Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Well, the holidays are over.  I didn't make as much progress as I'd have liked, since the last entry.  I have made some, though.  I've continued doing filler/sanding work.  The front valance is still a challenge, to get the curve just right, and I will give it some more attention this weekend, when it is warmer.

Here are a couple of pictures of my Midget's battery tray.  it is pockmarked with some surface rust, but I am going to sand and skim-coat with a bit of 'dolphin' filler.  It's good for thin coats, and will make this look nice.  I have one rusted spot in the corner, which I cut out with my BOSCH multi-tool.  My pneumatic cut-off tool wouldn't fit in the space, but this worked nicely.

I've found this tool to be super-handy in several situations, but had never considered the Midget, until presented with the close quarters of the battery tray.  Control was pretty good, though it does tend to jump on you, and needs a firm hand, so as to not gouge further than you need to.  I have found that light pressure allows the vibration to do its thing.

Here is the cut-out.  You can see that I was trying to preserve the drain hole in the corner, but it is pretty far gone, and just makes the welding more difficult, so i'm going to nip it out of there, and just re-drill the hole in a new patch.  I'm sourcing the patch(es) from a piece of the old front valance, which still has a lot of good steel in it.  Alternatively, I would get it from the old gas tank.  I may have to have my 21-yr-old weld this in for me though.  His eyesight is better!