The pneumatic shears and die grinder that I have don't seem to do the trick. My problem is that my little air compressor doesn't keep up. My neighbor saw me cutting some patches by hand and offered his electric "nibbler." While it makes a mess this thing is a champ. I liked it so much I ordered my own from Northern Tool and Equipment.
I found some cutting wheels for my die grinder. These wheels will cut our the bad spots in the body like a hot knife in butter. Between the grinder and the nibbler, I can go to town cutting out bad spots in the body and making new patches from my sheet of 18 ga.
Since my birthday is this month, my lovely bride bought for me a new lower rolling tool box. Finally I was able to take three tool boxes and get organized into this.
The welding is getting better. I've learned to lay the first bead of weld and then grind that down. If there are voids in the weld, go back over it with another bead. This is better than building up a massive bead that would inevitably have voids in it.
Here is some sample patching of the inner wall in the rear passenger area on the left.
I have also spent time patching the area around the hood, the inner fit of the convertible top and other random rotten areas.
I started the installation of the battery box floor and I'm not too happy about my job. I have had to reconstruct the lower 2" of the rear walls along with the lower 3" of the front. The rear walls were not too much of a problem but the front wall is difficult because of it's contour. I'm going to work on it more this weekend and if by Monday I am not pleased I'll order the replacement piece from Restoration Design.
eBay is dangerous. I've started my routine now of hunting for parts as they pop up. I've made my list of parts that I need and have bought only a few so far. I'm not planning to buy anything I don't plan to install in the next few months unless I just can't pass up the price. Check out my list and if you have parts you want to offer, let me know.
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