I just acquired a new project vehicle

Correct. In that section there is another piece of the frame rail that is spot welded to the part I sectioned. I welded only where the line is, the lip at the top will be spot welded when I install the apron (like the factory did it). It's difficult to see from my pics but the part I was working with is not a complete tube, rather it shaped like a C with a flatish plate that is spot welded to the back of it to close it up.

 

OK Ijust finished with the next test fit of the body panels after I welded on the frame rail. They fit much better now.



I installed the old broken headlights to keep from damaging my replacement ones. They also don't have the bumper bracket on them which makes removing the bumper much faster to make adjustments.



The gap between the hood and the fender is still a little wide. That's not a big deal though since I have a lot of ways to adjust that out.



It's looks almost normal except for the calico color scheme.

Next order of business is to tear it all down again and weld the radiator support and fender aprons in.

 

Yep. I will paint the frame and radiator support first and then install all the mechanical stuff. I'm really hoping for no problems when I get the mechanical systems re-installed. I have a good feeling about it since I did drive it into the garage before I started working on it. I have gone over the drivetrain with a fine tooth comb looking for anything out of place or damaged. I also have changed all the fluids with exception of the brake fluid.

Now for some shots of today's work:



Here is a shot of me spot welding part of the radiator housing on.



And here is my wife spot welding on part of the lower support.



Here is were the upper radiator shell strut is spot welded to the fender apron.



And here is where the apron is spot welded to the frame rail. I will have to tack weld it further since my spot welder only has about an 8" reach.



And here are the welds on the lower support.

All of the spot welds will be supplemented with tack welds from my MIG welder since the size of the spot welds are not the as big as the factory welds.

 

Yes, the radiator shell along with my drivers side fender and the hood are all aftermarket parts. There are also aftermarket front and rear bumper covers and bumper reinforcement bars. The hood was not my first choice but it came with the car so I will try and use it. The only real issue I have with the hood is that it's steel rather than aluminium and I have not tried it out with the hood latch to make sure it pops up like the factory one does. The aftermarket fender seem to fit well enough and looks OK. It does not have the holes in it for the "HYBRID" emblem though so I will have to drill them myself. My wife has taken welding classes and she is an engineer involved with pipe welding. She has also done engineering with sheet metal fabrication also. I'm an engineer also and I design spot welding equipment.

 

I was able to examine the car before I purchased it (a VERY important step in purchasing a salvage car) and the car did run and drive. I knew before had that a harness is usually as expensive as an engine from a dealer so that was one of the things that I examined closely before I committed to the car. There was very minor damage to the harness but it only took about an hour to fix. There were 4 damaged connector housings and 2 cut wires, one of which was for one of the horns.

 

Well, you have not seen my bucket-o-parts yet have you?

 

Here is a link for my Taurus SHO that I cleaned up: Pictures of my SHO when I picked it up.

 

The welding is a new thing for me on this project. I like to try new things whenever I can. The interior along with most of the other parts were quiet cheap. Old Taurus parts just don't fetch much on the open market... The paint ran about $500 when everything was all said and done. It took over 2 gallons of blue basecoat to turn that car from white to dark blue; it just would not cover. To put it in perspective the paint for the Prius was $118. The display worked fine this morning on my trip to work.

 

No, I was referring to the Taurus. I do hope to have the Prius on the road soon though.