The Restoration ...

Schedules for Carl and I did not work out as initially planned, but work still happened. One of the reasons why we waited to remove the body from the pan was because of the doors. The bottom bolts were so rusted, we spent forever trying to get them free. Then, we realized there were two more bolts hidden behind the dust caps. Carl ended up having to drill them out while I was away to get the doors free. He initially tried to weld a nut onto the drilled out head, however, the rust was so thick, he was unable to get a solid connection and was unable to weld.

September 30: An exciting day! We were finally able to totally separate the body from the pan. My focus for the day was power washing the pan and stripping the body clean. Carl worked on custom building a rolling frame for the body to ride around on. He had a few issues with the construction, so the frame was not completed on this day. As you can see, the front fenders and the running boards are still attached. I knew they would present some problems, so I saved their removal for the end. Unfortunately, by the time I finished stripping everything else out, it was getting pretty late. I tried my best to get the fenders removed, but they were stubborn. We will have to wait another day for that.

October 01: Our schedules did not work out for meeting up this day, but Carl wanted to finish building out the rolling frame. Once he was finished with the frame, he threw a pic of his progress my way. I was totally stoked. Additionally, he sent me photos of the pan. He decided to work on it and fully assess the needs. It was determined that the front suspension subframe was shot, so a new one has been ordered. He was also able to remove half of the pan. At least on the passenger side, the tunnel looks solid.

The plan is now to replace the front subframe, finish taking the last few items off and getting it sandblasted. Once that is completed, we will work on repairing any remaining rust issues. Once completed, we will be sealing the pan, at which time, I will work on brake conversion, and new steering and suspension components.