I updated and added more photos
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This is the worst "while I'm at it" sickness I've ever had ... I decided to weld the font shock towers and lower control arm attachment brackets as well as the engine mount 'horns' ... now it's rocksolid, not the most beautiful welds but a lot better than the factory stitch welds





almost ready for the new engine:

 

Man that firewall looks great. So very clean. Great work.

 

What did you use to clean the engine bay?

Your welds looked fine to me.

 

I used "easy off" BBQ grill and oven cleaner - that's some nasty stuff

It comes in a spray can, WalMart and Target sell it.

 

Looks good man
I beefed up and filled in my old welds last week and POR-15'd them this weekend to match the frame.

Did you patch up that hole that the heater blower pushes the air through the dash? I am going to fiberglass the same removable covers for the heater core hole and blower motor hole on the firewall this week. Any templates?
I got some nice bolts, washers and wing nuts for easy removal down the road.

 

Man I have some serious engine bay envy right now. I can wait to pull my motor and give it some similar treatment.

 

it's a great feeling to see that emgine bay cleaned up isn't it??

here are a few pics from when I did my '78 last spring.

Before:


During: cleaning frame


During: painting frame and inner fenders



After:frame and ineer fenders all cleaned and painted



Since I only have a 2 car garage I had to work on the '78 only on one side of the garage while the '65 sat in the other side. Especially when it was time for the painting of the cleaned up frame I was very worried about paint overspray drifting over to the '65 (also when I was painting the motor itself) and since the '65 had spent 10 months in the paint shop just the previous year getting new paint I was REALLY concerned so here you can see how well I was protecting her: I had her car cover on than covered her again completely with a big piece of plastic. I had gotten a whole roll of the plastic paint shops use to cover cars just for this purpose. Used it throughout the job to keep the '65 covered to protect her from debris from grinding, paint, dust, etc. Yep, that's the freshly repainted motor that was about to be dropped back into the cleaned up engine bay that you see in the front of the nest pic. looks a bit better than the first pic huh?


Engine bay clean-up is very time consuming but man, what a great feeling afterwards when you see the results.

 

Nice work welding up the seams and adding some supports. Both great ideas. I should consider doing this later on mine also. I have been through my engine bay one time around 2000 or so. Maybe the next time I go through, I will have a welder and I can add some supports and a few welds.
Before

 

good job!!! i like that blanking plate for the blower motor and was thinking of doing the same thing.

 

On the front mount of the lower control arm, there is some additional stuff you can do. First off, remove the small rectangular block that has the two threaded holes in it. If you look closely, you can just make it out in the center picture on Eddie70's post. These things are sharp like knives on the edges, and it literally 'cuts' the frame saddle if left alone. Most of the horror pictures you'll see are a direct result of this.

There are two levels of repair here. For basic street use with normal size tires, all you need to do is remove the block and grind off the sharp edges and then re-install it. This can be done at any time, engine in or out. If the frame is cut at all, you might want to lay a bead of weld in there and grind it smooth. If you want to do any autocrossing or use big 'ole tires, I'd add a reinforcing plate there. This is easy with the engine out. It's basically a 1/8 thick plate shaped to fit the frame under that block, and it extends about 2" up the cross-member. It's welded on. I have a template that I can e-mail to anyone that wants it. With that mod, it's almost impossible to tear out that lower mount as long as you weld up the rest of it, especially along the length (both sides) of the lower shaft mount.

I've done thes a few times with good results, and I also highly recommend the upper control arm spreader bar. It pretty much stops frame flex in the saddle area.

Hans

 

since we are all showing off!

 

Before you pull the engine fab up a tower brace. It is unbelievable the difference it makes. Then pull the engine clean, weld, paint and install the engine with new solid motor mounts. Stiffens the front really good for street driving and will look great to boot.
Bernie

 

If you don't get every last spec of that oven cleaner off you are going to have out of control iron rust and rot. That stuff will just destroy metal.

Only use paint and varnish remover. The best stuff is actually called Aircraft paint remover.

I also use high pressure washers at the body shop

 

I washed it down pretty good , first water and then wiped the entire frame down with mineral spirits before I sprayed the rust converter and primer........ should be fine

 

the active ingredient in oven cleaner is caustic soda/NaOH and it's actually a rust inhibitor. It's great for removing rust.

 

Hmmmm...... you must be correct, I never had any rust problems on the BBQ grill.....

 

That welding looks great!

You know, before you get the engine in, now's a great time to upgrade your front suspension to the newer tubular type A-arms. While you're at it, it's a good time to take care of that tired, old radiator support. The steering box looks shot - perhaps a r&p upgrade is in order as long as you have the engine out...

 

are we talking about "easy off oven cleaner" type stuff you buy at the grocery stores in aersol cans?
how do you remove it just wipe it off or do you have to wash it down?

 

Exactly, it's pretty nasty stuff...... just spray some on your hand and wait 2-3 minutes

You have to wash it down, it removes a lot of grease and gunk from the frame. I didn't let it soak too long, maybe 10 minutes, then I started brushing with a stiff plastic brush and rinsed with water. Worked fine

 

Maybe I should install the manual Flaming River rack and get rid of the leaking power steering junk as well ....

I guess the welds are ok for a $120 flux core welder...