The Ragtop Express

[V8Nate]

That's awesome!

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[TPB_Karl]

A pile of fenders. These will require some love, welding and most of all PAINT before they end up on the car. It is almost time to get started!

[TPB_Karl]

Another purchase of parts for the build. Siderunnerss with rubber, stainless exhaust pipes and trim, Pearl white fender beading and some related hardware and clips.





I have cleaned my space in the garage and prepared for the car to take its place.





I have measured and marked with tape where the center of the car should be so that I have room to access around it.





And now she is finally inside!









So far I've only gotten the car up on jack stands and removed the wheels and bumpers. The rear bumpers bolts were all removed using an angle grinder..






The camera has also joined me in the garage.





Found some rust that I hadn't seen before. If we start at the front and work our way backwards, This is the situation:
I already knew about the spare wheel well, it needs to be replaced..




At first glance, the wheel wells towards the pan do not look too bad.





The rockers on both sides look OK. Not completely rotten anyway.




Drivers side floor has holes..




The rear of the rockers towards the rear wheel wells have holes. As usual..





The shock mounts were crustier than expected.. (Driver side at least).






Rear bumper brackets were really bad..





The next step will be to get all the fenders off and inspect further for rust. Before I start cutting into the body, I want to fit the new fenders so I can use them as a reference later.

Thats all for now!

[Piledriver]

Looks like a fine project, it will help you keep off the streets at night...

[TPB_Karl]

Looks like a fine project, it will help you keep off the streets at night...

As well as weekends and holidays

Now that I have removed the fenders, the rust damage is a little more visible.
First, a lovely repair in the on the driver's side in the front.





The passenger side was pretty crusty too..




The rear inner wheel arch was quite bad. There will be a lot of patching here. I would have preferred to change the whole inner arch in one piece..





The rear passenger side was not as bad as the driver side. But still a lot to fix.




Time to buy more sheet metal..

[TPB_Karl]

Before I put the angle grinder to the car, I want to protect parts of it that are in reasonable condition. I have removed the front & back seats as well as some of the carpets and insulation. Mainly around the rear wheel arches as these needs replacing.







Here I'll have to do some minor repair before the new wheelarches can be put in place.





The hole in the floor..




I've also removed the fuel tank. It looks pretty good on the inside but it looks awful underneath. I'll have to do a thorough inspection for rust holes later..







I have previously neglected to cover glass when welding and grinding, which has caused me to ruin glass panes from angle grinder spray.. This time two moving boxes were repurposed to act as protection.

[V8Nate]

Having the rag open sure does let the light in. I was working on my 66 the other week and was dragging a light inside then said wait a minute I've got a huge hole in my roof let's open it up!

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[V8Nate]

Nice work by the way!

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[TPB_Karl]

Nice work by the way!

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Thanks! I've made my own work light by wiring a socket plug to a 1,6m (5' 2") LED-converted fluorescent fixture.
It's been laid out across the open ragtop in the pictures.

[V8Nate]

I saw that

[TPB_Karl]

Due to some renovation in my apartment i havent been to the garage since i removed the interior.

I have been shopping though. More pics are coming..

[TPB_Karl]

Staying in school is important. But buying wheels is importanter! These are 5" Flat4 BRM wheels. I think they'll fit the car nicely.




I've also taken delivery of some useful stuff. Some old repair panels, the most important of which is the piece behind the driver's door.





Front suspension parts such as caster shims, adjusters, hardy disc, wheel bearing kit, shock absorbers and steering damper.





Rear Chassi parts such as new torsion bushings and wheel bearing kits.




Some rubber details and turn signal glass




Details such as wires, fuel tank parts, wiper arms, blades and trim molding clips.






Push rod tubes, engine compartment seals and heater hose




I also got some cam gear bolts from a friend.




More parts are on the way!

[TPB_Karl]

Finally, I've started properly with the project! I received a package with new rear inner fenders and I am not impressed with these. They could at least be somewhat symmetrical..


Ive mounted fenders and side runners as reference before i start cutting into the body.







Im not overwhelmed over the fitment between the side runners and rear fender. But it'll have to do.. for now





The fenders are from slightly different year models, none of which had holes for turn signals & taillights in the right places... So first on the agenda was to move the holes for the turn signals.
To get the holes in the right place I made a template by taping up the original fender that was on the car and marking where the holes should be.









Then drill and weld..





The fender warped quiet a bit from the welding, but that fixed with a little work with the twatting stick and a dolly.








The front right fender was i pretty bad condition. (still is...) It needed alot of small repairs and straightening..

[TPB_Karl]

Since the requirement for these fenders is to get the car through an inspection, I should really just mount them and be done with it. But as I want to be able to use the car this upcoming summer without being ashamed of its state, I will try to paint them in time as they are all in slightly different colours.. So regarding the old repair above, I REALLY should have put some fiberglass putty over it and call it done.. But this felt like a good challenge for me to start learning English the wheel, bead roller as well as the shrink & stretch machines in the garage.
Eventually I got a piece that seemed to fit well enough.





Unfortunately i was a little lost in the moment so i didnt take alot of pictures.. But after some more straightening of the fender and small repairs it seemed to fit decent.









As a small bonus gave the Empi eliminator a once over. I polished the chrome, washed it and lubed everything, glued the rubber back into one piece and sanded down the wooden handle and treated it with some extra matte hard wax oil.

[Piledriver]

You do nice work!

I guess those inner fenders are "trim to fit"....