Now that the hitch was in and tied the rear frame rails together, the big highlight of today was pulling the body. Woohoo!
There are 12 body mounts on the wagon, 10 of them are bolted in, 2 are pushed in. 7 of the 10 bolts came out easily. 2 of them, both 4th back from the front, were so rusted that there was pretty much nothing left of them. I'm surprised they didn't just fall out of the car. number 3 bolt on the driver's side froze up after a few turns. Then it started spinning freely. I thought the bolt broke but actually the tapped plate started spinning inside the body and karate chopped through the floor sheet metal. I cut around it to peel up the sheet metal and spot welded the plate back down. After that and a bigger impact gun it came right out. Notice the torn sheet metal at the top of the photo, wow.
We have a rolling electric winch on beam track that spans the shop. Using a heavy tow strap I found the balance point in the rear door openings and pulled it up. I wish I could tell you guys how exciting today was. After fixing a couple things and some fabrication to beef up the frame it will head to the sandblaster. Once it's back and painted it's all bolting on parts from here on out. This was a huge milestone and I'm totally stoked. And yes, I know the front tires are on backwards.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Hybrid Mode
