My GY8 '71 Road Runner

[ct71rr]

I’m still plugging away on a few small things in preparation of mounting the quarters permanently. Today I installed the jack brackets and spare tire bracket. I purchased a new spare tire bracket from AMD but reused the jack brackets from the original trunk floor pan. Apparently, AMD does not produce them anymore. The original brackets looked like they were booger welded on. I’m not sure if this was from the factory or not. I decided to plug weld them on.

Originals:

Welded in:

I have a few more small patches to do then I can start stripping everything down, spray with epoxy and hang the quarters. That’s the plan anyway.

 

[ct71rr]

Yesterday, I removed the brackets for the vapor separator located in the left side rear wheel well. I have to reuse these as they are not reproduced. As you can see from the images, they were pretty crusty with surface rust and I had to do a couple of patches on one of them. I think they came out nice after a good sandblasting. I sprayed the bottoms of the brackets with a good coat of copper weld-through primer before welding them on. Note to self, it would have been much easier welding them on to the wheel wells before I installed them. Live and learn!

Brackets on original wheel wells:

Removed:

One blasted:

Both blasted:

Patch:

Installed:

 

[ct71rr]

I haven’t had much time to work on my bird. The honey-do list needed attention, kids started high school sports, work, life all took priority the past several weeks. In between all that, I did work on getting the vapor recovery tank and mount de-under coated. I soaked the mount in goo gone for several days and covered it in plastic. The 1/4” thick coating peeled right off. I then blasted the mount in my new Harbor Freight blast cabinet. I watched about 1000 videos on YouTube about modifying it to work better. After completing the modifications, it worked very well. I was eyeing this cabinet for a while and when I saw that it was $30 off, I jumped on it.

After first treatment:

After last treatment:

Blasted with glass bead:

Back side:

My new blast cabinet:

I added a homemade metering valve, changed the air inlet from 1/4” to 3/8”, added a homemade dust devil, plumed a line for the vac with leftover 1 1/2” PVC I had, added an air gun inside to blow things off, added LED strip lighting inside, and chalked the hell out of the interior and added a small moisture filter for extra insurance. I also added a shelf to the bottom with casters so it’s mobile. All in all, I think it worked great for what it is.

 

[ct71rr]

Had some time to play out in the garage today so I decided to blast the vapor recovery tank. I removed the heavy rust scale with a grinder before blasting it.

Before:

After:

Not too bad.

 

[ct71rr]

I had some time today to work on the Bird. I’m addressing several small issues before I test fit the quarters for what will hopefully be the last time. Once these are done, fingers crossed, I’ll get the quarters welded in. First up was to relocate the bolt holes on the left side mounting bracket for the vapor tank. Theses holes were a little off, probably due to AMD’s wheel wells being a little off. I welded in plugs in the existing holes and redrilled the new locations. And, of course, my drill bit chewed up the metal a little. Super.

Original holes:

Plugs:

Mocked in:

New holes:

I then had to make a patch for the panel that cover the vapor tank. The bottom of this panel was rotted off. I could not find a reference image online so I had to guess.

Roughing out the shape:

Patch cut out:

Rotted piece cut off:

Welded on:

I then filled in a few holes and added some weld to a few areas on the side that were crusty:

I also had to add a small patch to the right rear wheel well. I need to touch this patch up a little, I ran out of time:

 

[whayden2003]

I had some time today to work on the Bird. I’m addressing several small issues before I test fit the quarters for what will hopefully be the last time. Once these are done, fingers crossed, I’ll get the quarters welded in. First up was to relocate the bolt holes on the left side mounting bracket for the vapor tank. Theses holes were a little off, probably due to AMD’s wheel wells being a little off. I welded in plugs in the existing holes and redrilled the new locations. And, of course, my drill bit chewed up the metal a little. Super.

Original holes:
View attachment 1215878

Plugs:
View attachment 1215879

Mocked in:
View attachment 1215880
New holes:
View attachment 1215881

I then had to make a patch for the panel that cover the vapor tank. The bottom of this panel was rotted off. I could not find a reference image online so I had to guess.

Roughing out the shape:
View attachment 1215882

Patch cut out:
View attachment 1215883

Rotted piece cut off:
View attachment 1215884

Welded on:
View attachment 1215886

I then filled in a few holes and added some weld to a few areas on the side that were crusty:
View attachment 1215887

I also had to add a small patch to the right rear wheel well. I need to touch this patch up a little, I ran out of time:
View attachment 1215889

Nice work.

 

[Grabbergreendream]

Looks very good! Your tank is in a lot better shape than mine, which was full of pinholes & un-usable. The bottom of my shield was rotted almost identical to yours. Very nice work you did!

 

[ct71rr]

Thanks! I think the 1/8” - 1/4” (in spots) thick undercoating sprayed all over it gave it a fighting chance to survive.

Note to self: do not use a grinder without the blade guard and\or your heavy gloves or bad things will happen...

I thought I’d grind down a small area real quick. When I passed the grinder from my right hand to left, while looking at the piece I was grinding down, I clipped my left index finger. 4 stitches. Not too bad. I was debating going to the hospital because of all the stories of them being overcrowded/overwhelmed. I guess I lucked out. There was only 4 other people in the waiting room. And this will put me out of commission from working on my car for a little while...super.

 

[ct71rr]

Hello all, I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since my last post. After nearly cutting one of my knuckles off and then contracting COVID about a week later, I’m back at it. First order of business, reinstall the blade guards on my angle grinders . I then test fitted the quarters in what I thought would be the last time...not so fast. I noticed the back corners of the deck filler panels were about 1/4” lower than where they meet the quarters. Thanks to grabbergreendream (John) for confirming this and sending me several pics with helpful info! One step forward, two steps back. To fix this, I drilled out the spot welds on the trunk support brackets, on both sides, and wedged the filler panel up. After I had each side flush, I plug welded the trunk support bracket back onto the supports that attach to the inner wheel wells. When I originally removed the wheel wells, I welded in a piece of square tubing on both sides to keep the deck filler panel at the right height. I’m thinking either I second guessed myself and thought it didn’t look right when I welded the trunk supports back onto the inner wheel wells or AMD’s perch on the inner wheel well is off or, most likely, a combination of the two. Live and learn. I have the quarters mocked up again and everything is fitting good. Next step, hopefully, is to get everything in epoxy, lizard skin and quarters welded on. Fingers crossed!

Safety first, for now on anyway:

Left side:

Right Side:

Flush:

And make the noise:

The camera angle on some of the pics makes it appear that it’s not flush, it’s an optical illusion. Thanks for looking!

 

[ct71rr]

For the past few months, I’ve been watching a lot of resto videos on YouTube, particularly VW Buses...don’t ask me why. Anyway, a lot of those guys use clamps by Wurth. So I decided to buy a set. They work awesome and take up much less room than full size clamps. The set comes with the install tool and two different size clamps, silver ones for 0-2.5mm and gold for 2.5-5mm. I have no affiliation with Wurth, just though I’d pass along a cool tool.

 

[Grabbergreendream]

Looks a lot better! Good job!
Did your trunk gutters fight you getting them in place as much as mine did?
Digging those clamps!

 

[ct71rr]

Looks a lot better! Good job!
Did your trunk gutters fight you getting them in place as much as mine did?
Digging those clamps!

They did! I had to wedge the lip at an angle under the back part of the quarter then had to clamp and screw them down to get them to sit right along the trunk opening, if that makes sense. Thanks again for all of your help!!

 

[Bee1971]

There is a second cover that fits over the frame and hoses - Attaches to the small two holes on bottom that you welded in - Looking great - AMD used to reproduce both until a few years ago

 

[Grabbergreendream]

There is a second cover that fits over the frame and hoses - Attaches to the small two holes on bottom that you welded in - Looking great - AMD used to reproduce both until a few years ago View attachment 1236591

Correct. They are almost always gone or rotted. They're repopped, but I think the only place still listing them is Jim's.
Heres a link to his parts page but you'll have to click on the "SHIELD-VAPOR CANISTER" catagory and it is the rear shield.
https://www.jimsautoparts.com/body_parts_rear.htm

 

[Bee1971]

I would buy them in a heartbeat for that price

But the horror stories of Jim’s customer service on this website

 

[Grabbergreendream]

I would buy them in a heartbeat for that price

But the horror stories of Jim’s customer service on this website

I have heard the same. Honestly, I'd bet he doesn't have it in stock, as the rest of the repro's seem to have dried up a few years ago here in the states for some reason...

 

[T2R9]

Don't even go there with Jim's. They prey on the uninformed...

 

[T2R9]

Your doing some awesome work on this car. I wish I had the metal skills you do!

 

[ct71rr]

Thank you! I’m pretty much learning as I go. I’m just hoping it doesn’t go all Buster Keaton on me when done.

 

[HawkRod]

Thank you! I’m pretty much learning as I go. I’m just hoping it doesn’t go all Buster Keaton on me when done.

View attachment 1237042

Haha. Now that looks like something I would build!!!