Hi All, Well, I'm going to cut the body up on the 39 but, I'm not sure where to start. I'm replacing the firewall, lower cowls (inner and outer) front floor pans and rockers. I'm thinking the cowls would be best so I can leave the floors, rockers and firewall for guides. The very bottom of the cowls are gone but the area where the fender bolts to it has rust pits. After the door problems I want to have the shortest visible weld seam possible so, I can just cut the cowl three or four inches up instead of the 12 inches like the patch panel has. This would let me have about a 2" visible seam instead of a 5" or 6". What do you think?
i'm a bit confused , but after reading and re-reading i think you want to do some rust repair? how about some pictures so we can see what's going on
Sounds like you have a plan. Start at the front and work your way back. I like to use as little of a patch panel as possible. Make sure you don't remove any good reference points along the way. Tack everything first and when its right, weld it all up. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Start by making sure the body is square and the doors fit perfect. Brace the hell out of it with diagonal braces if necessary, to be sure it stays square. Then cut and replace one piece at a time. Usually I do rocker panels first, then floors, then the smaller stuff but it all depends. Sometimes you have to build something to weld the rockers to, before you begin.
There we go. So, I was going to cut it just above the door hinge pocket instead of at the top of the picture. I can make a dolly to fit in that area. If I cut it at the top I have to use the whole patch panel and the bends don't look like they will line up perfectly. I'll take more pictures of the surrounding area.