My other Early A ---65 Dart post
After taking lots of measurements I got to cuttin up the 64 valiant parts car. Made sure to weld in some braces so the car wouldnt cave in on me. I put some screw jacks under the rocker panels and torsion bar crossmember on both sides in an attempt to keep everything from sagging . Still isnt enough to hold the structure of the car together in place properly. When I cut through the "A" pillar, the sawzall blade got pinched as the gap started to close in on itself. When I finally got a cut all the way through it just sunk right back down into place and completely closed the gap. There is a lot of force being applied in this area of the car so it will be a challenge to get everything lined back up again once transferred to the 66 dart.
I did manage to get the entire cowl section out in one piece. Glad I decided to weld in a brace across the inside door opening pinch welds because it helped keep the cowl and a pillar sections together as one rigid unit.
There is a thick piece of angle iron inside the "A"pillar post that is spot welded to the top of the rocker panel. I didnt want to fight drilling / grinding it out through the small access hole so I just went ahead and left it attached. I cut along the top portion of the rocker panels right near where it meets the door jam section just to make it easier to go back and remove the spot welds later.
Once I get the assembly mounted in the 66 dart I will either finish drilling the spot welds to remove the upper portion of the cowl for cleanup and reseal or I might just be lazy and spray a bunch of frame coating inside of it instead. It seems like a good idea to get it opened up that way I can do a better job of tackling any future rust out which these cars are prone to.
After taking lots of measurements I got to cuttin up the 64 valiant parts car. Made sure to weld in some braces so the car wouldnt cave in on me. I put some screw jacks under the rocker panels and torsion bar crossmember on both sides in an attempt to keep everything from sagging . Still isnt enough to hold the structure of the car together in place properly. When I cut through the "A" pillar, the sawzall blade got pinched as the gap started to close in on itself. When I finally got a cut all the way through it just sunk right back down into place and completely closed the gap. There is a lot of force being applied in this area of the car so it will be a challenge to get everything lined back up again once transferred to the 66 dart.
I did manage to get the entire cowl section out in one piece. Glad I decided to weld in a brace across the inside door opening pinch welds because it helped keep the cowl and a pillar sections together as one rigid unit.
There is a thick piece of angle iron inside the "A"pillar post that is spot welded to the top of the rocker panel. I didnt want to fight drilling / grinding it out through the small access hole so I just went ahead and left it attached. I cut along the top portion of the rocker panels right near where it meets the door jam section just to make it easier to go back and remove the spot welds later.
Once I get the assembly mounted in the 66 dart I will either finish drilling the spot welds to remove the upper portion of the cowl for cleanup and reseal or I might just be lazy and spray a bunch of frame coating inside of it instead. It seems like a good idea to get it opened up that way I can do a better job of tackling any future rust out which these cars are prone to.