I doubt that there is any freon left in the system. And while the EPA and greenie's would argue with me, I wouldn't worry about opening the line where the car is. Freon is not dangerous to humans. It is an inert gas and regardless of what they "say" it is doing to the ozone(all lies in my opinion), is harmless to humans unless you suck it directly from the hose.
You are doing great already. First, about the Freon. Jairus is right. Just don't advertise letting it escape into the air. Whoops, you did but pretend you were kidding. There may be a tree hugger next door. Our youngest was 1 1/2 when he began heping me on the old Chevy wagon. Those tiny fingers make nice nut or bolt holders for small parts. Again, don't let the child and family services see this. It may be hazardous to someone's health.
I have been going over and over in my head what I want to do with the body for patch panels. I was thinking of going with fiberglass. I've built free-form speaker boxes and while in school for my Airframe and Powerplant License we got to work with some more advanced composites. Carbon fiber, kevlar, and various strengths of glass over a honeycomb or foam core. The problem with bonding a fiberglass panel directly to the sheetmetal is that it will eventually crack due to different expansion rates. For the lower quarters I was thinking I could make a new lower section out of marine grade glass and then use a sealant similar to RTV to bond it. That should allow for some expansion/contraction with no cracks. The RTV seam should be really smooth and next to invisible on that part of the body. But... doing such a repair isn't the "right way" of doing it and part of me does want it to worth something some day. Especially around the wheel lip and under the drip rails will need to be opened up to remove the rust from the inside thats inaccessible otherwise. New metal patches will need fabbed and welded in. The floor pan patches I can have one of the guys at work do the bead rolling if I supply the metal. I want to get an estimate for all the welding to the body and grinding everything smooth. I can do the filler, prime, and paint myself. I'm torn! Half of my wants a worry free door slammer and the other part wants a nice custom cruiser that could one day compete at locar car shows. Input, advice, opinions, welcome!
I got the core support off Sunday afternoon with out a problem. The mount bolts came right off with the help of some Liquid Wrench and a cheater bar. Sealed off the ends of all the vacuum hoses, radiator lines, and A/C lines with plastic sandwich bags, F4 strech seal tape and waxed lacing string. Want to make sure nothing gets in there when I wash and degrease everything.
I've been working away on the interior an hour or two before work pretty much every day. I've been plagued by hardware that's either been stripped out by a PO or those darn nutclips/captive nuts that are super corroded! Case in point, at the main hinge just aft of the rear seat on the wheel well, two of the bolts came right out but the last one just spun. Grrrr!!! Looked behind the rear wheel and there was a threaded insert that looked like it was just tack welded on. Being exposed to the junk flung from the wheels, the surrounding sheetmetal was paper thin and provided no support once I tried removing the bolt. Here's a shot of the trunk floor rot. Looks pretty bad but it still supported all my 235 lbs while fighting that hinge!
Keep after it. Seems like you are doing well and will someday have a wagon to be proud of. By the way, you sure do look small for 235#
I am researching on how to best treat the rust on the inside of the frame rails. I know Eastwood makes a spray but its $15-20 bucks a can. I'd probably need 2 for the rails and a few more for the body panel cavities. I also came across this: http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f9/oil-frame-stop-rust-1100167/index5.html Wax toilet ring seals melted into solvent (turpentine or mineral spirits) mixed with some type of oil. They use 30 weight motor oil but I was thinking about Linseed oil. All mixed together and shot out of an el-cheap-o garden sprayer. It would be applied after paint because its really tough to sufficiently clean off. Since so many of our Wagons are plagued by rust, I figured this would make for a great low buck cure. I'll start a seperate thread detailing my experience with this stuff.
There are cheaper brush-on rust inhibitors in basic black available at the automotive paint store. I got a can for my Wagon and liberally apply it to the inside sheetmetal when I pull a cover off here and there. But... how long do you want this thing to last anyway? I mean nobody lives forever and most of your(our) efforts will probably be enjoyed by someone else after you(and I) are gone. Keep that in mind and don't get too crazy with the restoration please. It's just road iron!
The inside of the frame rails are a little tough to get to with a brush! If left untreated, the frame WILL rust through from the inside out, leading to structural failure. I wouldn't want to be cruising down the interstate at 70 mph when that happens. The interior cavities, especially where there are seams and tight corners, seem not to have gotten propper paint coverage at the factory. Most of these spots are also inaccessible with a brush, spray can, or gun. The garden sprayer wand might have a better shot. I figure I got another 40 years worth of driving in me! I would like most of those years to be behind the wheel of this wagon. Should I pass it down to one of my kids when they have a family of their own, that'd be cool too. What's definatly not cool is letting it rot and break down, sitting in disrepair in your yard, collecting fines from city code enforcement, and eventually having it towed off to the crusher. Since I've already got it apart, I might as well try this quick, easy, cheap, fix for some additional rust protection.
There is a wand setup to spray inside of the frame rails. Check with any automotive paint outlet or body shop supply place. Sort of looks like a garden sprayer wand....
I'm not an advocate for any particular brand of 'rust paint', but I've used Por15, Rust Encalpsulator (eastwood), and Zero Rust with 'good' results from each......the Zero Rust is most economical in gallons http://raybuck.com/c-54782-zero-rust-metal-coating-zero-rust-paint-gallons.html..... ...have used this with fiberglass cloth to fix some rather nasty 'swiss cheese' rust also.... Kevin
Got the rest of the rear deck removed along with the rear seat back. Only broke one bolt. Rushed and forgot to spray on the Liquid Wrench. The rear seat bottom is just held in place but not bolted down. It amazes me how much stuff slips between the seat crack. Even found a copy of the Upper Room church devotional booklet from Jan-Feb 1967. Been down there nearly the whole life of the car.
Great story and resto TA good luck with everything. I feel your pain when it comes to the rust issues. You'll come up with a solution I'M sure.
The figure on "The Upper room" book looks pretty close to Osama Bin Laden...just above your finger nail.....CREEPY! The rust definitely has to be dealt with. I used POR-15 paint on the surface rust that I had on the Floor boards and back cargo area. Luckily, I only had a a lil bit of swiss cheese small pin holes that were taken care of with the POR-15 Paste that was generously applied. Good Luck and keep the photos coming!
