Post by oldcoyote on Sept 22, 2010 8:21:50 GMT -5
...... upon starting on the final body prep, Josh Richardson found a whole slew of little surprises left behind by the previous shop ......... some are minor and just irritants, but one is major and causing an enormous amount of time and effort to correct 
the firewall seemed a little "flexible" so Josh set out to find out the reason .... first he fouund that the welding of the firewall was a little "sloppy" and would have to be re-done ............... then he found the kicker .........under the cowl, the body had a 2-1/2" lip which covered the top portion of the firewall .......... finding no reason for this piece it was removed and here is what he found ........... the firewall did not extend up to the cowl and was not even tack welded in place .......... there is a 1-1/4" gap between the top of the firewall and the cowl
.... so besides re-welding the sides, he is going to have to fabricate an extension piece and weld it to the top of the firewall and the cowl
......... he has also found at least a dozen places where the first shop slapped on body filler covering up cracks which need to be welded ............
and one spot on the nose where body filler was applied to a webbed backing material rather than correcting the cracked & broken fiberglass (circled)
............. when I spoke with Josh yesterday, he was a rather frustrated young man .......... kept mumbling something about "making chicken salad out of chicken nuts" ............. however, some good things are happening also ......... the side door panels have been fabricated and sent to the upholstery shop (and the seats are being covered with leather as we speak) ........ the windshield frame and all door handles are off being re-chromed ........ and the dash is being prepped for painting
...... and other than getting an alternator belt, the engine is complete and the rolling chassis has been covered with plastic and has been set aside awaiting the body installation
..... and the beat goes on ....... however, these findings have been a major blow to our schedule
the firewall seemed a little "flexible" so Josh set out to find out the reason .... first he fouund that the welding of the firewall was a little "sloppy" and would have to be re-done ............... then he found the kicker .........under the cowl, the body had a 2-1/2" lip which covered the top portion of the firewall .......... finding no reason for this piece it was removed and here is what he found ........... the firewall did not extend up to the cowl and was not even tack welded in place .......... there is a 1-1/4" gap between the top of the firewall and the cowl
.... so besides re-welding the sides, he is going to have to fabricate an extension piece and weld it to the top of the firewall and the cowl
......... he has also found at least a dozen places where the first shop slapped on body filler covering up cracks which need to be welded ............
and one spot on the nose where body filler was applied to a webbed backing material rather than correcting the cracked & broken fiberglass (circled)
............. when I spoke with Josh yesterday, he was a rather frustrated young man .......... kept mumbling something about "making chicken salad out of chicken nuts" ............. however, some good things are happening also ......... the side door panels have been fabricated and sent to the upholstery shop (and the seats are being covered with leather as we speak) ........ the windshield frame and all door handles are off being re-chromed ........ and the dash is being prepped for painting
...... and other than getting an alternator belt, the engine is complete and the rolling chassis has been covered with plastic and has been set aside awaiting the body installation
..... and the beat goes on ....... however, these findings have been a major blow to our schedule
