Michel's 72 coupe rebuild

1Michel

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2008
Messages
1,519
Location
Saint Joseph du lac, Québec
OK sooo as Denpo explained to me, I should have a dedicated post for the rebuild of my car.

I've been scatering things all over bit by bit so why not put everytthing in the same place.

Later, I'll be editing it and adding things as I go along.

So here's whe the front clip was taken out.

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all under the watchfull eye of my little friend Brandy who has no idea what's going on but has the bad habit of steeling my screwdrivers and make me run after her. LOL
She's about to grab the one in front of her.

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Theres rust but I think the birdcage is in much better condition than I expected.
I tough I would find worse than that.

Real happy about that. Solid car.


Now I'm a little puzzled about this one.

Theres a hole in the lower rear part of the birdcage.

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view from inside the wheell well

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I think I'll need to take out this cover and the rocker cover to get to it and weld a new piece.

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Or maybe just make a cut into it and reglass it after the weld is done.


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then it the firewall's turn to be separated

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We then took out the birdcage out of the car.
it was a mystery to my niece, she couldnt figure out what we were talking about when we talked about the birdcage,
she had to come and look for it.
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The day before, Ihad started to separate the fiberglass and the few rivets that were holding the cage in place.
then we got serious and started to lift her out of there


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Of course Phil, had to finally sit in a Corvette he could fit in, the guy is 6,8
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Hey where did the brakes go??
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Then it was time to start to fix the cancerous rust out of the birdcage

After seeing the rust damages, I think I took the right decision.

First I had to redo the chanel near body mount No3

It didnt look too good
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looks a bit better now.
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then I went after the lower part of the door jam, this was worse than I tought
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But first since the pillar is going to rest on that part, I had to fix behind the seat area.

Next was cutting out behind the seat area where the door jam meets the back of the cage

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this was going to be tricky since theres a curve lip in the part.

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so once the part was out, made a carboard template
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then cut and started to form it
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Getting there
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Had to form the round lip behind
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check the fit from behind
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Check fit from the front
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then tack the part
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tacked view from behind
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As you can see , I ran into a bit of a problem, maybe I shouldve cut a bit higher so I decided that I would double part for more solidity.

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Made a carboard template
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then cut the part
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I tacked it but ran out of wiring for my welder.
sooo Ill post post later.
 
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Today, I got up early,had nothing to do so I got in the garage looking for door hinges.
My friend Denpo is looking for a specific part of the hinges.
I was sure I had a spare set but it's not door hinges it's a spare of hood hinges.

As long I was in the garage, I started to make a carboard template for the passenger side pillar I worked on last night.

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Ok time to cut and bend steel but before... breakfast.
 
michel,

GREAT work you are doing. Your fabrication with steel is beautiful.

I have a complete set of door hinges for a 77. If they will work for you, they are yours.

Let me know!

Robert
 
michel,

GREAT work you are doing. Your fabrication with steel is beautiful.

I have a complete set of door hinges for a 77. If they will work for you, they are yours.

Let me know!

Robert

thanks for the offer Robert, but the hinges were for Denpo who's looking for a part of the hinges.
I tought I had a spare set but turned out it was a spare set of hood hinges.

Thanks BBShark

Thanks for the kind words, just trying to NOT spend LOL
 
michel,

GREAT work you are doing. Your fabrication with steel is beautiful.

I have a complete set of door hinges for a 77. If they will work for you, they are yours.

Let me know!

Robert

thanks for the offer Robert, but the hinges were for Denpo who's looking for a part of the hinges.
I tought I had a spare set but turned out it was a spare set of hood hinges.

Thanks BBShark

Thanks for the kind words, just trying to NOT spend LOL
It's ok on my side, brought the hinge spring roller to my mechanist, he's gonna duplicate them. Thanks for the initiative Michel.
 
michel,

GREAT work you are doing. Your fabrication with steel is beautiful.

I have a complete set of door hinges for a 77. If they will work for you, they are yours.

Let me know!

Robert

thanks for the offer Robert, but the hinges were for Denpo who's looking for a part of the hinges.
I tought I had a spare set but turned out it was a spare set of hood hinges.

Thanks BBShark

Thanks for the kind words, just trying to NOT spend LOL
It's ok on my side, brought the hinge spring roller to my mechanist, he's gonna duplicate them. Thanks for the initiative Michel.

Oh well, looks I spoke too quick :
http://www.vettemod.com/forum/showthread.php?p=90808#post90808
(see my lastest post)
 
Well, since I have another few hours in the garage, maybe a few days actualy.

I played with the birdcage this morning.

Heres the part I'm trying to reproduce,

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Compared to the new one , I think there an improvement dont you think?

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this morning I kept trimming it's and it's getting there.

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Of course, it's not pretty, after all these parts were made using a grinder, a hammer and a vise, but I dont mind about the looks too much since it's framework and those parts will be all covered with fiberglass.

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Next, I have to finish the welds on the channel and test fit everything measuring again and again to make sure everything is where it's suppose to be , then tack weld .

But first, breakfast!.
 
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I think I can call this part of the birdcage "done"!
I welded the part and cleaned up the welds.

here's a look at the back side of the mount no 3,

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compared to when I started
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later, I'll make some thicker inset to solidify the mounts.

sides
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Like I said, it's not pretty but sure looks better than what I started with huh?

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Of course, I'll have all the welds checked by my son who is a certified welder.
Just in case LOL
 
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Ha Ha ha, not on fire, finaly, I just have some time to play.

Actualy, last time I worked on a car, couples of days ago...I was on fire!!!

I was heating up a header bolt and suddenly, it smelled funny, my hair were on fire!

Today was a good day, no blood was shed LOL :crutches:
 
Ok today I had to work, snow removal, but did only a few hours, that left me the afternoon to play in the garage.

When I did the lower pillar and the back, I shouldve started by repairing the channel.
:crap:

this is where the seat belt reinforcements are welded to the channel.

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View from under, turned the cage upside down
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Theres a few bends I couldnt reproduce properly with my hammer and vice soooooo

Tell me?
This is a part of the shelvings of the garage.
It does look like a donor part and has the bends I need huh???

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After a few cuts, I have the bends I need.
not perfect, but it will do the job.
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After a few ''adjustements'' I tacked it into place
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then welded it, still a bit of trimming to do.
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OK ok the welds arnt pretty but it will be allright.

I think I can get to the other side now.

As you can see, the seat belt reinforcements are gone,

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I wont tackle making some new ones, instead I'll try to get them new.
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