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Bracing the Shell |
DISCLAIMER: The procedures found in this section (bracing) were developed as I went along. I am not a certified welder (heck I can barely turn the bloody thing on ;-) ) and most of this work is being done by the seat of my pants. Use this information at your own risk (now onto the fun part) |
Step 1: MEASURE, MEASURE, MEASURE!!! I took many measurment prior to removing the door, primarily door gaps and hinge locations. These will come in handy later on |
Step 2: Mark the hinge locations!! MEASURE, MEASURE, MEASURE!!! I've marked the hinge locations with a marker to make door alignment quicker when checking the installation of the inner and outer rockers prior to the final weld. |
Step 3: Remove the door. Unbolt the four (4) bolts in at each hinge location. Make sure you have some help supporting the door while doing this. I made a door cradle using a 450 lb transmission jack and some scrap 1 x 1 square tubing and some machine levelers. These cradles are commercially available, but I think it is more fun to build it from scratch |
Step 4: Overview of the bracing configuration. I wanted to make the bracing easily removable so that the doors could be reinstalled to check gaps during the process. The main body brace, bolts to the "A" pillar (using the original hinge bolts), bolts to the "B" pillar and also bolts to where the convertible top latches mount to the windshield frame |
Step 5: Quarter panel bracing: Unfortunately, the rust is extensive on this car. It will require inner and outer rockers, a complete new floor (including rear seat pan) and all floor bracing (I need to win the lottery). Because I will have to remove the front and rear bracing which goes rocker to rocker, I wanted to make that the quarter panel geometry stayed consistant. So, I've put a piece of 1 x 1 inch square tube connecting the drivers side quarter to the passenger side quarter. |
The rocker and floor work will be done with the shell still on the frame, so the bracing might be overkill. However, its a lot easier to prevent a twisted body now, then try to fix it later after the fact. |
UPDATE 01/25/06: I've since removed the floors and all the floor braces. During the removal of the last floor brace (which was the rear seat pan brace which goes rocker to rocker), the inner rocker panels and surrounding sheet metal "sucked" inward towards the centerline of the car. It wasn't a significant amount, but enough that I saw the metal move when it happened. So, as an addendum to this page, I would recommend adding an additional brace that runs parallel to the brace shown in step 5 closer to the floor. I think this would go a long way to stabilizing the metal once the floor braces are out. I don't believe this movement should pose any significant issues downstream as I know what the rocker to rocker distance is supposed to be and I can massage the rockers into the correct dimension using a little pressure |