4/21 update:
Had my neighbors come with me to the shop tonight to use the last of the argon before I refill it tomorrow:
I’ve decided to leave the rear of the car alone for a bit as I’m going to scrap the two rear quarter panels and but new replacements, so,on to the front of the car.
Started cutting out all the rust spots. Make cardboard templates, welded in new 18ga metal. Tacked everything in then ran out of gas,but I’ll have it refilled tomorrow morning.
(opposite view from above)
The top of the car was brought to bare metal, painted with etching primer. Quarter was brought down to bare metal, then decided to scrap it, new ones cost $70ish, not worth the fabbing time.
Trial fit
Neighbor Eric at the grinding wheel
Neighbor Greg exposing any potential rust (good so far on the driver side!) he also did all the cutting of the body
Passanger side rust tacked in
Driver side tacked in
Ran out of gas at this point. The following days I’ll grind down the welds and finish them up. The next thing to tackle is the lower rocker panels. During this I’m going to start taking measurements and planning for completely cutting out the frame rails and welding in nice,thick square tubing. I’m going to be pretty cautious about this part, because if I can screw up badly, this is where it can happen. Stay tuned!