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The good news is we didn't get Snow yesterday like they said we would. It was all rain.
The bad news is after the chiropractor visit I was given specific instruction to stay out of the shop till we get my back fixed. The Doc doesn't want me to undo any progress we make each day. I still can't stand up straight or lay flat, but I can bend over twist, and walk like a 90 year old man with a cane for support.
Sure hope this gets fixed soon. I can't handle sitting around doing basically nothing all day. Time to drop the boy off at school and visit the chiropractor again.
After todays visit with the Dr. I was given the ok to resume some work again, but I had to have a chair available and NO 16 hour days in the shop yet.
So this afternoon I set up with the chair and tackled the drivers side floor pan. Went pretty well as I had the car partially on it's side for better access to spot welds and reaching to cut with the plasma cutter, and welding in the new pan.
Once it was all out I had the boy clean all the surfaces to prep for the new one welding in place. Meanwhile I went and painted some parts for a customer. By the time I was Done with that little project, the boy was done with the prep work. So while I welded the floor in He started drilling spot welds on the passenger side floor.
Yes, we reused the old seat pans as they were in great shape. The boy was still drilling after I was done, but he kept at it till all the welds were drilled and ready to remove the pan tomorrow.
So now that he has the spot welds drilled out, we'll go out tomorrow and cut the old pan out and put the new floor in. Maybe even put the new taillight panel in and fit the doors before doing any primer work on the qtrs.
We took our time today cutting out the old panels and welding in the new ones. With my back still out I can only stand or walk for short periods then have to sit down to relax the muscles. A few minutes later we resume where we left off.
The floor pan went pretty well with no surprises,
Then it was on to the tail light panel. This took a little finagling as we already had the quarters on and welded to the rear seams. But we did win and got the panel out with minimal damage to the lips.
Prepped the trunk pan lip for the new tail light panel to weld to.
And there we have it. Ready to weld in place. all the measurements line up and the trunk opens and closes just like it should.
The boy is getting pretty excited and wants to see it in paint soon.
Tomorrow we'll fit the doors and maybe the fenders too to make sure everything lines up like it should, then finish the body work on the qtrs, Clean the bottom of the car better and prime it all up
Kind of a slow day today. The boy was stripping the roof and I was cleaning all the factory spray on tar off the floor or at least what was left of it.
We're taking the rest of the night off to go watch the Big Game.
The two floor supports finally arrived today, so I prepped and installed both of them this afternoon. Had to quit early for two reasons 1) my back was flaring up again so I need the rest.2) we have scout meetings tonight from 6-9.
The boy got the rest of the roof and quarters stripped and ready for epoxy.
Now he has to get the rest of the floor pans cleaned up and ready for epoxy and then spray on bedliner (probably in silver) to match the car. That way the new red neoprene bushings will stand out and look like they match the stripe and interior we have planned.
We didn't get around to fitting the doors today, so maybe we'll get to them tomorrow so we can finish body work on the quarters and ready it for primer and paint.
With a very sore back today I still went out in the shop and tinkered as much as I could. I got my rolling stool out, rotated the car to working level and sat down on the stool to mix mud, apply mud, sand mud, block out straight and smooth and repeat as needed till the qtrs. were satisfactory. Musta looked pretty funny seeing an old guy doing body work sitting down making the car come to his height to work on, but hey I got the job done. Not as much as I wanted to or as quickly, but at least it was something today.
After finishing the body work on the qtrs. we sanded all the other panels on the body to ready everything for Epoxy and Primer. Before we do that we wanted to fit the doors to make sure all the gaps were kosher and thankfully it they were rt on the money.
and the driver side too.
Once I knew there was no more work to be down on the qtrs. we removed them and put them back in the other building for safe keeping while we cleaned up the shop a bit and blew the car down. Now the dust can settle till morning when we plan to epoxy and primer the whole body.
Last night did more damage to my back than I thought. ABout an hour after going to bed I woke up in excruciating nerve pain in my rt. hip and leg. There was no comfortable position to lay in or even sit up. Tried heat,and ice and nothing worked. Needless to say I didn't get any sleep. Tooka coule Bayer back n body pills this morning and applied more heat for a few hours. Not sure if it helped or if the major part of the pain was deflating by then.
After lunch I recruited my Daughter to go in the shop and spray the epoxy and primer on the body. I went out and mixed them and she applied them on the car as best she could. Not too bad.... for a girl.....
I done in the shop for today as I can already feel my back tensing up and the nerve pain starting. When the boy gets home from school he can go out and prep the rear axle and leaf springs or seam seal the floors in the car to get them ready to apply the spray on bed liner tomorrow.
Last night the boy did get the axle prepped and painted so it can dry till Sat or Sun if we're ready to put it in by then. Myself I had to take the rest of last night off and try to relax and get comfortable to rest. My back was killin me.
This morning was another Doc visit and as I suspected the results were that I took a step backwards in therapy. After the session the Doc told me specifically to stay out the shop this weekend. He knows me too well. I did call a customer that was supposed to drop off a car tonight and rescheduled for possibly next weekend. Meanwhile I went back home and iced and heated the back again while surfing the computer for parts and prices and just for fun.
When the boy got home I went out with him to the shop and went over what needed to be done tonight (Mask off any hole in the frame rails or anywhere else sand could get into, Cover the rest of the body with plastic, sand blast the rest of the floor that didn't get replaced, blow off the car , blow out the rails in case any sand did get in, remask where it may need it, Epoxy the entire bottom of the car, then finally apply the color tinted silver spray on bed liner), It was just a short list really it was.
Well he started right on and had it masked up before dinner. We stopped for dinner and then he went right back out to finish what he started. Meanwhile I went the Daughter to the fabric store to find the interior colors we needed. I figured since I wasn't suppose to be in the shop working on heavy stuff I could stay inside and work on light duty sewing for the interior. I'll work on patterns for the sail panels, door panels, and maybe the center console. If they turn out? Great. If not? I'm out $50 in materials since the fabric shop was having a Presidents day sale and it was 50% off. I'll probably enlist my buddy to make the seat covers for me though, Not too sure I can make them as well or fast as he could. I've already got the headliner, but I'll have to get some more of that material to do the accents on the door panels and the seat inserts. That is special order and unfortunately NOT i repeat NOT on sale.
When I got back the boy had completed blasting, blowing everything out and remasking the car. Now it was time to epoxy the bottom, so I went in the paint room and mixed the gray epoxy and sprayed a test panel before handing him the gun and away he went, spraying this away and spraying thataway, then under here and over there, by and by he got it all covered pretty well.
We let that dry for a good half hour or so and then went into shaking mode for the tintable bedliner. This stuff doesn't go on a shaking machine, you have to grab it in your hands and shake well for 5 minutes. Then you can open it, add the hardener and the preferred color to match or accent what you wish. We choose to add Silver to match the car and give it a nice clean look. I showed him how to apply a small part of the floor and let him have at it for the next three coats. The only way you can mess up this step is if you apply it too heavy or too soon before it's tacked up. He did well, staying about 4-5 ft away from the surface and moving in random circular motions to get the right texture.
No worries about the holes in the floors yet. They all have plugs going in later
02-03-2016, 07:21 AM
