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I just wanted to share some pics of the front crossmember replacement on my 73 from this past weekend. I HATE RUST !!!
Fortunately my donor car had a pretty solid crossmember but it was a lot of work to remove it cleanly. No cutting, removed by drilling out the spot welds (22 of them) then installing by plug welding. The donor piece had one thin spot so I ground it open which made about a 1/4" hole, then i drilled it to 7/16" and put a bolt through it, welded it 100% around then ground it smooth...no evidence left behind
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I would be proud of work like that.
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Looks quite respectable. JTS 71 Mach1
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Nice job...I love to see this type of work.
I am not sure I follow exactly how you made the repair by welding in the bolt. Do you have any pictures of this. I may want to use your idea on my next project.
Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for the encouragement guys. Mike, to give you a better idea of the repair, the small hole was in an area that once I cleaned it up I was able to get at it from inside the crossmember. I put a bolt in from behind (literally threaded it into the hole I drilled) then proceeded to mig weld around the bolt using enough heat to melt the bolt to the parent material. Then ground the bolt off and smoothed it out.
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I love welding had to do quite a bit on my first project (vw beetle)
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(12-10-2014, 01:24 PM)endofanera Wrote: Thanks for the encouragement guys. Mike, to give you a better idea of the repair, the small hole was in an area that once I cleaned it up I was able to get at it from inside the crossmember. I put a bolt in from behind (literally threaded it into the hole I drilled) then proceeded to mig weld around the bolt using enough heat to melt the bolt to the parent material. Then ground the bolt off and smoothed it out.
Thanks Pete....now I understand what you did. Thanks for sharing the picture. Is there more metal work to do on your car? If so, it would be great to share pictures of your work. I believe pictures showing these types of repairs provide a great "how to" learning tool to other members tackling projects.
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I am pretty much at the end of the metal work...thankfully! After putting in complete floors, trunk pan, rear frame rail, one complete quarter panel and the front crossmember....and a few others (welcome to a Canadian car).
I will be making a bracket to house a Hurst Pro-Matic 2 ratchet shifter, which I am looking forward to doing. I will be making a "pocket" that will bolt into the existing shifter hole (not to compromise the hump incase I or the next owner wants OEM shifter). The new shifter is cable operated therefore I will put the cable hole in the piece I make. I am going to make it fit the original floor console and shifter bezel. This will be a fun project
I will post pics of that process.
So this is the car today...[attachment=10405]
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All looks good. If I had to guess I'd say the cars going to be green? Keep pluggin away it'll all come together. JTS 71 Mach1
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Seeing that excelent out come makes me say - Gee, I wish I could weld.