Lj v8 4door rebuild

hey all ,
My name is Mick and this is a post for my Lj 4door v8 resto.
I brought this car of an idiot who has imo totaly half assed everthing he has done on the car so im going to thr and make a silk purse out of a sows ear .


The good,
It has a 9 inch,V8 mod plate, its straight and never been bingled, the interior is ugly but has no tears and can be reused

The bad,
Rust and lots if it , engine is throw away, and everything that has been previously done is dodgie to say the least!
So i have decided that i will try and do this the correct way, I will rebuild this by removing the panels at the original spotwelds and refitting them. this has been a challenge so far as i am at the stage of splitting the a-pillar. I have found that most of the rust has been caused by the body sealer used in the factory catching moisture against the pannels. the remainding rust is from the old owner being a moron and not looking after the car.
so here are the pics showing what i have done so far. Feel free to throw me some advice and know how as i am no panel beater and i am going it alone here.
mick

removing the doors was a task but i got it done , the guard came off easily and then so did the rear inner guard support. then i got a clrear view of the rust in the a-pillar. This is bad but what the heck im not quiting.
http://s1088.photobucket.com/albums/i334/Michael_Odering/?action=view&current=2012-02-05135347.jpg#!oZZ11QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1088.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi334%2FMichael_Odering%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3D2012-04-26184917.jpg
http://s1088.photobucket.com/albums/i334/Michael_Odering/?action=view&current=2012-02-05135347.jpg#!oZZ12QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1088.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi334%2FMichael_Odering%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3D2012-05-26161040.jpg
http://s1088.photobucket.com/albums/i334/Michael_Odering/?action=view&current=2012-02-05135347.jpg#!oZZ10QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1088.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi334%2FMichael_Odering%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3D2012-05-26161051.jpg
As i said in my first post, all the rust i can see has been caused by the seam sealer used in the factory, under the windscreen there was a huge glob of it and any panel touching it rusted. the apillar was joined to the body by spot welds and the inside of it was coated in seam sealer so nywhere water could get inbetween it rusted, mainly around the hinges for the door and the support panel at hte top fot the guard.
http://s1088.photobucket.com/albums/i334/Michael_Odering/?action=view&current=2012-02-05135347.jpg#!oZZ15QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1088.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi334%2FMichael_Odering%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3D2012-05-26161209.jpg
http://s1088.photobucket.com/albums/i334/Michael_Odering/?action=view&current=2012-02-05135347.jpg#!oZZ13QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1088.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi334%2FMichael_Odering%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3D2012-05-26161139.jpg
http://s1088.photobucket.com/albums/i334/Michael_Odering/?action=view&current=2012-02-05135347.jpg#!oZZ9QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs1088.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fi334%2FMichael_Odering%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3D2012-04-26193241.jpg
I have finaly removed the a-pillar from the car , what a job . drilled out the spotwelds and then had to chisel the panels apart due to the ammount of sealer used in the factory. I am starting to think this car was wade an a friday afternoon Really sloppy work!
So thats where im at now i have the a-pillar off the car and am currently replacing the cancer on it so i can refit it.
I am thinking of caoting everything with POR15 before I refit am I correct in this thought
and one more thing, should i use seam sealer between the panels again? if i do it will make it hard welding the panels together at the original spot welds.
I hope you are enjoying my work so far and also hope i am doing the torana comunity good with my work as I love these cars and hate seing them go to car heaven.
Mick

I asked a panel beater the same question the other day about how to rust proof between 2 panels where i weld. He told me to use a gal epoxy paint between the sheets to be welded, he said that it'll stop the spot weld area from frying up and going back to bare metal.
Its good to see another V8 LC/LJ shape torri on here getting built. After seeing your pics im not sure if i want to remove my front guards to see if there is rust in there that i dont know about, from a external look it looks ok but wont know whats under it until its removed.
That area in the corner of your winderscreen must be a common problem, coz mines done the same thing and same on passengers side.
There's a section on here i think in the paint/panel section that talks about POR15, by the sounds of it its the go.
I'll keep watching the build along the way, its looking good so far.

I love your workshop toranaback mick. After peeking down behind those front guards doors you might have to spend a bit of time there. Saving Toranas from heaven is a very noble cause. Keep the posts coming.

Shan620
Thanks for the reply its definetly a bit scary attacking the guard removal but if i can do it then anyone can. i just took my time and made sure that all the spot welds were remaved. i will try and keep up the pace so that you all dont get bored.
Mick

Slaar,
Yeah I love the workshop too. it took a long time to get my shop and im tryin to make the most of it. i built as big as i could on my block but it was a strugle the council was a real pain in the ass about it.
lucky i have good neighbours, as they are pretty close and dont mind me beatin on metal and grinding and the likes.