Moving here from tech info as a possible re build post My son got hit in the front end of his 86 GT that I call Ironman because of the gold body and red roof. I don't know if we can fix it or not but we are going to try do to limited income because of medical problems. here are the latest pics showing the damage with the bumper hood and , passenger fender off. Note the head light is gone and the bumper bent , and corner crushed in.
It said my pic was to big will have to try the new pics again .
Because of medical problems this post is being edited to say the car and all body parts and replacement driver seat cover is for sale in the mall
[This message has been edited by kendallville (edited 08-21-2017).]
I am going to take a few day away from it first to feel better then Joe suggested we measure the frame first . From ball joint to ball joint , corner to corner to see if the frame is still straight . which if its not nothing would line up , and would not drive right. We thought about welding in a corner from a donor but I cant weld or at least not very good at it but it is still an option we are considering.
Well I think we have good news I measured from ball joint to ball joint as suggested and it appears the frame is straight . Hopefully undamaged from the wreck , and good to go. But it still has to sit on the back burner for now because my wife's daily driver needs more repairs than I can afford. maybe I'll play the lottery .
Got to the pick apart to day for A piece of frame and a headlight. Also took a tan , back seat cover that looked very good It wasn't faded, ripped or worn total surprise. so let the rebuild begin . If only it wouldn't take so long. I have to learn how tocut the old frame , take apart more of the front end , then learn to weld. haven't done that since high school ( graduated in 79 )
Thanks , I keep that in mind , I probably will need some help . My brother is a welder but getting him to help is like pulling teeth. Not sure how soon it will be , still need to strip off parts to get down to bare frame to make it easier.
What kind of welder do you have? This is very light gauge steel, so you will want to use a high quality MIG that can be set low. Cheap welders will blow through too easily...even if you are a decent welder. Practice lots on scrap pieces of metal before you jump into the repair (i.e. the stuff you cut off the damaged section).
That's what worries me, and why I would like my brother to weld it. He has been welding at a shop since high school and he just turned 50. I would have to borrow his welder if I do it , so I'm sure he would own a good one . I had a local restoration shop repair the door strikers once , and he did such a good weld job you couldn't tell it had been done. Might get a quote from him.
Well today the bumper came off . Talk about a lot of fun with the rusty bolts. The bumper will need to be replaced it was bent and cracked, so at some point it will be back to the pick a part. When will have to wait until I get some more money. Also you can see in the pic that the metal the hood hinges are mounted to is bent and around where it has to be cut. I have to decide whether to take out the ac condenser and the radiator .
We have got a little done ready to take out the radiator and the A/C condenser , so I have nothing in the way when we cut the metal . The A/C doesn't work in the car and compressor is gone, not sure of anything else never checked. Just wanted to ask if it would hurt if I just left the condenser out . I have no plans of repairing it and can't afford it anyway ( probably never will ) . Then I have to decide where I am going to cut things to get the bad frame out . I am hoping that I can cut the parts so I can overlap them some to make it stronger when I weld them together.
[This message has been edited by kendallville (edited 10-11-2016).]
I would leave it off you will get better air flow through the radiator.
Do plug the lines just incase you or the next guy wants to fix it later When I did mine I just butt welded the joints. But if you can get some over lap the joint would be stronger. Just make sure you clean the joint well before welding and you should be fine.
I used some string and made some reference lines from a good car to help line up the new parts. It still wasn't perfect but it got the job done. Replaced the entire front end and both ends of the frame by the radiator.
Pay close attention to the hood alignment but even if its off you can always shim it or tweak the hinge
Well the front end is stripped down to bare bones. the next step is to measure and cut. I have to be careful the headlight wire harness is pinched in by some bent metal. Hope things go well because no idea what I am doing, just guessing as I go. I will have to tow it some how inside when its time to weld in the new one , no power in the tent and welders don't work on extension cords.
Originally posted by kendallville: no power in the tent and welders don't work on extension cords.
That's not completely true. I always use my Lincoln Electric Mig Pak 140 (120Vac) on a heavy gauge extension cord....even running on a high setting. You'll be welding on a pretty low setting, so you shouldn't have an issue.
That's not completely true. I always use my Lincoln Electric Mig Pak 140 (120Vac) on a heavy gauge extension cord....even running on a high setting. You'll be welding on a pretty low setting, so you shouldn't have an issue.
Yup, I have done it many times on a 120v Lincoln welder.
No pics today but , have gotten a few cuts made in the metal. Harder to do then I thought it would be I have a good size air compressor but it was still cut a little then let the compressor catch up. Cut just enough to get the pinched headlight wire harness out of the way.
It's a good 50 feet to an outlet won't there be to much voltage drop?
Voltage drop only becomes an issue when you have high current draws. If you are on a moderately low setting then the current draw won't be an issue. I use a 50 ft extension with mine.
Most if not all the cutting is done on the car. Now I have to clean up the edges a little, then cut the new one to fit. Not easy at all but not as bad as I thought it would be ( to be honest I didn't think we would get this far. ) I just hope it's worth it. Here is todays pics.
I used a 3 electric grinder to cut my car apart Harbor freight has good deals on cut off wheels. That way I didn't have to wait on my compressor. Do not get a cheep grinder if you go that route, my first two fell apart after a couple of days of steady work. The Makita I have now is a work horse
Just watch measurements when you put it back together.
