Passenger wheel arch.

This panel has proven to be much more tricky than expected. Cutting out the old dented and hacked up arch was difficult because of the number of welds tacked along the wells and the stringers. Since it's a much bigger panel than I've dealt with to date, it is more difficult to trim it to size. I've drilled a few holes in the panel and I'm using screws to hold it in place while I fit and trim. I'll fill the screw holes with the welder later. It's the only way I see to keep the fit consistent. It also makes the process of fitting it slower. I'm having to attach, mark, detach, trim and attach over and over again as I go. Welding and grinding is also a concern because the heat generated will be more conducive to warping of the metal. As of right now, I've cut out the old section and was pleasantly surprised at the lack of cancer (rust) behind the panel. Even on the lower edge, where it's usually pretty nasty in these things, there is little but surface rust and dirt.
I'm now a little afraid of the rear corner I'll have to replace. It seems like a much more complicated fit than this arch. My original plan was to do the corner last but now that I'm working on arch, it seems that It will be smarter to get the corner in before I do the vent and arch on the other side.

Where there was none.

Almost finished welding in the pass side engine vent. Still needs a couple holes filed and ground to be finished. It came out great.

Before

After.

Still working.

Internet problems and camera issues are hampering regular posts.

Overhead vent repair.

This last week I Sanded and coated the interior roof with Rust Bullet and tacked the missing fresh air vent in.

Here is the hack I started with.

Based on the donor piece not being cut out all that well and the ammount of work it would take to replace the entire thing, I decided cutting and blending here would be a much easier and better looking repair.

After I cut the donor peice to fit, I used the existing screw holes for the access plate to line it up perfectly. Here, where the two pieces meet, I'm using lap welds unlike the roof where I used butt welds. I painted the interior roof with Rust Bullet and also replaced the seals on the forward and center air flaps.

I still have som more grinding and finishing to do but you get the picture.

Cmmon Baby! You can do it!

New electronic ignition installed. Check.
Gas can hooked up. Check.
Throttle cable connected. Check.
Battery cable attached. Check.

Fingers crossed and key turned. The starter wound up and...nothing. But it sounded better than the last attempt a month ago. It sounded like it had a shot at firing.

Quickly I jumped out and rotated the distributor clockwise a little.

Again at the key with fingers crossed. Starter turned but nothing. Sounded worse. Like no spark at all. Dammit man!

So I run back to the rear again and rotate counter-clockwise past the original starting point.

Crank, hit the gas, and amidst a cloud of blue smoke it comes to life. IT's ALIVE!!! IT LIVES!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

Got the engine running yesterday. Sounds pretty strong but there is a worrisome noise. Sounds like a semi-constant "whirring" for lack of a better word. I'm thinking it might be the generator as it didn't sound all that fluid when I turned it by hand when I had the engine out. Either that or there is a much bigger internal problem. Next week I'm going to warm it up and do a proper compression test. If it it checks out, then I'll attach the gear shift and see if the thing will move under it's own power.

Once again with fingers crossed.