Weld, Baby, Weld!

I finally made it to the metal shop on Monday.  As expected, once I had material in hand, I started to make quick progress.  Repairs to the passenger side wheel wells and fire wall have been completed, the rear passenger structural tube and passenger jack point restored, passenger floor pan reinforced, and the passenger door body mount re-fabricated.

(front wheel well:  prepped)

(front wheel well:  after)

(rear wheel well:  before)

(rear wheel well:  after)

(rear wheel well:  before)

(rear wheel well:  prepped)

(rear wheel well:  after)

(passenger body mount)

(old)     -     (new)

(rear structural tube:  prepped - All the junk on the floor was packed in the little structural channel above.  The only opening to the space was a 1" diameter knockout.  I removed all the loose rust from the cavity and applied rust killer before closing it in again.

(after:  patched hole is at top, repaired jack point on rocker panel at bottom.)

(interior firewall:  before)

(interior firewall:  after)

(If the after photos look upside-down, it's because they are.  I now have the car bottoms-up to work on the rocker panels and trunk floor.  However, I thought it would be easier to compare results if the photos were in a similar orientation.)

I have also repaired the driver side trunk floor at the tow hook.  The damage here seems more probably due to improper towing or jacking rather than the collision event that damaged the front and driver sides of the vehicle.

(tow point:  before)

(tow point:  after)

I'm definitely not the world's best welder, but I'm improving.

For those of you that keep asking "did you prime it yet?  It's going to start rusting right away!" - I'm starting to get some light rust again in places (particularly where I've touched the car or otherwise left body moisture behind) but I have planned all along to rust proof and use rust-proof paint anyway.  This light surface rust won't be a problem, and until the welding/grinding is completed, I would just burn the primer off anyway.  In any case, at this rate it will only be another week before the new paint starts to go on!

Next up:  the trunk floor and rocker panels!