66 Dart GT HT Whatsitgonnabe?

I keep on keeping on with my angle grinder. I've been staring at my sculpture a lot, trying to figure out how to slice it. I need to make it smaller so it fits in my basement somewhere.

I've decided I want to use the frame rails and the inside piece right in front of the doors on both sides. My car has been molested to house speakers, both there and in the doors.

I don't think I will want to drill out the spot welds in my car, though, I think I will simply cut out a piece of the panel and butt weld the new piece in. Or flange the inside of the car to make the welding easier. At any rate, I want to cut as much as possible out of the scrap I bought.

I doubt I will actually cut the trans cross member out. I thought it could be more or less the same amount of work but it seems I was mistaken ...

Anyway, here is what's left right now. I'll use the firewall and the other scrap pieces as practice material. Should come in handy. Haven't welded at all in many years and I need to learn MIG from the ground.

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I've heard of a guy up the street who has an old car (his wife stopped by one day last summer and told me so) and last weekend he stopped by as I was grinding on the scrap outside. Turns out he has a '62 Caddy tucked away in his garage. He's been into US cars for decades and looked at my camshaft that I was worried that I'd busted when I started up my engine. He thinks it's fine. :thumbsup:

It turns out my neighbor has a good welder - both a MIG and a TIG - and when I asked if he would rent it out to me, he looked a little uncomfortable and said yes. I think he won't charge me. That's how we Swedes are.

The asymmetry of the spot welds made me smile. This is one side of the frame rail in front of the shock tower:
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... and this is the other:

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Six welds on one side and twelve on the other. One guy working on each side, I guess ... :rolleyes:

When I worked at a factory making automotive seats for GM, Chrysler, and Ford the spot welders were foot operated and they were easy to hit a few extra times when you were handling a panel. Newbies had a tendency to add extra welds until they got comfortable with the machines.