1990 country squire resto/lowrider in UK

[andyfanshawe]

Right, I've got a week and a bit to do as much of the bodywork as I can. So first job is to fabricate and weld in the inner wheelarch.
First 2 sections tack welded/glued in.







Hopefully complete all the rest tomorrow and final weld in.

Andy.

[grandwagon]

Keep up the good work Andy'!!!!!!!!

[andyfanshawe]

Heres a view of the inner arch tack welded in. This is the single skin outer quarter I wanted. No rust for me inbetween the 2 layers!



View from inside the tailgate area



Now onto the tailgate. I want it smooth and clean. Just the license plate and illumination. Which means welding up the hole where the hi level brake light used to be and, of course, welding up the handle and lock holes.
Here you can see the black line where I will cut and weld





Once the outer handle is removed I have no way of opening it until the remote solenoids are installed (which wont be till I order them!!), so I need to rig up another external way of getting in - which will also act as an emergency entrance if the electrics fail. So its upper latch removal time, locking bars/rods/linkages removed (locks? we dont need no stinking locks!! Not without handles anyway). This alternative entrance method will involve a throttle cable routed through the tailgate to behind the same light unit where the gas filler neck is.
Heres a couple of views with the stock latch




And heres what was removed...



And heres it all installed back and a lot less cluttered



Looking forward to removing the handle and rod next.

Heres a view of the quarter with a skim of bondo on ready to be flatted



Andy.

[1990LTD]

andy, on the main page when i see a new post in this thread from you, clicking on the link feels like opening presents at christmas. this is great.

[andyfanshawe]

I must finish the mechanical emergency entry to the tailgate before i can weld up the tailgate handles and locks.

Heres a view of the latch with an extension welded in and a stainless wire attached to it.



Heres the wire going through the tailgate with 2 hooks made from galvanised nails and electrical connectors to attach the wire to the hooks!



It still needs securing properly.

Here it is secured to the loom with bright yellow tie wraps in the opposite corner of the tailgate and going through the conduit into the back of the car



And a view of it coming into the back and bolted through a welded on plate behind the corner of the bumper



And a final view of the cable sticking out of the rear. I know need a lever or handle designing.



And you know what?.............It works! So tomorrow is welding up time.

Andy.

[andyfanshawe]

andy, on the main page when i see a new post in this thread from you, clicking on the link feels like opening presents at christmas. this is great.

Hi 1990LTD.
Thanks for your comment! Makes me feel good

Congrats on the POTM by the way!!

Andy.

PS Plenty of updates to come:smirk:

[87gtVIC]

oooooo Sneaky. I like.

[andyfanshawe]

Inner wheel arch fully welded and sealed. Heres an interesting shot looking up from the drivers rear wheel arch



Thoroughly cleaned inner arch ready for the epoxy paint. Looks in fantastic condition seeing as its now 21 years old!



The gas filler pipe is going in tomorrow for powder coating. Dare I do it the same colour as the frame!!

I was having trouble getting the profile right for the body crease where the gas filler door used to be. So I came up with the idea of cutting a bit out of the old gas door, welding a handle onto it and dragging it across some newly applied bondo on a straight base (part of our dining room door panel!!).



Results were very good! Spot the gas door!!





Onto the rear tailgate. My air saw and carbide burr made short work of the panel.



Welding up tomorrow.

Andy.

[andyfanshawe]

It hasn't actually rained here for weeks! So I've been using it to get a serious amount of bodywork done!

Heres a patch for the tailgate handle tacked in late one night...



Too late too grind so I media blasted the wheel arch lip. Now this is a good sight. A completely rust free lip inside and out! Not bad for a 21 year old in the UK



I was prepping the rear wheel arch for its epoxy silver paint and noticed the rear seat mounting bracket that is spot welded to the inner archwas rusty (I had forgotten about it!). So I couldn't paint until that was repaired.



Here it is with the bracket removed



There was a couple of rust pin holes below the bracket that had gone through, so it has to come out

Heres some new metal ready to be welded in when the rusty bit is cut out



Here the outer black line is a locating mark to make sure I get the bracket back in the right place after the repair, and the inner one is the cut line



Heres a good view of the rust cut out from under the arch. You can just see the back of the front seat



Andy.

[andyfanshawe]

Patch welded in





Bracket cleaned up and welded back in by plug welding from the back





Looks a damn sight better than before.

I'll have to weld in that tailgate panel handle patch tomorrow!

Andy.

[1987cp]

How did you ensure that the seatback bracket was reattached in the correct position?

[andyfanshawe]

Hi 1987cp.
Those black lines that you see were the outer markings for a card template.....I've just taken a photo that should make it all clear!



The only accurate way I could think of at the time!!

Andy.

[1987cp]

Makes sense; very clever! This is actually edumacational for someone like me that habitually neglects to take the time to make templates before cutting stuff up.

[grandwagon]

that there Andy is a pretty smart fellow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[andyfanshawe]

Heres the handle and lock welded up



Now heres an interesting sight..when trying to drill out the rivets holding the rear window in I saw this



It should look like this



The rivet centre has failed to break off. I am really surprised that it didn't catch on something on the way up! Or perhaps it did!

Heres the wood grain being warmed up and scraped off







Now I dont know if you can see this, but when I was sat on the floor scraping off the wood sticker I saw some writing that isn't visible at all from any other angle. I tried to get a photo of it. Have a close look at the white section just above the wood...



It says "FRED BEANS DOYLESTOWN". Obviously a sticker from a car sales place. After a google search, it is located in PA. Nice to discover another secret from its past.

Finally got the car to fit in the garage ...just!!! can't open my toolbox drawers though until its pushed forwards a bit!



Heres the remnants of the wood from the tailgate!!!



Andy.