Rust never sleeps
The truth is, most of the time spent in this "EV conversion" has been spent on body work having nothing to do with the EV project.
I knew there was some rust in the right-side floor and in the rear corners of the rockers but we also found rust:
- Between the roof and the sunroof frame
- In the lower front fenders
- In the left rear floor panel
- In the pinch weld of the rockers
- In the front and rear window frames
To be safe, we removed the entire sunroof structure, fabricated a new portion of the roof, welded it in, and then replaced the sunroof. Getting the roof curve correct and straight has been very time consuming.
To be safe, we removed the entire outer rocker so that we could see the condition inside. It was fine but at least know we know that for sure.
To be safe, we replaced the lower section of the quarters and fenders on both sides.
We replaced both rear floor sections and patched the front.
At least now we know that the car is rust free.
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Typical lower rear rocker rot
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| Opened up. I originally hoped I could fix it without getting into the upper paintwork. Silly me. |
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| Right front floor had rust above exhaust area |
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| Right rear floor pan cut out |
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| At least the shock towers are clean and rust-free |
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| Window frame patches |
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| Rear window frame patch |
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| Rear window cleaned up |
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| Front window patched |
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| At least I don't have to fix the spare tire well or shelf behind seat as it all gets removed for Tesla install |
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| Unexpected rot in roof behind sunroof |
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| New roof patch panel |
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| Patch panel welded in |
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| Left front lower fender rot |
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| Opened up and some rust on door pillar needs replacement |
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| Cutting further into the rockers. Best to remove entire outer rocker to see inside |
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| Inside rocker and repaired door pillar |
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| Inner rocker is actually fine |
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| Patch panel on lower quarter. Rocker cleaned up |
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| New outer rocker |
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| Lower quarter tacked in |
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| Special fitting jig to make certain rocker is correct |
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| Welding in outer rocker |
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| Checking door to fender gaps and alignment for patches |
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| Left rear quarter patch |
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| Left rear quarter with some metal finishing |
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| Both rear floor pans removed |
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| New rear floors |
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| Left front fender metal finishing |
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| Left rear quarter metal finishing |
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| Right front floor patching |
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| Both rear floor pans in |
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| Small patch in left front floor |
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| Right front floor rust went into firewall so patched |
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| Cleaning up floor pan welds |
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| A rust-free coupe |
