Colossus - the 1970 Concours frame replacement project

Discussion in 'Station Wagon Projects' started by chevygod, May 17, 2011.

  1. chevygod

    chevygod Well-Known Member

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    I wanted to install the 2 extra bolted bushings at the firewall, a'la Monte Carlo's and Vert's, so bought a set of DII 68-69 GTO firewall braces. Posted elsewhere looking for info on whether anyone had used them on a Chevelle, as DII wasn;'t sure one way or another if they would work. Bought'em anyways, and went for it.

    Removed the original single bushing brackets, man what a lot of work coring spot welds in that thick metal. Finally got them both off.

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    Check fit of the repros, looks good to me...

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    Blasted off the rust:

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    interesting note, the firewall was painted completely down to the floor on the pass side, but the drivers side had a line of no paint following down from the bracket (and speedo cable outlet) into the tunnel. And the firewall was painted a metallic blue-green from the factory. Pics don't show it well, but it isn't black,

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    Need to fix some operator induced damage (drill-throughs, etc), and prime with weld thru primer, and then I can install the new firewall brackets.

    Best regards,
    Tom
     
  2. silverfox

    silverfox New Member

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    Love watching your saga, Tom!(y) Great work and a lot of it! You are a better man than I.:D
    An interesting note....fannies 68 Beaumont wagon's firewall was painted the color of the car. Maybe they did them that way back then?
     
  3. MotoMike

    MotoMike Well-Known Member

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    Looking good! Thanks for the update!
     
  4. chevygod

    chevygod Well-Known Member

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    I have been watching Fannies build. Nice seeing their progress. Dunno about what happened on Canadian cars, I know the firewall color (and other inside and belly primer colors) are often discussed within the Chevelle restoration crowd. Seems every car line, model year, and factory was a little different.

    Rolling hot, got some more done.

    Firewall mounting brackets are on. I would say that 68-69 GTO brackets fit the firewall of a Chevelle fairly well. Dunno why Dynacorn doesn't list them as such in their catalog...

    Roughly primed:
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    held in place with a ratchet strap and vicey grips, adjusted with a hammer:
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    Right welded in:
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    and left welded in:
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    Need to blast and paint and this end is done. Not quite concours on my Concours, but keeping the project moving along. Wanna drive this thing!

    Next is to drop the tank, and start repairs on lower left rear quarter using the "El Camino patch panel trick". Then the dreaded storage well. Yay...

    Thank you for looking
    Tom
     
  5. jmt455

    jmt455 Well-Known Member

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    Great progress.

    At this rate, you'll be driving it soon!
     
  6. silverfox

    silverfox New Member

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    Nice work, Tom! :yup::thumbs2:
     
  7. chevygod

    chevygod Well-Known Member

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    Thank you for the positive replies.

    While the body is off the frame and super accesible, I am going ahead and doing the rust repair on the left rear quarter now. Body is higher up on the cart, too.

    This seems to be a popular place for heavy corrosion due to the ability for water and junk to sneak past the tail light housing and the clog the drain and destroy the inner and outer fender. Only seen a few wagons that do not have this area completely fragged.

    The crease in the side will be pulled out a little using a stud gun and puller.

    What I had to fix
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    First cuts
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    A buddy helped me bend up this piece of left over sheetmetal from a van I parted long ago. Bent it on both sides in case I screwed up along the way. Still have the spare piece if someone wants it. Roughly matches the curve and and he added the tuck-in and the weld flange to match the rotten inner fender.
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    I secured a slightly less rotten inner and outer from a wrecked wagon, so I had a sample for perusal and learning purposes. Also was able to pull a part out to fix the spacer boss on my inner panel
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    Also needed to clear the gas tank strap reinforcement panel and flatten out the reinforcing beads to match the panel I am welding to it
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    More to follow...
     
  8. chevygod

    chevygod Well-Known Member

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    Part 2

    First rough cut of the new inner panel, and subsequent forming and fitting prior to final cut-in
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    3 bends that had to be induced into the end to match front of inner panel
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    I trimmed a lot of windows into the inner fender to assist with alignment and to allow clamps to be placed. After cutting, this is what I had
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    With the rotten piece
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    I read a posting online years ago where a guy lined up the repair panel over the rotten panel and cut both at the same time with a saw. As both were cut together, they lined up very well and have a decent gap when it came time to weld in the patch. I used this method here and so far it has worked very well.

    more...
     
  9. chevygod

    chevygod Well-Known Member

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    part 3

    Another trick I read about on the net was using tape to make patterns for parts with lots of compound curves, like hand formed fenders for very old cars. The guy doing it was making parts for an old Jag or some such and just covered a good sample with many alternating criss-cross layers of masking tape. pulled it of and cut it to get it to lay flat and he had his pattern.

    The extreme rear of the inner panel forms to weld to the underbody, tapers to the tail, and has a flange to secure the outer panel, so it has a lot of stuff going on. So I tried the tape-pattern trick.

    What I started with
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    All taped up
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    Pattern pulled off
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    still more...
     
  10. chevygod

    chevygod Well-Known Member

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    part 3 continued

    Pattern installed to verify fit
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    Pattern cut and flattened
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    Sheet metal part cut out and formed
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    Part roughly installed
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    After trimming and welding in, fit is good enough to allow me to proceed with the next part...

    which is...
     
  11. chevygod

    chevygod Well-Known Member

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    Part 4

    The replacement Elco panel has a whole bunch of details at the lower edge that may be correct, but will be bothersome to me getting this done, so they will be flattened and eliminated.
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    I cut relief slots and then flattened the ridges in a bench vise with an old jack handle adding leverage to tighten it. The slots allow the metal to move a little at a time so I don’t induce any other bends or kinks in the metal, as well as allowing me to use the tools I have instead of a big piece of powered machinery I don’t have.
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    The Elco panel also has the lowest portion of the wheel well lip, which isn’t on my wagon. Isn’t this far down or shape like this on my 70 El Camino either!. It will need to be flattened and removed as well.
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    Started with a slot cut into the edge of the lip
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    Flattened using a hydraulic press. Didn't use the press for flattening the flange as it has a small diameter pressing tip on it. However it worked great for this small feature
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    Edge welded up and the fit check time. Getting closer
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    Onward...
     
  12. chevygod

    chevygod Well-Known Member

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    Part 5

    Trimmed quarter panel to fit top edge of patch. Both were cut at the same time to help with fit
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    Need to fit and puzzle cut rear end portion
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    After trimming, had to reform and weld end of patch panel
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    Closer...
     
  13. chevygod

    chevygod Well-Known Member

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    and part 6

    Final fitting and popped in for check
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    Looking at the backside clamped in for check
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    I know the welds are rough, but it is the backside and won't be seen and is getting this thing done, so...

    Pretty much ready for final stuff. Need to add drain holes, posted earlier looking for anyone’s thoughts on sizes or placement, if you have some ideas, info, or cautions, let me know. Also need to replace the small bracket for the tank cover panel, then finish grind backside, recheck welds, final sandblast, heavily prime inside of inner panel and patch, and weld it all up.

    Then onto the storage well.

    Started all of the stuff posted today on July 5th, but want to drop the body NOW.

    Gawd, I love working on cars...
     
  14. MotoMike

    MotoMike Well-Known Member

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    That's some mighty fine craftsman type work Tom! Thanks for taking us along! (y)
     
  15. Zal

    Zal Zenior Member

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    x2 wow, a lot of dedication put into this project!
     

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