So where do I start? Collect lots of boxes and margarine tubs and
take the car apart? Or sell the car to Brad Kahler :-)
Cliff Hansen
chansen@anr.net
1966 TR-4A CTC 64615L
Hi Cliff,
I went through the same thoughts when looking at my 1970 TR6. Fortunately
(maybe), what I needed to do was made obvious by the basket-case condition
of the car. I had to replace the floorboards, trunk pan and the battery
tray, so the body came off the frame.
When starting my first project, I too was clueless on doing body work but
like you, had enough sense to enroll in the evening body work class at the
local high school. There too we couldn't leave the car but I ended up
taking the fenders in one at a time to repair. I practiced my welding on
their scrap metal such that when it came time for me to do it at home, I
was fairly accomplished and could do a decent job!
I did all my work in my two-car garage, including the final paint! You
just need a 50 amp 220 outlet for the welder and compressor. Normal 110
can handle most everything else!
The one cost that rarely gets mentioned in restoring a car is the tools one
has to get! I spent (gladly mind you) hundreds of bucks on welders
(strongly recommend MIG, plus an acetylene unit for cutting and heating),
compressor, air tools, spray guns, drill press, band saw, tens of hand
tools, shop lights, wiring, etc. Being sort of a handyman, I love having
all these new toys - I mean tools - around. JUSTIFICATION ARGUMENT FOR
WIFE: I use them in doing all the "honey do's" around the house! She
couldn't understand why I needed all those tools until I built a super
duper cat shelter in just one day! That settled that!
When you do tear the car down, document everything almost to the point of
being overly excessive. Take lots of CLOSE-UP photos. Label each body
part with those wire tags. Put each set of nuts and bolts in little
baggies and enclose a diagram or note on where they came from. I used
several nut/bolt organizer trays, plus coffee cans for the bigger items.
And take your time when disassembling the car to do the above. It's really
saves you lots of time when you finally get around to putting it all back
together.
Sounds like fun!
Dave
San Diego, Ca
1970 TR6 PI CP51649
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