1978 Restoration

[mohle]

I read in some other articles that lapped or flanged joints can trap water, so I am butt welding. Where there were spot welds, I am drilling the new panel in the same spots and filling the holes. Still learning as I go. When I do the drivers sill/rocker it will go a lot quicker as I will do it in one big section. Just having fun with it.

Have you ever used crushed glass as a blasting media?

[chrisg]

thanks for sharing the great blow-by-blow on this & good luck. That's a serious project and it's kind of refreshing to see someone actually tackling it & having a good time/learning with it vs. tossing the car in favor of a California import. Sometimes the process is the best part. I went through a similar process during which I learned a lot about metal work & the construction of a 124 when I purchased a 124 coupe that basically had the entire interior held in place by the carpet...so I did a LOT of metal work (in my case, surprisingly it was mostly clean above the lower 8" of the car, so that was a bonus). By most practical estimates, it was a ridiculous endeavor, but driving the car with a running engine & complete floors & rockers was a real treat. Keep up the good work!

fast-forward (for me) about 16-17 years later & I've re-acquired one of my 124 Coupes and will be doing a good fraction of the same work again soon.

I did the first project all with a Lincoln 110 flux core always-hot-gun welder & an ancient helmet & a crazy configuration of spot lamps to see my work. one thing I've learned since then is argon is a wonderful thing!

[seabeelt]

Definitely plus one for the argon

[mohle]

I would definitely agree on that. Got a big Miller mig welder at work. It does a real nice job. Now if I could only stretch the cables and put 480V in my shop at home. Best money spent was on an auto darkening helmet.

It is a great way of learning though. And yes, it is one of those inexplicable irrational projects. I could never justify it to my accountant. Having enough of a problem explaining it to my wife.

[chrisg]

it is the experience. one would assume you are not doing it to become rich after selling the car on Bring a Trailer. People chose at what point they want to make the rebirth of their car their own experience (everything from what you're doing to simply applying your own type of wax & brand of fuel). Early on, younger & poorer, the long-shot cars were affordable in the sense that a project like that created a self-defined payment plan (often offset by the numerous parts cars/donor cars/fix & flips of less interesting to me stuff to fund them) for building & owning the ideal car that I wanted. The fact that it keeps you out of the bars at night should be a benefit with the significant other!

[mohle]

I always loved cars. That's why I apprenticed as a mechanic. Life ended up taking me down a different road, but I always had that appreciation of cars.

[mohle]

Got a little cold in the fall. Given my shop is not heated and it's -30 C out, I haven't really had a chance to work on her a lot. Here are the last progress pictures though.

[mohle]

s.

Starting to fix the rusted rear spring mounts. Have to drill out all the spot welds to remove the thick steel plate piece. Then fix what's left behind it. Actually rusted through at the rear seatbelt mount.

[mohle]

Finally getting some more time to work on her.

[mohle]

Sorry,
Haven't really had time to work on the old girl for a while. Also, it's winter and too cold in the shop. Over the last while I've started to work on the interior. Rather interesting learning to sew. Here is the first part of the upholstery I'm making up.

[rjbaum12]

Keep up the good work, I thought we may have lost you. Glad to see you are still at it!

[mohle]

Nah haven't lost me. Just a serious lack of time. Three kids in soccer etc... and a "honey do" list, doesn't leave enough time to breathe. I did manage to build a rotisserie for it though. That was in the fall. Now that it's too cold, I try doing the interior stuff.