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'66 Coupe Resto

Hi! I learned from a Restoration guy here in Houston, Surefire restoration(Bruce), he uses a cordless drill on slow speed. He states with a high speed drill you will drill through both panels most of the time and burn your bit up as well! I used the bit from HF with the agressive looking teeth and pilot tip, and that's what he uses as well. But I would drill a small pilot divot so the pilot guide would stay in place so it wouldn't walk, or I didn't drill all the way through both panels. I was always fooled a bit by the spotwelds, and would be off by a fraction and have to do more prying to separate the panels. I know better now! Hope this helps! ; )
ps: would it be possible to devise a "depth stop" on the bit? like a piece of vacuum line or something that wouldn't give too much. you just need something to guide the depth of the bit! ; )
"Robs66Coupe" said:
Thanks. Any tips? I'm trying to save as much as I can, but we keep drilling through both panels. Is there a trick to only drilling through the top half?
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We thought about trying to figure out something that would help stop the bit when it reached the thickness of one sheet, but we didn't have anything handy.
 
I just went out in my garage and found my spot weld cutter, I cut a piece of plastic tubing that happen to be laying on my workbench. I cut a segement of it and pressed it on the cutter, it was a very tight fit, but drilling slowly one should be able to stop just before nicking the second layer. It's just an idea, but you don't want to be drilling through, more work will lie ahead then. don't get in a hurry, think like McGiver, be creative ; )
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yes, but I didn't measure it, I just went by site what may have looked like an appropriate depth. I think I'd like the cut just to make it to the second layer, but not very deep at all. Nothing worse that it's still attached by a miniscule piece of metal when you're trying to separate the two pieces!! I think what used to throw me off is the spot weld, it's always off a little bit, so when you drill, you don't cut it exactly the way you would have liked! I'm sure there's an art to it, but you'll have it under control after about your 50th spot weld! :thu ; )

"Robs66Coupe" said:
so you have it set to only drill about 1.25mm deep? Maybe I'll give that a shot. At least it could act like a guide.
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Rob I have a spot weld cutter similar to the one Dne' posted and one with a hex shaped shank. Both have adjustments on them to limit the depth. The style like the one posted has a slotted screw in the top and the hex shank one has an allen screw in it. You tighten them down to limit how far the centering pin will depress, thereby limiting the cutter depth. Honestly though, I quit messing with it. I just used gentle pressure and eyeballed how far my bit was down. I'd check it once or twice and was usually through the top by then without cutting through the lower metal. I used to use just a cold chisel or screw driver between the panels and they'd pop right apart. I have a thin bladed chisel bit for my air hammer now and I use it. It separates everything in seconds. You just need to use a little more care.

BTW, the braces came out really nice! :thu
 
Thanks! I know coupes are tighter than convertibles because of the roof, but I figured, what the hell, also, gave me another project to practice welding on.

I went through another 40 or so welds yesterday probably. I've been using a multitude of drill bits. Dewalt has the ones with the little tip to get the hole started sooner. I usually use that for a quick hit on 10 or so welds, then i'll switch to one of the spot weld cutters i have. Seems to work ok. The thing I realized is that I shouldn't focus on whether or not that one weld separated. What I do now, is I'll do a bunch and then see if that area has separated, then go back and work on the ones that didn't come all the way loose.
 
I figure while I've got everything off, I might as well replace the front frame rail extensions. does anyone have a part # for these (see pic). The rust isn't very bad on either, they're just both real banged up.
 

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If they are not rusty, I would just straighten them. Original metal is better than replacement.
 
They are thicker than normal body parts. I have placed a jack and solid 4x4 under them and pound from the inside to flatten the bottom. Just support them real good.
 
+1 on Pete's comments Rob. I've done it on two cars now. It doesn't take very long at all to dolly them out and I think you'll be surprised how good they look. I'm lucky in the fact I have a piece of 2" X 4" aluminum channel. It's pretty heavy duty due to it's size. I just flip it with the flat side on the bottom of the frame rail extension. I then jack it into place with a floor jack to put just a slight amount of pressure on it. I just hammer away until I hear a consistent metallic ring across the entire frame rail. If you find you can't "reach" down inside the frame rail with your hammers, get creative with flat objects (e.g. large diameter rods or even large 1/2" drive sockets installed on extensions upside down). If you use the socket keep in mind if you wail away to hard you'll booger up the end. That's what cheap Harbor Freight extensions are for! :roll

No sense in cutting out something you can more easily repair! :thu
 
Thanks for the advise on the frame rails. Definitely seems easier to bang them out then to replace them.

Looks like this weekend will be the final push for the cowl. A trip to BJs for a case of gatorade, a fan, and a sweat towel should be all I need to complete the job. It's going to be brutal though...supposed to be 90 or so the next few days.
 
Need some help guys. I'm still trying to do metal work on the front end (cowl, toe boards, firewall, etc) but I've had serious motivation issues lately. I think part of it has to do with the fact that my buddy that comes and helps a lot has been busy and I get bored by myself sometimes. Has anyone ever stopped and put together a plan of action of sorts to organize your thoughts and intentions? Does it help? Does anyone have any suggestions or examples? I think a solid plan could help get me focused and back on track.

I'm also having a baby in Feb (well, my wife is) so I think I've been worried to spend too much money. Although I guess you could say it'd be better for me to get work done becuase there's already money tied up and nothing to show for it right now. Anyway, any thoughts or suggestions to help get me back on track would be great. The project I was doing when I stalled was removing the cowl. I think I'm probably 80% done removing the top half...

Thanks guys.
 
Rob I TRULY feel your pain. I replaced the same areas on my coupe project (though not the entire firewall, just the upper lip). It seemed like I could never gain any ground. In actuality I did, but couldn't see it because of what seemed like continuous and repetitious tasks. I also had to do not just toeboards, but the entire floorboard, front to rear (and under the rear seats!)! You WILL get to the point were visible progress becomes easily apparent. The motivational affects then go through the roof! You just gotta keep at it to reach that point. It does NOT hurt to step back, take a breath and check your game plan. You sure don't want to get permanent burn out. I'm sure you have those "little" annoying tasks that you've worked on and worked on, ad nausem, until you'reready to scream, only to finally give in and set them aside. IMHO everybody runs across them. What's worked well for me is to take a break, catch your breath and then go at them full steam. Just them and NOTHING else! Decide on a realistic amount of time it takes and block that out on your schedule. Don't make any excuses to yourself and just charge ahead! Time and progress will actually go by and when it's done you can step back and say "YEAH! That annoying crap is DONE!". It all adds into more motivation.

You're lucky in the fact you have a friend that comes by to help. My friends are usually working on my days off when I can work on my car. It's almost always just me. That can make it REALLY hard to stay focused and motivated. It is possible though! I haven't posted any updates on my build lately. Not because I haven't gotten anything done (I'm actually VERY close to FINALLY finishing ALL of the sheet metal repairs/mods!), but it's been small stuff and I just haven't shot any pics...yet. Lean on your friends for some motivational help, not just physical help. Hang in there. You'll get your wind back!
 
Dear Rob,
Motivation comes in waves, ups n downs, guilt feelings on my part cause these little projects take a great deal of time and money! I'm experiencing these feelings even worse on my current project , like trying to get my husband to accept that I need a measly 3000 to jump start some serious progress on my Apache! Lol. It is an obsession and a feeling of urgency to get the job done or make a dent in what you're trying to achieve in a day or a few hours if lucky, and hate to hear a cell phone ring when I'm hurriedly trying to get something done!
As for you, congratulations on your new family member coming soon! :yah baby and wife are going to need and require a lot of attention, and your motivation will no doubt be shot down substantially! If baby is your first, life is about to change for the next 50 or so years! ; )
However, I keep telling myself, these are projects and Long Term Projects and try not get in a big hurry!!!
If you've ever watched the series NCIS, where Gibson is working on a boat in his basement? He never has shown any progress! Of course it's a show! But for us, it's a ongoing thing, occupying much of thought, word and debit card! Anyway , the time spent on your project should be sought to take your mind off daily crap, a form of relaxation.
Im just rattling on to make no specific point, but to write, I and every restoration person across the world runs up against obstacles and general life situations that impede what we would like to do,
I'd be the first to say, make a serious plan and include your wife to some degree, however, I pretty much go day by day planning, but there's always something to interfere: babysitting, fixing other things around our home or moms home, paying attention to our significant other, taking care of more pressing needs, even a vacation doesn't sound appealing when I'm on a rampage to make progress!!
Well," that's about all I got to say about that"(Forrest Gump)
From a fellow car enthusiast, hang in there and keep posting your acievements or even setbacks! It's just a part of the roller coaster thing called life!
Dne'
 
I truly appreciate the kind words. It's nice to know there are others out there who feel the same way I do. That being said, I was also offered a new job yesterday, which will provide a good amount of breathing room in the $$ department. (that part always stressed me out a bit because I felt like I was spending all this money on metal, parts, etc and my wife was always saving money). This should help with some of the stress and increase the enjoyment. I plan to make some progress here soon, I'll post pics.

Thanks again everyone!!
 
:thu alright, now with all that behind us ,there's work to do, let us ROCK n ROLL :yah
congrats on the new job!!!! :wor
 
hey, I don't know how I missed this one. I love build threads. I also know how you feel. If you find my build thread you'll see what I went thru. Basically I started on my 67 in 1990. I had a son, got divorced then started a new job and was a single dad. From there I eventually remarried, had two more kids, changed jobs and moved a few times and on top of that I travel pretty much all the time. That being said it was about 17 years between when I started bodywork and it was finally painted. I did drive it in between and it also sat in storage and had parts piled on it a lot. I had set backs, changes in my plan and so much more. My family has all participated in the build and now we are enjoying it a lot. I don't know if that is encouraging or discouraging but you are not alone!
Congrates on the new job and your family too!
 
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