As Diamond Dave sang (sings), “I’ve been to the edge, there I stood an’ looked down…”
It's been about three years since I made a post on this site.
It was shortly after that post that I finally peeled back the floor carpet to properly inspect the floor board job that one of the previous owners had done. Prior to that, I was too scared to look busy having fun adding chrome under the hood, installing 3 point seat belts, swapping in a 4bbl for the 2bbl, etc. All relatively easy stuff for a newbie.
The more I peeled back, the scarier it got. Instead of seeing a "proper" patch job, as I had been told was done, what I found was a number of panels that were held in place by aluminum rivets and fibreglass. When I pulled those panels off (with frightening ease), what I found was horrific. Lots and lots of rust, under metal held in place by fibreglass and black paint.
I eventually determined that I needed new floors and inside rocker skins. I'm betting the knowledgeable / experienced amongst this group can spot it from these pics. Everything else was surprisingly sound.
For many of you, this would be a simple job. Many of you have virtually rebuilt your entire cars.
For me, having never welded, or acquired any automotive repair skills from my father (who took his car to a garage even to have a headlight replaced) or anyone else, this seemed completely overwhelming. I had no idea what to do.
After deciding it really wasn’t very safe to drive with the kids, I parked it for the summer, and considered: - selling it - parting it out (made a list of what I thought I’d get) - having it fixed by a pro - fixing it myself
This car was NOT what I thought I was getting (an old story, I know). I thought I was buying a 20 40 footer, which is all I could afford in a convertible, that I could drive for years to come before possibly investing in a paint job. Hah!
I eventually decided to fix it myself, because if I sold it or parted it out, I’d only want to turn around and get another one. Better to fix this myself, I reasoned, and then I’d know what I had. So I bought all of the necessary panels and a Lincoln 140 MIG welder, and put it all away for the winter.
The next summer, I had some job change issues, and was otherwise completely occupied, so the car sat, and the welder stayed in the box. Ugh. This is NOT why I spent all that cash.
The summer after that (2010), I began cutting and hacking away at the drivers side floor, and had a new one welded in place when a sudden job transfer meant we’d be moving. So all work stopped.
This spring, I started work on the passenger side, which went MUCH faster than the drivers side did. Faster, entirely because of new-found experience with a grinder, welder, BFH, etc.
So after three years, it’s finally all done (well, not really), and I drove it earlier this week for the safety inspection. It’s legally plated, and after a beautiful summertime evening drive, my wife complained about the gas smell for the first time in 3 years, and my youngest son complained that it’s a little too windy in the back seat for the first time in 3 years.
Life is good.
It still needs some additional work underneath, as the repairs identified another issue I didn't know I had, but I think that one will be easy (who am I kidding) to fix.... I'll make a separate post under the Tech Help Body section about that later.
But for now, it's safe, and it goes.
Overall, the experience was a good one; it was quite satisfying completing the work, although very frustrating along the way. I now understand what it means to "make the parts fit".
For those about to rock to start similar jobs with the same amount of experience I had (none), I salute you.
To those of you who have worked for many more years on much bigger jobs, I salute you as well. I don't know how you do it; you're made of better stuff than I.
I’ll try to stick my head in this place a little more often…
Much respect for a job well done. Paying some garage a lot of $$ to get the work done is easy & quick, but will get you annoyed at the end of the day, irritated over the things that are NOT okay on your car. Doing the job yourself makes you happy for the things that ARE okay. It makes you appreciate it more, knowing the labout, time, effort, work and amount of mistakes that went into it (I remember breaking of the bolt torking the upper control arm a BIT too much every time I look at it...). I am totally not a grease-monkey like some of these guys here (far from it). But finishing a certain part of your resto, however small, takes another task of the list. And makes that evening drive more satisfying. Makes you feel like you deserved it. And by the looks of it, you did! Well done.
Hard to leave a project sit for such a long time. Most find it to hard to finish it and sell it without recieving the rewards of a job well. Now go have fun in someting you did....
congrats on sticking with it and getting the floor done! many would have given up and sold it after such long delays. It's always nice to see another bird being properly restored.
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