Collector of hobbies
I dropped the pan out from under the body today! I had the whole thing up on jack stands, and got boards through the fender wells, then built saw horses to support the boards. Then I just lowered the pan. Probably a lot slower than having 6 friends over to help me lift, but it took a lot less beer. (not that I wouldn’t share or anything…)
Now I have to figure out where to put the body while I work on the pan. I still may need a few people for beer and body moving 🙂
I just got finished welding up the door openings so that when I start cutting apart the rockers, it doesn’t collapse in on itself.
I also have to remove the steering column. There are 4 bolts, but they have pins that don’t want to come out.
These last two are for Zach to show how the tunnel splits, and the transaxle is cradled between the forks.
The engine is only attached by four bolts on the transaxle. There are no other engine mounts.
A couple weeks ago, I decided to make it my goal to spend at least an hour every night after work, working on my Ghia. It’s been so darn cold though, that I skipped out all of last week, and a lot of the week before. So far this week though, I’ve put in at least 2 hours a night. Motivation? My dad’s been warming it up before I get out there.
Yesterday I got my driver’s door off. I’m sending the hinges that I bought back for a replacement. The hinge pin is supposed to remain stationary relative to the pillar side of the hinge, and pivot on the brass bushing, but the pin has been moving, which seems like it will wear the hinges much faster than they should.
Also yesterday, I finished welding up the passenger’s side door opening, and today, cut most of the pieces for the driver’s side. Hopefully by this weekend, I’ll be able to pull the body from the pan.
I’ve decided that my first big project will be restoring the pan. I’ll disassemble it completely. That includes the torsion bars in the front and rear, and removing the engine and transmission. All the bushings and rubber bits will be replaced, and everything will be painted with heavy duty rust proof paint before being reassembled. New pans will be welded in, and I will disassemble the transmission and make sure everything is within spec, and replace or rebuild everything that is not. I may also put my new engine on at this time, depending on if it’s done or not. That will then be stored somewhere, and work on the body will begin.