Sonett Wars: The Floorpan Awakens

In between working on the Sonett, I had an opportunity to check out the new Star Wars.  For some reason, the entire movie seemed really familiar…  The story begins with the Empire First Order having risen from the ashes of the Republic Galactic Empire and is opposed by Leia Organa and the Rebel Alliance Resistance, both of which seek to find the missing Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi Luke Skywalker. In the midst of this search, new heroes rise in the form of Luke Skywalker Rey, a Force-sensitive moisture farmer scavenger from Tatooine Jakku; Finn, a stormtrooper who defected from the First Order; and Han Solo Poe Dameron, the best pilot in the Rebel Alliance Resistance. They are aided by Han Solo in their mission to destroy the Empire’s First Order’s new superweapon, The Death Star Starkiller Base, which targets the Rebellion New Republic for destruction. With Leia Poe in trouble by the invading Empire First Order, she he hides the secret plans in a droid, R2-D2 BB8, who ends up getting lost in the desert.  They are opposed by villains such as Darth Vader Kylo Ren, a dark warrior with a mysterious past; and Grand Moff Tarken General Hux, the commander of The Death Star Starkiller Base.  Look, it’s Star Wars so I’ll probably always keep paying to watch these films, but I swear this story line was hacked up.

Speaking of hacked up, Star Wars isn’t the only thing coming back from the dead!  The Sonett floorpan work is finally getting underway down in my garage.  With a ton of old seam sealer still on the car even after sand blasting, I resorted to a cordless drill and a bunch of wire wheels of different sizes to remove it all.  While the seam sealer did a decent job over the past 40+ years, removing it is the only way to make sure you don’t have any hidden rust lurking.

After what seemed like countless nights brushing out seam sealer, I’m proud to say it only took me breathing in that dust for an hour or two before I realized “Wait, I don’t think this stuff is supposed to be inhaled..” and donning a good face respirator.  With the majority of the seam sealer out of the way, it was time to cut out some of the major rust areas that need to be replaced.  One part that I don’t want to permanently close up is the almighty CIA (“Corrosion Induced Access” port) which is pretty much the only way you will ever reach the clutch and brake master cylinders going forward.  So I picked up some 4.5″ cutoff wheels from good ole Harbor Freight (royalty alert!) and bought a nice Milwaukee angle grinder.  I proceeded to cut out a semi-clean hole in the metal with the plan of welding in just enough new metal to form a nice access port.  I’ll have a plate made up to cover that spot in the future, but will bolt it to the car (and not weld it) so that way I can reach the master cylinders whenever I need to.

I also cut out the main rusted out area, which is where the engine bay meets the firewall.  This will require a precise bend in the panel by a qualified metal worker to mate up with the remaining portion… which means I will not be making said bend…  I found a great outfit up in nearby Athol, MA called Wilson & Steely Kustom Coachworks.  Stopping by to see what they could do, I was floored (no pun intended).  These guys can do everything from custom frames, bodies, interiors, engines, paintwork, pretty much anything you can dream up pay for.  Steve, the owner, gave me a quick tour of a bunch of cool cars he’s done.  I thought that sure, this guy knew carbs and old school muscle cars, but he’ll be out of his element talking EFI and high tech performance.  WRONG.  Steve rocks and was really knowledgeable about every single facet of car building.  He sort of reminds me of my brother Jake, except I can’t get Steve to work for free!  In any event, even though my request was super small, he was happy to help and agreed to make up the couple of pieces I wanted him to fabricate for short dough.   And for that I’m going to provide a shameless plug to my DOZENS of loyal readers.  Check them out at:  http://www.wilsonandsteelykustomcoachworks.com/

Ok, so with the seam sealer and major rust spots blasted out, and some new metal on the way, it looks like I’m going to actually have to learn something.  Welding was always some sort of voodoo I had never known how to do, but this whole project has forced me to learn how to do stuff.  I started making some calls, and another good local guy from George’s Welding of West Boylston, MA provided some advice.  “Josh, stop collecting Harbor Freight royalties and buy a good damn welder.  Get a Miller or Lincoln and be done with it”.  It was tough to hear that I couldn’t cheap out at Harbor Freight, but with credit card in hand I sprung for a Lincoln 140 MIG welder.  However, I DID go to HF to get the cart, auto dimming helmet, gloves, etc.  A local gas supplier provided a 40# cylinder with 75% Argon/25% CO2 which was the best mix according to George.

The welding cart came in 357,000 little pieces, which gives it a lot in common with my car.  After an hour of translating Chinglish I was able to get it together.  Next up I put together the welder and got it up on the cart.  Thankfully it came with a nice sheet explaining how to set it up. 

So, it was time to try the welder out!  Just like Vladimir Putin and the Russian military invading Syria, I really had no idea what I was doing.  It just seemed like a good idea to fry some stuff.  The first attempt didn’t look ANYTHING like the Youtube videos.  How could MINUTES of watching the internet steer me wrong?!?  Turns out the gas bottle has to be turned on, not just look good on the cart.  After a bunch of tries welding some scrap metal, I have to say the last attempt at a decent product was pretty good, which puts me ahead of JJ Abrams… Ok, ok, that was uncalled for.  He is a damn good director, with Fringe, Person of Interest, and Star Trek all successfully under his belt.  What can I say, I was young & deparate, and in need a joke for my blog…  With a few welds done, next up is to unleash my own welding Force powers on the floorpan!  To be continued…