derekf.com

22 Mar 2020
Front end cleanup

As promised: Engine and tranny come out.

Suspension comes off too.

Preliminary grinding of welds

Oddly enough, alternating between a putty knife and an angle grinder with an extremely aggressive wire brush, I found some areas that just had a "protective layer of grime" and with a putty knife revealed pristine metal.

It gets crowded with the front end of the car next to the car. Incentive to get this done.

With some die grinder work, it almost looks like this was done correctly. Almost.

The nice part about an aggressive wire wheel (knotted wire) is that it will show you where the weak metal is. The bad part is that it will find weak metal to show you. This is the drain that was damaged with the comealong. Guess I don't have to straighten it now.

Instead, make a patch.

Similarly - further forward, there's several new holes.

Passenger side was even worse. The pic is from the underside - the metal here is nice; the rusting was from the top.

And again, additional holes in the toe panel area on the pass side.

Corrected. Welding seems to have improved a little.

Same wire brush (pictured, even) cleaning the rust and old paint from the frame.

Oh yeah, the pass side rear LCA mount is still horrible.

If you've forgotten - at various points over the past thirty years, both of the LCAs have torn their mounting buckets free. The driver's side was roughly 1992, and the pass side maybe 1999-2000? The pass side was put back in offset forward so it had to move (see here and here).

Cleaned up a little but I have A Plan.

I want to reinforce the mount to the frame with gussets. First cardboard...

then metal.

Same inboard

and also same on the driver's side (not pictured, this is another as-welded pic of the pass)

Upon reflection these may be insufficient - it's the same thickness as the frame but much thinner than the LCA mount box. It's not going to make it weaker, at least.

Also if you had any fear at all that I'd become a competent welder, let these pictures reassure you.

Time to correct the overly high front suspension. Spacers have 2.5" of, well, spacing. 3/4" electrical tape to note where to cut.

And now they're only 3/4" + the adjustor height. Is that enough cut? Only time will tell.

Front end is pretty much cleaned up. I've ordered a better torch (since we can't go get one) and once it's here I'll finish up the underside and can start painting.

69 pedals on the left, LS-era Camaro pedals on the right. I need to adapt all the switches and their associated bracketry to the 69; should all be pretty straightforward except for the clutch switch that's engaged when the clutch is fully depressed; I don't know where that point is yet and there's no method for adjustment on that bracket.

We're under a Shelter In Place advisory so I should have plenty of time to make progress. So looking forward to starting to really assemble things.

Go back to the previous day (16 Mar 20)

	As promised: Engine and tranny come out.
Suspension comes off too.
	Preliminary grinding of welds
Oddly enough, alternating between a putty knife and an angle grinder with an extremely aggressive wire brush, I found some areas that just had a "protective layer of grime" and with a putty knife revealed pristine metal.
	It gets crowded with the front end of the car next to the car. Incentive to get this done.
With some die grinder work, it almost looks like this was done correctly. Almost.
	The nice part about an aggressive wire wheel (knotted wire) is that it will show you where the weak metal is. The bad part is that it will find weak metal to show you. This is the drain that was damaged with the comealong. Guess I don't have to straighten it now.
Instead, make a patch.
	Similarly - further forward, there's several new holes.
Passenger side was even worse. The pic is from the underside - the metal here is nice; the rusting was from the top.
	And again, additional holes in the toe panel area on the pass side.
Corrected. Welding seems to have improved a little.
	Same wire brush (pictured, even) cleaning the rust and old paint from the frame.
Oh yeah, the pass side rear LCA mount is still horrible. If you've forgotten - at various points over the past thirty years, both of the LCAs have torn their mounting buckets free. The driver's side was roughly 1992, and the pass side maybe 1999-2000? The pass side was put back in offset forward so it had to move (see here and here).
	Cleaned up a little but I have A Plan.
I want to reinforce the mount to the frame with gussets. First cardboard...
	then metal.
Same inboard
	and also same on the driver's side (not pictured, this is another as-welded pic of the pass) Upon reflection these may be insufficient - it's the same thickness as the frame but much thinner than the LCA mount box. It's not going to make it weaker, at least. Also if you had any fear at all that I'd become a competent welder, let these pictures reassure you.
Time to correct the overly high front suspension. Spacers have 2.5" of, well, spacing. 3/4" electrical tape to note where to cut.
	And now they're only 3/4" + the adjustor height. Is that enough cut? Only time will tell.
Front end is pretty much cleaned up. I've ordered a better torch (since we can't go get one) and once it's here I'll finish up the underside and can start painting.
	69 pedals on the left, LS-era Camaro pedals on the right. I need to adapt all the switches and their associated bracketry to the 69; should all be pretty straightforward except for the clutch switch that's engaged when the clutch is fully depressed; I don't know where that point is yet and there's no method for adjustment on that bracket.