1 Dec 2013
Tunnel and Driver Floor

The headers just barely touch the frame on the pass side.
I'd thought to cut at the red line and just weld in some more metal to fill in the gap, but the Internet suggested that instead I remove the tubes from the flange, cut them a little shorter, and weld them back in.  That seems like a better plan.  Still will need to chop off the emissions stuff and weld those closed.
A couple of pinholes needed to be closed up.
After welding the firewall part of the tunnel together, there's still a lot of clearance.
I cut the slave cylinder mount off the tranny for clearance.
Tunnel still didn't fit.  I figured it was hitting at the top where the transmission juts up a little.  That wasn't it.
Slid the panel forward so I wasn't having to make a curved filler at the front, and raised what was left 2.25" on each side.
 
Welded all the screw holes on the driver's side closed.  Ground them flat, too, but didn't take a pic for some reason.

I've been giving some thought to the package tray rust.  I don't think I need to use the 16ga steel I've been using on the floor for this but I definitely don't want to be using the 26ga stuff that seems to be the other option at the local hardware stores.
Screw holes in the sail panel also welded up and ground flat.  There's several rust holes that will need real repairs, too.
Of course, I can't do anything without finding additional rust.  Here it's small, but big enough to require repair.
Additional welding on the tunnel.  You can see some of my other floor-rust in the foreground.
I was extremely surprised to not find any rust under the seam sealer here in the corner.  That may be a first for this car.
I cut out the floor rust.
And now I have less rust.
And now I have less weld bead and less rust.  Still a couple of tiny rust holes I need to fix, and the new rust found today at the drain thing... but this is progress.

Minor concern:  With the transmission in the car, how do I paint this new metal?

Go back to the previous day (17 Nov 2013)