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some more of my career changing welding skills lmao!

filled in the jagged chunk in the trunk and the welded the round patch on the passenger's side.

next will be reinforcing the spare tire holder, its pretty rotted. I'm just going to weld in a piece over the top of it and the bottom. basically sandwich the rot and seal it all up so water wont get into it. figured it would be easier to form the metal agains what is there, rather then cut it out and try to form it. surely not the right way, but oh well, it'll hold the spare tire for ages beyond my life span and nobody will see it.

Hank

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Check the local metal supply stores. I think I bought a 2'x4' sheet of 18ga cold rolled steel for like $30. Much cheaper than the local Big Box stores.

got the body off....i can tell you that damn steering rod is a flipping PITA!!

i got the body on jack stands because my hydroram on my picker is weak and slowly leaks down and i dont feel like being squished.

it is NO easy task to do that in garage, but i couldnt' take it outside and then hope to get the body and crane back into the garage.

Hank

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Hank:

You are doing one hell of a job on that car. You absolutely amaze me! You took a virtual basket case and you're turning it into a beautiful automobile. What I really like is your ability to improvise and come up with good solutions at reasonable prices. Not far from where I live is a restoration outfil called White Post Restorations. If you had asked these guys to do a frame-off restoration on that car, theyt would probably have charged you about $35,000. Sure, they do great work; but they cater to folks with a lot deeper pockets than most of us regularly visiting this site. I always look forward to reading about your latest adventures with your Clipper and I have recommended your topic to people interested in restoration old cars.



Craig

Thanks man! yeah one has to be inventive when the pockets are shallow and compromise is the key really.

finding a balance between what you really want to spend money on and what you are happy and can live with.

When i started out on this car it was going to be prestine, but things change and i like the direction its heading in.

I hope the blog helps people.

we have a cold front coming in after today, should only be in the 90s, so i should be back in the garage for that cold chilly breeze! lol.

Sometimes it's all about perspective and the greater plan. Sometimes cheaper solutions are needed to get the car done and back on the road. Are we building a show car for other people to look at, or a car for us to drive. If it's for us to drive, then we do what we need to get it back on the road, vs. never moving forward cause we cant afford to do something that is over the top correct and 99% of the people would never understand or appreciate anyway. Better for it to be driving with some creative license, then rusting away in a field somewhere.

got the inside of the car linseeded. you can see ho well it penetrates by looking at the little circles of it penetrating the roof from underneath.

took me 3 1/2 20oz cups to really get it soaked good and in all the hard to reach places.

i hope i have enough of the linseed left over for the outside and the othe bits. i don't want to have to buy more.

after this sets for a couple of weeks i will coat it all with herculiner and it will be uniform again.

the linseed even penetrated the rubberized material i left that was still in good shape. pretty good stuff.

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Wow Hank! That is simply awesome! It really looks great. I can't believe this is the same car you pulled out of field a few years ago.

Hank,

Lifting the body off with the cherry picker looks familiar! LOL. I'm glad you were able to get your body off and do further work.

Craig