# Still chipping away...



## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

I finished my pedal restoration yesterday when I welded up the clutch rod hole that was worn oversize. I redrilled and clear coated the rest of the arm and then assembled it with new bushings and pedal pads. 




Then I figured I might as well tear into the cowl mount replacement, since it didn't jump on by itself after leaving it in the car for a week. I drilled out the spot welds on the cowl and discovered it folded back into 3 layers of panels all spot welded together from inside. 


The donor that the cutoff came from was an A/C car and much of the cowl and kick panel metal is different, so I am in the process of disassembling the cutoff piece by piece to get what I need and a better look at how to proceed with the actual replacement on the car. This isn't going to be quick or easy to do it right and it all interlocks with the floor, inner and outer rocker panels too.......


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## REDGTO89 (Jul 19, 2008)

you are one busy man i tell ya!! but keep up the good work:cheers


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## REX (Jan 21, 2009)

The pedals look great! You do nice work!!


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

One chip at a time is one chip closer to the finished product. You'll get there, though it'll be high on LABOR and low on CASH (hopefully!). When I did my '15 Ford 3 years ago, I'd do a little each night....though it didn't need dearly the amount or scope of work your '67 does....Before I knew it, I was driving around in the thing. Better than watching teevee....


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## Tri-Power (Jan 10, 2008)

That's how my car got to were it is. Way better than watching the tube.


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

Thanks guys, no I don't watch much TV. Maybe an hour a week.... More pics of today's work.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

Wow, that's alot of cancer, sure glad mine wasn't that far gone, not sure if I would have been able to do it.


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

Rukee said:


> Wow, that's alot of cancer, sure glad mine wasn't that far gone, not sure if I would have been able to do it.


Yeah, it's worse than I thought. There's a LOT of hidden rot. The gaping hole thru the rockers is supposed to have 2 layers of metal there and it's all gone. I'm really thinking I need a rotisserie to get this accessible. The outer rockers are gonna be a biotch, as they are encased in the cowl and under the quarters....


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Now is a good time to stop and take a breather. That's a HECK of a lot more rust than was initially apparent. I would be thinking "donor car" at this stage. That is a bunch of work.... are you sure you want to fix this particular body shell? It might be time to go scouting for another shell, etc. Good luck, we're here, and we're prayin' for ya.....


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

geeteeohguy said:


> Now is a good time to stop and take a breather. That's a HECK of a lot more rust than was initially apparent. I would be thinking "donor car" at this stage. That is a bunch of work.... are you sure you want to fix this particular body shell? It might be time to go scouting for another shell, etc. Good luck, we're here, and we're prayin' for ya.....


Yeah, it looks bleak, doesn't it ?? I was figuring on a 1 piece floor with all braces and the inner rockers, so really, the only additional damage is the missing kick panel material and I have that in the cutoff. I didn't know the outer rocker continued inside the pillar post all the way to the cowl and I'm not sure how to get it out or install the new one. It almost appears that the outer was attached to the body before the floor and inner assembly was put in. If that is the process then my next move would be to cross brace the door opening and get the body off the frame and onto a rotisserie where I can remove the outer rocker and get the new one in first. Then I can repair the kick panel rot and be ready for the floor assembly. The depressing part is the other side is worse. It needs the toe panel repaired too and I didn't get the kick panel cutoff for that side. 
Setting this one aside and finding a better body really isn't an option anymore. I have dumped everything I have into this and I doubt I could sell it for what I have in it. Any sane person would run away at first sight.....
Just keep cheering me on......I'm starting to warm to the challenge.....:lol:


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## Jstreet (Mar 9, 2009)

finding a suitable replacement is the key. I fear finding the replacement will probably yeild a better donor than your current situ, especially if both sides are this far gone. Dont be deterred. Your work so far looks great.


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

You might wanna put the one piece floor in before the rocker panels and side panels so you can weld on the inside layers to solid metal.


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## 68greengoat (Sep 15, 2005)

Too Many Projects said:


> Yeah, it looks bleak, doesn't it ?? I was figuring on a 1 piece floor with all braces and the inner rockers, so really, the only additional damage is the missing kick panel material and I have that in the cutoff. I didn't know the outer rocker continued inside the pillar post all the way to the cowl and I'm not sure how to get it out or install the new one. It almost appears that the outer was attached to the body before the floor and inner assembly was put in. If that is the process then my next move would be to cross brace the door opening and get the body off the frame and onto a rotisserie where I can remove the outer rocker and get the new one in first. Then I can repair the kick panel rot and be ready for the floor assembly. The depressing part is the other side is worse. It needs the toe panel repaired too and I didn't get the kick panel cutoff for that side.
> Setting this one aside and finding a better body really isn't an option anymore. I have dumped everything I have into this and I doubt I could sell it for what I have in it. Any sane person would run away at first sight.....
> Just keep cheering me on......I'm starting to warm to the challenge.....:lol:


I give you a heck of alot of credit. Most guys wouldn't have the patience or the talent to do what you're attempting to do. Present company included. Just think of the pride you're going to have once you resurrect your goat from the dead! Remember, it doesn't have to be done "yesterday". Take your time. You'll get 'er.....arty:


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

I agree with Greengoat 100%. That scope of fabrication/welding/re-building is beyond the reach of this mere mortal. So, there you go. You're cheered on. Looks like a long-written-off '67 4-speed is gonna be prowling the streets in the future!!


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

The magnitude of this project isn't what I envisioned when I agreed to buy it and isn't what I wanted. Time really isn't on my side here either as it needs to be at least a roller to get it out of my shop in the next 4-6 weeks. I will be bringing my Pete home from storage then and need to remove the 800# 13 speed transmission to replace the clutch. I have the correct trans sitting here on a shelf that needs rebuilding too but I hope to have that all ready to go when the clutch is out. The truck is my income source for the summer, so it needs to be ready when the work starts.


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## injn37 (Nov 16, 2008)

Too Many Projects,

As for those inner rocker pieces that go up into the kick area, I found out about them the hard way too! I replaced both inner and outer rocker panels. Got outer from Ames and inner from Performance years. I made that piece that goes up and wraps the vent opening by making a cardboard template and then in a piece of 12 gauge . Using a dead blow hammer, I pounded a slight bow in the piece ( felt like Jessie James) as the original had a bend/bow to it, then before welding out the inner /outer rockers, I slid this piece up from under the car ( car was on a rottiserie) and hammered it up and into place. Then using Mig and clamps, tacked it and formed it into place. 
If you would like I can post some pictures of it tomorrow for you.

Hope this helps.

rich


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

injn37 said:


> Too Many Projects,
> 
> As for those inner rocker pieces that go up into the kick area, I found out about them the hard way too! I replaced both inner and outer rocker panels. Got outer from Ames and inner from Performance years. I made that piece that goes up and wraps the vent opening by making a cardboard template and then in a piece of 12 gauge . Using a dead blow hammer, I pounded a slight bow in the piece ( felt like Jessie James) as the original had a bend/bow to it, then before welding out the inner /outer rockers, I slid this piece up from under the car ( car was on a rottiserie) and hammered it up and into place. Then using Mig and clamps, tacked it and formed it into place.
> If you would like I can post some pictures of it tomorrow for you.
> ...


I know exactly what you are talking about. I have a replacement brace for the right side that came on the cowl cutoff, but I will have to fabricate the one on the left as you did. Right now I'm trying to rent a rotisserie to get access to the rocker panels. I'd actually love to buy one but $1300 for a tool is out of the question when I need $1800 in replacement panels.


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## injn37 (Nov 16, 2008)

If you have a Mig welder, build one. I had a local steel company drop the steel for me. The most expensive thing was the 6 5" swivel wheels. Got them at Tractor Supply Company. Steel cost me about 300 bucks and the wheels I think were 25 or 35 each or about 150-210 for all. If you would like I can draw up the dimensions for you. 
One thing I can say is that my efficiency on getting things done on the body increased 5 fold with this big turkey roaster!
I will send a picture tomorrow to you.

rich


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## crustysack (Oct 5, 2008)

yes big ups to Mitch and his dedication to save this car- this project makes mine look like one of those Snap-tite models- keep up the great work and pictures to show everyone what is possible


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

injn37 said:


> If you have a Mig welder, build one. I had a local steel company drop the steel for me. The most expensive thing was the 6 5" swivel wheels. Got them at Tractor Supply Company. Steel cost me about 300 bucks and the wheels I think were 25 or 35 each or about 150-210 for all. If you would like I can draw up the dimensions for you.
> One thing I can say is that my efficiency on getting things done on the body increased 5 fold with this big turkey roaster!
> I will send a picture tomorrow to you.
> 
> rich


I've been looking at them on the web and some have nice features that I'd like to incorporate into one, if I build it. I like the jacks for adjusting the height and one has a plate with multiple slots for a lock pin to hold it from rotating. Then there's the "balance" adjustment. Not sure how to do all that. I have a chop saw, torch and mig, so the tools are here, I just need some good working drawings and I might be able to pull it off.


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## injn37 (Nov 16, 2008)

Give me a few days and I will post them for you . I made mine rugged but simple. Use the engine lift to set the balance point. No real secret to it. Just get the body mounted solidly, and have the body at its lowest point on the arms. Then lift up each end about 2 or so inches and try to rotate. It will be bottom heavy. Lift up another 2 then try again. If you only go about 2" each time you will not rack the body lifting it. Keep doing this until you find the sweet spot where you can literally rotate the body completely around with one hand! One thing to remember, when you take the whole floor out after finding the balance point, you change the center of gravity up towards the roof and the car becomes top heavy a little!

I will post some pictures tonight so you can see mine.
A few days and I will have it drawn up for dim for you.
Only problem with them..... is where do you put the thing when you are done using it!!!!

rich


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

injn37 said:


> Give me a few days and I will post them for you . I made mine rugged but simple. Use the engine lift to set the balance point. No real secret to it. Just get the body mounted solidly, and have the body at its lowest point on the arms. Then lift up each end about 2 or so inches and try to rotate. It will be bottom heavy. Lift up another 2 then try again. If you only go about 2" each time you will not rack the body lifting it. Keep doing this until you find the sweet spot where you can literally rotate the body completely around with one hand! One thing to remember, when you take the whole floor out after finding the balance point, you change the center of gravity up towards the roof and the car becomes top heavy a little!
> 
> I will post some pictures tonight so you can see mine.
> A few days and I will have it drawn up for dim for you.
> ...



Sounds good Rich. I'll probably incorporate the jacks because I'm old, lazy and don't have an engine hoist. I do have a small fork lift tho and when not in use, it will get broken down and put up on the pallet rack ....


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## injn37 (Nov 16, 2008)

Mitch,

Here is some pics of the rotisserie. I will put some dimensions to it in the next couple of days for you. The jacks do make it nice. I put this together in one Saturday. Still have a black toe nail from where I dropped the 'T' piece on it.


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

Looks good. I like your use of roll pins in the pivot tube to prevent it from walking out. I haven't seen that on prebuilts and its a good safety feature. Also the oil hole to lube it. That's something else I have been thinking about. I may look into solid bar stock to fit inside a sealed ball bearing in the outer tube for rotation. I like a lock pin setup I saw on a web site today. It would replace the lock bolts on the outer pivot tube and would act to prevent the inner pivot from walking in at the same time. See pic below. Is that 2" square tubing ? 
With all the bracing you put in the car, did you cutout the whole floor and rockers at once ? I was thinking of cutting out and replacing the outer rockers one at a time to avoid having the body move but it looks like it wouldn't with that many braces. 
Thanks for the pics. I look forward to drawings.


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## injn37 (Nov 16, 2008)

Mitch,
Braced it. removed the floor first. Checked with measurements both before and after , to make sure nothing moved. Then removed both inner and outer rocker on one side. Checked measurements again. Nothing moved. Replaced outer rocker only. Did other side same way. Replaced outer only. Checked dims again. All ok. Replaced floor. Had to temp screw the floor to the area kept under the rear seat. this gave me the back locating point to start from. Then , using a ratcheting strap, pulled the floor forward to stretch it to reach the front firewall floor section. When I got that located and squared up, again, screwed the floor to hold it. Love those self tapping sheetmetal screws. You can move things easily, no grinding out welds to reposition. Then made the pieces that go into the kick area. Spent forever lining up the floor braces. I made some studs from 5" 7/16 bolts, cut the heads off, drilled the ends 1/8 and put 1/8 dowel pins into them to make a measuring point. Then measured from the cowl mounts ( that I did not mess with) to each of the 'studs' locked onto each mounting point in the braces. Checked them straight back and crossed. Referenced from the frame mounts for actual numbers. When I liked these I screwed in the braces . Checked again, then removed the braces and put in the inner rockers. Replaced braces and again checked all dims and cross measured dims to reconfirm all was still in position. Drove in those kick area plates and then spent the day welding it all out. Dropped it onto the frame with those 'studs' still in the braces ( locking nuts removed) and it dropped right on no prob!

I will get you the building prints shortly.

later,

rich


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

Yup, sounds very similar to what I was thinking but I'm gonna leave the tunnel down the center till both outers are secured. That may eliminate the need to pull the floor. The floor I'm looking at getting already has the braces attached. That may be a good thing or not, if it doesn't all line up....:confused

What was your reasoning to buy the inners and outers from 2 different sources ? I'm thinking I'll get the GM outers. Are the inners that different between suppliers/manufacturers ?
Sorry for all the questions but I've never done this before and the more info I gain from experienced people like you, the more confidant I feel about taking it on.


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## injn37 (Nov 16, 2008)

Placed a big order with Ames, as they are only about 30 miles from me and figured I would save on the freight charges. They had the inner but didn't list outers. After digging deeper into the project, found the inners were kind of junk, so after looking, I found them at PY. Called Ames and asked if they could get them , but they said no, no reason.
I think , not sure, but they may ( both inners and outers) come from the same supplier, as they ( finish and quality ) were very similar and good to boot!

If my tunnel was worth anything, I might have done what you are planning, but to be honest, I lost lots of sleep trying to work though in my mind all of the what ifs that could happen in taking out and putting in the floor and rockers, and in the end, it really was a piece of cake! I even did it all alone, as I was on a roll and didn't want to wait for anyone to show up. Hardest part was to lift the floor onto the car. The rotisserie was the best, and made the job quite easy to perform ( I know I owe dims, probably on Monday, as I left all my notes in the office).

Any questions, just ask. Answers may not be the way you want to do it, but I can surly tell you the way I did it, and how many band aides it took!

btw...
attached is the picture of the kick area that should be fab'd from 14 or 12 gauge. As can be seen at the right side, is where you have to have a compound radius to let the panel come back towards the door edge. Also, you have to drill the panel in about 4-5 spots that line up the the lower hinge to plug weld the hing to this plate.
Hope this helps some.

rich


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

I have a replacement brace for the right side but I will need to fabricate one for the left and yeah, if it was flat it wouldn't be a big deal. 
All my panels will be from GoodMark. The dealers are reluctant to say where their parts come from. I did get the GoodMark rep to answer me when I asked who was putting the inner rockers and seat brackets on the complete floor if GoodMark wasn't selling them that way. He told me it was Dynacorn. At first I was tempted to go with the Dynacorn floor but after thinking about it if everything didn't line up good, I would end up cutting the inners loose to get the fit I wanted, so I went with the Goodmark and ordered the inners loose. It all pretty much ends up the same cost anyway. I just hope the fit and quality are good.


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## injn37 (Nov 16, 2008)

Any question on where to hit it with the hammer, shout!!!


rich:seeya:


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## injn37 (Nov 16, 2008)

Mitch,

Here you go. I made this thing one a sat morning. I figured that it was going to be put to use very rarely, so I kept it real simple. I did use a small bottle jack and a piece of tubing to adjust the height of the body ( fine adjustments), but didn't want to spend the money on those long throw jacks and the time on making an indexing setup to rotate. When you have the body center of gravity set right ( no big deal) , then you can rotate with one hand and it pretty much stays there while you dog down rotation.

I also didn't have the right size round tubing for the inside tubing, so I used some bronze bushing I had ( turned then down some to fit), and dropped a bead of weld onto the tube so the bushings wouldn't walk into the tube, and the cap screws on the outside keeps then from walking out.

There you go. Happy Rotating! Make it sooner than later, you will find your progress on the body increase 5 fold!!!!!

Any questions, ask.

rich :cheers


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## Too Many Projects (Nov 15, 2008)

THANKS, Rich !!!!!!!
I printed it all out to look over with a steel supplier for cost.


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## injn37 (Nov 16, 2008)

No Problem!!


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