Discovery

Today entailed cleaning up and checking out the new acquisition. Snapped a picture of the commission plate...middle-ish number so I think that puts her firmly as a '64.

Black w/ Red Interior. Comm # FC29668 L.

I stripped the old rubber (except the rear window rubber) and the headliner (it was trashed) from the hard top. Found one area of significant cancer at the bottom front driver's side. There is some more-than-surface rust towards the rest of the bottom, but it seems to be mostly minor (need to get some rust converter on it). The thing has obviously been painted several times, I believe. The paint chipping off the top of it is very thick, so lots of coats at some point.

Cancer. Those screws hold on the bracket for the tie rod.

Top view. I'm sure that will all come out, but there is some pitting.

I also got all the bolts removed that hold down the tub and also removed the steering wheel. This car was obviously better taken care of (or stored) than the one I bought. Looks like I will have to steal some of the body parts from the '66, however, to undo what the PO did during his modifications.

The battery pan is cut out. That square bar was used by the  PO as bracing while conducting sill repairs.

But, the work that he did on the sills looks good (not that I'm sure I'd really know what I was looking at...at least they aren't rusted through). The front caps need to be attached, but he gave me those. Also, the seams will need attention, but it appears solid. There are some spots that he didn't finish, but nothing significant.

New sill area. All the rust is just surface.

If all goes to plan, I should be able to pull the tub on Tuesday (Happy Veteran's Day!). Not too sure how heavy it will be. Right now, I can lift the back of the tub up, but the front is hung up somewhere. I know I have all the bolts out because I counted, so gunk or something is holding it up. Maybe I'll put the jack under it, very carefully, and see if I can pop it. I used the Workshop Manual to guide me and it doesn't appear, once I removed the steering column, that anything is holding up removal. So, we'll see how it goes.

Oh, and when removing the rear wheel well vinyl covering that was left, I found a little friend. We don't see too many large spiders up here in CT. This one was about the size of a silver dollar. The boys liked him!

Say Hello to My Little Friend