back side of the plate. Bolt goes through the console bolt holes and tightens down

Roger that. It makes sense. I guess I'm breaking out the welder earlier than I had planned.

Small update. My homework assignment was to build a brace and jig for the suspension console. I'm turning this in for at least partial credit (still have one diagonal to do):

Click to view attachment

I also got my first shipment from RD. I wanted to get a good look at the new suspension console to help me remove the old one. I've a lot more to order from RD, so if they were publicly-traded, I'd say "buy RD stock now."

Click to view attachment

And, I found more rust. The floor pan and base of firewall is pretty well trashed. This is going to be a challenge as whatever fix I do is going to have to accommodate the cable outlets.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

So now I'm removing the suspension console ear. I'm trying to drill out the spot welds, but it's slow going. Maybe I'll start grinding the welds off. Any suggestions to make this task any more pleasant? My intention is then to remove the outer suspension console piece and repair and clean that up. Hopefully make more progress tomorrow.
Click to view attachment

There's no easy, pleasant, fast, or fun way to do it. I go around the edges with the plasma cutter and grind the flanges down. It's about the fastest way to go, but it does require the plasma cutter. Sometime next week I will be getting back to Marks car, and the suspension console on his will be getting replaced. I'll show some pics in his thread

Thanks Scotty. My buddy has a plasma cutter - up in New Hampshire! I guess it's just going to be slog getting that thing out (my next homework assignment). I look forward to seeing any pictures you can provide for reference!

Rob here's a pattern I found for the console tie.

http://www.performanceforum.com/wesvann/91.../rd-9-1-08.html

Awesome Cary, thanks. That helps me understand how that's held on to the frame. With all the crappy undercoating, dirt, rust, etc. it' hard to see how things tie together. I didn't even know those ties were there.

You are tackling some serious rust!

The suspension console is just a PITA to remove. For non-spot welds I ground down the welds a little at a time until I could get a big screwdriver in between to pry the metal apart.

Spot weld cutting bits work great for the spot welds, but I never invested in a set that would hold up for a long time without getting dull. I used a set of Dewalt Cobalt bits for most of them.

Keep up the good work!

Its clear you have the skills to do this right!

I have found the blair rotobroach to be the best spot weld bit.

You can find them on Amazon along with a lot of other good, hard to find tools and parts.

Use some cutting oil with each new spot weld and drill slow with firm pressure.

Keep it going!

John

Thanks, Bob! I'll try your technique. Didn't have too much time in the garage today, but I made some progress on the outer welds that are easily accessible:

Click to view attachment
This thing IS going to be a PITA. Getting at those seams and the underside of the console will be a LOT of fun, especially with all that paint or undercoating. And those "brackets" (or whatever you call them) that hold the inner ear and outer console together -- not sure how exactly to remove them yet. Ground them down? Just cut them off?

I also made a little "gauge" for helping me locate the outer console when I put it back on. I was just a little worried that the brace won't help me exactly locate the outer piece:

Click to view attachment

Hey John, thanks for the vote of confidence. I have blair spot weld cutter and cutting oil on order from Amazon. Thanks for the tip!

here's a thread of scotty doing a suspension console repair back when he worked on 914's

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...pension+console

Thanks Mark. Holy crap that's ugly. I hope I don't have to deal with what he did in that thread. But I guess I won't know until I get that thing off of the frame.

daffuq was wrong with me ?

Rob:

Here are some cross section pictures of a cut up long. I cut this one right down the seam of the long, which left both the inner & outer suspension consoles intact. Hopefully it will shed some light on how to proceed:

It's a PITA getting these things off.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Awesome, thanks Bob! I've been wrestling with this console for a couple of days now. I've been hesitant to cut it, but it looks like from your photos that's probably the way to go. I also have a better spot weld cutter on order that should help as well.

I'm looking forward to the point where I can stop tearing down and I can start building back up....

Small update. I didn't work last weekend (was sick and felt like crap -- my wife knew I legitimately was sick when I didn't venture into the garage at all )

I did manage to get a few things done this weekend. After doing some housekeeping on my daily driver teener (oil change, added third brake light) I went to tackle that outer suspension console again. Getting that thing off of there was a royal PITA just as advertised. Thanks Scotty/Bob for the reference points.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

And here's what I was waiting to see. How badly rusted is the inside? It looks fairly bad to me, although not as bad as the at example Scotty B repaired several years ago. What do you think? Salvageable? I'm taking it to be sand-blasted sometime this week.

Click to view attachment

Here's a shot of the upper long. I've got the two replacement parts on order from RD. I'm struggling to figure out my next sequence of actions in terms of replacing this section. I'm hoping it will come to me once I have the replacement parts in my hand and can visualize it a bit better. I'm also doing my part to keep the Canadian economy humming along. This won't be my last RD purchase....

I guess I also need to remove the engine mount as well. Any advice there? Is there zero room for error when reinstalling that (meaning I need precise measurements)?

Click to view attachment

From a distance, the damage doesn't look too bad! I'm hoping there's some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of rust removal. I'm anxious for the "moral victory" of starting to build up rather than just tear down.

Click to view attachment

Nice work. What are your thoughts on the (blair) spot weld cutter?

Does the bottom of the upper already have a patch welded on top of the original metal?

My thoughts are that it's probably more effective than the HF cheapo but that I'm still probably not using it right. I think I went through four bits just to get this console out. The teeth kept breaking on it, probably when I would go in at a different angle than the cut I started with. I did realize you need to use it at very low speed. I also used that stick lubricant, and it catches all the metal shavings which need to be wiped away frequently. I'm not sure any cutter would work magic on this console piece, due to the metal thickness and the weird angles. Hopefully it'll work better for me on the floor plan welds...

EDIT: picture added:
Click to view attachment

Hey Cary - not sure. Someone definitely did some work in there at some point - like trying to spray a rust encapsulator up in there. I don't think they put a real steel layer down, though.

Ok, I got the suspension console back from the stripping provider today (along with the engine tin, valve covers, and intake runners I had powdercoated -- look SWEET, but that's for another time). Here's how the console looks after blasting. Looks salvageable, IMHO. It's not nearly as bad as that one Scotty resurrected. Which is good because I'm not nearly that talented or experienced.

Click to view attachment

I guess I can weld some reinforcement steel in those sections that are gone. Am I wrong here?

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

I also got the wheelhouse and inner long pieces from RD. Looks like the wheelhouse comes with the inner piece already in. Following Bob's thread it looks like he had to weld that piece in separately:

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

I need to figure out the plan of attack for replacing these pieces. Any advice for fitting these in/cutting out the old? Do I start with the inner and do I need to make exact measurements on engine mount for replacement? Any advice, input, or help appreciated. (I can make up some story about how I'm building this car for orphaned kids with horrible diseases or their widowed mother if that will help. But I think we've all had enough of that today, and anyway it's never been necessary here on the World).

Thanks for the help. I'm excited to start welding stuff back in.

IMO you really should cut out that rotted area. You still have rust in there the blaster couldn't get to. I know it's a PITA ( welcome to my world ) but do it once and do it right. I would also make new pieces for there rather then trying to patch those holes. It's just a couple of bends, nothing major. That metal is pretty damned thin from the rusting

Please take the advise of the man who knows of what he speaks.

Oh absolutely. If Scotty says it needs surgery, it's going in to surgery. The doctor (me) may not be that competent, but it's still going under the knife.


I need to figure out the best way to cut out that section with the tools I have and how extensive the repair needs to be. I'm taking a welding class at the county adult ed facilities now. The first three weeks have been all gas welding (got to use a cutting torch on thick steel the other night, which was cool). They do have some nice tools out there I may be able to take advantage of during one of the sessions for fabricating or shaping. So far I've found that gas welding easier than MIG for the simple reason that I can better see what I'm doing.

Awesome. Go man, go!