Subscribed....Nice work!!

Thanks .... there is more to come!

OK ... I am back, STAT511 is over and I need to get going on my car before STAT512 starts in Jan.

Just thought I would put a picture of my dad's car on my post and some history... or as I remember!
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/1848/63stude.png


The car is a 1963 Studebaker Lark 4 speed, 289 ci. with the R-2 option which was a Paxton Supercharger addition. Seems the 1964 Avanti would have this option and the powers to be decided to option this R-2 to those in 1963 to get publicity for the Avanti.

I can remember dad starting the car with a can of ether and man did she move, remember speed limits back then were 75 and I can remember 90 cruising all day on the interstate. My Grandmother lived in Albuquerque and we would take the 5 hour trip up to visit quite often, and she had a Champagne 63 4 door for the kid's to ride in when we were there visiting. Grandma sold her Studebaker for a 72 Mercury Comet and gave the car to us to drive, the Comet is what I remember driving.

My dad sold the Lark back in 74 or 75 to make a payment on the land, just as my brother and I were coming of driving age :( Anyway, the buyer still in Silver City, seems he owned a car dealership back in the day and my brother asked if he had any pictures of the Studebaker. This is the only one known to my family.

My sister made copies of this picture and gave me one during Thanksgiving weekend ... which is pretty cool.

Now time to heat up the garage and get to work.:thumbsup:

OH ... my brother still owns the Comet!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the story Chief. Glad your Sis thought to give you a pic for a keepsake.

Since we are at relatively similar climates, is your garage stone cold when you heat it up for work? Or... do you maintain a "low" temp?

I am curious about condensate mostly especially with exposed bare metal. I have issues with the big temp swing using a torpedo heater. I look forward to using a hanging gas heater soon if I can make it happen.

Yes, I am really glad she gave me a picture, since we never had a camera when I was young ... there are no pictures of cool cars.

The garage was outside temp today when I started .... around 34 and I ran the little torpedo heater for 30 minutes and got the garage temp around 50 probably. No worries about condensation here, my whole car has been metal for awhile and there is not rust anywhere.

So .... working in the garage (lots of layers) got the cowl almost ready for final fitment and welding. I made the brace for the front to ensure all was on the same plane and worked the side cowls to get her close. The driver side was not close (told AMD too) the curve was too high on the stamp so I had to cut and BFH the side to conform to the original piece. The passenger side is almost perfect :thumbsup:


http://imageshack.us/a/img853/1507/1212151645.jpg
Made a gig and welded it to the firewall ... all is straight now.
http://imageshack.us/a/img402/4731/1212151644.jpg
Had to slice the side w/ BFH to conform, almost there.
http://imageshack.us/a/img525/8362/1212151639.jpg
The inside look .... it's close

Well, I got out there and got something done ... but the temps are dropping fast, it's 34 out now and the garage isn't much more.

Thanks for looking ...

nice work,

bought a Suzuki DRZ 400, been hitting some trails around here, nothing like you have there, but still fun,

you have any snow yet??

Thanks for the comment .....having fun is what it is a about, whether on your dirt bike or working on cars. :cheers:

No snow yet, maybe Wednesday?????????

Looks good Chief, Nice work.

More Rust!
 

Thanks ... been awhile since I worked on the car and it does make a difference just to get out and do something :thumbsup:

So .... taking care of more rust I got the cowls fitting pretty good and this inner piece that has the hinge support has been causing me to lose sleep :(
so I got after it today! The shelf had a mouse house in there and that didn't help one bit ........... the plan, cut it out and POR everything
and weld it back in so I don't have to do this again!

http://imageshack.us/a/img152/5452/1212161646.jpg
This will NOT buff out. :(

http://imageshack.us/a/img138/1429/1212161648.jpg
The piece can be saved .... hmmm.

http://imageshack.us/a/img33/9284/1212161651.jpg
Some work done, need another night to finish!

I put a wheel to the hinge pillar area and cleaned her up pretty good, that shelf will POR fer sure, and then weld the POR'd patch back in and then finish the cowl.

Thanks for looking :thumbsup:

Wow, I think I've found the Camaro equivalent for the amount of rust repair needed to resurrect one's car. It sure is a lot of work, and it's looking great!

Thanks for the compliment ... gonna do it right the first go round so I don't have any regrets later, know what I mean? :thumbsup:

I have a little more beating on that patch ... that 16ga doesn't move that easy, but I have to get it right before I weld it back in place :unibrow:

Hey Sonar Cheif ,
Whats 12/25/83 ? obviously x-mas . You cross the equator on that day ?
What the heck do they call that the first time ? I noticed becuse I left San Diego the day before , boot camp .
Time flies ....

That's CHIEF! Crossing The Line is the ceremony for crossing the equator, where a previously inducted sailor known as a SHELLBACK bring slimy POLYWOGS up against King Neptune's court to answer charges.

I never crossed the equator, I did however cross the Arctic circle a few times on board a submarine

Hey .... that day is the day I earned my Dolphins. I went from a NUB to a qualified submariner (well, over 18 months passed in between), we were underway somewhere and the CO presented me with my first pair of Submarine Warfare breast insignia.

Thanks for serving ..... :hail:

Thats Cool! Thank both of you for your servise.

Polywog ..., At 5AM it came to me
I was a Seabee NMCB40 . Five years in and not one full day on a ship .

Nice job on the rust
Primer ? Hays grey ??:_paranoid

Awesome job on the fab work! Car is coming along great..

Wayne ... it was my pleasure:thumbsup:

Haze Grey? No way.... haze grey is for TARGETS, I mean surface ships :rofl: :rofl:

Thanks Brian ... little at a time and make sure it's done right:bow:


Well, working on that patch, cut the first one too short to make the curves so I started with another piece of 18ga and got her close ... I can POR the back of the patch in the workshop (laundry room) tonight but trying to keep that corner above 70 so I can POR the car is gonna be tough. Everything lines up nice so I'm close :thumbsup:

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3535/1212211662.jpg
Close ... need to start welding to get some heat in and form to the original!

Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 50's, that will help a lot, my toes are cold just from this afternoon.

Thanks for looking

Chief - really enjoy your updates and attention to detail. If someone asked me 'how to' bring a Camaro back to life, I'd point them to your thread. Keep up the good work Sir and Happy Holidays...:cheers:

Getting there!
 

That is quite the compliment .... thank you and Happy Holidays to you also! :thumbsup:

Got the patch pretty close to original, I could have keep messing with it but I needed to get going with the POR and not lose too much heat .... finished the welds and bought another 15lb propane tank in case this one goes empty.

So, here is the first coat of POR drying, another coat and then some black.

http://imageshack.us/a/img827/7020/1212221663.jpg
She's close, I'll finish trimming and hammer form when I get some heat on her.
http://imageshack.us/a/img213/3848/1212221666.jpg
Got the first coat of POR and the heat going!

Should get the upper and lower patch welded tomorrow if all goes well :thumbsup:

Thanks for looking ......

looking good man

Chicken Feed!
 

Thanks for the kudos ... she's getting there!

I'm not sure I really wanted to post after seeing Mark has a new thread, new car .... I'm just chicken feed here with my little ol Camaro.
Mark will probably have two more cars finished before I get one out :willy: GOOD LUCK MARK!

But I spent all day in the garage so I might as well post some pictures ....

http://imageshack.us/a/img802/9669/1212231674.jpg
Better than before .... welded/POR'd and black :thumbsup:

http://imageshack.us/a/img203/9888/1212231675.jpg
Welded the top , now need to weld the bottom and button this front end up!

Need to weld the bottom of this pillar and get the other side cleaned up and weld the cowl and sides :D then start on the firewall closeout and the dash ... but I'm getting ahead of myself, one at a time!

Thanks for looking ..

Nice progress, keep picking away at it.

Still picking!
 

Thanks ... still picking at her, got out there and got the lower brace welded in!

Had to open the doors and let out the welding gases and lost all my heat so I'll finish this later :thumbsup: Man it's cold outside!

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/7435/1212241678.jpg
This piece welded in makes this corner very strong!

Happy Holidays to all!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for looking!

Happy Holidays to you and yours as well as the rest reading your thread Chief!

I see you have a Lincoln, just curious what model? I'm hoping to pick up a welder soon.

Happy Holidays!
 

And Happy holidays to you and your family!

My Lincoln MIG is a SP100, I had to think on this one ..... I bought this welder back in '96/'97 and have used the heck out of it, sometimes I wished I'd bought a welder in the 180/200 amp range. The 100 amp is rated for up to 12 ga with CO2/Argon mix you could go thicker with multiple passes, but for the auto body stuff it does just fine :thumbsup:

Later

update 12/29
 

Just when I was on a roll, thought I'd get the uprights and put the column in before I finally welded the cowl, and ..... what the halibut :_paranoid the OEM bolts don't thread in, so I went out and got the original and they threaded in just fine???? METRIC nuts on the back side? Dunno... wth .... so that's the end of today.

I got the final little patch welded in the bottom corner and massaged the side cowl where she's close ... almost got it where I can start welding, and now this :(

Anyway ... here is some pictures.
http://imageshack.us/a/img839/1617/1212301682.jpg
Welded this patch to look like the OEM!

http://imageshack.us/a/img534/8393/1212301681.jpg
I'm not crazy, it fits! That's why you don't throw anything away til the end!!!!!

http://imageshack.us/a/img846/6184/1212301683.jpg
Well .... need to get some METRIC bolts and put everything together before I weld :_paranoid :_paranoid

Thanks for looking .. til next time :thumbsup:

Update 1/6
 

The good news ...the bolts for the column braces were SAE, however they up'd the size from 5/16 to 3/8 so I had to open the holes in the braces to the larger size. Should be getting the cowl fitted with the dash, steering column and all clamped here pretty soon :unibrow:

Made a close out panel for the passenger side front cowl and got that welded in nice.

Made some close out panels for some holes in the firewall that would not be used and got those welded .... figured with the cowl still out I can get to the backside easier :thumbsup:

http://imageshack.us/a/img543/7154/1301051685.jpg
No more water getting in through here!

http://imageshack.us/a/img594/2836/1301061692.jpg
Filled the OEM bulkhead hole for the wiring harness and clutch! Looking much better :thumbsup:

The temps got into the 40's so I worked on the car, still had to use the heater thou :thumbsup: Hopefully the weather will stay nice through next weekend.

Thanks for looking ...

Did you purchase new column braces? Also, what are you planning to run for wiring harness? Gonna do a relocate on the bulkhead? If I had it to do all over again, I think I would have went that route with my AAW harness.

Car looking good! Looks like metal work will be downhill by spring time

The column braces are OEM, DII just put a 3/8 nut in the cowl instead of the 5/16 ... no biggy.

I am gonna run a Ron Francis wiring harness ... get rid of the bulkhead fitting altogether and run a custom one.

Oh yeah, you replaced the cowl...duh

just to rub it in, I was beginning to sweat out in my garage today. Looked at the thermometer and it showed 77*:D Had to turn down the heater

Update 1/12
 

Not watching the Broncos game, butt a$$ cold anyhow, 14 degrees? Got the ol heater out and went through a 15lb bottle already.

Anyhow, got out to the garage and got my firewall filler plate in and almost finished, ran outa 2in rolocs to finish the welds. Still need to finish welding the outside corner above the brace there, that's another day when I can feel:thumbsup: my toes

http://imageshack.us/a/img210/7152/1301121696.jpg
Braced and ready for some heat!
http://imageshack.us/a/img32/8209/1301121701.jpg
Almost done, looks way better than OEM! I'll do some more smoothing on the right over to the brake booster! :thumbsup:

So that's what I did today, hopefully with some more propane and some rolocs I can finish tomorrow - another cold day 17 they say :willy: :willy:

Update 1/19
 

Still plugging away, made some progress in the garage today ... it was actually in the 50's :)

Anyway, here is the patch I cut out to finish off the right side, came out pretty good, still need to weld a couple pin holes and drill the fender bolt holes.

A look back .... much better now:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

http://imageshack.us/a/img542/1135/2011nov01601.jpg
The old firewall ..... ugggg!
http://imageshack.us/a/img204/2230/1301191704.jpg
Cut out a patch and finishing up before welding.
http://imageshack.us/a/img854/6600/1301191712.jpg
Can you see the difference? Little more touch up and we'll call it GOOD!

Thanks for looking ... more to come.:thumbsup:

As chico would say, Loooking goood!!!!!

Nice work Chief!
Who makes and sells the panel clamps that you are using? They look fairly sturdy compared the the Eastwood ones. :headscratch:

Nice job it looks good.

Thanks for the kudos Steve.:thankyou:

Thanks ... :thankyou: I went all over the web to find these again and I cannot find the Hot Rod shop that I bought the last set from, I bought a set of 10 for my brother last year. They are awesome if you can find them, Much sturdier then the Chinese made panel clamps :thumbsup:

Thanks Wayne ... she's getting there :thankyou:

1/27 Update
 

Finally the weather was nice (50's IN JANUARY?) so I took advantage and got out the 80 grit, prep sol and wiped everything down and sprayed some epoxy on the backside of the firewall and the door pillars/ hinge post.

I have been working on the details to get this ready to weld ..... I want it to be perfect before I weld. I have had that cowl off at least 50 times and I think I have it where I can start welding :thumbsup: I can't wait til I do the quarters ... that'll take 75 times off and on before I get to weld.

http://imageshack.us/a/img829/4027/1301271750.jpg
Epoxy on the passenger side, that was the holdup :thumbsup:

http://imageshack.us/a/img690/4596/1301271767.jpg
Went ahead a sprayed all bare metal while I had the weather!

http://imageshack.us/a/img195/8632/1301271772.jpg
Finally got the parts where I want them ... welding soon:thumbsup:

http://imageshack.us/a/img41/7699/1301271773.jpg
Used my new tool ... HF punch/ flange tool, pretty handy!

So that's all for now ... school started and I have homework to do ... progress will slow with homework :bang:

Thanks for looking.

looks great so far,keep pics coming

Thanks for posting! As always very interesting.

looks great:thumbsup:
oh and add another 0 for how many times the quarters will go on and off.

:thankyou: I will keep the pics updated!

:thankyou: for looking!

:thankyou: ANOTHER 0? I can't do the math :lostmarbles:

Now I have to go and get some Stats 512 homework done and get off this website!