Texas 'Cuda or Rusty2 Begins!

[wagesofsin]

Thanks, but the brace is there, that one shinny piece, had one leftover from the other car, but I'll keep you in mind if some other odd piece is beyond my basic talents! Rich.

okie dokie.

[RUSTY Cuda]

Made 2 patches for the header pannel ,just gonna weld that piece behind the ovaled out holes on the corner piece for the bolts to grab.

[RUSTY Cuda]

Got one of the bolts that broke out of the front of fender(header panel bolt) & got most of the work on the top done, made the patch for that nasty front drop off & started the welding there, should have that done tomorrow, I managed to save most of the edges so it should come out decent.
welded up all the weak spots where they split too , now I hope the shape is close or it's gonna be no fun putting it back on the car! Rich.

[wagesofsin]

a fine job sir.

 

[Glennster]

  I have no idea how you guys do what you do with the body work.....Great job!!!

[RUSTY Cuda]

Thats the problem I don't either, I just wing it.
That drop off is proving it to me.
Started out ok, thought it was going well, on the 3rd set of spots things started going downhill, kept either burning through or grinding thru, ended up welding way too much to try & build up the back so I could get the front nicer. got it too hot & warped it pretty good, hammered most of that out , ready to sledge-a-matic the sucker at this point.........................

[RUSTY Cuda]

Cooler head prevailed & I got out the epoxy putty for the last couple of holes in the weld & 1 major grind thru, so 10 demerits for the rusty one, it was that or cut the whole bottom off & start from scratch, & I have no patience for that!
It's gonna take some putty to get that baby smooth anyway! Rich.

[wagesofsin]

Cooler head prevailed & I got out the epoxy putty for the last couple of holes in the weld & 1 major grind thru, so 10 demerits for the rusty one, it was that or cut the whole bottom off & start from scratch, & I have no patience for that!
It's gonna take some putty to get that baby smooth anyway! Rich.

remember....
always think fast and move slow.

[Topcat]

Good progress you're making. 

               
                     You might already know this but it's a good reminder when you're welding and having burn thrus.

Use the copper plug weld plier tool. It loosens at the hinge so you can have it pointing straight out flat end facing to meet at the weld area backing side.

It'll act as a heat sink for one thing and it also helps prevent burn thru. Harbor Freight sells these probably 20 bucks less that Eatwood does.

http://www.eastwood.com/plugweld-pliers.html

[RUSTY Cuda]

Had it backed up with copper, I got the edges too thin grinding down the welds, even the copper didn't help after that, I think I grind too much trying to get it to look like one piece of metal, somehow I can't accept those little lines that appear around the spot welds(stitch welds in my case)so I keep hitting em with another weld, then grinding that off, of course it then comes out worse than if I just left em alone!
Still got a lot to learn with this body work stuff, my plug welds are pretty good, but panel work still gives me fits! Rich.

[RUSTY Cuda]

Got the lower brace in, a-course I cut it too short  so I added a sliver of metal in there, spotted it up & test fit to car, bottoms a little off, but I can make it work,cars been hit a few times up front(everything I take off it is bent) so I'm not even sure if it's my error, probably, repro panels were not that "right on" fit I was hopin for, hopefully the new amd stuff is better! (that was my last "extra" piece off the 73)
So brace is in, sewed up a split in the fold over seam & flooded behind the brace with por15, should have the back done tomorrow & get to the hammer & dolly work on the skin!  Rich.

[wagesofsin]

dont feel bad, i made mine from scratch, that was a lot of fun.

looking good!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where do I start, well with the good stuff first, got those braces back in the header panel & the headlight bucket back on the fender. Now I'm trying to straighten these pieces as I go, bucket & it's flanges were bent pretty good, so I decide it's time to hang em on the car & see where we are at.
I pulled the a/c condenser & straightened rad & hood supports as best I could, there close but till the rad is out I can't tell for sure;
So there going on pretty good, actually found enough hardware between what was there & what was left from the 73(bought a lot of new for it) so plenty of "extra" hardware.
then I start to tighten everything, well the front of the fender ripped open..............
   
__________________

[RUSTY Cuda]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

K, so a "little" more weldin
The rest went together pretty good, lower valence is close, the pass side bracket is still pulled to one side, other two are pretty straight(don't add up to me, unless the rails are bent) Now the whole front end seems to need to move towards the pass side, I got it over as far as I could by myself (without doing any more damage!) still seems to be off 1/4 to 1/2 an inch.
 

[RUSTY Cuda]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Was just gettin ready to pull it apart (3 bare metal pieces gotta go gack inside) & I realized I had not tried to close the hood, well I wish I had forgotten, then I would have to deal with this another time! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I toyed with it a little , but I'm gona need help on this, fender to doors are pretty good (as well as doors to quarters)
the hood can come down (to front) some, but it's already rubbin the fender on the pass side & has a much smaller gap to the header panel.
Gonna have to cross measure the front end & see weather I have a bent rail.
Car is quite beat up up front so I don't think I'll be surprised if it is, that will be a new repair to attempt for me!  Rich.
__________________