1966 Valiant for the Other Daughter....

The rest of the parts have been removed, ready for restoration. For those who have not been this far before it does not look like much was done but for those who know the struggle know how much work this is. I firmly believe the front clip of this old girl is ready for epoxy.... The spirit hawk was with me repairing the lower radiator support, I shocked myself on how well it turned out.

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The other front corner is stripped of lead and welded up. The reason it cracks is because the lead separates from the body under it. You can see the rusty metal where it should have been a nice bond with the lead. Welded the seam tight and will epoxy then use SEM CarboFill to fill it instead of the lead. Welded the brake line bracket back on, it had been screwed on after the welds broke. A little more blasting and I find one last rust spot I need to fix damn it. That area was filled with dirt of course. This is the first Az car I have worked on that I have seen problems in the cowl area but it follows the other rule of the only place an Az car has rust is where dirt get trapped and can wet for extended periods of time when it does rain

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More welding and blasting... Those body plugs I always forget to put back in... I don't think the other two A Bodies have them in either... Who hates those parking brake clips as much as I do... Decided to just weld up the rear panel to the quarters. I will grind it off and blend it in for that custom look! I kept the bracing from the parts I used so the weld holes will line back up perfectly.

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Make sure the key hole is lined up! All ground down (can't get to a few welds) and blasted. A big clean up and man are we close. The only thing left to do is get it back on jack stands to remove pressure and finish welding the the lower edge of the quarters. I leave them till last so any sand blasting grit just runs out and does not get trapped in the quarter/extension area. She is looking good.... I think I will be shooting epoxy next weekend...

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Vacuum Orna-Metal called today and said the dash components are completed (plastic rechrome/bezel restorations) which normally would be a good thing. Frank, the owner, is typically very easy to contact and keeps you updated. This time around it was silent and I could not contact him. Turns out he has a terminal brain tumor... his son in law is taking over the auto restoration part of the business so if you are expecting the normal Frank communication you may not get it but was assured the same people are doing the work and they are continuing on. Very sad, Frank was great to work with. Bitter sweet.
 
A day of blasting panels oh my.... no photos.... welding and blasting tomorrow and it will be time to start mocking up and getting the panels straight ready for epoxy!!!!!
 
Underside of trunk blasted (I did not warp it I was careful) and installed ready to fit. Spare tire bracket removed from old trunk and ready to weld in. Blasted all the front filler parts (this thing has a lot of parts in the grill area compared to the Dart). Since I need to install all the panel and get things fitted I spent time with the bead blaster getting the latches all around cleaned up. Time for some welding tomorrow to get the doors and fenders read to install.

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