Project Minne - a 72 build thread

[rs-vic]

You are a brave man! Wow! I am assuming this will not be a stock restoration. What is the ratio of three components of your anti-rust solution?

[jpnovak]

Wow. Its been a long time since I have put up an update. I really have not had as much time to work on the car. I started a new job a few months back that is time demanding. Plus, When its triple digits in the garage during the TX summer there is not much motivation to get out and cut, weld, and grind.

So... Where were we?

It was time to move on to the front end of the car. Finally, we had some cooler weather and it was motivating to get back out there and make sparks fly. Frm the last trip to the garage there is this big hole to close up...



As you can see I previously cut out the front suspension pan. The rust had migrated to the lateral tank supports, inner fender well and battery box on the Pass side. I only trimmed the pan so that I could use the factory seams on the inner fender well as an alignment reference. In some of the pictures you can still see the rust holes, especially on the passenger side.

[jpnovak]

I admit took a while to save some money for the puzzle pieces. I knew the repair process would take a front pan kit (suspension pan, gas tank support) both sides of lateral tank supports, and the two outer corners from the inner fender support. I sourced all of these from Restoration Design.

If these fit while sitting on the garage floor then they should fit in the car. Right?!







First, the task is to trim the seams and fit the front pan. This should just pull into place as long as the stamping is high quality - and thankfully it does. I am pleased with the RD panel fit. I still have the trailing edge to trim such that they align for that small gap and butt weld.



The next step really hurt. The two most expensive panels are the Lateral tank supports. It was painful to have to cut these up. But it saves so much time compared to fabrication. Worth the effort and easily to justify the cost. If only RD would offer stampings of the front ends of the lateral tank supports. That would be less wasteful for most of these projects. These sections were trimmed to length and are simply set in place. I will trim the seams and screw them down before committing to weld.





One the lateral tank supports are in place the forward tank support has a place to sit. So, I dropped it in. Its really staring to work out.





The end result is that the front end of the car starts to look like a 911 again. The hole is filled with sheet metal once again.



The next step is to clean all the cavities, seal them, rust proof them and then start more detailed panel alignment. ONce the front pan is squared and aligned to properly locate the suspension I can tack weld. This will then give me location spots to install the lower corners under the battery boxes. This should be relatively easy once I get to this point.

I hope to have some more regular updates over the next 2 months assuming I have time to commit to the project. If all goes well I can consider to go to paint by the end of the year.

[PMNorris]

Nice work. Looking good

[Schiefer]

I´m in awe....

[RSTarga]

Really nice work Jamie.

[jpnovak]

Thanks Guys.

David, Are you still around or have you headed South of the Border yet? The cooler weather has motivated me for some seat time. Will let you know if we head SW from town. Hopefully you can meet up if you are still in the States.

[edmayo]

I didn't see the upper reinforcement pieces, hope you got those!

[jpnovak]

Yes Ed. Just not in the picture. Thanks for the reminder.

For reference, These saddles go over the pair of trailing arm mounting bolts (rear of triangle) on the topside of the front pan. They are obscured by the tank support. Mine are shaped so they sit on the outside of the lateral tank support. I will highlight these parts when I get to that point in assembly.

[jpnovak]

I managed to get some garage time this afternoon. Bring out the grinder and let's get to work. I was able to take the pan and get it fit. Part of the verification process was to ensure the front suspension would still fit. So, I cleaned up the a-arms and inserted them into the cross member. The pan was a success. It was squared up and screwed down. And now this panel is held together without clamps. Just a few strategic sheet metal screws.





Once the pan was fit I moved on to aligning the lateral tank supports and fuel tank support panels. It was minimal trimming from my last day in the garage to get these ready for install. Here are all the sections mounted with more screws. The screws serve as alignment holes for the welding phase. I will simply weld up the holes once the panels are committed to their location with melted metal. I am pleased with the fit.



I noticed I had quite a pile of discards from the pan prep. This is part of the stash of rusted metal. I am so glad this is no longer attached to the car. This collection is now in the recycle bin.




The next step is to trim the sections for the lower outside tub corners. I am deleting the battery box on the Pass side as part of this process. I need the airflow for an oil cooler. Yes, It is not original. No, I don't care. Function first. Once I have the sections trimmed and aligned for the corners I will take it all apart and prep for welding. Some vacuuming from the blast process and some panel rust etch are on deck...