On Mon, 5 Jul 1999, Victor B. Michael wrote:
> What approach should I take with the removal of the front crossmember
> (on both chassis')? I think my choices are this;
>
> CUT A: Try and remove the front crossmember at the weld,carefully
> preserving the front crossmember and hinge boxes on the GOOD parts.
This is the way to go. I've personally witnessed it being done. Making
careful cuts through the welds that hold the front crossmember on isn't
very difficult. It should be even easier to remove the bad crossmember
from the good chassis, since you needn't be too careful in preserving the
crossmember. Then clean up the good chasis and weld away. Alignment of
parts should be much easier to do then it would be to try for the exact
same cut of the main rail extensions, then butting them, etc. Here the
easier approach also happens to be pretty much the way it was done
originally.
> Before putting the new GREEN bonnet on my Carmine Red Spit, should I
> have a paint shop work on the bonnet and can they match the color
> reasonably well? Even with a "worn out" color? Opinions? What would you
> do?
Get the crossmember aligned and welded on, then fit your green bonnet and
align it as best you can (as if you were ready to assemble the car and
take it to a show). Always best to do that first, then do any work needed
on the bonnet. As for the paint, a really good shop should be able to, if
necessary, come up with a near-perfect "field" match of not only the
color, but texture and even "fading/weathering" of the paint. However,
given that you're already committed to a good couple quarts of paint to
cover about 40% of the car, why not pull off the bumpers, lights, etc.,
and have them spray the rest? Then there's no question of a match, and it
might not cost a whole lot more. Worth asking about.
--Andy
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