I guess to really get the scale of overkill you should see both sides.
I guess to really get the scale of overkill you should see both sides.
Not quite sure what I'm looking at...........head held sideways squinting my eyes......
In reply to 759NRNG :
Probably need to go back a page. Sounds like you missed a post.
i'm not sure anyone doubted your commitment to overkill, but that sure is nice to see anyway 
To cap off the ends where da mice used ta be livin' ? I give........
I was going to drill out the spot welds so I could save the inner sill to facilitate reinstalling the door plates but the top side is held in with about a million spot welds.
There's about 13 feet of that altogether, and unlike the rest of the car they're all still intact.
Knowing I was about to destroy the inner sill with the air hammer I made the profile tool above so I can make sure to get it right when I fabricate a new one.
Then, after pulling the inner sill I found more speed holes!
I'm probably going to have to remove those panels too. If so I'll try to reuse the dimples.
Thank you kind sir for the BIG picture. 
In this installment:
Uncle Ben gets Jacked!
Ok, it's not really that special, but it is pretty cool if you ask me.
I didn't really take any pictures of this process as I was really on a roll. But here's the end product.
This very much a down and dirty job. Nothing was deburred, and I didn't even bother wire brushing most of it.
But you turn the 3/4" all-thread and it goes up. Turn it far enough and you can stick a pin in it and remove the lower stop.
With the pin in place the lower block can go up or down allowing me to lift/lower/ the whole length of the leg.
It's not terribly smooth through it's range of motion since hot dip galvanized steel has a pretty uneven texture, but it works, and I can literally shove the car around and it doesn't fall over. So that's nice.
nice work.
Belt and suspenders kind of fabrication. well done.
In reply to Indy-Barely Functional-Guy :
Thanks! That was what I was going for.
Welding that hot dip galvanized really sucks. Also don’t trust the penetration if it is something that could bite you; the zinc seems to defeat penetration for some reason.
Yeah, the coating has to be removed. I grind it back at least half an inch and it welds like normal.
Hi, my name's Crackers, and I'm a grindaholic.
Does a person need 8 angle grinders?
Well, not really, I'm kind of a special case.
However, these went on sale again at TSC and I wanted another one for dedicated wire wheel purposes.
As a bonus, the display model was the only one they had, and it was missing the grinding wheel and nut. The manager was anxious to get rid of it and I happen to have no need of the missing stuff, so I got an additional $20 off the sale price. (I also happen to have several spare nuts. )
You'd have to be dumb to walk away from a brand new DeWalt for $29!
Great progress, you're taking a very methodical approach! I'm completely dumbfounded by the door sill profile template, I'm lucky if I'm meticulous enough to cut a piece of cardboard, much less cut, roll, and stamp a piece of steel!
Welcome Crackers .....when was the last time you grinded?????
I wish I had 8 grinders... I only have 1, and another ex-grinder. For some reason it puked it's guts out. Grinding is a hard life...
In reply to CLynn85 :
Thank you.
Being this deep into a car can be demoralizing. Days of work go by, nothing is finished, and there's still months of work ahead.
Sometimes doing something you can actually finish like making an over-the-top profile tool makes the light at the end of the tunnel a little brighter.
I'm officially at a point where I've done all I can without at least mocking up the chassis, so most of my time now is being wasted twiddling my thumbs while debating hypotheticals.
In reply to 759NRNG :
It's been about 18 hours, and I've got the shakes. 
In reply to Rufledt :
I'm pretty sure by now I've spent more money on tools for this car than I'll spend on actual parts.
When it comes to grinders, I've basically become a DeWalt fanboy.
Home Depot sells a $40 Ryobi rat tail grinder with a rotating handle that I used to really like for light sanding. (The rotating handle was key for ergonomics in my actual "work use".) A couple years ago they upped amperage/power and they get too hot and like to let the smoke out. Then again, I'm sure even before the change they weren't intended to run almost continuously for 3 hours at a time.
I've killed 2 of them since September, (and I'm not planning on replacing them) or it'd be 10. Of course, I may try to replace them anyway since I'm afraid of change.
I guess my point is, the key to longevity with most power tools is to stop and let them cool off when they get hot.
If you're doing a job that you need to really lean on a grinder (ie wire wheeling) or extended run time, it's going to get hot.
The $60 DeWalts like the one I just got will take a lot of punishment. The 13 amp USA made one will run all day pretty much regardless of what I do with it, even when it's 100° out.
If I'm really going to lean on something, I use my 7" Ridgid. (Like when I grind off the spot welds on the door sills.) Then again, it's heavy enough, you don't have to lean on it. LOL I bought it before I drank the Kool-Aid, but it's held up well despite seeing nothing but abuse.
Don't forget the the service center in Jersey Village off 290.......resurrected my Dewalt from there (switch/brushes)....good as new
Crackers said:In reply to CLynn85 :
Thank you.
Being this deep into a car can be demoralizing. Days of work go by, nothing is finished, and there's still months of work ahead.
Sometimes doing something you can actually finish like making an over-the-top profile tool makes the light at the end of the tunnel a little brighter.
I'm officially at a point where I've done all I can without at least mocking up the chassis, so most of my time now is being wasted twiddling my thumbs while debating hypotheticals.
You are right on both counts. It IS hard to keep the faith AND it is very important to start and complete SOME task.
My brother and I were comparing the Molvo build to his through hike of the Appalachian trail. Remarkably similar highs and lows.
I was *[this close]* to dragging the chassis home today when I realized half my straps are missing and the ones I could find were all damaged/frayed.
So I ordered a new set of straps, and will be sitting on my hands until they get here.
I also picked up some rectangular tubing yesterday to reinforce the sills. So theoretically, I have all I need to make this thing roll again.
I finally got accurate measurements of the Lexus floor pan to compare to the gaping hole in the AMC.
Unbelievably, they're within 1/8".
As in the Lexus pan will pretty much weld right into the the Rambler sills.
USPS needs to get moving!
1/8” is clamp it together and weld it territory
That's what I'm saying!
I realized I have a plasma cutter and decided to try using it to cut out spot welds.
It actually works well, but the sheet metal is so thin that if I miss the smallest bit of intact spot weld and pull on the panel, the sheet metal tears or creases.
And I missed a lot. So now I have a ton of panel repair to do.
Knowing what a mess I made on the passenger side, I made another profile tool for the lower sill before I start cutting the driver's side so I can at least get it back in shape. Although, I'm going to grind off the flange on the other side to avoid causing any more damage.
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