Plasma cutters - easy to go to far

[B'stard Child]

Wednesday



Saturday



100 kgs saved

[chormy]

Need need need one Lol! just think ho much I can lighten the MGB

[B'stard Child]

chormy said:

Need need need one Lol! just think ho much I can lighten the MGB

Yeah - unfortunately the weight has to go back - just a different shell going over it so need to adjust what I have to the required dimensions of the new shell

Just in case anyone thinks I'm just cutting up the car to dispose of it.

[Whatty]

B'stard Child said:

Yeah - unfortunately the weight has to go back - just a different shell going over it so need to adjust what I have to the required dimensions of the new shell

Just in case anyone thinks I'm just cutting up the car to dispose of it.

NASCAR theme for the next body?

I'm having a 'Days Of Thunder' moment with that last picture.
Good job you're taller than Little Tippy Tommie Cruise.

[B'stard Child]

Whatty said:

B'stard Child said:

Yeah - unfortunately the weight has to go back - just a different shell going over it so need to adjust what I have to the required dimensions of the new shell

Just in case anyone thinks I'm just cutting up the car to dispose of it.

NASCAR theme for the next body?

I'm having a 'Days Of Thunder' moment with that last picture.
Good job you're taller than Little Tippy Tommie Cruise.

I had a Nascar theme with the last one - you know I'm a Jeff Gordon fan right (I have Nascar PJ's) that last bit might be too much detail

[B'stard Child]

The replacement "body"

[Whatty]

So my Days of Thunder reference was close: MELLOW YELLOW.

Remind me to tell you about the time I was given a ticket to ride shotgun NASCAR style at Pocono Speedway.

[Spottedlaurel]

Good to see some progress with it BC! I was thinking about this project only the other day, I'm sure you'll make good use of that lovely Commodore.

[B'stard Child]

Spottedlaurel said:

Good to see some progress with it BC! I was thinking about this project only the other day, I'm sure you'll make good use of that lovely Commodore.

It's been too long in planning (I know) - I do hope it comes together as well in reality as it has in my head!!

[B'stard Child]

A week with the flu sucks especially when you want to make progress

However at last I felt well enough to get back at it

so front end was the target





That's cleaned that up nicely - I have no idea where the inner wings are going to meet so minimum metal removed

[robg2]

Absolutely barking!

[B'stard Child]

robg2 said:

Absolutely barking!

Possibly......

Not sure today's progress is worthy of an update but as I took pictures I'll share

First job remove the mounts for the "removable" rear brace (If I didn't I'd either have to cut a lot of metal out of the parcel shelf to get the shell over or the shell would sit on them and not go all the way - easier to remove now)





Then clean all the old paint, waxoil, makers rust proofing from the inside of the sills both sides and weld up some trim holes for the door step covers which are long gone

Holes be gone



Break out the red oxide



An of course repeat on the other side



I think this is the other side - hard to tell!!



Old passenger seat mounts removed



And the bulkhead edge trimmed and a little more paint to protect



Painting made a change from cutting and grinding - I can remove a strip off the edge with a strip disc just before welding but at least it stops it going f'rusty.

Next jobs (from the plan)

- clean up the welds on the cage
- give it a clean/de-rust and paint it as it's difficult to paint in a lot of places when a shell is on top of it.
- Clean the floor pans and grind back a couple of repair patches
- Finish the rear inner arches and stitch weld the shock turrets

[Whatty]

Evening M. Illegum Enfant...

Will you have this all finished to show me on Wednesday?

Cheers, Whatty

[B'stard Child]

Whatty said:

Evening M. Illegum Enfant...

Will you have this all finished to show me on Wednesday?

Cheers, Whatty

Unfortunately it will not be finished in time for wednesday

But you are welcome to take the piss on the lack of progress on wed night

[B'stard Child]

Well today the other half of the jigsaw arrived home

Liberated from it's storage place (it's been there a long while)

Loaded (quite easy with a power winch but the tyres were struggling to hold much air - picture below shows the side where air was staying in the rubber - other side had splits in the tyre walls that you could put your fingers in)



Gewy providing the tug and trailer (Technically the tug was provided by his lovely wife Gillian as it's her Pathfinder that got borrowed)



So a little distance to cover and the Commodore was home

Gravity provided the input to get it off the trailer but pushing a car with two flat tyres up a drive with a slope was gonna be a bit tough......

So the first thing that needed to be done was - a wheel swap obviously



Cheeky picture with the Monza looking at it's sexy new bodywork



Then bonnet removal as it needs four hands followed by a final push into the garage



Monza wrapped for temporary driveway storage



Then I got stuck into to mucking it out........

[B'stard Child]

Well I don't have a a plan B anymore - sorry for the camera phone picture



No I haven't cut the roof off - just an issue with lighting!

[B'stard Child]

Well a bit more progress tonight (well this week) but I said no pictures till the engine was out so have some pictures

Front screen is out (un broken and with the screen rubber intact) - the rubber has seen better days but they are silly money and normally on a Monza I chose to sacrifice either glass or rubber and never try to save both - double win with the commodore

The rear side windows are also out - more on this later!

It takes up less floor space this way up



If that's on the floor then



So I finished removing the trim from around the rear windows and it came away without damage - not sure if I will use it or not but it gives me options and I'm sure someone else who is more "concors" will find it useful if I don't use it myself

Anyway the three lower screws holding the trim on both sides had to be ground away (On a Monza they are normally completely dissolved) so that was a good sign

This is what was underneath the trim

Driver side



Passenger side



And then I had a close look at the windscreen aperture



Effectively in Monza terminology I have just won the lottery and been asked out for a drink by Nicole Scherzinger and Mrs BC has said sure it's fine go have fun!!!!

[B'stard Child]

Getting there slowly

Day 1 - Tunnel be gone



Then one side of the floor pan because I now had a handy hole where the tunnel used to be to stand in (Health and safety first - I didn't fancy sitting on a floor I wanted to remove)





Salvaged for someone



Then a bit more came out (a bit got left in for tommorrow)





Then an easy bit to finish



Day 2 - Now peeps I left a little bit of floor in yesterday - so that was despatched in lightening speed (who am I kidding it was an utter cow to remove as my cunning plan based on yesterdays fun and games failed at the first hurdle) so as it was the worst floor section I got brutal with it.....

Floor be gone



As I said not the best repair panel but it can be repaired and it got added to a pile that somehow I need to get to Dusseldorf



Oh and if anyone thinks the Commodore could have been saved have a look at this chassis rail





Other side was worse and the rot extends right up into the engine bay rails - yes it probably could but then this thread would read a lot different.

Bit more work at the back end (still more to do)



Tidied up the sills and got rid of the inner sill skin

Then scraped of the matting on the inside of the roof cos it kept getting in my hair and I can now stand up and walk around inside the car so it's easy.

So front



And back



Need to dig out my spot welding drills out next as that back panel has got to come out.

Doesn't seem like much done really...........

[robg2]

Very impressed with this venture Ian. Keep it going!

[B'stard Child]

robg2 said:

Very impressed with this venture Ian. Keep it going!

Just you, chormey, whatty and me then

OK just for you both the most recent update

So I had a day off the Commodore yesterday - sometimes you have to take a break

back at it - bracing be gone



Followed shortly by an arch



then another



then some other metal (mainly chassis rails)



Yeah better picture needed



Pretty much all of the major cutting is done now just need to clean up the edges pending fitting and fettling
I needed to leave part of the original bulkhead in place because I want to use the Commodore heater box and demist pipework (track cars with no heaters aren’t much fun on a wet track day)

From inside



From outside



Inner wing rails have been removed at the bulkhead joint by drilling out the spot welds (never like that job)

Finished up the back end too





So getting nearer to the end point.....

Right now (well not exactly right now) I'm mainly welding up trim holes and removing glue residue from the roof and that's resisting any chemical I throw at it!!!