Where to go with this rusthole

[grannyknot]

The only way

1 hour ago, Elliott000 said:

 In terms of the middle piece at the front that I've cut off I'm just gunna form a sheet metal patch minus the holes.

That's about all you can do without drilling out the spot welds and separating everything.  Once you have it all cut back to clean metal one of those small hand held sand blasters comes in handy to reach up into those cavities and clean the surface rust off.  The doglegs are about the most complicated and frustrating area to repair on these cars, once they're done is all down hill.

[Elliott000]

Finally getting back into this bad boy. I had some life $^!# slow me down plus my bronco needed some love.... I've basically tuned up on side and about ready to install the rocker. Im replacing some pitted metal on the front and rear jamb before i get there tho. Just need my buddys shrinker/stretcher so I can form these jamb pieces, weld em in and ill put the rocker on!

In terms of flow.... Do most people suggest working one side of the car at a time or one area. Like, should I fibish this rocker and door jamb area then goto the other side and repeat, or should I continue back and tackle the rear quarter.

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[Mark Maras]

IMHO, finish each section. One doesn't want to remove a lot of metal at the same time on these cars unless the car is on a jig.

[Elliott000]

Sounds good, yea I wouldn't walk away from a half finished section. I think im goin to finish the rocker area on one side then move to the rocker on the other while the parts I made are fresh in my mind. Then after they are in, I'll move into the sheet metal fender repairs! I'm gettin excited haha

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[Patcon]

Your doing great. Those are hard parts to make

[Elliott000]

So, the next part of the puzzle.... These images are from a parts car I cut up the other side is in worse shape, as are mine on the current build. For the outer peice I've seen guys make a wooden thing and beat into it but I don't really know how to start in on the block haha, as for the hood mount section, I was thinkin of just cutting some sheet to fit but noticed the fender mount lip actually tapers from inside to out as it goes, this is gunna be a critical part for panel alignment and hook setup down the road so I don't wanna screw it up. My cars are in worse shape. Even more so because they are wrinkled from a front end collision. Any suggestion on rebuilding that section? Maybe cut out the main flat part and just re work the damaged metal to straight on my car?

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[Patcon]

Show me pictures of what you have on the car right now, please.

[Elliott000]

Hey patcon thanks for responding. Here's the current front end. And a some success at the bottom haha, finished my rocker panel today. You can see the driverside is decent except for some rust in the mid area but that's easy enough to cut out. The passengar side is rough and must have taken the crunch. It's rusty and beaten. My primary concern aside from relocation of the hood bracket perfectly is the messed up top part the headlight bucket sits on.

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[Patcon]

The rocker looks good!

I don't think you are gonna be much better off trying to graft in the other nose section. I would straighten the drivers side top flange the best you could. Shrinking with heat where possible. If you can't get the top pflange just right, cut it to remove some metal and mig it back up.

It looks like the radiator support is mostly out, so I would drill out the rest and repair the drivers side with a metal patch. I can't really tell how bad the rust is on the passenger side, due to all the different colors. I would rework the top flange on this side in a similar fashion and use a template from the drivers side as a guide to set the curve for the passenger side. There is some adjustment in the headlight bucket holes which will help some. If you had some pristine donor front end cuts, I might go at this a different way, but with what you've got I think that is how I would do it. If you need help spotting the re-enforcing plates locations, we can probably get some dimensions from several cars to get you really close.

[Elliott000]

On the topic of reinforcing plates. What attaches to the 2 bolted plate on the bottom. I've tried looking for pictures but never see anything attached! See pic, bottom rectangle 2 holds with folded edge

 

Also, i may have a line on a front clip with better off "wings" his cars been sandblast Ed and he mentioned that they are fine.

 

 

 

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[Patcon]

Those maybe the holes for the bumper brackets

Normally I would try to scab those pieces in behind the radiator support junction, but since yours are wrinkled up high and further back, I might try to come up with a good way to do it where it's easy to make it disappear.

[Elliott000]

While I brainstorm on those front pieces the show must go on! Finished that rocker off complete so it's onto the quarter panel. This will be my first "real" body panel job..... Nervous haha, the inner splash fenders bead is basically gone but the rest is pretty solid. I'm wondering. Since I plan on running flares, should I be getting those ordered and fitting them as I go. I Beleive that inner fender gets cut up to allow for more tire. Rebuilding that rolled bead will suck but if im cutting it out one day then maybe now's the time? I noticed when I removed the outer skin they the upper part sucked in a bit. Leads me to believe how critical alignment etc will be to prevent major bondo work in the future

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