I'm on a roll!

On a roll I tell ya! I gotta figure out how to post pictures in order, or how to move the pix up and down....anyways...the area where we welded a tab to pull the body tore the sheet metal around it, so instead of just trying to fill the holes with the mig, out came the cut off wheel, and out went the old metal.

Using the dycam (sp?) I made quick measurements of the area, made a patch panel and scribed the area of the new patch. Then made some careful cuts...

I must remember to bring my camera, or leave it at the new joint..but after posting a message to the cortina list...it was the general idea to make the cut outs again. I'm pretty glad I've listened to the great list, cuz w/o the holes, I guess it just didn't look right. So we used quickad or something of that sort, measured out the holes on paper (which Andy pretty much figured out for me, because I know if i did the measurements, thoese holes would never be in the proper areas!) Scribed the holes, made the cut. I thought I had a picture of the finished cut..but I can't seem to find it. Next post I'll have to remember to put it up. I'm pretty darn happy with it...almost looks factory!

Ok, so decisions...

So the top pic is of my new front panel with out the holes cut out, the bottom is John's Locort with the holes cut out. Now...do I leave a smooth panel, or cut out as per orginal. I'm going to not run a front bumper, so the bumper holes will not be cut out.

What to do...what to do...

Finally some progress!!

So Saturday and last night, I was finally able to get some work done on my front panel. But before that, here's some pix of my new roomies Chevy Pickup. 6" lopped off the top

Ok, so here it is, after mulling it over, having a few beers, Andy convinced me to cut out the old panel. The metal was so weak around the old front panels, that everytime I went to tack the panel, it started blowing holes in the old metal. So...here's the front panel cut out...

New front panel tacked in...with the old crusty on top..

We 1st created the main middle section, bent to a slight curve to follow the body line, then cut the top lip with a curve to also match the body line. This is then tacked about every 1 inch or so.

and then....it starts to sprinkle. Thinking it wasn't the greatest of ideas to weld in the rain, we made a ghetto plastic tent so we can finish tack welding the front in.

After we were happy with the middle and top fit, we decided to lop off the extra metal on the bottom of the middle panel in order to make the lower lip. This should give us the extra strength in the front panel. I was kinda afraid of Andy's cutter, so he went to town on it..

Here's a pic of the bottom lip tacked in. I'll have to drill a couple of holes in this panel on the bottom lip to tack it to the body. That should keep the valance from moving.

And so, here it is. top, middle and bottom tacked in, ready for a final weld. Now I'm debating if I want to cut out the original holes in the middle to make it look right, or have it slighty modified w/o the holes.

Fall Semester is now over

So school is out till Jan. and the tina is parked over at my soon to be new home. I'll probalby finish welding up the front panel this coming weekend, so at least that'll be done before class starts.

No updates this time around, tho I did have a try at my 1st attempt at airbrushing flames. Pin striping seemed so much easier than airbrushing...all i know is, if i wanted to take this up, i'll need to buy a airbrush of my own and do some serious practice

Happy Holidays!