Major Progress

 It's been a long time. A lot of my slow speed comes from mistakes and the lack of confidence.  I believe, once I finish this area, things will speed up, as I am already feeling my confidence building up nicely. The way in which I tackle each problem is only creating a stronger Marquis at the end of each session.

I finally got the B-Pillar closed up and sealed perfectly.  I ended up switching from the AutoCraft parts to a Funky Green panel pillar.  This pillar reaches farther up and it also closes the gap perfectly.

Once the  B-Pillar closed up,  I spot welded  the inner rockers to the cross connects (top and bottom hats). In some cases, I had to use a MIG welder to spot weld behind the middle pillars. For the ones that were reachable, this spot welder was the fastest and cleanest method possible.

This is a photo that shows how I tried to access in the middle of the beam with the spot welder.  In most cases, I didn't work well.  I was tired of holding the welder since it is very heavy.

The inner rocker and the pillar and the pillar closeout plate looks solid. I've added some weldable primer to resist against rust that could form when closing the gap and from the welding process overall.

The outer rocker is finally sized up for the final time to make sure it lines up for welding. I need to purchase a few more magnets to make sure all areas along the panel mates the original across the van in a leveled way.

I will post pictures when I am finished with the welding of the side.

The inner rockers are permanently welded in. I had to remove them and straighten back out the metal, as I welded it too forward the first time. I was going to order a new one, but I thought it would be a better exercise if I fixed what I destroyed to help keep my cost down and save time waiting for the new part to come in.  Also, I've welded in the b-pillar post cover that I also had to re-work.  Hey!  I'm learning the hard way, but it is learning indeed.   I still have a question posted on a forum on how to handle the tab down on the bottom left.I believe it has to be bent over and weld closed. If I don't get a response, I'll take a look at the other side

Here is the outer rocker mating up to the B-pillar post that I fabricated. I'll have to grind down some of the arch, as it doesn't allow for my tack-weld holes to line up.  These wholes were made with a flange tool. The reverse side allows you to punch holes into sheet metal like paper. It works with a compressor. Please see the photo at the very end.

Along the top side panel, I'll have to grind down some of the ridges that doesn't allow the outer rocker to mate evenly to the bottom. This doesn't allow the weld holes punched in the bottom to mate to the inner rocker.  This will be fixed on my next visit to the garage.

Here is how the side rocker panel looks when mated up. As you can see, this will look pretty good once welded in. This will start next weekend.  I got an immunization shot on Saturday that made me feel pretty sick, so I had to stop.

Cargo floor dent repair Part 2 - Updated

The floor straightening process has begun. I am forcing the van up between the support beams, starting from the closest spot the the center beam, moving my way out to the outer edges. The goal is not to get it straightened out the first run. I'll have to move across the entire floor between the beams a few times.

As you can see from this photo and the one above, the floor has already straightened out a bit already.  I have the jack in this current position over night. I heated up the metal a few times allowing for it to stretch. I will go through each space a few times. The reason for a few times is in understanding that the metal is one piece and one has to treat it as such. When on spot is straightening, it is also affecting the metal near to it.

Here is a picture of the lines so far. The area in the near left is where the jack and my jig is resting currently.









Here I had to build a mini pressure tool. This allows me to apply force on small dents and more stubborn ones that needs more direct localized pressure to straighten out the metal.

Cargo Floor dent repair - Part 1, Dent Helper Build

Today I built a cargo floor dent bender/repairer. In many spots, maybe because the driver's side had an accident long ago, the cargo floor has several bows in the in.  I don't want to replace the floor because it is in really good Texas shape.  I built a quick device to aid in straightening it out. This is spaced out to fit the grooves of the cargo floor and press it up from the bottom between the high groove marks.

Today, I just tested it slightly.  When I really use it, I will jack it up and go inside and hammer the opposite side high spots to agitate the metal so that is straightens out much easier.

This is the same photo that I posted in my last post, but this can help you see the bows in the cargo floor from the bottom view.








This is how it works. With a jack, making sure the bars fits into the grooves from underneath, jack it up to apply pressure moving the jack across the bows each time, as the metal bends itself from the underside pressure.  From the outside reaching in or from the inside completely, I will  hammer down lightly on the high spots on each side of the apparatus applying upward pressure.

From my test, you can see, it almost fixed one dent in a few minutes. I didn't get to the hammer part that helps relieve tension.

 For now, I have to make my helper rust proof.

I painted it blue from extra paint that I had around the garage.  This will help keep it from rusting, just in case I need this for another project. Hey, you never know. Maybe I'll sell this when I am done.  I love the project more than the finish car I guess.