Restoration Part 8

On Thursday I removed the crankshaft and camshaft from the engine block and gave the block a good wash in the parts washer before taking it home.

With the engine out of the way I could now concentrate on the repairs required on the front bulkhead sides and door hinge panels. The outer inch of the front bulkhead panels had both rusted and would require repairing. The panels had also rusted quite badly around the top where the fresh air vent passes through and under the scuttle panel corners.

The rusty parts were cut out of the panel. The hinge panel to bulkhead join was ground back to remove the rusty part leaving a sound single thickness hinge panel. A repair piece was cut to shape and spot welded to the hinge panel and then seam welded to the bulkhead panel.

The area around the air vent was repaired next with a piece of flat sheet cut to size and seam welded in place.

The last part of the repair was the most complicated. I had to fabricate a lip for the hinge panel on witch the A panel could sit. This was made by cutting a piece of sheet steel the to the height of the hinge panel by 2 inches wide. The steel was then folded along the length to form an angle. The lip side was shaped slightly as the lip is wider at the top and bottom then the middle. The length of angle was then put in the shrinker/stretcher device set to shrink. The machine was used to shrink one side of the angle to produce a curve piece. The piece was offered up to the hinge panel many times during the process to insure a good fit was obtained.

The finished piece was then spot welded in place. The spot welder didn't really have enough penetration so the piece was also tacked in places on the reverse side and welded in spots with the MIG on the front side.

I am pleased with the results on the passenger side and hopefully I will be able to finish the drivers side next time. The repairs tidy up when the area is painted and seam sealed. I think I will use some stone chip paint with a top coat of brushing enamel in this area and on the underside as I was very impressed with the results Phillip had achieved on his Chevette.