Time to cut and chop, so I thought it prudent to find a couple of door bars to help hold the body in alignment before any structural sheet metal is removed. I have enough welding waiting and I really didn't want to hunt down the material I need and then fabricate my own bars, so I ordered a set of universal fit bars on the Internet. The catalog part description said they were the size to fit the '55-'57 Chevy, and my Plymouth is about the same size, so it seemed to be the way to go. Oh well, someday I'll remember that "universal fit" means it fits everything except Mopar. Not a big deal, but to make them work I have to make a trip to Fastenal on Monday to get some odd-sized bolts that Lowes doesn't stock, make some spacers to hold the bar in the right place, and then probably do some grinding on the bars.
I spent much of yesterday removing surface rust and priming areas that won't require any metal work or welding. Since the areas are relatively small, at this point I'm just using spray cans of regular primer, not epoxy. Naturally, one of the cans has something wrong and the nozzle keeps plugging.
I also made a small odd-shaped patch to use with the not-quite-right rocker panels. It consists of multiple bends and curves that required a lot of tweaking and reshaping with hand tools, but I eventually got it done. I'd take a photo, but I'm not too proud of all the tooling marks. Now that I figured out how to achieve the shape, maybe the one for the other side will look good enough to show off...or maybe not!
I'm building garage shelving today, so all car stuff sits and waits. Winter is supposed to return tomorrow and stick around for a couple of days, so without heat in the workshop, progress again slows.
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