Updating the Super Street Mopar

[ckessel]

Today I trimmed out some more of the floor plus the frame rail where needed for the tub to sit flush against it. From there I got the tub partially loaded in the area. I'm trying to load it without taking the filler piece out for now. I did find one area that is making it hard to put the tub in. Tomorrow I'll whittle that area down where it's marked with the sharpie, last photo. In the third photo, I marked out some 20ga material for me to cut after I get back. Going to go over to a friend as he has a stomp shear I can use. Those pieces will get 90* bends in them lengthwise. I'll use those as filler units along the floor so it can be attached to the wheel tubs. I'll be using my shrinker/stretcher unit to put contours in them.

 

[ckessel]

After taking care of some honey do's, I was able to get the inner tub in the general area. I trimmed the one diagonal brace some with the carbide bit which helped. I do need to whittle a little more from it. If I have time tomorrow, I'll work on it some more. I want to get some screws into the filler and inner tub so they can be welded when ready. Where I cut the rails flush needs to get welded too before the area gets loaded with the tub. Friday early I head to
P-Cola to help out my BIL. While I'm there, going to partake in some tasty Gulf and Southern grub. I for sure want some racist, culturally insensitive, NYC public school insensitive grub. AKA Chicken and Waffles.

 

[Nxcoupe]

I'm headed to Pensicola next weekend possibly, a lot of variables right now, but that's my intention. It's a really great area and Alabama is just an hour away.

 

[ckessel]

Cool. He lives closer to Orange Beach Ala than P-Cola. Have not been there in 20 years or so. Leave tomorrow, there for 2 weeks. Let me know if you do get in the area.

 

[ckessel]

Since I'm in Pensacola, we stopped by Joe Patti's seafood yesterday on the way back from my BIL's doc appt. Didn't buy anything there, wanted to browse for future yummy stuff to have. If you haven't ever been there, the counter length is like 80-100'. Mindboggling amount of yummy stuff. Nothing but seafood.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Since I'm in Pensacola, we stopped by Joe Patti's seafood yesterday on the way back from my BIL's doc appt. Didn't buy anything there, wanted to browse for future yummy stuff to have. If you haven't ever been there, the counter length is like 80-100'. Mindboggling amount of yummy stuff. Nothing but seafood.

View attachment 1444294

Been there! It is amazing.

 

[ckessel]

Today I was able to put some time in on the car. Since I've gotten back from Florida, have been getting caught up on work around the house. Lots of weeds to deal with plus many other tasks. Had to miss out on Woodley due to plane issues. Oh well there is always the fall fling and spring fling next year.
I was able to weld some edges on the trunk floor and frame rail to get them back together after trimming. Put some screws in to hold the filler to the inner tub and recheck fit. Pulled that back out and punched some holes in to prepare for welding.

 

[ckessel]

The electrician came by today to do the work in the old garage so to stay out of his way, I did some welding on the wheel tub. I used my welding Vice Grip c-clamp style units. Placed a unit on each side of the to be welded hole so both pieces would get pulled in tight after a quick tack. Once the tacks were done I removed the screws and clamped on each side of those holes before tacks. Once all were tacked, cleaned off with the stainless tooth brush and fully welded the holes.

 

[ckessel]

After almost 30 days off from working on the car, got back on it today. It took me awhile to get back in the groove for where I left off. I slipped the tub back in so I could continue fitting it before it gets welded back in. Tomorrow I'll continue.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Man it looks like it belongs that way. Took me a minute playing where's Waldo to see what was different. Keep at it.

 

[ckessel]

I decided to stop where I was for the day. I was starting to have a battle with an inanimate object so I stopped before I made a problem. Tomorrow, continue. Thanks for checking in.

 

[ckessel]

I've been working on the tub and pieces etc here and there the last few days. The new trunk pillar units from USCT were not cooperating on the fit so I ended up cutting them into two separate pieces. I did have to flatten out a couple of pre bent areas and then re bending for best fit. Probably just dealing with manufacturing variations between them and oe. You can see the difference compared to the uncut lh unit. I made up a piece for in front where I trimmed too much out on the curve. It's close enough for welding now. A couple of other areas needed some fine tuning so they are fine now. I need to make sure how much of the paint etc is buffed away from the weld paths next go around. I'll prime and seam seal the added section tomorrow so its done before install.

 

[ckessel]

Yesterday I finished up the last tweaks and a couple of welds on the tub. After that, I hosed down the seam with some of the Eastwood inner frame coating to give it some rust protection. From there, put some seam sealer on the joint. Today I took off the plug on the front of the rocker by the fender and spent some time blowing out the junk thats accumulated in it over the years. There sure was a lot of junk that came out. I put the vacuum on the rear portion after a bit, there sure was a lot of racket in the nozzle while blowing it out. I can see all the way through but there are bulkheads through the length of it so getting the wax wand all the way through may get interesting when the time comes. There are a series of holes on the back side where a smaller wand, like what the Eastwood stuff uses, that I can squirt protection in with. I set the tub back in so it can get welded in tomorrow. Will need to toss a few more screws in to get the flange a little closer in some areas.

 

[ckessel]

Got the tub in. The lower wheel/road side welds are done. Tomorrow I'll be doing my trunk monkey imitation.

 

[Pedalpusher]

Nice work!

 

[ckessel]

Thank you all for checking it out. I'm very happy to be back on it.

 

[ckessel]

I was able to get the majority of the welding done on the tub. Put the brace units from USCT in plus the front one that I trimmed out. As you can see, I have some areas to fill in, got a little to happy cutting out the floor.

 

[ckessel]

I was able to get the front filler piece in today.

 

[ckessel]

65 years ago at 7:11 pm, I materialized after swimming for 9 months.

 

[ckessel]

I got my shrinker/stretcher out from along the wall since I needed it to make the two filler pieces on the back of the tub so I can have attachment to the floor in that area again. I had sheared up some 20ga material already so I put a three pieces into the brake to give the a 90* bend to start. I ended up trashing one piece as it's been 6 years since I used my metal forming equipment. Once I got the hang of that unit again I was good to go. After they were formed up to match the contour, I slit the vertical portion with a hacksaw to aid conforming to the tub contours. From there drilled holes for the screws to set them in place, tack welded then pulled the screws out and welded through the holes to stitch the pieces together. I received my fresh seam sealer earlier so the next day or so I'll spritz in the Eastwood frame rust preventer into the seams to give the a coat of protection on the inside and then seam seal the areas. I'm going to wait on the POR15 painting until I get the other side done then do that back end in one shot. After that, either order my Stang gas tank and get it fitted in or head to the passenger area to get cracking on the floor.