Sunday, October 24, 2010

Entry 10: Finished Welding and Headliner

Today I managed to get the rear passenger seat pan patched and sealed up, when I have a chance I'll take some pictures and post them. Fairly similar to prior patches other than I had to fabricate it out of sheet metal myself. Used weldable primer and then followed up with the Rust Encapsulator.

Also had a chance to start laying down the sound deadener, with all the repairs completed the hardest part is cutting out the pieces to the proper size.


Before I can reassemble the interior I have to get the headliner in. Last week I pulled out all the crumbly rats nest sound deadener from the roof, after I put the Second Skin and UltraTouch on the roof I'll be ready for this to go in. 

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Bought some 3M super trim adhesive 08090 aka "90" for $14 and a 4' by 4' section of fabric from Joann Fabrics for $8 and went to work




The old fabric peeled off quite easily leaving the foam behind. . It is not perfect, however I am pleased with the results and should be an immense upgrade from the Torch Red which was spray painted black.


Sunday, October 10, 2010

Entry 9: Sound Deadening and....

Well, I went ahead and started pulling out the interior to put in the sound deadener. Raammat for the passenger compartment floor and rear seats, Second Skin on the firewall and four rolls of Quick Roof QR 625 from Home Depot in the back. Mufflers are right under the rear seat and the engine heats up the firewall so those areas get the premium supplies. Not sure about the outer door skins yet. Purchased 96 square feet of closed cell neoprene foam from the Foam Factory for $33 plus $12 shipping, quite a deal. Once that is all laid down have a new black carpet from ACC. The layers of mass backed, closed cell, jute and carpet should make this sound like a BMW instead of a tin can.

In addition, I ordered a 4' by 24' roll of Ultra Touch foil faced cotton radiant barrier 30000-11424 from Home Depot online for $59. This is great stuff, I'll use it on the firewall and roof as an extra layer.

Rear trim panel and underlay pulled off easily on the drivers side, sprayed Simple Green to degrease the metal panels and quickly figured out I would need to follow it up with a bit of brake cleaner to prep the surface. Important part here is to remove the factory underlay/mass backed as it is old and dirty. Cut the QuickRoof to pit and press down. Quick pass with the heat gun and it all rolls down nicely. No smell or any sort of odor, not sure where that rumor came from. Covered as much of the quarter panel as I could reach, the wheelhouse and the upper sail panel. I pulled the headliner out to strip and re-cover, once that is re-installed I will re-install all the trim pieces.


I was excited to be wrapping this up and putting it back together, which was quickly dampened. When I pulled back the factory underlayment on the passenger side I quickly realized there would be a few more hours of welding in front of me. The passenger side rear floor pan was covered in dynamat, hiding that it rotted out around where the seat belt mounts. Additionally, metal duct tape held a piece of galvanized steel over the frame rail. Good news is torque boxes are solid and undisturbed. I vaccumed out all the rust and used Rust Encapsulator to seal up the frame rails. Next I'll weld a piece in and be good to go. 


Here is an idea of the rusted portion of the rear deck I have to replace. not bad, just extra work for me. Already scraped it down, vaccumed out the rust, and applied a heavy layer of Rust Encapsulator. I have to say the quart of RE from Eastwood has lasted the entire project so far and has worked well. 

Entry 8: Finished the Floorpans and Rocker Panel Repair

Finally finished up the passenger side floorpan repairs and rocker panel patch, and covered it all in POR-15 inside and out. Looks really good, and most importantly structurally sound. Also got the seat brackets fabricated and welded in, not sure which car the seats are out of but they sure are comfortable! Now that the car is sealed up I can start to put it back together.