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PAGE 11
Saturday 10/18/03
I did a little research on the old girl this week. From what I can decipher from the VIN and cowl tag this is what I know:
She was built in Atlanta GA, (I knew she was a southern Belle!) in mid to late November 1956.
She was the 19,034 unit built
She originally had Dusk Pearl paint (kind of salmon pink)
Silver vinyl and black and silver cloth interior.
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4.0 hours |
I realized a while ago the frame was not true and used washers and tie straps to get the body as straight as possible to get some parts installed in order to make the body structurally strong.
I may be a chicken but I do not dare weld everything in permanently until I get a good sound straight frame under her to use as a "jig". I cannot do the repairs on the trunk rear wheel well area until I have a straight frame.
I started by removing the front doors and hinges.
There are six 3/8'' bolts in the door and 4 3/8" bolts and 4 Phillips head 3/8" screws holding the hinges to the cowl on the body.
This is the drivers side door hinges.
DT, DL stands for Drivers Top and Drivers lower. They are interchangeable I've been told.
I cut some 1/8" steel strap and drilled holes to match the mounting nuts on the front hinge cowl mount....
and to match a couple holes on the striker plate mounting holes.
Then I measured , cut and welded in some square tubing between the two pieces.
What I want to do here is give the body some reinforcement so I can remove it from the frame while I repair or replace it.
I also removed the remaining three body mounts.
The same was done on the passenger side.
Both sides measured exactly the same! YES!!!
The frame needs to be removed and a straight frame needs to be placed under her before I proceed any further.
I'm hoping these braces, and maybe a couple more will preserve the integrity of the body I've worked hard to achieve.
My plans are to get the body off the frame tomorrow, we'll see....
Sunday 10/19/03
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4.5 hours |
Sunday morning I fought with the rusted rear suspension.
I removed both front and rear shackle bolts and slid the rear dif out from under the car.
I want to roll the frame out from under the body from the front. If I left the rear dif on it would be too high to clear the underside of the body.
I placed a 2x2 square tube across the front body mount supports.
I "safely" supported them on two cheap jack stands.
The rear I used a piece of wood across the rear and again supported it on two jack stands.
I was able to lower the frame down to the ground and roll it out from the front.
Look Mom, no frame!
This is the way the old girl will stay until I get a good straight frame under her.
I wish I would have used taller stands and made it more stable so I could work under it.
The frame is out and tying up way too much room.
I slid it in next to the car.
The next step is to remove everything from the frame and then decide if it's salvageable.
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