This week in (sheet metal) photos!

“Before,” (after media blasting and epoxy primer).

We had lots of holes to fill this week, and the lucky Bugeye shown here got some serious new skin. This is Mr Horner’s Bugeye “Billy,” here from the midwest for a new lease on life. Much new steel is needed, as you can see in the photos to follow.

This post focuses on just the left side of the car. You can see the areas we repaired in the two photos above

Here’s the left front/driver footwell with the inner rocker cut away, dip switch mount panel cut away, inner and outer

In this post, you can see a number of sheet metal and fabrication pictures which will be helpful for anyone who wants to see how and where these cars can rust, and how we fix them. This car was first media blasted to completely strip and reveal a multitude of old repairs that we are now addressing. The car will live on for many generations, courtesy of the reinforcements and repairs the tubs is now receiving.

Another view of the driver side footwell, after the perforated metal was cut away

New footwell floor pan (in black) now welded in place, front kick panel fabricated, side of footwell patched, left side inner rocker patched in front of cross member

Driver footwell looking aft from inside the left front wheel well, patch is on outer side of toe box. Original rocker still in place, although the leading edge is rusted away.

View through the rocker panel at back side of inner rocker repair seen above, now that front half of the rocker panel is removed. Behind that inner rocker panel is the footwell you see repaired in prior photos.

Now the rocker panel patch is welded in place, and the “A” pillar bottom patch is also welded-in. We only needed the front section of a new rocker, which is grafted to the old one in front of the jack hole.

Rarely do we see this diagonal support in need of so much repair. If you drive your car in wet weather, make sure to blow out the lowest point of this support where dirt can trap water that can’t drain. This is the driver side in front of the footwell you see repaired in prior photos.

Forward of the passenger side footwell, here you can see the angle gusset also needed repairs

All that work was just for a small area on the car in and around the driver footwell. The next photos are all about the left rear fender, behind the left rear wheel.

On to the left rear fender by the blinker, where an old dent was pulled out.

…then hammered and dollied out to the original curved shape. The lower fender was rusted and cut away for repair, which also allowed access to the back side of the dented area. Reaching under with a dolly, we could hammer from the front side against it with relative ease.

Then the holes are welded up and ground flat. Note the underside is still wide open for access.

Next the inner rear fender skin is fabricated and welded in place. For reference, you are looking directly below the hammered area in prior pictures, looking through the left rear fender bottom.

And lastly, the outer skin is welded in place to close up the rear fender bottom. Filling and priming will make this all smooth when the body work phase begins. Now there is a healthy foundation.

The next area we repaired is the driver side rear rocker panel which also integrates with the left leaf spring box.

You are looking at the left “B” pilar, and the back of the rocker panel on the driver side. Everything was rusty here. You can also see through the rocker the longitudinal stringer that runs from the rear bulkhead forward.

The new inner rocker panel is grafted in place here,

And then a new chunk of rear rocker panel is welded in place, along with a new patch to the bottom of the front of the rear fender/B pillar.

Here’s a view of that same repair looking from the inside out.

Next comes the floor pan outboard of the spring box. This picture is looking aft at the floor next to the “B” pilar.

Here, Bob has welded a piece of steel to re form that outer box section. The quarter elliptical spring plugs into the hole to the right. The outer section shown here often rusts away.

Next, Bob builds a closing panel for this outboard area, and a closer for the rocker panel rear section. All these components tie into the spring box to add rigidity.

As you can see, this car required a humbling amount of work to repair a relatively small area of the car. If you ever wonder about the challenge of restoring a tub, these pictures are a reminder that this sort of restoration is not for everyone, and we are grateful to have the highly specialized labor available to make it happen!

We’ll post more pictures as the rest of the car comes together!