Passenger door to bare metal

I have the passenger door sanded down to bare metal. There was more body filler than I thought, but not that much. I’m going to try to hammer out a few of the spots so they aren’t as deep.

 

Back at it

After a long absence, I am back. I have 4 kids and when they started high school and high school & travel sports, I had no time or money to work on the car. My youngest graduated in 2020 and we cleaned out the garage last weekend. Today, I disassembled the cylinder heads. I’m saving the valves and springs for some crafts I have in mind. Cylinder heads, exhaust manifolds, and engine block are going to the scrap yard.

 

Engine teardown

After a long break, I began disassembling the engine. Separated the tranny first. Then I worked on the intake manifold. It was rusted so bad it is only good for scrap. Removed the oil pan and oil pump. Started to remove the heads with the exhaust manifold still attached because the exhaust manifold bolts are so rusty I couldn’t get them to budge. Over half the head bolts won’t budge either. I am going to need to buy a few cans of PB Blaster I think.

 

Engine and transmission removed

I finally got around to doing some more work.  I pulled the engine and transmission.  First time ever doing that.  Next time, I’ll remember to drain all the fluids.

 

Welding practice

Getting a little better at welding.  Still practicing on metal I cut out of the floor.  It is very thin.  Fortunately, the replacement floor pans are thicker and will be less susceptible to burn-through.  However, I still have to replace the section in the rocker panel so I need to practice more on the thin metal before I attempt that again.

 

Very first welding experience

I cut out a section of the inner passenger rocker panel and made a patch panel.  I then attempted to weld it in place.  I’ve never welded before – never even watched someone do it – and I didn’t even sleep at a Holiday Inn last night.  Wrong move.  I should have practiced some on scrap metal first.  I got the patch panel in place and ground down the welds, but there are holes.  I think I’ll have to cut it out and make a new patch and try again (after some practicing).

 

Rust inhibitor, Chassis paint

I bought some rust inhibitor and chassis paint from Eastwood. I’m going to get the frame underneath the floor pans so I can weld the floor pans into place.

I also sold the power window motors on eBay for a total of $63.00.

 

Door skin

Pulled the door skin off the passenger side door so I could use the metal for patches.  Plan on doing the same with the driver side door.

 

Parts listed on eBay

The power window motors and door glass are listed on eBay:

http://motors.search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZghammerle

 

Driver door glass and internals

I removed the driver side door glass & window motor and all the internals from both doors.  Both doors are emtpy shells now.  I think I am going to remove the door skins to save the metal for places I need to patch.