Haha if I could afford it I would

That's what I'm thinking

I think I get what you're saying. Everyone says to plan exactly what you want your car to be like before you start, but I can't do that. I make decisions as I go.
Maybe not the most efficient method, but it's how I do it.

Very good points. I definitely don't want to get screwed over. I think I'll wait a few days and see how things go. I'd much rather have $350-400 that another iffy motor.
However, if the guy is close by I might just drop by to see how the engine runs.

 

Alright, little update. I hoped to work some on the car over thanksgiving but I didn't get a single thing done, haha.
Before thanksgiving I did get to cut out a little rust:

Front of passenger side rear wheel well:


Rear of passenger side rear wheel well:


It appears just that wheel well was affected. The front just needs a little patching, maybe in the corner of the wheel well as well, but the rear needs much more work. The wheel well had separated from the fender and has rusted, so a more extensive patch will be needed.

Lastly, a little bit in the driver's side firewall. It was just 2 sporadic holes an inch or two apart but I decided to cut it out in one piece to save time and ease when replacing it. There was a screw hole that I'll need to re-tap, shouldn't be a problem.





Oh and I found this on my drivers side front frame rail. 2 little pinholes. How concerned should I be?






What would you guys recommend for patching these pieces? I really just cut into them to remove all the rust and get a better look, now I need advisement on what to weld back in there.

What about this (for the rear part): http://www.cjponyparts.com/quarter-p...-1968/p/M200R/

 

It would be ideal if you could sandblast behind the areas you have cutout. If the surfaces don't blow through you are safe to epoxy prime or (POR, Chassis Saver, KBS, Rust Bullet, etc.) those areas. Second best would be to grind the rust off although it may be difficult to get into those areas.

Be sure to save the rotten parts you are cutting out. It is much easier to make a patch from these pieces than to try to guess at it.

Take a screwdriver or a punch and give that framerail a good tap. You will find out right away how solid it is. Keep up the good work, you are progressing!

 

I'll set up the sandblaster soon to blast those areas.
I'll probably just epoxy prime those areas in the wheel well but I'll do the frame rails in POR15.

And good point, I saved all the rusted pieces luckily. I guess I'll just mock them up. What gauge steel should I use? I can't remember the exact size...

And lastly, I'll test the frame rails this afternoon.

Thanks!

 

Regarding the Cowl,

seeing all that gunk after Hightower pulled the top off, I'm asking myself if sealing the vent holes would stop from having to do this again in the future? What purpose exactly do those vent holes serve?

Thoughts?

 

one on the drivers side is hooked to the fresh air vent...the passenger side is hooked to the heater box

 

Yeah RModel got it, it's for air flow through the fresh air or heater box. Otherwise theres no way for air to get in the car (besides windows, obviously). They make clear plastic covers that go over the cowl vents because some people have used different ways to get air in the car, such a scoops or fake brake ducts, I've heard of them like that, never seen them.

If you use solid rust protection and do it right, it should never become a problem again.

 

Alright, little update. Didn't get much done over the break, way too cold in the barn. And we had record snow here in GA for the first time in a few years, meaning is was FREEZING cold all break and thereafter. Plus my industrial heater broke.

Late christmas present:





Getting things lined up to weld it back in. Glad I got this "present", haha, I really butchered my original cowl.
I'll keep you guys up to date on this, I may have a question soon.




Also picked these up off ebay:




This is my problem, the tail light panel has rust on it. No biggie right? Well unfortunately it's right on a curve, so I can't just cut it out and weld in a patch, not with my skills, not yet at least. I'm not even good at welding in a flat patch yet.
Here's a cropped photo of the rust spot when I first found it, the paint peeled away and it's a more sizable hole:



So I'm thinking about putting the GT500 lights in, along with a tail light panel obviously. Does anyone have general directions or a guide for this swap? I know there's a guide for the LED lights, but those are easy cause they don't require as much cutting, I know original lights do.
And I'm not just doing this to avoid the rust hole, I could learn and get it right, eventually, but I've always like the gt500 tail light look, so when I got a good deal on the lights (with partial intent to re-sell them), I gave the swap consideration. Thoughts? I'd really like to go through with this. No worries, I won't go slapping cobra emblems on my car, haha, just wanting to stand out and these are just my preferences.

 

that rust spot is a really easy fix: cut out the bad metal. form a piece of metal that approximates the shape of the old metal. cut it to size. tack weld a finishing nail to the center of it to hold with. hold in place and tack. cut off nail. finish welding. grind. fill with filler.

 

It's right on the curve, so I'd have to shape a piece, and weld that it. I guess it wouldn't be too much trouble but again, the rust isn't THE reason for me doing the tail light swap, it's just an extra reason. I really do like the lights.