So THAT'S Where It All Went

The closing panel under the steering rack was all beat up and I had more 16 gauge metal to replace it with... but I didn't expect to find what I found when I removed it.  Maybe I should have.  It's only been 50 years, after all.

  

Mmmmmm.  That was about 5 pounds of crud.

It looks MUCH better now.

I took some beauty shots of the work I completed on the bottom of the car after cleaning up and filling some holes...

 

 

 

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A Little Shop of Horrors

The Midget had been in a front end collision at some point long ago.  I'm starting to wonder if it was used in a demolition derby.  Not only that, but the front frame rails where the bumper and radiator are mounted take the worst punishment from the weather, so everything was a mess.  My dad had brazed the bumper mounts on, and I ended up patching them a couple of times over the years.  But it was finally time for the whole mess to go.

I ended up replacing the front frame rails (you can buy them as a patch, so I can't be the only one who's had to do this) and the radiator mounting brackets.  This was another critical job, as it determines the alignment of the front fenders to the body and bonnet.  So I measured many times and kept the angle at which the front frame rails exit the front cross member.  I think I got it right as everything still fit in the end.

I had ordered new radiator mounts, but only one came in.  The other was backordered for 19 weeks.  19 WEEKS?  Who orders one radiator mount and not the other?  So I managed to salvage the passenger's side (it was still straight and rust free) and reused it.

Here's where I started.

  

 

Look at the lovely rust.

  

All better now.

The bumper mounts were rusted but salvageable.  They aren't expensive, so I may just replace them outright.  But I wanted to try to fix them.

  

  

Time to replace the other side...

 

And after much careful measuring and test fitting...

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Kicking Some Plates

I finally get back to the Midget in early January of 2015.  I know I could buy the kick plates for the foot wells, but I'm running a bit low on car cash and I wanted to try my hand at fabrication anyhow.  I bought a large piece of 16 gauge sheet metal, and I've got a template--the kick panel I cut out of the driver's side foot well long ago.  So I give it a go.

Measure five times, cut once, and some bending... and I think it looks pretty good.  It fits, too.  So I made the other one.

 

 

I say, "Not bad".  I even installed the nut on the back of the driver's side plate to hold the high beam switch like it should be.  Before, it flopped around a bit because it only had one nut holding it to the car.  And that nut was NOT me.

Believe it or not, that finishes off the middle of the car as far as sheet metal replacement goes.  I might be nearing 50 percent complete.  But there's plenty more to come, so stay tuned.

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Taking a Break

I end up taking a break from March through the end of the year. In March I install bamboo floors in our house, and in April I have PRK on my left eye that means no little metal bits may fly. Surgery went well. The enforced break gives me lots of time to plan.

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Deep Breath...

Time to weld it all together.  I spent a lot of time making things fit just so.

All in all, I like it.  This is actually starting to look like a car again, and I feel like I've got some momentum. Too bad I've got to stop.

 

 

 

 

 

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Show Me Some Skin, Baby

Finally.  I'm going to do something that really shows.  I am replacing the skin on the A post and windshield frame.  This has to line up right, or it's going to look really bad.

Here's the removal...

 

And a test fitting.

 

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The Other Fender

I bought them both, so it's time to replace the passenger's side inner fender.

The portion I kept had a large hole ripped in it, but the metal was still there, so I straightened it out and welded it up.  it's got a little bow to it (heat = expansion) but I'm fine with it.

 

 

 

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