LH Side Welded

 After about 50+ man hours of work and 3 weeks the car looks......Well about the same. But instead of screws holding it together it is welded solid. Starting to feel like a car again instead of an art project.

It feels a bit weird to have to ask myself "what do I work on next". Been on the same part of the car for sooo long.

RH Side Welded

 Well the RH Rear fender and rocker are welded on to the car. Spent a few evenings doing one last hammer and dolly on the patches and punching the holes. Then welded it on. All except the end cap which I'm keeping open so I can paint and maybe even seam seal later.

Sadly the car looks about the same as it did when everything is screwed together. But it is much more solid now. I've had a strap holding the lower A pillar in position for so long (without the rocker the lower A pillar is mostly just one thickness of sheet metal). It was nice to finally remove it.

It all turned out pretty good except the vertical gap between the door and rocker panel. Despite it looking good when screwed together after welding I noticed it's not as consistent as it was. It's a bit tighter a little bast the middle of the door and then back to good. Humm. I'll try the shrinking disc on it later. Perhaps it can shrink the metal back so it is better. But that can be a future project.

The one white tunnel picture is the inside of the rocker panel showing that the bottom edge has been painted (will do the top when I flip the body over). The brown spots are blasting media that must have slipped through the upper seem. Guessing from the inner sill to stiffener. That blasting media gets everywhere.

Rocker Transition And Painting

 Before welding on the Rockers it looked like a good idea to weld on the transition piece. That way I could paint the inside and ensure it would be coated well. Then it would just have a weld seam against the A pillar similar to the rest of the rocker panel. I did not weld on the end cap. This was likely welded to the rocker before assembly to the car at the factory. I will leave it open so I can paint, or at least attempt to paint, the weld seams on the inside of the rocker. I picture moisture pooling up there and don't want any bare metal.

After that we primed the parts of the car that would be inside the Rockers and fenders. For projects where they don't remove these I don't see a lot of talk of how they get the paint in there. Or when they made the car originally. Perhaps that is a reason why they rusted so quickly? Who knows. I know I want it all painted/sealed.

The weld flanges were all taped off and the surfaces primed (still taped off in the pictures). This time we are using a white primer.

Home Made LH B Pillar Fender Patch

This week I made and installed the b-pillar fender patch for the LH side. For the RH side I had purchased one but it required so much work with the shrinker stretcher to get the profile right that I didn't think I'd loose much by making my own. So I did. Think it turned out pretty well, Also welded the patch in.

Other things completed was fitting the LH rocker panel to the car. It fits much better at the front of the door than the RH side. Did a quick profile comparison and no they are not the same. Ugh. Where is that guy that posts that he never has had any fitment problems with replacement panels? But was happy at least one side is good. As far as inboard outboard the LH as a bit of a bulge in it. Not sure if I'll cut and weld it or no. The door is original and had a few bumps and is not straight anymore. Might be just as easy to form the door to the Rocker contour.

Also welded in the rear valence brackets that are on the Right and left edges where it welds to the top. And also welded in the RH tail light mount plate. In the next week or so I'd like to move to prepping for painting the inside parts of the fenders, rockers and structure and welding them on. Everything takes longer than expect so who knows how far I'll get.

RH B-pillar Fender Patch Fitting

Sadly not much happened on the GT6 this week. I had done a little on earlier in the week but then Thursday I took a vacation day and was planning to pickup some parts for the the later customizing of it. But I hurt my back before the day got going (partly from too many years setting at a desk) and that ended that. Waiting for that to get better before I can work on things again. But before all that I started getting the B-pillar patch ready to weld to the fender.

In the pictures you can see I've done a bit of hammering and reshaping of the patch to fit the door and the contour of the car better. Also did a bit of this on the fender as well. I think the door gap is starting to look pretty good about right. Also cut the top of the fender patch and the fender on the seem. Seemed like a good idea (punny). The fit there is about ready to weld. The edge on the wheel arch isn't perfectly flush and needs a bit more work to fit nicely.