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Thread: Progress on the 77, inch by inch.......
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nwaco
Redlining
Posts: 407
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posted December 17, 2004 06:22 PM |
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Progress on the 77, inch by inch.......
I finally finished painting my 77 cab less the exterior. I have now completed painting the bottom, interior, wheel wells, and engine bay.
I just started wiring, and I hope to mount the cab very soon.
Engine wiring started....
Here is the few pieces of floor pannel I had to replace right before I started painting.
I hope to get it loaded soon, and things will go much quicker. I have the bed ready to go to the blaster, but since I am storing it outside, I am waiting to strip it as soon as I can clear the space that the cab is being worked in. I think the bed will go real quick as it is just bottom paint and overall prime until the final exterior finish coat.
Finally...visible progress.....
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rotormunky
Redlining
Orlando, Florida
Posts: 424
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posted December 18, 2004 06:42 AM |
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Hey Ken niiiiice work. I'm very very jealous. I've got a week squirrled away to start welding up my bed over the holiday. I'd like to blame the hurricane thing for my lack of progress but its been slow going despite that.
Did you manage to get that weird glue/padding stuff off the top ledge of the firewall in the engine bay?
If so what's your preferred method?
Again nice work.
____________
-Martin
Orlando, Florida
http://www.themonkeyhouse.org/REPU
'77 REPU (Some assembly required :)
'91 Cabrio (Battered and bruised, but she's still my baby.)
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nwaco
Redlining
Posts: 407
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posted December 18, 2004 09:56 AM |
 Edited By: nwaco on 18 Dec 2004 13:19 |
Hi Martin......
Thanks, I decided to start posting a few pics because I finally have some visual progress, and I thought maybe I could remind us all that as drawn out as these restorations are, there is light at the end of the tunnel if we keep at it, keep at it, keep at it, keep at.....
Anyway, I took a bit of the tar stuff off on this 77, only where it inhibited the flow of water in the corners on top of the shelf, and the other 77 was really good so it didn't need to be removed. A couple of the 74's will need to be removed, so I will strip it like I did to the stuff on the floor on both 77's. I used a hammer and a old somewhat sharpened putty knife. I just chiseled underneath and popped it up. Slow, but methodical and it actually removes quite well once you get the hang of it.
The stuff on the floor keeps the sound and vibration down, but moisture wicks under it and masks the rust that begins. As you can see in the pics, Most of my floor in the 77 is very good, and it looked good until I removed the tar stuff, then I could see the rust through. I just decided to remove all of it on all the trucks, that way I always know the condition of the floor by lifting the carpet. Hell, the trucks are noisy anyway, so what is a little more.
I also had to rebuild the drivers door hinge mount. This , I find is a common problem on a lot of my trucks. Here is my rebuild plan, maybe not textbook, but it worked for me:
Here is the problem:
Here is the surgical removal of the cancerous tumor:
Here is chemotherapy, before weld-through primer:
Prosthetic fit and fair:
Full recovery:
The biggest challenge here is to "not" weld the floating backing nut plate to the new piece. If you do, you will not have door adjustment and will have to start over again.
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klaus42
Rotorhead
Posts: 1877
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posted December 18, 2004 04:03 PM |
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Nice!
Ken, you're providing a virtual step-by-step REPU body resto process... when are the full book/DVD/videotape instructional course sets gonna be available?
...could be a viable product! :)
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Mazdarx605
Redlining
Posts: 314
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posted December 18, 2004 04:24 PM |
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Way to go Ken.
I was wondering did you go through and re-tape the whole wiring harness,because it looks very shiny and new?Also is the white paint the final color or is it a primer?It is looking awesome.Maybe someday I will have a time and place to do that same thing on my truck.Keep up the good work.
Chris
____________
74 green REPU w/factory air
Early production 79 Spark yellow RX-7 GS
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nwaco
Redlining
Posts: 407
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posted December 18, 2004 09:58 PM |
Edited By: nwaco on 19 Dec 2004 01:10
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No DVD available yet.....
but you never know. Actually, I usually fail to take pictures when I should to properly document my processes. I get to the end and then find out I forgot to take pics. In this case, I had a few to document the journey.
As for the wiring, I just unwraped it, cleaned it with a mild cleaner, and re-wraped with Scotch electrical tape. Don't use a bargain brand plastic tape, use a good quality vinyl tape, Scotch (3m) or similar brand. I was going to use a plastic sleeving, but after I tried it, it looked so cheesy, I went back to basic original look tape wrap.
If you unwrap it, there are single wraps at specific points underneath where a breakout occurs, leave these, and after cleaning, start wraping as you go, and replace the single wraps as you get to them. That way, you don't lose track of where the breakouts should be.
I hope to get the lower cab brake lines installed on Sunday, and maybe, just maybe I will be ready to load cab. I am close, but I keep checking my box of parts, and if there are more that can go on, I start working those. I will probably try to load most of the exhaust system and heat shields before I load cab, that may take a few more days as I need to switch headers. That means I will need to either collect more parts or take chassis to the shop to fab up new pipe routing.
And Chris, yes, white is the topcoat. I used PPG gray epoxy primer over PPG Chromate primer as the base coat. I like a chromate base as it stops corrosion and rust in its tracks. The epoxy lays down a nice base for the topcoat, in which I used a PPG acrylic enamel. Mainly because I already have a gallon, so white it is.
I am getting oh, so close.....
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nwaco
Redlining
Posts: 407
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posted December 21, 2004 07:46 PM |
Edited By: nwaco on 21 Dec 2004 23:00
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Houston....The eagle has landed.....
I finally loaded the cab on the 77. I started installing brake lines, clutch master cylinder, power booster, windshield wiper motor and arms.
I am going to get the cab proper completed, and then will start mounting the fenders and doors next week after the holidays and "REPU scrapfest 04" is complete.
Notice the fine balancing act. I had to raise it 3 feet to clear motor.
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Tom93R1
Redlining
Posts: 458
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posted December 23, 2004 10:08 AM |
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That is looking very nice. I so wish I had a place I could do that sort of thing, or better yet I wish I knew how to do that sort of thing.
____________
'74 lawn-green
4-port 13b
Weber 48DCO
Racing Beat Header
Magnaflow
resonator/amplifier
really loud!
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ovquick
Redlining
Posts: 253
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posted December 23, 2004 06:18 PM |
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The 77
Merry Christmas everyone!
The pictures are probably what that truck looked a little like in 1977 moving down the assembly line.Few trucks will look like that again.
Ken, that is a super job you are doing and shows excellent workmanship on the repairs.
You have certainly raised the bar for what can be done to restore your REPU. Congrats.
____________
Manteca Mazda Asylum
where a boy and his cat live, without adult supervision
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STEVEN
1st Gear
Posts: 43
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posted December 25, 2004 10:30 AM |
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What thickness is the sheet metal are you using for the patches?
Looks very well done btw. New found respect for you.
____________
74 repu
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nwaco
Redlining
Posts: 407
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posted December 25, 2004 10:56 AM |
Edited By: nwaco on 25 Dec 2004 13:57
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Thank you, for sheetmetal patches,.............
in general, I use 22 guage stock. I find it bends and cuts nicely with hand tools. I can fab very precise pieces with this guage. It also welds good to stock metal.
I did have a bunch of stock 12" x 24" pieces of 18 guage sheet bent at a sheetmetal fab shop with a standard 1" 90 degree bend along the long edge. I am currently using this to replace the floor pans along the doors on a `74 I am also rebuilding. If you cut away the pan along the door, a 1" edge fits perfectly as a new pan and edge. I also like the slightly thicker material as I am not replacing the raised beads of the stock floorpanels.
Other than the pre-fabbed stock I had bent, I just cut the pieces with a set of aviator snips and use leather and wood hammers and a maple stump to hammer out the pieces. It is suprisingly easy to do, and if it doesn't fit, just keep hammering and trimming until it does.
Sooner or later, they will fit.
I sure wish I had a metal bandsaw, a sheetmetal brake, and a bead roller though....
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Steven
1st Gear
Posts: 43
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posted December 25, 2004 08:09 PM |
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I could not agree more. Picture is worth a thousand words. If you could share an image of this floor pan fix I would appreciate it very much. Are the rockers on the 74 you mention in need of work as well?
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nwaco
Redlining
Posts: 407
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posted December 27, 2004 08:46 AM |
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Floorpan fix...............
I will get some pics of the 74 as soon as I unbury it. A glimpse of it is on the left in the second picture of my cab load series. I sort of buried it during the push to finish and load the cab. I will get back to it as soon as I finish my 77.
I can get a few pics of what I have done so far. I replaced the foward footwell ramps on both sides from seat to wheelwell bump as well as the raised edge.
I also had to replace the lower third of the drivers kick panel sheet as well as the front 6 inches of the inner rocker panel. That was on funky piece to fab. I am not quite done with making parts or welding, but when I get a moment, I will clear it out and snap a few pics of where I am at so far.
I am also going to replace most of the drivers rear floor pan, door edge, rocker front corner, and the entire drivers lower rear cab structure along the lower back wall(that little shelf boxlike structure, including cab mount).
I have the plan mapped out, but I need to remove the cab to get better access, so I decided to wait until I get the 77 done to get more space.
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rotormunky
Redlining
Orlando, Florida
Posts: 424
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posted December 28, 2004 07:10 PM |
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quote:
in general, I use 22 guage stock. I find it bends and cuts nicely with hand tools. I can fab very precise pieces with this guage. It also welds good to stock metal.
I've found the exact same thing. I have a 4'x4' sheet of 18 guage that I haven't really touched yet because I've been repairing the bed floor and 22 guage is so much easier to work. I'm reproducing the bed ridges by hand with a hammer and rolled edge. Working well.
quote:
I sure wish I had a metal bandsaw, a sheetmetal brake, and a bead roller though....
I hear you on the bead roller but I'd like a plannishing hammer setup, so I thought I'd just wait and get some bead dies instead.
What I am doing is building my own sheetmetal brake. What ever you do don't buy one. Go somewhere that sells quality brakes and see how they're constructed. Two 30" pieces of stout angle stock and a little scrap and a little welding and you've got brake. I was using a friends when I notices how simple a machine it was.
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