General Body Repair and Modification

I know this thread jumps around a bit however whilst some projects are in process, others are tackled to save time.

In this portion I am tackling some general body problems.

This is the transmission tunnel hump and there's the hole for the plug to adjust the band on the Borg Warner automatic transmission equipped cars. Also since this was a dealer installed under dash air conditioning car, others have drilled holes for the condensate drain and rear mounting brace. All this needs to be filled in.

This car body will now be mated to a chassis that utilizes a fully rollerized C6 so this isn't needed as the C6 band adjustment is on the other side and down lower.

I could have just used a rubber plug for these holes but since the large factory centre console is going over this I didn't want to take a chance on a plug falling apart or falling out of the hole and having water ingress under the carpet.

It's just a quick patch, since it's all hidden I'm not too concerned with how it looks under sound deadener and a centre console. It's water tight and that's all that counts.

This was another problem and unfortunately i didn't take a before picture. But there was a stamping tear in the roof. It was covered originally by seam sealer. So it was welded shut.

This the passenger side front lower rocker and it has two noticeable dents where the lower rivets go to hold the rocker retainers. These need to be pulled back out. They do not have to be 100% perfect because it's getting rocker trim, but the metal must be moved so the plastic clip doesn't break whilst installing it nor distort it to prevent it holding the rocker trim on properly.

Close up of one dent.

And the other. They both are pushed in a fair amount.

The Elenco dent puller is perfect for this type of work. For those unfamiliar with this, it has the temporary welded in tip that fuses the wand to the metal with a built in slide hammer. Once you move the metal, you simply give the wand a twist and it separates from the metal you were attached to pretty cleanly. Makes pulling metal very very easy and fast. Plus this machine has attachments where for large areas you can spot weld cheap unplated washers and use them to pull in multiple places. It also has an attachment to weld on the trim pegs around windscreens and rear windows. I've already used this feature.

Took longer to set up the machine and plug it in that it did to repair this area.

As for the rest of the body shell really the only places left are the rear quarters once the firewall and cowl are finished.

Next is more work to the firewall and general interior body rust proofing.