I've been asked by Mark to do some sheet metal/body work on his 75 2.0 Liter project car. The car arrived last Monday. But I needed to finish up a couple things on my project car and in my shop first. But I dove in this afternoon.

First task is to tidy things up after the paint stripping. Which included dropping the engine in order remove any residual media in the nooks and crannies. I was concerned with the rust prevention product that Dustless Blaster mixes with the glass media being left on and in the electrical connections. I'm a firm believer of an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I dribbled some OSPHO on a couple connectors in my white car. Not good. It ate the crap out the plating.

Here's Super In Law working on loosening up the media in order to blow it off. It will need to be steam cleaned.
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Project List : So Far

Replace rear panel
Replace rear trunk floor pan
Replace back half of floor pan ............... Mark I'll send you pictures
Misc. hammer and dolly work
A few misc. patch panels
R&R both jack points and posts
This is like a new car compared to my project ...............

Observations :

Suspension Consoles look great and seem to be virgin.
Same with the motor mounts
Battery tray was changed at some time in its life
Back engine tray is bent to hell .............pushed up
Hell hole is filled with caked in blast media. Stopping at Sears on the way home for a new filter for my vacuum. I'll look closely for prior repairs.
Both the lower longs look great at first glance

Needing more research :

A few rust pits on the upper right outer wheelhouse long
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But we also a have fairly good sized rust spot a little further up the upper long. Right next to the suspension console.
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These are both in the double walled section of the upper long.

Good luck with your rust exploration! There always seems to be more.....

Not a bad idea to add CFRs dog ears. I added them to my street car for added security....

I have a good source for the rubber!

Got a late start, had to stop and set up an appointment for the kids Audi. The REVO chip needs to be reflashed. Check Sum Error. I love driving that car. It's like driving a monster V8, but no wheel spin.

Super In Law was doing the AARP tax prep thing today.

Started with another 3 hours of cleaning out blasting media. By no means am I getting it all. Just enough so that I can examine all the surfaces, seams and welds.
I have to keep my eye on the ball, this is a body work and paint job project. Not a restoration.

As long as I'm in the engine compartment I decided that I'll start with rear portion of the engine tray. Don't know exactly how it got that way. Someone must have set the car down on the engine somehow.
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This piece is something that needs to be treated with kids gloves. The three cars I've worked on have a lot of metal degradation on the bottom. I used multiple weapons in order to bend it back into place. But primarily I used a wooden block and a hammer.
After bending it back into place I see that combination of the water sitting in the crease and me bending it back into place tore a hall in the fire wall.
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So a patch is in order. Bigger is better. Make it big enough so that your welding on thicker metal. I'd like to say good metal, but thats not always a possibility.
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Welds are a little proud (tall) but I'm giving it just enough heat to get a good weld. Anymore and we're looking at the engine compartment.

Backside was a little tough to clean up. The shelf is just long enough that you have a tough time getting a grinder in there. Even with my vast assortment
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I decide the engine seal needs to come off so I can get to the bottom weld and clean up the tray for a shot of primer. Surprise, surprise I find that the seal channel is bent to hell and all rusted up.
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Sorry the shot had poor definition of the channel
So thats going to have to be replaced. If I don't have enough left over in the scap pile. I'll cut it off the parts car. Knowing how soft the shelf is I decided to used Rick's screwdriver method on the spot welds. Basically you thin the top surface with the grinder and pop the weld off.
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Peeled it off like using a p38 can opener. Used lineman's pliers as the roller.
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It's 5:10 and I decide to roll the dice and weld the remainder of the seam over to the top of the hell hole. I'm thinking, am I getting to cocky? Its pretty rusty.
Took about 20 minutes but I got it with out much fuss. A couple spots kicked up a bit, but all in all went ok.
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I'll add the hell hole, wheelhouse rust research tonight.
I'm burning daylight ..............

Just let me know what you need Cary. I'm back in town Saturday morning. This is why I took this to you. It would still be sitting in my garage. I suspected there may be a few issues to address, and wanted it in capable hands.

Hell Hole research .............
Ok here's what I see ............

New battery tray and support ... install is over welded removing it would be kind of messy.
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New right engine shelf .......... used silicone as the seam sealer
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Upper long (hell hole) looks solid. Hell hole end panel (firewall) needs a patch.
Engine shelf welds didn't get ground down.
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Here's what I see created the outer long rust issue. The flange/seam from the upper long to the wheel house has let go. Which allows moisture and or battery acid to slide down between the two layers.
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Tomorrow (Friday) I plan to carefully peel off the outer layer of the outside upper long to investigate further. I wish I could figure out a way to get my camera down in there to get a better look.

Mark will need to make the call on the floor pan. I think it could be patched. But to make it look sanitary I'd need to buy a seam roller and learn how to use it to create the troughs in the floor pan.
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I forgot one thing on the original list.
Right inner lower firewall will need to replaced. It has a big hole in it.
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Today the team was back together.

Super In Law went after the big dimple in the left rear corner next to the tail light.
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He spent quite a bit of time with the slide hammer to it get it pulled out.
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I used a formed plate to plug weld it.
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It will take a smidgen of All Metal to make it perfect. But I didn't want to over work it.
Filler will be applied after the car gets epoxy primered.
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I start the day digging thru my stash looking for some engine seal channel. No such luck.
So me move over to the parts car. It's amazing how nice some of the sections are. Then some others ...........not so much.
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I'm using Rick's spot weld removal technique again. But this time I can drill all the way thru to make it easier.
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Popped it off with an old chisel.
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Ran the piece of channel thru the bead blaster.
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Next I need to close up some of these holes on the engine side of the firewall.
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This hole was patched over from the inside. Not good.

Because it is double walled I cut back all the rotten stuff.
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Welded the top seam of the other hillbilly patch also.
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Installed the new piece of engine seal channel and gave her a coat of self etching primer.
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Here's a shot of the inside.
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Dang Cary. You might just have to give up that grocery mgr idea, and start doing this for your day job.

I'll just load my 71 up on a trailer when I get back from Thailand and you can start digging into that one as well.



I need your tools and motivation to self tackle my chassis issues.

We'll talk when you get back. I don't remember any big issues when I saw it.
This car of Mark's is really nice. I kind of wish I'd bought it when I had the chance.

Rear panel with the tail light openings needs replacing (have replacment piece in hand), rear 1/3 of trunk floor that butts up to rear panel needs replacing, one of the rear trunk lid hinge supports needs replacing, inside I'll need at least both sides of the rear portion of the floor replaced, hell hole looks funny (prior repair), longs are good I think, lots of holes around the windshield base where water leaked under the windshield trim....

That's just getting started.
The car has the usual stuff I'm afraid.
Forge ahead my friend.
Will catch up with you later this Spring when I'm back in town.

Short day. Had to drop off and pick up the A6 from Hillside Imports.

Decided to jump into removing the rear panel. This is the first 5 mph bumper that I've worked on. I had no idea that the rear trunk panel was different. The corners are different, they have a hump over the bumper mount. The bumper mount is tied into the transmission mount. But its still spot welded to the trunk floor pan.

Here's a shot of the bottom side of my 73.
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Here's a shot of the 75.
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Step one was to figure out what I was going to replace on the trunk pan. Plan A is to remove up the transmission mount hump like must folks are doing. Sketched out the cut lines. Opened up some slots for the sawsall blade and went to work.
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The pan comes out first. That will eliminate drilling out all spot welds across the middle of the rear panel. Both saving time and spot cutter bits.

While I started this project, Super In Law set about tearing down one of the 901 tail shifter gear boxes sitting on the shelf. I going to let one of my AX buddies use it, and a starter to bench test a new engine he just finished up.
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BEFORE :
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AFTER :
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Here's where I ended the day. For one I didn't leave myself much of a tail to pull the remaining rear panel portion out with. Two, something is hanging up where I have the two yellow arrows. It will take some more detailed seam sealer removal on the back side for starters. Then take a closer look for another spot weld.
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Heading home. Saturday AM is an autocross tech session. Followed by a lunch meeting. Then an afternoon meeting with Mark.
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Snuck in a hour before Mark showed up on Saturday. I continued with the trunk floor dissection. Went after that piece sandwiched in between the qtr. panel corner. Started on the left side. After carefully prying around with screwdrivers and chisels I found the mystery spot weld. It was actually on the rear panel itself. Which was spot welded to the inner piece. Top yellow arrow calls it out. Sorry for the blurry picture. It couldn't be seen from the outside. The back side is pretty tough duty. It's plastered with spray on seam sealer. I'll do some more cleaning back there to prep for new spray on seam sealer after epoxy is sprayed on. I'll add a shot of the back if I find anything useful.
I drilled thru the outside and the remaining rear panel piece to get it disconnected.
The bottom arrow was a smidgen of one of the other spot welds left on the lip.
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Here's a couple shots of the other spot weld locations that needed to be drilled out.
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The next trouble area was caused by the rust degradation in the valleys pressed into the floor pan. By drilling out the higher area first, I could lift it up it so it would show me the area that was still attached. Once I got the area thinned down I popped it off with the chisel.
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Just got it finished up when Mark and Mike (Warpig) showed up.
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This is the skill level I'd like to attain. Jon has set the bar pretty high. Shot from one of The Metal Surgeons projects
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Your moving right along Cary! You don't waste much time getting that bad metal out. Great to see that car getting fixed right. Watching this one closely

Yes, He's making great progress. I have to get some sheet metal from design restoration but looks like we are underway.
Mark

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda .......... Oh well

Back to work ...............

Super In Law got the extra tail shifter all broke down. Guts are going into a tote.
Case will be cut down for an engine test stand at a later date.
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Thems are some shiny parts..............

He'll move on to pulling the heat exchangers off Mark's engine.

Mark, it looks like the 75-76 used the same heat exchangers on both 1.8 and the 2.0.
Triangle flange and gasket.
http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/smart/...bypass%2520pipe

After Mark's and Mike's visit we're going to remove the battery tray so I can repair the wheel house flange. I think the support will get tore up coming out so they'll be replaced. Mark has another tray and support that I'll use.

Mark wants to change out the fuel lines. He'll get those coming
There will be a little bit of work on the front trunk rails.
I'll run over to Mike's (Warpig) house and cut the rear panel out of his parts car. Probably on Friday, Mike's off.

Now on to the task at hand ............ continuing with the rear trunk removal.
I start the day with removing the rear trunk reinforcement.
http://www.restoration-design.com/store/product/PP335A
I was thinking we'd be able to reuse that part. Look at how nice and shiny it is on the topside.
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After removal. Not So Much ............... for $25 it's not worth the risk. Even with OSPHO and POR15, not worth the chance.

After removing that part I decided that we'll move to plan B and replace the entire trunk piece. Lesson Learned : Remove plate 1st to do your assessment. No time lost, because of the 75-76 bumper support I'd remove it the same way, in pieces.

Removing the remaining material off the back of the transmission support was pretty simple. I once again rolled it like a tin can. What I did learn. The floor pan is only spot welded in a couple spots UNDER the reinforcement. Then the top spot welds go thru all three pieces. So you just roll the material until you hit the next spot weld. Then give the already drilled out spot weld a just a little and roll on to the next one.
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Tomorrow (today) I'll finish the right bumper support area. Probably no new pictures unless something exciting happens. I'll not cut out the remaining portion over the transmission support until I have the new part in my hand.

Rob (Beatnavy), I'm still on the same 3/8 Rotacut spot weld cutter head. Using a lot of cutting oil. Which is making a mess, but cleans right up with House of Color Wipe Out wax and grease remover.

Now on to those pesky qtr.panel / rear panel corner pieces. Don't know exactly how I'll install/replace the rear panel to get the best fit & finish so I'll be careful with the corners.
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Drilled thru the spot welds with a 5/64 bit. Maybe 3/16 would have been better. Split the seam using the small thin wood chisel.
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After the spot welds were drilled out I needed to remove the tacks in the corner. Ground off the top one, which you can see. Drilled a hole thru the bottom one, which you'd see looking from the bottom. It attaches the corner to the brace.
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All done .............
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You are having entirely too much fun.

Next, removing the seat hardware from the floor pan.

I start with the seat reinforcements on the bottom. I'm going to cut out the hinges with the cutting wheel so I can work on them in a vice.
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After a run thru the blaster. I'll refill the holes and repunch smaller ones for the reinstall.
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Out came the seat brackets and hinges .............. 4 1/2" cutting wheel from the top.
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Much easier working on them in the vise.
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After a trip thru the blaster. Sitting over night with an application of OSPHO. One hinge needs a couple new welds.
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Removed the original trunk cut out from the heat shield. Spot welds were a little tough to find with all the metal degradation.
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Reference Photo : Location on ground under right seat.
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Tuesday 3/1/16

Forgot to remove the e-brake cable guide.
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Super In Law (Jack) worked on filling the spot weld cutter holes in the seat reinforcements.
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Back end all tidied up and waiting for parts.
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Next on to fixing the right jack post. Looks like it's a virgin too, top is still welded.
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Fun just came to a screeching halt ...............
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What you can't see is the HUGE mouse nest inside the wheelhouse ...............
This probably the best example I've ever seen of these cars rusting from the inside out.
These kind of took the wind out of my sails. Time for dinner and a beer.

Oh yeah .............. it's a shame someone buggered up the jack post. The metal under the jack post cover is just surface rust.

I'm glad you're having good luck with it too! Getting spot welds out is "fun" enough that you don't need to deal with a lousy cutter that keeps breaking. I'm working a on a driver's side long now...



Uh-oh. Yes, I know that feeling...

After a good nights sleep its time to go into rust attack mode.
I was hoping to only have to cut the door jam to remove and replace the jack point like Rick does. But think I'll need to remove the lower portion of the fender to get up into the wheelhouse.
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But here's where I'll start this am. Originally I was only going to cut back the top rail about an inch and half and replace the flange. Now we'll open it up to survey the damage. And remove the mouse nest.
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The battery tray will have to be removed first. But that was already planned with the flange/seam repair.

It got some 914World inspiration this morning after reading up on Rick's work on Vintage914Racer's car. I was about to say the the rust on Mark's car isn't quite that extensive. It just goes the other direction up into the wheelhouse. But I'll refrain from that proclamation for a couple hours.
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...=226585&hl=

Thanks Cary,
Looks like you are going to town on this one. I never would have had the time.
Mark

2nd pic:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=&...t&p=2224731

Haven't gotten back there yet, but still thinking his little skeleton will still be in there...

Battery tray and its support hit the floor first. Because it was seam welded it came out in pieces.
Next came the engine shelf. Needs to come out to open up the top rail. It's reusable.
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Once again a hillbilly double layered patch comes to light. That's the vertical firewall above the hell hole.
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Now I peel off the top layer only on the top rail. Basically delicately cut a slot with the cut off wheel. Then peel it back with screwdriver and or small wood chisel.
As I hit spot welds I cut them down from the top side with the mandrel mounted cutting wheel.
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Arsenal of cutting wheels ................
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Here's a top side view of what remains of the mouse nest.
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Inside shot of the original large hole I created with the screwdriver.
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Mission Complete ................
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Opened up the wheelhouse so I could continue to vacuum out the mouse nest. Got most of it. But I'll need to dig deeper down the inner long.
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This is a far as I can take it without installing the door braces. Pulled the braces out of my rustoration. Gave them a coat of blue paint and they're drying overnight.

I added the wheelhouse to Mark's RD order.The big question will be whether I remove the outer suspension mount or not.

I make multiple measurements before I remove the doors for the door brace install.
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Beings that I'll be doing some work to the wheelhouse, off comes the fender. I know Rick is shaking his head. But I need room for my tools and lots of light.
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Things that make you go Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Can I cut off the front and slide the inner layer behind the outer suspension mount ?
If could figure it out. How would I clamp/press the new inner layer tight so I could weld it.
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Looks like RD might not be selling the wrinkled AA piece anymore ?
Or the RD guys decided to shear off the crappy part.
http://www.autoatlanta.com/Porsche-Lower-A...450194420C.html

Why fill these? Rosette welds to the car.

way too much work spent filling those holes; only to drill new holes again???

Primarily filling the 3/8" cutter holes. They create a 1/2" rosette weld. Which would be almost impossible to remove in 40 years when the car is restored again. LOL.
I have been told that I'm a little anal. And I think too far ahead.

Plus I'm not keeping track of Super In Laws time. I figure we're ALL paying his wages. He was a 30 year federal employee. Which this year will be 31 years retired.
So he's a bonus.

I really like your work Cary and all the pictures/details you put in. Gonna really enjoy this thread.

Maybe when you're done with Mark's car you can do mine...and hey i've already bought a good amount from RD already, just need to cut and glue it into the car! haha

I'll take these projects on one at a time. Your neighbor Doug has already asked to next in line, sorry. But I'd like to see where your at with your project.

This one is turning out to be more than I expected.

Yea that is what I picked up. Still haven't met up wiht Doug yet even though he lives about 1mi from. I work out of town so i'm only back every few weeks. We still need to plan the 'Boring Teeners Unite' meeting haha an exclusive club

I dig into the car when i'm home. Haven't done anything major yet besides see where i'm at and discovering more work with each time (but that is to be expect!).

Got my stainless fuel lines from Tangerine months ago, and just now got a slight leak, so I guess that means i'm doing the fuel lines when i'm home! I should probably stop and figure out how to address cleaning/sealing the tank so I am only diggin into the fuel system once. You ever have to do this before? Need to do more research.

Start the day with primering the refurbished pieces that were OSPHOed overnight.
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After that I'm back to the wheelhouse.
Step #1, remove a portion of the door jam. Thick line is were I cut. Probably should have gone up a bit more. Couldn't get the spot weld drill in the right place to drill out the top of the jack point.
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This shot is after the jam is detached. The yellow arrows are spot welds that don't need to be drilled out. The lines are where the brazing comes loose.

Step #2
Here's a couple shots of the top of the jack point. 6 spot welds. The bent corners is my fibile attempt to pop off the jack point with a chisel yesterday.
Words of wisdom : A chisel is not something that you want use too much around 18 gauge metal, only directly on welds.
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So I used the Rick grind and pop method to get the jack point off
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Step #3
Remove a portion of the sill so the wheelhouse to long joint can be drilled out.
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That corner will be sent to the Super In Law refurbish workbench. Brazed over the top of a spot weld.
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Today's items sent to the refurbish workbench.
Yellows circles are areas that will be refurbished.
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This is the bottom of the right engine shelf. The rusted portion is the flange that the molding channel gets welded to. I missed the bottom on my parts review before I sent the parts list to Mark. I caught taking off the molding channel. Oh well, saved Mark $180. We 'll cut and patch the shitty part. And recreate the flange. With Super In Laws high wage ($0) it will work out. If it was a regular shop deal. Recycle bin item.
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Here's a better shot of the wheelhouse with the fender and door jam removed. Lined out areas are rusted thru.
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It' a shame this happened. Here's a shot of the wheel house above the suspension mount. Virgin. I still contend this was caused by the seam sealer on the top rail being removed and not replaced.
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I'd still like to try sliding the inner layer behind the suspension mount. It would be some tricking welding. Might have to buy some special arc welding rod to tack it in. Would have to build some turnbuckle gadgets to push it up tight so it could be welded. But I like a challenge. That's how I roll.

But the anal part of my brain says the weld will be too close and too big next to the suspension mount. So the mount and its dreaded tie will have to be removed so it can be patched correctly. Plus it we give a better view of the condition of the upper inner long.
This will entail building a fixture for aligning the mount when we reinstall it.

This as far as we go without having the new part in my hand for measurements ................

Here's another area that will get close scrutiny after we remove the back half of the floor pan.
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Will probably cut it out of the parts car.
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