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Old 03-05-2014, 09:17 PM   #13
MyblackS13
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Indiana
Age: 42
Posts: 128
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Engine Bay Body Work

While the engine was back out after building the mounts and headers I decided that would be a good time to do some clean up work in the engine bay. First I made a little patch panel for the front core support. I had a little fun with a dimple die while I was at it. I made the panels out of 16ga steel so they would be strong since the front core ties the two frame/unibody rails together. When welding in the panel I decided to try a product I hadn't before. I got a weld through primer, I was a little reluctant to paint where I was about to weld, but that's how its advertised to work. I sprayed the back side of the panel and anywhere I thought I might have trouble spraying after it was welded together. My reluctance seemed to be correct, where ever the primer was my weld didn't want to penetrate until I had it all burnt away. It seems like the trick to get it to work is to paint the part with it, then wire brush it away right in the spot where you're going to weld.



Really happy with how the dimple die worked



I had to add a couple dimpled holes where they might be visible, when the car is together.



Patch in place, Next...this spot was looking pretty gross so my attention was turned to it.



Excuse the blurry picture, but you get the idea. There was rust in the former home of the battery tray, an intercooler pipe hole that's too small and in the wrong location for the intake, holes from drilled spot welds, and provisions for a washer fluid tank that's been out of the car for nearly 10 years now. My first problem was no press brake to bend the radius on the panel. So I made a quick and dirty rail for the hydraulic press at work.



I used this in conjunction with a piece of 1-1/4" round stock to make a nice radiused corner. Then used my handy dandy card board templates to make my patch panel out of 22ga sheet metal, about the same thickness as the original piece.





After making the panel I cleco pinned and butt weld clamped it in place for weld.



Also, I patched some strut tower rust that I had previously repaired with bondo and stitch welded the front of the car. I figured that with the extra torque the LS will provide the front of this car will need all the help it can get. The first steps to stitch welding are scraping out the seam sealer, then wire brush the remaining sealer out.











Stitch welding is a serious pain, no matter how much you think you've thoroughly cleaned all the bits of rust and seam sealer there will still be some in there. Every time you hit some seam sealer, dirt or rust and pull it into the puddle it burns and makes the puddle pop. You'll have a good run for a few stitches then a few that are terrible where you keep cleaning and trying to get a good weld.

A much easier part was making at attaching subframe rail caps. I plasma cut them then used the dimple die to make the holes look clean and tig welded them in place.





The next step will be to repair some rust holes I discovered in the frame rails (frail rails). Again sorry about the terrible cell phone picture.

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