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#1
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Well, I bought a $300 wagon with a bad NA engine for my nephew (Timing chain broke). The plan is to swap out the bad NA Engine and swap in a turbo engine I have in the garage.
I knew there was some rust under the driver seat that had been "repaired" with POR 15 and fiberglass mat but wasn't sure of the extent. When I removed the seat and all the nasty carpet, guess what I found... Not having a place to bolt down the seat, or the seat belt, is what inspired me to fix the rust. There was nothing safe about the way it was fixed. I'd probably drive it but I wouldn't let a new driver near it.
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1981 300TD "The Green Lantern" 1980 300TD 1983 300D Euro "China Cat" Last edited by whunter; 06-27-2011 at 06:26 PM. Reason: attached pictures |
#2
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Rust repair progress
I decided that it would be easier to use pieces of another floor pan than it would be to try and fabricate patch pieces...too many curves. So, I went to the local PNP and found a sweet Rust Free 240D, rented a cordless sawzall and cut out the floor.
Then I traced out where I needed to cut to remove all the rust. I drilled out the spot welds and used a cut off wheel to cut out the rust. I found that an air chisel works really well to remove the undercoating and the sound dampening material on the inside. Just be careful not to distort the metal or punch a new hole. I used this for some of the sheet metal... Cuts like butter! Last edited by whunter; 06-27-2011 at 06:31 PM. Reason: attached pictures |
#3
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More Progress
There was a lot of rust under the front driver seat mount/cross member so I had to remove that from both pans.
Then I used the pieces I cut out of the car as templates to cut pieces out of the PNP Floorpan. I roughed-in the replacement pieces and added the new seat front mount Last edited by whunter; 06-27-2011 at 06:33 PM. Reason: attached pictures |
#4
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Ready to Weld
I got the replacement pieces fitted for butt-welds (probably not necessary but I have a tendency to do things the hard way). I still need to clean up where the welds will go.
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1981 300TD "The Green Lantern" 1980 300TD 1983 300D Euro "China Cat" |
#5
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Welder info
This is the welder I'm using:
I have the power set on 3, .035 wire, 75/25 CO2 Argon mix, wire speed at 20. This model has a pulse setting which helps a "I used to stick weld 30 years ago" type guy like me. I'm getting plenty of penetration and thank goodness for angle grinders! I got the floor piece welded in place that goes below the forward seat mount cross-member. After a cold beer I realized that I had better pay attention to where the seat mounts bolt holes are going to line up before I get all weld-crazy. There was one seat mount still in it's stock position (Right rear-driver seat) so I took apart the seat and bolted the seat frame to the new front mount cross-member, to the remaining right rear mount and to the new piece with the left rear mount and got it all in place Then I tack welded the front cross member/mount and the left rear piece with the left rear mount in place. I decided to weld as much as I could reach with the seat frame in place to minimize warping it out of alignment. Then I took the seat frame off and finished welding the seams. I doubt if it's necessary to weld the entire seam but I did it for the practice. Last edited by whunter; 06-27-2011 at 06:35 PM. Reason: attached pictures |
#6
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The Next Hole Back...
I decided to break up the driver side rust issues into two pieces. The side rail where the floor curves up was bad all the way back. The first piece I replaced was from the pillar forward. Now I need to do from the pillar back to the corner.
Same routine here...Drill out the spot welds, cut out the rusty piece back to good metal, trace it out on your PNP floorpan and grind it into place: If it stops raining today I'll clean up the edges and weld it in place. Only two more holes to fill!!! (on the driver side-Passenger side isn't so bad.) Last edited by whunter; 06-27-2011 at 06:37 PM. Reason: attached pictures |
#7
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Nice job! Good to another rust repair done right and another 123 saved.
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#8
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More progress
I finished the driver side inside rocker (see above) and then I tackled the corner piece next to the trans tunnel and the right rear seat mount for the driver. I got tired of trying to fit the pieces together perfectly for a butt-weld and decided to go with an overlap method on the last two. I should have done that form the start It cuts your time in half and the welds come out better. Ie fewer blow outs which for me means fewer massive blobs to grind off. Don't laugh
One more to go on the driver side and then it's time clean up the underside, make sure there's no place that needs a grind or tack weld and hit it with por 15, seam sealer and some kind of final coat. I have a 5 gallon bucket of some Korean War era "Rust Preventative" that is some kind of a tar like substance. Most likely toxic but that means it should work, right? I painted the frame of my Willy's with it 15 years ago and it's rust free. I thinned it by dipping a brush in mineral spirits and then loading it up with this stuff by brushing brushing it on the tar in the bucket and then brushing it on the frame. It's nice because it doesn't harden and you could wash it off with solvent if you needed to. Maybe I should sell it in little jars...: Stay tuned... Last edited by whunter; 06-27-2011 at 06:39 PM. Reason: attached pictures |
#9
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Quote:
__________________
1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver 1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone 1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy! 1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits! |
#10
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Gloves? That's a good idea - although it washes off with gasoline I'll post a picture of the goop. It has to be better than using motor oil as a rust preventative
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1981 300TD "The Green Lantern" 1980 300TD 1983 300D Euro "China Cat" |
#11
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NATO C-632 Rust Preventative
Stats on NATO C-632 Rust Preventative: May 1960
U.S. MILITARY SPECIFICATION: MIL-C-16173E NATO: C-632 CORROSION PREVENTIVE COMPOUND, SOLVENT CUTBACK, COLD-APPLICATION. THIS PRODUCT IS A WATER DISPLACING SOFT FILM CORROSION PREVENTIVE COMPOUND FOR USE WHERE WATER OR SALINE SOLUTION MUST BE DISPLACED FROM CORRODIBLE SURFACES AND THE CORROSION PREVENTED OR ARRESTED. IT PROTECTS INTERIOR SURFACES OF MACHINERY, INSTRUMENTS OR MATERIAL UNDER COVER FOR LIMITED PERIODS. THE PRODUCT IS ALSO EXCELLENT FOR PROTECTION OF CRITICAL BARE STEEL OR PHOSPHATED SURFACES FOR EXTENDED PERIODS WHEN PACKAGED WITH SATISFACTORY BARRIER MATERIALS. Last edited by whunter; 06-27-2011 at 06:40 PM. Reason: attached pictures |
#12
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Gloves?! We don need no steenkin' gloves! Gloves are for pussies . . .
__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century OBK #55 1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles 2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles 2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles |
#13
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Quote:
StaggerLee you must have a great garden shed - have you still got DDT in there?
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver 1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone 1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy! 1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits! Last edited by Stretch; 10-14-2010 at 04:13 AM. Reason: More information... |
#14
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It's funny how health-conscious we have become compared to the way things were when I was a kid. Seat belts were not even an option in cars when I was little. Doctors were the only profession who wore gloves at work. Now, everybody wears gloves! There was no such thing as a bicycle helment as far as I can remember. We all just had very hard heads . . .
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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century OBK #55 1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles 2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles 2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles |
#15
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"We all just had very hard heads . . ." I still do.
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1981 300TD "The Green Lantern" 1980 300TD 1983 300D Euro "China Cat" |
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