My AAR Resto gets serious

[AAR6BBL]

Morning everyone,
So I took some frame measurements last night and it looks like I lucked out on my crossmember issue. Everything on the front frame rails measures square on the diagonal to the rear rails, and seems to match the frame dimension specs I have.
Looks like all I will have to do is remove my old one and weld the new one in! The impact moved the crossmember forward and up (hence the small buckle in the floorpan) but the welds seem to have taken the force and seperated slightly which prevented the rails from tweaking.
The down side is that it looks like I will at least have to cut out the section of floor at the rockers where it overlaps the rail under the floor.
Since this is the case, I am going to wait untill I get it blasted before I cut into it. The floor seems very solid, but I don't want to section it only to find out later that I have to replace the whole floor pan, which would simplify the crossmember replacement but I want to save original metal if I can.
 
Greg

[734406pk]

Good news. It nice when things like this go in your favor!

[1 Wild R/T]

Updates?  Is it blasted yet?

[AAR6BBL]

Hey Guys,
Not a lot of news lately, I decided to take the trunk pan out before blasting just like I did the the roof since I know it was shot. I figure that way I can address the substructure. I have spent some time the last couple of weekends drilling spotwelds out of the trunk floor, sure are a lot of them!! That has to be the biggest pain in the ass so far working on the car.
Work has been interfering with getting out there in the evenings, but hope to have it wrapped up this weekend and then off to the blasters. The good news is that the rear rails look good, bad news is I think there may be some ka-ka in the dutchman/trunk lid rails.
 
We will know soon enough I guess.

The more I tear this thing down, the more crappy body work I find. (Actually using that term to describe what was done to this car is an insult to body men everywhere! Sorry Ian!)

I will keep you all updated and post some pics right before it goes in to be blasted.

Thanks for checking in Randy 
Greg

[whitewatersky]

hats off to you for doing so much of this yourself

i'm enjoying following your progress

 

[AAR6BBL]

OK Boys & Girls,
AAR has left the building!
As promised a couple of pics pre loading and one of the trailer being loaded with her and all of the pieces.
Phil (the owner of the place doing the blasting & epoxy powder priming) sent his enclosed toy hauler with a buddy of his to pick it up this morning!
Phil just called and said he looked it over and doesn't see anything outwardly scary, (other then what we already know)
but is going to send me pics after blasting before they spray it. I will share with the group once I have them.
Wish me luck!
Greg

[1 Wild R/T]

Awesome!! You'll be very pleased with Phil's work... I know I have been...

[anlauto]

Interesting timing...My body shop called and said my AAR is ready to be picked up today....All painted 

[AAR6BBL]

Hey Alan,
That is great timing, that way I can follow along as you put it back together!! 
Of course your parts are going to be a lot prettier then mine
That guy that did your wiper motor really did a great job, just wish he was closer!

Thanks for the lead Randy! 
Greg

[anlauto]

Hey Alan,
That is great timing, that way I can follow along as you put it back together!! 
Of course your parts are going to be a lot prettier then mine
That guy that did your wiper motor really did a great job, just wish he was closer!

Thanks for the lead Randy! 
Greg

Yea...I'm going to start a thread on the re-assembly....My goal is Carlisle, but I'm so swamped with customer stuff right now, I don't know if I can do it...

[AAR6BBL]

Evening everyone,
Well she's back!!
My baby is back from her blasting/priming session and no real surprises! The guy that did the job said it was pretty clean compared to some others he's seen.
The only thing I found that I didn't already know about was a patch in the left lower qtr in front of the wheel well.
Tubs are solid, fenders are solid except for a patchable area at the rear bottom of the left one. Valances, header, doors are all solid and pretty straight, just a few dings.
SO know I need to figure out where to go from here. My plan is to get the car leveled up and take some drop measurements to a level on the floor, to check if anything is tweaked re: my crossmember issue. I already took some rough measurements and seems to be OK, so I may just try straightening the crossmember where its tweaked. My floors are really solid with just a few pinholes that can be easily welded up, so I don;t want to cut up the floor if I don't have to.
My plan is to replace the trunk floor, roof, both A-pillars, left inner fender, patch panels for the lower qtrs, fab some patchs for the rear window & dutchman.
The one big decision is how to dress the upper cowl. My original idea was to patch the top part with a piece cut from a new cowl. I think know that as solid as the majority of the cowl is, I can probably fab some patches and save the expense. Either way I think I have to remove it to get the A-pillars changed.
I welcome any feedback especially from those of you who have made these repairs yourselves.
I'm stoked!!
Time to order metal!!
Greg

[AAR6BBL]

More Pics!

[AAR6BBL]

And still more pics 

[anlauto]

All that was hiding under your nice looking paint....go figure...

[AAR6BBL]

Hi Alan,
I was just stoked not to find a whole bunch of body filler piled up 2" thick over smashed up panels.
You would think if you took the time to make a patch (left front lower qtr) you would take a little more time to do it right!
I was pleased overall with what I found, now the fun begins!
My rotisserie is supposed to be in in the next couple of weeks, we are still dealing with the aftermath of the port slowdown out here on the Left Coast.
Plenty to do in the meantime including drilling more spot welds. OH JOY
Greg