Heavy Metal

 I didn't get to work on the Ghia yesterday because I had to drive to Dallas on business, but it would have been a great day to turn a corner, so to speak, in the process.  As it is, I was able to get after some of the front suspension the week before, when the temperature dropped and just enough snow fell that we got a day off.  Cold though it was, it was still a bright sunshiney day, and I went out to bust some knuckles on some cold and heavy steel.

As it turns out, I didn't manage to hurt myself in spite of the cold and the repeated use of a hammer to remove the tie rod ends and the ball joints.  Because they have to literally support all the steel I've already managed to strip off the car, the suspension parts are the heaviest and hardest to remove of all the pieces on the frame, including the engine.  I used a special tool called a 'pickle fork' to remove the tie rod ends, driving the wedge-like steel fork into the gap between the stuck tie-rod end and the pitman arm (on the steering box) and the wheel spindles.  It seemed like mayhem, but after a couple of whacks, they came right out.

I wish the same could be said for the ball joints.  The top joints fell out of their mountings with a couple of hard whacks with the hammer, but the bottom joints are in too fast to simply bang out, especially on a cold day.  I've been reading that the way to get them out is to heat the torsion arm mounts until they are a dull red, then bang 'em out with the hammer.  It doesn't sound very precise, but it might be easier and cheaper than buying a special tool.

Once I removed the brake rotors I had my first look at the front wheel bearings, which looked perfect.  A little clean and some new grease and it will work perfectly.  I am not so sure about the rotors, which are a bit rusty on the edges but otherwise smooth across the braking surface.  They aren't expensive to replace, but I am working on the principle that anything not broken or worn out can be cleaned up and put back on the car.  It's both economical and respectful of the mechanics--if it ain't broke, I am not going to fix it.  Besides, there's plenty of broken and rusty stuff that I can replace!  In any case, I am finally down to the most basic element.  Once I replace the two bushings on the torsion bar arms, I'll be on my way back up.

Next: Ball joint banging

Power Wash

Last Sunday was a real milestone in this project.  It was a beautiful unseasonably warm day, just perfect for getting out and cleaning my freshly stripped down chassis with a power-washer.  First, I removed the wheels and put the frame up on jackstands.  Next, I pulled off the brake calipers on the front and the shock absorbers from both front and back.

Then, after covering the engine with a plastic bag, it was time to get down and dirty.

And hoo boy, was it dirty!  Fortunately, it was relatively easy to clean.  Although there was a lot of dirt built up in places where bits of grease had served as magnets for crud, these bits blew off easily.  In places where I thought that rust had invaded the frame I discovered to my surprise that the rust was only superficial, and in many places with was just a sort of patina that just washed off.

The engine and transmission seem to be in pretty good shape.  After blowing all the built up dirt off the tranny it looked better than I had hoped.  The engine, which I know to be pretty good from my cursory inspection of the heads, looked even better when washed, so I have every reason to be hopeful there.  I will pull it off to inspect the clutch but I don't plan to replace or even work on the engine much.

For now, I've finally reach a point that looks like the bottom.  Look at that shiny toy!

From here, the refurbishment begins.

Down to the Frame at Last

Bolting it to the dolly

Me, Steve, Dan, Tom, Richard, Chis & Henry

Three weeks ago we lifted the body off the frame.  I have to say it went much smoother than I imagined it might.  My seven helpers, Dan, Richard, Henry, Chris, Steve, Tom and Valery and I lifted it off in just two tries.  The only thing I forgot to disconnect was the speedometer cable so that's why we had to lift it twice.  No matter, the muscle was sufficient to the task, as was the giant wooden dolly that I created from a picture on the internet.  It worked, far better than I expected.

Rotten floor pans

Cutting out the rust

Two weekends ago I cut the one of the rusty floor panels off the frame.  It was much easier than I expected, mostly because whoever welded the last set of floor pans in was either so lazy or unskilled that only half the pan was actually welded and that was shitty, to say the least.  You can read about some of the experience in my account (Tools Make the Man) of using the cutting tool in my journal.

Passenger side is next

Both pans are out

The second floor pan came off the frame last weekend, and the story was much same.  I can only hope that whoever cuts the body panels out the next time will have slightly higher regard for my welds than I do for the quality of the previous owner's work on this car.  They get some points for trying, I guess.  In the end, it's a fortunate fail for me.  The frame is free of rotten sheet metal at last.

Off to the scrap heap

Ready for teardown

Now, I can finally attack the frame, suspension, tires, transmission and engine.  No small list, I know, but consider this.  My plan is not to restore but to refurbish this car.  I want to get it running and actually drive it, so my task of cleaning and replacing worn parts will begin this week.

Next week I will remove the wheels and tires, put the remaining frame up on jack stands and give it a good power wash.  Next to a sand-blasting this is the best way to really get down to the bare metal that I can think of.  It will be easier than using chemicals or hand-grinding, to be sure.

Then, it will be time to tackle the front suspension.  I love this work.

Four Months in Four Minutes

Liftoff!

Body Braces

The doors are off

Into storage for a while

After spending at least six weeks--or roughly half of the time that I have had the Ghia--designing and building a dolly to hold the body separate from the chassis while I work on the two halves in essentially the same space in my driveway, the day for the actually removing the body is getting close.

While building the wooden dolly basically turned me into a carpenter for a month or more, I've really been building up the urge to bang around on some metal.  And, although the last step in the process involved metal, it was not 'good' metal (of the rusty and/or automotive type) that had my attention, but a few strategically placed lengths of angle-iron to brace the body and keep it from collapsing like a fortune cookie when it is lifted up off the frame without the doors.

Bolted to the body

Steel angle iron braces

Of course, I first had to remove the doors, which proved to be less difficult than I imagined, but not so easy as it ought to have been.  This was not because the the big bolts holding the doors had become a little rusty (which they had), but because a tricky little hinge pin hidden inside the door required more finesse than force requiring me to think rather than simply wrench and remove.  With Richard's patient help and few brain cells later, I had the doors off and the car ready for the braces.

Ready for liftoff

The frame locks it together

I had originally thought I would have to weld in these braces, but fortunately after the doors came out I found a couple of perfectly placed openings in the body both fore and aft that permitted me to bolt them in instead of welding.

Eight bolts later, we're braced for liftoff.

Hello Dolly

One of the hardest things to pull off in this little project has little to do with metal and nothing to do with the car itself, but considering my available space and the time frame (however unrealistic) I figured that building this little dolly would be worth the time, effort and expense.  Whether or not that proves to be true remains to be seen, but now at least one month after making the decision, the dolly is built and ready to go.

I have no idea if it will actually work, since I built it by looking at a couple of pictures that I found on the internet, but if those pictures are true--and what, on the internet is not?--it ought to do the trick.  The trick is to to separate the body from the frame but store the two halves in the same space.

At first, I had planned to simply pull the body off and set it down on a plywood platform in the side yard, but besides seeming unnecessarily crude and predictably South Austin, it just didn't seem like a good idea, leaving it over there to rot, essentially.  Now, to be fair, having it on the dolly doesn't make it more likely that I will restore that body or even that it will be done in a timely manner, but it does ensure that the neighbors will not be offended by much more than the sight to which they are already comfortably--based on their reactions (none so far)--accustomed, or resigned, as the case may be.  It also means that I can look at the body as I work on the frame, which may or may not be an asset.

Now, it would be just delightful if I could call a few friends and make the move, but nothing is ever that easy, is it?  No, of course not.  I have all the body bolts out, as both Readers know, and the body is ready to move, but I have at long last resolved that other burning question: remove the doors and weld in supports?  The answer to this question is, of course,yes,but the obviousness of the answer didn't occur to me till I had built the dolly.

I was considering moving the body to the dolly without removing the doors, reasoning that leaving them in would not only be simpler and quicker (toward the goal of removing the body) than taking the time and trouble to remove them and weld in steel supports between the rear and front halves of the body.  Simpler and quicker, of course, but not better.  Looking at the dolly I realized that if I don't do that support welding first, when I do remove the doors, the body will fold up like a fortune cookie.  Not something I want.  This is a German car, not an Asian one, after all.


So, after all, even with the dolly built, I am another month away from liftoff.  Now the question becomes whether or not it's time to buy the welder.  A new toy?