Structure repair... Part 1

As you may remember if you have been following my blog from the beginning, when I first got my Torino I thought I had “fish eye” in the paint on the roof…



But as I pulled the interior out to change it over to black I discovered the real reason for the roof blemishes... Seems at some point in the past the Torino had been involved in an accident and the drivers side outer quarter panel, outer wheelhouse, latch pillar, inner trim bulkhead and drivers door had all been replaced but the roof skin, inner quarter structure, inner wheelhouse and package shelf reinforcement had all been “repaired”…



To test my hand at panel repair, I drilled out the spot welds securing the package shelf diagonal drivers side brace to the car and hammer and dollied it back into shape, stripped the old paint and reinstalled it in the car. I also fabricated a new filler panel to fit between the package shelf structure and the inner quarter panel structure which is slightly visible in the picture of the reinstalled diagonal brace, but with the acquisition of replacement wheelhouse and inner quarter structure, the filler panel won’t be used.

As I continued to work on my Torino I began my search for replacement sheet metal to replace the damaged panels. I located a Cougar locally from which I was able to pull the roof skin as well as roof bracing (see earlier blog posts Skinnin da Cat and Popping the top) but the search for the inner structure proved a bit more difficult. After exhausting all local leads over the course of several years, I finally contacted John Haney at BlueOval in McDonough, GA. I sent John an e-mail asking about the availability of the inner quarter structure for a ‘74-’76 formal roof Gran Torino and I received an e-mail back stating he did. I forwarded John a picture of exactly what I was needing, but he never opened it nor did I ask for photos of the panel he proposed to supply prior to sending payment. So when he e-mailed me back that the panel was ready for shipment, I requested pics of the removed structure only then to discover that the sheet metal he had removed was from a ’72! The ’72-’73 structure was completely different from the ’74-’76....

Although John would not admit to his mistake and after much haggling (and an additional $150!!), he did supply me with a drivers side wheelhouse that also included the lower portion of the inner quarter.

When the wheelhouse arrived, I set about removing the remnants of the surrounding panels that were not needed for my Torino in preparation for sandblasting.

Shortly after the arrival of the wheelhouse, my buddy Steve Casteel (Mr. Torino BTW!!) whom I purchased my Torino from, put me in touch with another Torino acquaintance of his… Phil Shoop who happened to have a couple Torino parts cars. I contacted Phil and sent him pics of what I was needing and within a month or two I also had the inner quarter structure!!
































Now with the replacement parts in hand, it’s time to get busy and get them sandblasted, cleaned up and ready for installation. My next major obstacle will be to find a local body shop or independent body man who would be interested in installing the panels for me!

Until next time…….

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Format update

Hey guys,

Been ages since I've been to my blog much less posted anything! I just bought a house and got moved in and I'm STILL UNPACKING STUFF... Amazing how much crap you accumilate over time!!!

I also updated the formatting of my blog. Hope it makes it easier to ready and that everyone enjoys it. I see a few of the older posts need tweaked a bit to display correctly but that will be another day...

I promise to post a project update..........

SOON

Stay tuned...........

ZEBRA 3 OUT

Roof brace repair and dash removal

Hey gang,

Been several months since I've updated my blog so I'll try and get things brought up to day. When I posted last, I had the roof skin off my Torino and beginning the interior structure repair. I removed my damaged center roof brace and while I had it out I installed the second Cougar roof brace before also installing the Cougar center brace. Once I had them welded in place, I removed the old damaged "tar paper" insulation and will replace it with some more modern high tech insulation material prior to buttoning up the roof skin.
































Speaking of the roof skin, I cleaned off all the old insulation adhesive, scuffed it up with a scotch brite wheel, applied a coat of POR-15 as well as a coat of POR-15 self etching primer in preparation for the finish coat prior to installation.















































With the roof bracing installed and the roof skin prepped, I turned my attention to getting the dash panel out of the car detailing. I actually pulled mine just before the Thanksgiving holiday ('09). Since I have to keep my car driveable, I needed to leave the harness intact so I can move the car around the dealership if needed so I might have had to do a bit more that someone who can just unplug the harness from the bulkhead connector??

There is a bolt and a nut on each end of the dash panel that must be removed (I left them barely engaged so the weight of the dash would be supported until I had everything out of the way and was ready to remove the dash from the car) as well as a couple sheet metal brackets and a heavy brace just to the right (passenger side) of the dash center.

I had already removed the dash pad, cluster, glove box & door, HAVC vents, etc so I was that far ahead of the game. Before I started loosening up the mounting hardware, I first removed the HVAC and other electrical controls and the ash tray assembly and pushed/pulled them free of the dash. Again, since I was leaving the harness in the car, there were a few harness hangers that needed to be opened up and the harness freed from. I replaced any hardware that may have been removed to prevent them from getting lost and reminding me where everything went during reassembly.

There are also a couple semi-rigid rubber/plastic harness protector/hangers on the drivers side where the harness goes around the column and then divides for the cluster and the rest of the dash run. The longer piece just below the HVAC control is held on by three screws and the smaller piece below the wiper controls is held on by two screws all of which are threaded into the sheet metal dash reinforcement.

I discovered three cracks in my dash that I needed to protect and keep from making worse. (You can just make them out in the attached pictures) One was across the thin section below the glove box door, another just below the ash tray and the last was just starting below the HVAC controls. There is a sheet metal reinforcement that runs along the bottom of the dash panel. To maintain the structural integrity of the plastic piece, any hardware that was removed that went thru the plastic and threaded into the metal bracket was replaced. This particularly included the glove box door hinge hardware to prevent any further damage to that end of the panel.

With everything removed and the dash panel ready for removal, I pulled the steering wheel and then removed the four fasteners at each end of the dash. With those out, it was a simple matter of pulling the panel forward and removing it from the car. With the panel out of the car, I replaced the hardware at the ends of the dash, the steering wheel and tied the harness up out of the way. With a little patience you should be able to remove your dash without damage and if you are pulling the harness out with the panel, it should be a bit simpler and quicker that my endeavor…??














































































With the dash removed, it was now time to turn my attention to finally repairing the damage driver's side "C" pillar inner structure. Until the next installment....

ZEBRA 3 OUT