Day 35..More Holes

Another evening of working on the car. Mike was working on drilling holes in the floor while his dad was working on cutting the replacement metal. This is a part of the battery tray with the new piece of metal fit in the center.

This is a piece in the driver side toe board.
This is the top layer of metal that Mikes dad is working on cutting and shaping to go on the driver side toe board.

Mike drilling holes in the floor.

Also the new floor didn't have to drain plug holes cut out so this is the first hole cut out.

Day 34 - Welding Preparations

Mike and his dad spent most of Saturday working on the car. They were able to cut out some more rusted out metal, and cut and fit some replacement pieces.

This is the driver side rear quarter panel

This is with it almost all the way cut out. This is one of the new pieces of metal all nicely cut and ready to be welded in.
Mike then worked on drilling holes into the floor.
The holes are for welding purposes
Molly and I took a blanket outside and watched for awhile. Molly seemed to really enjoy it, although she kept going over and getting in the way. All she really wanted was attention.
It was exciting seeing so much happening on my car. I am so thankful to Mike and his Dad for spending their Saturday working on my car. None of this would have been possible without them!

Day 33, and the cutting continues

Mike and his dad spent some more time in the garage yesterday night while I was off at The Sharing Place. I didn't get to see what was done, but luckily Mike was able to take pictures. So here they are...

Passenger side rear quarter panel

Also part of the passenger rear quarter panel
Driver side toe board... making of a template

Passenger side front frame rail - cutting out rust spots to weld in patches.

Day 32 - Toe Board Makeover Continues...

It just occurred to me that I am going to be running out of good titles for my blog entries soon, if not already (seem above title). Seriously, how many titles I can come up with that have to do with cutting and grinding? So if the titles start to get super lame.... either suggest some good titles for me, or deal with the lame ones.

Mike and his dad headed out to the garage for a couple hours tonight. They continued working on the passenger as well as driver side toe boards. Of course Mike had to take a picture of the sparks (he seems to be rather obsessed with them, although I will admit they are pretty).

This is the hole that was cut out. They are still deciding how to tacle the "M" shaped gash in the upper left corner. I figure it is rather appropriate to point out that it does indeed look like an "M".... since all the people who were in the garage tonight have names that start with M's...even down to the dog (Molly) who was out there for a few minutes with us.

There are two layers of metal here. They cut off the top metal and then cut out some of the rust spots in the 2nd layer. They will end up grinding away the rust on this 2nd layer now that it is exposed.

This would be the top layer of rusted out metal that was cut out of the drivers side toe board. As you can tell.. there was not much metal even left in that area.
This car has been like a father-daughter sort of deal in the sense that it was my dad's first car and is now mine. It has also become a father-son deal lately since Mike and his dad have been able to have a project to work on together. I really enjoy seeing them working together out in the garage. Its fun that it has become such a family event.

Day 31 - Cutting and Grinding

Tonight's project was cutting out some of the passenger side toe board/firewall. Mike's dad cut out a section and fabricated another piece of metal that will be welded in.
The new piece of metal. It took a bit of grinding but it is a good fit.

This is the rusted out piece cut out of of the passenger side toe board.

This is the drivers side Toe Board. As you can see... there will be a bit of metal needing to be cut and replaced in this area. Mike ordered a replacement piece that will get fit and welded in.

There is still plenty left to do on the car... but it's exciting seeing the progress being made!

Cutting into the Car - Day 30

My evening started out with plans to watch the newest Harry Potter Movie that just came out. Then Mike's dad came over and wanted to work on the car. Seriously, as soon as I realized Mike and his dad were going to be working on the car... all thoughts of Harry Potter were quickly forgotten. Watching stuff happen with my car is much more exciting. Who would have ever thought I would find so much joy in watching a car restoration!

These are the Tools Mike's dad brought over. They don't look all that menacing until you see some of them in action.
The first tool brought out was this little jack-hammer-ish thingy. I have no idea what it is called, but I instantly felt bad for my car. It's a good thing car's don't have feelings, because I imagine this thing would have hurt like heck! Basically this was used to break the welds and get in between the two layers of metal.

Tonight's project was cutting out the rusted out parts of the fender apron (I think that's what it's called) where the top of the shock towers go. So there are two layers of metal where moisture usually collects and rusts out right there. I guess it is normal to see on cars. So the rusted out spots were cut out... and will eventually have new metal welded in there. This picture shows one spot already cut out, and how rusted out the other spot is.

After both spots were cut out on the passenger side of the car.

It seriously looked like the 4th of July in the garage tonight. The sparks were rather amusing, although I was slightly nervous about the garage catching on fire. This reminded me of what it would be like if a car went to the dentist... even down to the sound of the cutting tool. It sounded so much like a dentist drill that it made my teeth hurt hearing it!

This is what it looked like after having the two rusted spots cut out on the Drivers side.

Anyways... it was exciting seeing things getting done on the car. I spent a decent amount of time in the garage watching and taking pictures. I was probably a bit of a nuisance, but I was amused!

Mike set the new floor in the car the other day and it fits almost perfect. I told Mike that once the floor is welded in.... I seriously want to take a pillow and blanket and sit out there in my car. I guarantee when my car is finished.... I will spend a good deal of time sitting in it in the garage listening to music. I do that now with my '95 mustang. If Mike cant find me anywhere in the house... he always knows he can find me sitting in my car in the driveway. Its relaxing sitting in my '95, but I imagine it will be even better sitting in my newly restored '67. In fact.... I imagine Mike will have a hard time keeping me away from the car once it's fully restored. It will be my new home-away-from-home. I can't wait!

Sandblasters

The car went to the sandblasters today. It was exciting! Mike had already stripped most of the paint, but it was decided that we should get the undercarriage stripped as well. Since the car is already torn down so far… we might as well go the extra mile to make it a really nice restoration.
I didn’t expect to come home from work yesterday to find the car on the trailer. It looked so different when pulled out of the garage. Suddenly the car didn’t look that big. In the garage it looks huge since it is crammed into such a tight space. It was so exciting seeing it out of the garage and on a trailer ready to go.

I took time off work today so I could be there to drop it off and pick it up. We had a bit of a hard time finding the sandblasting place this morning, but finally found it and dropped the car off. I was nervous leaving my car there. I didn’t really know what to expect, or what it would look like when I saw it next.

This was what it looked like on the trailer last night, getting it ready to go.


The car looks better than I expected. It makes me so excited for it to be painted. The downer is that no we can see all the holes in the car. There are a few places that have a lot more rust holes than I thought. It will be nice once the welding takes place and the car gets all patched up. Having it sand blasted is a big step. It can only get better from here.