Back to the Blue Oval

[mlcraven]

Yeah, one day at a time, with interruptions as required to ensure domestic bliss. I see you subscribe to the same strategy. Very nice work on the mantle.

[CDMBill]

Have been out-of-country/work-engaged since mid-Jan, but finally managed to get back to the project. Started by wire-brushing the tops of the floor panels and coating them with POR-15. If it does as good a job of preventing rust as the fumes do at giving me a headache...well then, mission accomplished.

Good looking work. The POR 15 stuff I did to my '71 10 years ago has really held up well. I just wish I'd done even more of it now that I see the long term benefits. Only change would have been more satin less gloss finish in places. All you metal work is impressive.

[mlcraven]

Bought something today I should have had years ago: Ingersoll-Rand Garage Mate air compressor. Even found a place to store it in my tiny little 'shop'. All set to go like gangbusters once the weather warms up a tad.

[DanStokes]

COOL! Squeezed ARE (that's "air" in NC). Is the little I-R US made? I bought a Delta from Sam's when we moved to NC about 8 years ago only to find out it's an American/Chinese half-breed. So far it's worked OK (knocking on wood).

Dan

[mlcraven]

I thought so, but now I'm not so certain --- have looked all over it and can't find a 'Made in Xxxx' indication anywhere, either on the unit or its components. I thought by law it had to be stamped somewhere. If it is, it's not easy to find (prob not a good sign). But they do seem to be well thought of.

[milner351]

Whenever you need parts for that compressor - just go straight to the ingersol rand site - nothing on an IR is universal - I learned that recently when getting some parts for mine. put a valve on the bottom to make it easy to drain the condensed water out regularly. ENJOY

[mlcraven]

As indicated earlier, the car came from the factory with a vinyl top which, over the intervening 40+ years, deteriorated badly, to the point where whole portions of the front, rear and sides of the roof are rusted and pitted. The vinyl top stayed glued in the middle so that area is not so bad, just need to get the old glue and primer off.

1st pic shows the general state of the roof with the vinyl top removed -- it looks to be in better condition in the photo than it actually is.

2nd is the repair made on the one and only perforation, which was about an eighth of an inch across. So the surrounding area about an inch square was cut out and replaced.

3rd is tools and materials -- minus the elbow grease -- that are hopefully gonna let me get this job done...nothing magical here: a stiff blue poly abrasive pad, Loctite Naval Jelly and laquer thinner for final cleaning. Plus the trusty angle grinder, a spray bottle of water and lots of rags.

Final pic shows progress on the rear pillars...I've painted the inside of the drip moldings and rear window channel with POR-15 after hitting the channel with a wire wheel to get all the old rotted vinyl top covering and rust scale out.

Hoping to get the roof smooth enough to paint, instead of putting another vinyl top on. We'll see...

[mlcraven]

Whenever you need parts for that compressor - just go straight to the ingersol rand site - nothing on an IR is universal - I learned that recently when getting some parts for mine. put a valve on the bottom to make it easy to drain the condensed water out regularly. ENJOY

Thanks Milner...that's good to know -- and it does have the I-R service phone # and website coordinates posted on a great big sticker on the side. This one, the 'Garage Mate' model, comes with a drain valve conveniently located on the bottom, everything else seems quite well thought out and accessible too.

[mlcraven]

After my big plan to get started on roof de-rusting (previous post), this morning it was cool, windy and rainy -- and stayed crappy all day. I like to have the garage door open when I'm working with the abrasive pads (better light and gives the dust some place to go), but instead decided to leave it shut, stay nice and toasty and work on something else.

So back to the floor repair. I'd earlier cut out the worst rust and test-fit the untrimmed toe and floor board, but not so they could be properly butt-welded in place. Today's effort focused on getting a proper fit. As it turned out I only got the passenger side done -- it's slow work: measure once-twice-three times to get the proper cuts and not take off too much metal. I got the floor piece done too, but by then it was 3PM and time to relax with a frosty.

Pic 1 - the original extent of the passenger side rust; after removing the undercoat and picking away at it with a sharp object things were a lot worse than the photo indicates.

Pic 2 - first effort at cutting out the bad metal leaves a big freakin' Flintstone-style hole

Pic 3 - test fit of the untrimmed sheet metal

Pic 4 - more trimming of the orginal floor to guarantee that the new toe board only butts up against good metal; thank heavens -- the torque boxes are in great shape and will be even better after a coat of black POR-15 (planned for the entire front subframe)

Pic 5 - the toe board cut down to proper size (actually, just a tad bigger than required - used the grinder to shave things down for final fitting, snuck up on the exact size required, so to speak)

Pic 6 - perfect fit, ready for welding!!

[mlcraven]

Another 6 hours today spent grinding and shaping toe board and floor board panels to ensure a perfect fit so they can be butt-welded in place. My welding guy is free on the 28th and we have a date. I've got the torque boxes and subframe coated with POR-15, as well as the trunk floor and seams. Received the latest Eastwood catalogue in the mail yesterday -- I sense an expensive order of bodywork materials looming in the near future. Have all the credit cards at zero balance and it doesn't feel good..there's gonna be some crazy sh-t going on soon and it may as well be car-related.