Thanks Wayne. You know your build over at MCC was one of the things that got me hooked on this site. I was shocked how far one of these old cars could be torn down and built back up again. I learned a lot from watching that body being put back together. It gave me confidence that anything I could mess up would be possible to fix again by someone !!!

Got parts
 

The nice man in the brown truck brought a few things today !

https://i.imgur.com/5tgB6rFl.jpg

Great project can't wait to see it sitting on the ground! Love the wheels!!

It's always a good day when this guy shows up:ups: very nice work:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Nice tip of the flapper wheels.

Love how the welds clean up on your build.

I can't tell - but does the DSE subframe get welded to the car - or are you making it removeable?

The DSE connectors are designed to weld in. That makes them a little stiffer.

One step forward and one back !
 

It was a little forward and a little backward the last few days. I had planned to mock up the rear end and maybe set it back in the car to check all my clearances. The axles and differential seem to fit OK.

https://i.imgur.com/Iaxv6IHl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cfLPhmzl.jpg

But there was a problem putting the Baer axle retainer in. With the 35 spline axles there isn’t enough room between the shoulder and the bearing seal. Ironically I knew this was coming because a coworker unknowingly just had the same problem. He was asking about my combination and he said it was the same as his and I would have to send the axles back to have the shoulder cut. So, I knew it was coming but was hoping maybe not. You can see here where the retainer won’t slide in. It is soooooo close!

https://i.imgur.com/XnjacA1l.jpg

I think the best way to avoid this is to specify the “B” dimension when ordering the axles.

https://i.imgur.com/NYTm5Mjl.png
If you are using the Baer “Torino” ends then the adapter is just a touch over 5/8” (mine was .628 after anodize).

https://i.imgur.com/rpnObQNl.jpg

I didn’t think of this so I just accepted the default dimensions. Also since the axles are pretty heavy I am thinking to have them gun drilled when I return for the machining of the shoulder. I could have this done locally (except the gun drill) but Moser will do a good job because it is their specialty.
I also finished most of the clean-up on the cross member welds. If I had to do it over I would have cut and welded a little more carefully to save the clean-up time. I also finished welding the panhard bracket so it is just lots of grinding and cleaning at this point.

https://i.imgur.com/2bo8hnFl.jpg

Finally finished the bottom welds on the both subframe connectors, just completing the RH today. There were a few gaps from poor trimming and that slowed me down a little. I still have trouble welding thin to thick material. It isn’t beautiful but it is done.
One minor thing that slowed me down on both sides was the huge gap on the inside of the connectors. This is probably needed to slide the part in but it leaves a gap that I wasn’t really prepared to fill with the MIG. You can see the gap and the filler piece here.

https://i.imgur.com/Mbezc10l.jpg

This is a shot zoomed out so you can see where the filler piece is.

https://i.imgur.com/4ML7rk3l.jpg


Here is the whole thing welded up a combination of TIG and MIG.

https://i.imgur.com/PBWF6s5l.jpg

Next plans clean up all the Panhard bracket and RH tub wells. Finish the inside welds for the subframe connectors and get the axles headed back for trimming and gun drilling.

Nice, on the floor I've had to massage that area so you don't have as big an area to try to fill with mig welding. Great progress!!

Slow Week
 

I didn’t get that much done this weekend. It was partly the hot garage and partly laziness. I did manage to get the RH 4-link pocket welded. That seems pretty easy but just odd angles and it takes a little while to work around it. I had to spot and hammer it down short sections at a time because the floor wants to pull away and burn back when welding. It came out OK.

https://i.imgur.com/1ha0XRGl.jpg

I didn’t get the whole thing ground down but started on the easy side.

https://i.imgur.com/komlgFpl.jpg

The other three sides just take a while because it is hard to get in there. I almost cut the emergency brake bracket off to get in there but thought it probably wouldn’t save any time after welding the bracket back on. I am seriously thinking about buying one of those mini-belt air sanders for getting into tight places like this.

Tonight I spent a little time working the panhard bracket. There were some pretty ugly fat welds to bridge all the gaps and I wore out at least one flap disk getting it roughed out. Still not complete but way closer to finished than it was before. Probably just a little more weld clean-up and some work on the inside. Then it will be good enough for filler before I put on the primer.

https://i.imgur.com/qZtf2dil.jpg

I also spent a little time roughing out the wheel tub plug welds by knocking them down a little bit. Still have a little more clean-up in the tub but starting to look better.

https://i.imgur.com/wvyQkWCl.jpg

The outer wheel house has some wrinkles and gaps from a previous collision where they beat it into submission before brazing on the quarter. I can’t really figure out a good way to patch all the gaps because it will be at odd angles and very hard to weld. I may buy a new outer wheel house and chop out some patch panels that I can plug weld in easier to the quarter wheel opening lip. It will be stronger that way anyway than just brazed along the edges. I was taking this pretty casually but now it is starting to look harder. I may regret not replacing the rough RH quarter if this outer wheel house job balloons up on me!

Overall the bottom is very close to being done. I need to keep up a little effort and then I can spin things back over and work the top side again. Need to get some big ticket items on order and have been procrastinating. But I am almost out of little things so I need to get the transmission and the A/C on order to start those projects. After that I can put some primer on the whole bottom, firewall and inside. Really need to keep pushing that because it is a big milestone and will be a big motivator !

Lookin' good
 

Looks like good progress to me. I can see where having the car on a rotissere really helps at this stage. Like your thread says "Slow progress.." Speed is not the issue. You are doing a quality job, just have to keep plugging away at the car and you will "Git Er Done".

Rod