Paul Masson's 71 Grabber

Well, not a WHOLE lot to report, but I did manage to push the car out of the garage on the weekend and get some paint/rust and glue removal done to the roof. Frankly, it was just nice to see it outside! It hasn't been out of the garage since November 2012.












As an added update, THIS is the cowl section that will be arriving this week (Thursday). I hope to start prepping this piece for welding into my damaged cowl area this weekend.

A big "Thank You" to Craig, and everyone who responded to my "Wanted" thread.:Handshake

 

Wow nice cowl.

 

Opps....had to cut it in two to get it in the box.

 

How about some pictures of the top side of that cowl??

 

That shouldn't be a problem the cowl was cut in two for shipping.
There is plenty of JB weld available in Saint John!

 

With the looks of the cowl, you be better off just removing the lower cowl completely from your car, and welding that in as a complete unit, which is what I should have done, when I did mine.

 

I have no other pictures. I trust Craig, and I know he wouldn't sell me junk. The bottom side looks good, heck even the fact that it HAS a bottom side is good enough for me. Lots of pictures later on this weekend.

Look, this isn't some Pinto with racing stripes that you can glue and pop-rivet together. But you're right, it was cut in two for shipping. Maybe not my best move lately, but it is what it is and I can't go back now. If I don't soon get some Argon for my bottle, I may just have to resort to JB Weld!

I could butt-weld the newly-made seam back together and replace it all as a unit, for sure. I am really nervous of losing the reference as to where the bottom windshield pinch weld will be. I'll have to look at my options once the pieces arrive.

 

Paul,
If you like those stripes, why not scrap the vinyl roof idea and borrow my wide brush and and paint your roof and deck lid? You may end up with that elusive maverick Shelby everyone is searching for!

You mentioned you were looking for argon. Were you planning to TIG the cowl? Or maybe you meant argon/CO2 mix. Around here Linde seems to have the best price. Still required to have a contract for the larger 80 cubic ft bottle though.

 

Argon CO2 mix. I bought a BIG bottle that I probably should have not bought, cause yes, I need a contract to fill. Trying to sort out what my options are with someone who works for a local outfit that can fill it on the "down-low"...

 

Well, it's been a while since any updates have been posted. I did get my cowls a couple of weeks ago from Craig. When he cut them out of the car, he was kind enough to leave a little firewall and door hinge sides attached. I was trying to decide how I was going to keep the new cowls aligned to prevent any crooked windshield or upper cowl headaches.

This is what I came up with. I cut eight little pieces of 16ga metal (approx 1" x 2") and pushed them up against the inside of the firewall and side pieces, then tacked them to the cowl only. Now I will remove the donor firewall and side panels, along with the lower cowl from my car and the new cowl should slide right in until the tabs touch MY firewall and sides. I'll plug weld the new cowl in and then deal with the (hopefully) narrow sawzall cut up the center. Once it's welded, the tabs will be zipped off and everything will get POR-15.

Wish me luck! If anyone can think of a better way, sing out. I haven't drilled anything off the new cowl yet...

 

The lower cowl panel is OUT!

Since I drilled through my lower cowl section in places when I removed the upper panel, I took some time tonight and removed the lower cowl from the car. I also started dissecting the donor cowl that I got from Craig.

No turning back now...

 

You can do it, Paul - I've come to say this many times over and it all works out in the end - just becomes something else to do

 

Outstanding documentation.

All eyes are on you.

 

Thanks guys! :Handshake I actually feel a little less stressed now that the cowl is completely removed. I'm really looking forward to getting the donor cowl in there and never looking back!

 

Just add a "blade's worth" of distance between what I sent you and it will all be good.