Evaluation

Ok -- for $600, one certainly can't do too badly. Like I mentioned earlier, it has patch panels already for the floorboards . . . I suspect that the PO (previous owners) lacked the skills and equipment to do something as monumental as replacing old steel in a car. Fortunately for me I've grown up around old cars and putting steel back isn't too daunting for me. My dad has a 1942 Chevy Aerosedan that has a Volare front clip -- the torsion bar suspension married to the 1942 frame via some clever welding. The car itself was channeled over the frame four inches to give it a lower profile. My uncle builds street rods so I've hung around a time or two while he was working.

I've started looking under/over/everywhere I can on this car to see what's in bad shape and what looks good. Thankfully the car is much more solid than my first look led me to believe. The floor board on the driver side is toast, but the passenger side still had a little semblence of structure to it. One of the PO had already chopped the rear floor area out -- much like I had done on my Morris Minor. That makes the driver side a really "airy" place to work. While I was looking into my steering the light I had carefully postioned behind me fell down. The unfortunate part is it's a 500 watt halogen light and it was wedged behind me as I held the steering column . . . . is that smoke I smell? You'd be suprised how quickly someone can move with a steering column in hand and a 500 watt torch trying to roast their backside. I think I learned a few new moves and I know I found a lot of the sharp edges on the remaining floor board cuts. Ouch. So singed and cut -- my quarry has already drawn first blood . . . but I'm moving back in for the attack.