VIN 11596 Frame Swap - a rolling frame-off restoration

[Timeless]

Nice! For those looking for something similar to prop doors open, I use a telescopic light bulb changing pole. Adjustable length and doesn't damage the door panel/carpet. One end on the sill panel area - one on the door panel carpet. Gel remover is a great idea. When I replaced my outer seals I used 3M adhesive remover and plastic razor blades. Worked well and got both sides done and clean in ~45 minutes.

[82DMC12]

Got a bit more done this weekend. My wife was able to help me unwind the torsion bars using the wooden brace I made. After removing both M8 bolts and the spline plate, with the door just past perpendicular to the roof, there remains about 60 degrees of twist in the bar. I marked the end of the bar and the spline plate with red paint pen so I know exactly how it was when I removed them. I do plan to loosen them at least one, possibly two teeth once I have everything back together because I am relying too much on the gas strut brake to avoid shock to the roof and hinges.

My driver side bar was slightly mushroomed on the end which made it difficult to get the spline plate off. The best way to fix this is to clean the plate and torsion bar end thoroughly to remove any dirt, then oil both sides with machine oil or cutting oil, and then gently tap it straight through the spline plate, repeatedly, until it slides through smoothly. That's exactly what I did, being very careful not to scratch or ding the bar as it slipped through the vise jaws. I did this by setting the spline plate on the vise, slowly lowered the bar into the plate from above, then once the bar stopped because of the friction / damage to the machining I set the allen socket into the bar head and tapped it through using a rubber mallet. Now I can slide the plate over the splines with just my hands, as it should be.

I also finished removing the paint from the middle section of the roof box on top and started to remove the paint from the inside section under the torsion bars where the paint has started to peel away.

I am not going to remove the upper door seals, but they are kind of in the way for painting the sides of the roof box so the current plan is only to repaint the top faces of the roofbox and just scuff and blend it into the sides. New bead of RTV on the edges where it touches the underbody to prevent water from getting underneath. I replaced the M8 nuts that go on the roof studs but don't really have access to the M8 screws going horizontal into the box for the hinges as long as the roof seal is on. I'll just leave them alone. I did replace the M10 bolts that hold the doors to the hinges one at a time with no trouble though. It should look pretty damn good when I'm done and no longer be a worrisome spot on the car.

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[82DMC12]

Not too much progress lately as I haven't had a lot of time for garage work, and it's been colder again this week which isn't great for paint stripping, prepping and paint. However I did install my rivets along the top of the roofbox, these are 1/4" x 3/4" structural rivets. I drilled out the old smaller rivets and enlarged the hole, then installed the new rivets with a bead of RTV under the head. I found that two of the small rivets were stupidly installed directly over the torsion bars, which might have been OK for the size but when I installed a 1/4" rivet it was now hanging deep enough where it could scratch the bar. So I drilled out that test rivet and then put a new hole 3/4" away from the torsion bar area, and then filled the old hole with 3M windshield urethane.

On further inspection of the rear, vertical side of the roof box (where the spline plates attach), I found there were already some pretty big rivets installed under a bead of RTV along the back. I decided not to try to drill these out and just leave them alone. They seem to be doing the trick, plus there is some risk of damage to the rear window while monkeying around back there.

I then installed my lower door strut reinforcement plates, which actually turned into a fiasco because I originally installed them backwards. I figured this out before the RTV behind them was able to cure so I wasted a lot of time having to drill them out, clean up, and reinstall again.

I am installing new rear upper infill panels and they are not already drilled out for the attachment rivets. Thinking it would be a fool's errand to try to match up the original body holes with newly drilled blind rivet holes in the infill panels, I decided to fill the old holes with windshield urethane so I can drill new holes a half inch off and it will go together and look a lot more clean.

We have a winter storm coming tomorrow so I don't expect to get much done this week but maybe this weekend I'll be able to finish the riveting and install the upper infill panels. Then all I have left is to finish stripping the roof box between the hinges, then paint the roof box inside and out.

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Here is a picture of the driver side reinforcement plate correctly installed with both M6 screws and 1/4" rivets

PXL_20250206_195135943.jpgThe hole for the old rivet was exactly over the space for the torsion bar, which would have probably scratched the bar. Can't use it.

PXL_20250207_012837669.jpgNew rivets installed with RTV under the heads. The old holes were then filled with windshield urethane.

[82DMC12]

By the way, turns out the cheap $5 cartridge dispenser from Lowe's doesn't work for dispensing windshield urethane. After a few squeezes it completely distorted the handle and ratchet mechanism. I ran out 10 minutes before they closed and bought the best gun they had, and that one worked a lot better. Of course the electric guns would be ideal for a big job but if you're just filling in body holes and rivet heads, this will do the trick.

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[82DMC12]

Yesterday I finally had some time to finish cleaning up the driver side of the roof box, degrease it, sand it with 150 grit, brush some Metal Prep on it, and then, after drying thoroughly with a heat gun and blow gun, I applied three coats of gloss black POR15. I cut off the RTV that seals the edge of the roofbox to the body, and will lay a new bead when everything is done. I'll let this completely cure for a couple of days before doing the same on the passenger side since at the moment I only have screw jack to hold a door up.

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[82DMC12]

It has been bitter cold for the last week, in single digits during the day so I haven't done anything in the garage since the last update. Now the pendulum swings and we will see 60F by Monday so I'm getting ready to hopefully finish all the painting this weekend.

I decided the gloss of the POR15 is too shiny for my liking, and it's recommended to topcoat POR15 anyway, so I will knock down the sheen with red scotchbrite and top coat with SEM Trim Black which should be about just the right look. Unfortunately my Trim Black is a spray can so I will have to spent 10 times the effort to mask off before spraying than it will actually take to paint anything. Oh well, the price of perfection, right?

Also, here is a picture of the rivet installer I used for the 1/4" structural rivets. This is the real deal, not some cheap Chinese junk.

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[SupercoolBill]

It has been bitter cold for the last week, in single digits during the day so I haven't done anything in the garage since the last update. Now the pendulum swings and we will see 60F by Monday so I'm getting ready to hopefully finish all the painting this weekend.

I decided the gloss of the POR15 is too shiny for my liking, and it's recommended to topcoat POR15 anyway, so I will knock down the sheen with red scotchbrite and top coat with SEM Trim Black which should be about just the right look. Unfortunately my Trim Black is a spray can so I will have to spent 10 times the effort to mask off before spraying than it will actually take to paint anything. Oh well, the price of perfection, right?

Also, here is a picture of the rivet installer I used for the 1/4" structural rivets. This is the real deal, not some cheap Chinese junk.

PXL_20250220_004441113.jpg

When I bought my shop they left behind a bunch of old tools. A lot of them went in the dump or got given away. I did happen to hold on to this bad boy. I'm glad I did now. It is kind of awkward to store in your toolbox though.


Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

[82DMC12]

When I bought my shop they left behind a bunch of old tools. A lot of them went in the dump or got given away. I did happen to hold on to this bad boy. I'm glad I did now. It is kind of awkward to store in your toolbox though.


Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

Nice, that one looks to be a similar geared lever design. It should work perfectly for the bigguns!

Andy

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

[Timeless]

It has been bitter cold for the last week, in single digits during the day so I haven't done anything in the garage since the last update. Now the pendulum swings and we will see 60F by Monday so I'm getting ready to hopefully finish all the painting this weekend.

I decided the gloss of the POR15 is too shiny for my liking, and it's recommended to topcoat POR15 anyway, so I will knock down the sheen with red scotchbrite and top coat with SEM Trim Black which should be about just the right look. Unfortunately my Trim Black is a spray can so I will have to spent 10 times the effort to mask off before spraying than it will actually take to paint anything. Oh well, the price of perfection, right?

I used Wurth trim black satin for the top coat over the gloss black POR on my door strut braces - looks fantastic. I also use the aerosol POR-15 satin grey that works well.

[82DMC12]

I used Wurth trim black satin for the top coat over the gloss black POR on my door strut braces - looks fantastic. I also use the aerosol POR-15 satin grey that works well.

I would imagine SEM trim black satin will look the same. I also have the high build primer , I should probably use that first to help level out the rusty divots that I've covered with POR15.