derekf.com

24 Jun 2013
Less Rust

It's full summer now, so it's to the point where I can't stand to work in the midday heat, so I'm moving my garage time to evenings.

The seam sealer (3M 08656) showed up last week, so time to apply it in here.

Took a grinding stone to the obvious welds, too. Still need to use the Roloc sanding disks on them.

Seam sealer is a little too thick to apply pretty with a paintbrush, so I applied it ugly.

Even though there's the large access hole, I am not sure how I am going to seal the insides of the panel once I weld it in. Still need to paint the whole inside area too, and strip/prime/paint the replacement panel.

Cut the passenger side cowl panel out. I had expected this side to be in much worse shape than the driver's side, but in some ways it's actually better. I won't have to replace the entire front panel, but I think I will have to do the outer edge/lip. Lower panel looks a little worse than the other side.

Confirmed (pic through the access hole thing): there is rust far forward on the pass footwell. Figured there was. Expect there's similar on the driver's side, but I haven't confirmed that yet.

and from the front. Note the crappy rust-inducing foam.

Guess what that induced?

This will look really nice once it's done. Plenty of other holes I need to seal up in the firewall/cowl area too. I assume some are needed for other purposes.

I know there's the two-port vacuum line that goes through the firewall, and I imagine a line goes to the flapper at the top of the cowl; there will be a hole for that. Not sure grommet size but I reckon it's attached to the AC controls.

Several ports that look to be for radio antenna, including one that appears to be an antenna bulkhead connector. That might be a nice thing to have.

A positive surprise: I cut the headliner away expecting to find rust-holes, but only (thick) surface rust. I guess I need to find a replacement gasket for the sunroof so I can pull this out. I suppose I won't be replacing the roof panel.

Will need to take a wire brush to all this insulation. Once it's primed/painted, I'm guessing Dynamat or a Dynamat-a-like. Possibly LizardSkin... but it'll need something.

Shoppings: Welder tips, 12.5lbs .025 wire, grinding stone, more wire-brush-drill-things, more 16ga steel, MIG gun holder,and earplugs.

Go back to the previous day (16 Jun 2013)

The seam sealer (3M 08656) showed up last week, so time to apply it in here. Took a grinding stone to the obvious welds, too. Still need to use the Roloc sanding disks on them.
	Seam sealer is a little too thick to apply pretty with a paintbrush, so I applied it ugly. Even though there's the large access hole, I am not sure how I am going to seal the insides of the panel once I weld it in. Still need to paint the whole inside area too, and strip/prime/paint the replacement panel.
Cut the passenger side cowl panel out. I had expected this side to be in much worse shape than the driver's side, but in some ways it's actually better. I won't have to replace the entire front panel, but I think I will have to do the outer edge/lip. Lower panel looks a little worse than the other side.
	Confirmed (pic through the access hole thing): there is rust far forward on the pass footwell. Figured there was. Expect there's similar on the driver's side, but I haven't confirmed that yet.
and from the front. Note the crappy rust-inducing foam. Guess what that induced?
	This will look really nice once it's done. Plenty of other holes I need to seal up in the firewall/cowl area too. I assume some are needed for other purposes. I know there's the two-port vacuum line that goes through the firewall, and I imagine a line goes to the flapper at the top of the cowl; there will be a hole for that. Not sure grommet size but I reckon it's attached to the AC controls. Several ports that look to be for radio antenna, including one that appears to be an antenna bulkhead connector. That might be a nice thing to have.
A positive surprise: I cut the headliner away expecting to find rust-holes, but only (thick) surface rust. I guess I need to find a replacement gasket for the sunroof so I can pull this out. I suppose I won't be replacing the roof panel. Will need to take a wire brush to all this insulation. Once it's primed/painted, I'm guessing Dynamat or a Dynamat-a-like. Possibly LizardSkin... but it'll need something.