Amazon: Project Thread - 1966 Amazon 121

[random_noise]

Tonight we installed the passenger side air conditioning unit


Little bit more prep to do tomorrow, then will be welding in the new cowl & shotgun.

Hello world!


You can see slightly sketchy repair done by a previous owner at the bottom of that last pic. It's a weld a patch straight over the top of a hole job. I'm in two minds if it should be fixed... I want it to look good & be proper, but at the same time there are plenty other holes to deal with! Will have to see how it looks from underneath once the underseal is stripped back.

[Burdekin]

I think you should sell it for scrap, there's no hope!

Karen (Mitch's wife)

[Burdekin]

Don't listen to her Dave...

[random_noise]

Originally Posted by Khe Sanh

I think you should sell it for scrap, there's no hope!

Karen (Mitch's wife)

Thanks for the encouragement!

[random_noise]

Been a while since I updated.. haven't gotten many pics of the progress so far, but the offside shotgun & cowl have both been cut out & replaced with new ones. I haven't got a good photo of it as is now, but here's one I took after we tack welded them in place.



After that one was taken we did a fair bit of cutting, tacking, putting the wing on for a looksee, take wing off again, rinse, repeat. It was hard to line everything up right given that the other side is a bodge job, but we finally got it looking quite good with the wing + bonnet.

As can be seen in the next pic the passenger floor has been massively bodged- a big ragged hole has had a patch welded over the top (no attempt to even smooth off the edges of the hole)! The edge is more filler than metal so not much to weld my shiny new cowl to.


So tonight we started even more cutting!

After cutting around the inside of the outrigger, we can see it's been starting to fill with rust.


Whoever replaced this hasn't even put any primer on it!


So we'll remove the floor panel & make a new bit & take the chance to properly prep the outrigger.

[123GT-AMAZON]

hi ya

TopWork as always you guys doing there , a great job to secure the cars future very rewarding when u see that shinny stuff out shining the rustworm
just a small tip : drill a hole on the outrigger at low point to help drain itself i tend todo this as moisture builds up or water gets in if the floor is badly rustholed from within cab hence why they always rot so a small touch but it helps aid its soild state and as you said some primer would`nt go a miss i dont understand some people when they do repairs its as if they are trying to create work for down the line .
some protection after repairs is a show of pro craftsmanship and pride in the work being carried out and a grind up of the welds - i have seen some right abortions in the past i would have grabbed the grinder just to not show how bad i could weld if i was them with there skills on a welder pmsl so good luck with the rest of it it will be worth it when shes all done

kind regards
robert

[random_noise]

Cheers Robert. It really surprises me just how many points there are where water has nowhere to go if it gets in. Its the same with the shotgun- you have the holes in the top where the wing screws on (protected only by a washer on the bolt). It's all going to run down the inside & cause rot. No wonder its popular panel to replace.

I think after priming I'll do some filling with cavity wax on a few of these bits before they're sealed up for the next 40 odd years. I like the idea of adding some drain points but my worry would be that its a weak point where road spray can work away at it.

[Burdekin]

Don't think Dave mentioned that he's started doing some of the welding too, considering he's never welded before he's picked it up very quickly and is doing brilliant. He'll be welding as good as anybody in no time.

We both need to crack on with both cars so we're going to do alternate nights helping each other to keep the momentum going.

[Derek UK]

The "shotgun" is a work round for this repair as the vertical section replaces part of the inner wing. That was topped by a separate reinforcing section.
The outriggers were welded in but not seam welded. Quite open at the junction with the main chassis member. This allowed the various coatings to get inside when the body went through the multiple dip baths before final paint. Lots of anti rust coating inside and the use of a good weld through primer will help for the future. Volvo do their own weld through primer which is reputedly one of the best.

[Tommytank]

The lengths you go to just to avoid paying car tax...