9/15/04 Progress Report

I've been pretty busy with other things, like a new job and a family trip to Memphis, so not much has happenned on the B in the last couple of weeks.

I did some more work on the passenger side dogleg. I cut out some more of the metal that will be replaced by the new panel and ground down the rocker (underneath where the dogleg was) to shiny new metal. There are a few more holes than I would like, but I think it is structurally sound, so I'm going to protect it from future rust and leave it as is. I've drilled out all of the spotwelds and removed the strips of metal that were left along the bottom of the car and the edge of the wheel well.

As for replacing the dogleg, well, I think I may buy a welder and do it myself. I've always wanted to know how to weld and as they say, there's no time like the present. So I'm still contemplating that. My neighbor owns a welding repair/supply shop and has offered to help me, so I may take him up on that. We'll just see how things are progressing in a few weeks.

About the pictures I promised. Well, we sent them off to snapfish on Monday (9/13) so we should have something soon. I'll post them as soon as I have something.

A couple of other minor things.

The alternator that was in the car didn't match the wiring harness. The alt that was in the car was a 3 prong while the wiring harness was for a 5. So, I traded alternators with The Autoist for one that would work with the harness that is in the car.

Also, I needed a wrench to remove the wire knockoffs. He also brought me one of those. It took some serious pounding with my 5lb hammer, but they came right off without much drama. Since I was over there anyway, I've removed the pass side brake drum just to see what's in there. I found spiderwebs. Actually, other than the bugs, it looks fairly clean. Of course, I'll be rebuilding/replacing all of that but it's good to know everything seems to be in order, just for the sake of knowing.

My most immediate issues are to get the doglegs replaced and the floor patched up. After that, I'll be rebuilding the brakes, then I'll go through the fuel and cooling systems. There are some other minor body issues, but I haven't decided when I'll be taking those on yet. Definitely before paint. I don't know if I want to try to get it on the road before that, or just do the whole thing before even attempting to drive. I have a feeling I'm going to want to be on the road by spring of 2005. I don't know how finished I will be by then though. I may drive it for a summer in primer and work on it a little at a time and then take it back off the road for paint next winter. Again, I just don't know how much time most of this stuff is going to take. Progress has been good so far, but I don't have a crystal ball.