So I've sold the radiator support off my Falcon, and have been tasked with drilling out all the spot welds. I probably spent 2 hours just getting the rad support off the inner fenders. HF spot weld cutter, fail. I bought two, and only got about an hour out of either.
So I called up a buddy and asked, "Hey, I keep breaking spot weld cutters. What have you got that I can borrow that'll make my life easier?" He said he had just the thing. Thanks, man.
5 minutes later. Thanks VERY much, man.
Big ol' pile a Falcon.
5 minutes after making the pile.
So in conclusion, I love sawzalls and my neighbors hate me.
Helps to center punch them welds, start slow and keep the bit perpendicular to the weld. I didn't have any problems with mine.
turboswede wrote:
Helps to center punch them welds, start slow and keep the bit perpendicular to the weld. I didn't have any problems with mine.
I was drilling pilot holes. I think the quality of the cutters was lacking. The blade from the first one got caught in a hole and snapped. The bit shaft sheared on the second one. Just how it goes with HF, hit and miss.
Don't drill the holes. If you just centerpunch, when the teeth bite it just slips off, instead of breaking the center pin.
If I don't need to save whats underneath, I will centerpunch, drill each spotweld all the way through with a 1/8 inch bit, then go to 1/4, 5/16 or 3/8- what ever is needed to remove the spotweld.
In reply to Streetwiseguy:
Thanks for the advice. I got to be honest though, I had a lot of fun cutting that front end up. I probably will cut the whole thing up to save the good floors, rockers, quarters, and trunk pan. Also, the guy that bought the doors took the VIN tag. Since I don't have a title, they won't take it at the scrapper's without a VIN tag.
I got an entire Volkswagen into a dumpster with a Sawzall.
Looks like a solid car. Just wondering why you're cutting it up?
Woody wrote:
I got an entire Volkswagen into a dumpster with a Sawzall.
I'm hoping for 2 or 3 station wagon trips to the junker.
fasted58 wrote:
Looks like a solid car. Just wondering why you're cutting it up?
No title. No chance of getting one for a year. I got it for a song and the parts are good money. Already grossed $1500 off of this one. Destroying classics is pretty much what I do for a living, sadly. If I were a rich man, I'd save them all. But I gots to eat.
Leafy
Reader
2/5/14 5:58 p.m.
No title, its pre 1980's get it road worthy, "sell" it to a guy in maine, have him register it, then sell it to you, then you have a previous registration and can register it practically anywhere.
In reply to Leafy:
Little late for that.
Anyway parts is what I do. I flip a few cars now and then. But I like the parts business better.
Leafy
Reader
2/5/14 6:58 p.m.
It could still get sold as a drag car or road race car (or dare I say it, drift car) that needs a tube front end.
In reply to Leafy:
Every time I kill a car I get gripes from people who think I should save it. They never want to buy it though.
Anyway, it'll be hard to race it without floor pans, rockers, and quarters.
The Falcon continues to shrink.
Why I'm glad someone didn't buy this as a project: Weird cancer and a lot of what looks solid is really 2 inches of bondo and chicken wire. PO was a body work maverick.
RoughandReady wrote:
In reply to patgizz:
Meh. Talk is cheap.
Evidently you don't know GRMers all that well yet Mr. Reader.
I've been doing this for a while now and have sent more than a few classics to their doom. At the end of the day, it's about dollars and cents. Parts come from places besides China. Lots of folks want to complain, few want to buy. I hate to be so cliche, but it's a "put your money where your mouth is" sort of deal. Anyone is welcome to buy the next junker that comes through my hands.
Talk is indeed cheap and there are a half million of these things in similar condition out there. Want to restore it, buy it and do it. But don't complain when someone else cuts it up if you don't buy it.
I'm just going to keep digging this hole.
Rockers and roof came off Friday.
First wagon load. Only about 300 lbs. Whoever said you couldn't fit a Ford Falcon roof in the back of a Subaru Legacy was a dirty liar. Price of steel is down to 9/100 .
Another victim at the scrap yard. Pretty sure it's a 56 (?) Ford. It's for sale, if anyone wants to save it!
What would I call the plate that the U-bolts go through that holds the leafs to the rear axle?
Spring plate.
PS, keep on cutting. You are saving other, likely more salvageable cars from a similar fate.
In reply to airwerks:
I'm going to get as much usable sheet metal out of it as possible. Sadly, the rear floors probably have too many pinholes for someone to use. A lot of the places that looked solid, like the rear quarters, are just a mess of bondo smeared into rust holes and nicely sculpted. Still, the rear floors and truck pan are very nice and the driver's side butt cheek doesn't seems to be solid.
These are the bits that I mean. Spring plate sounds about right. I was just google searching them and wasn't sure what exactly they're called.
On the title front, Georgia only requires a bill of sale to register and then you can get a GA title... and Georgia is only a hour and a half away from you.