MONTE CARLO "COPO" Monte Carlo SS - Turbosaurus Build (Swinging Dick Racing's c*ck got bent... she bounced a little too high & hard, & came down awkwardly)

[scoti]

I am not spending $200-300 on a panel bond set up for a one time use. Nope. No way. I'll use PL Glue before I go that route.

Seam sealer is a definite possibility. Looks like 400 grit over primer and 80 grit for DTM.

Maybe I'll just fill the quarter panels with expanding foam?

Assuming this was in 'jest'.... If not, that would be a hard no.

Panel Bond/Epoxy if you have no intent of refinishing the exterior surface @ this time. Use it to anchor your filler piece @ select referenced locations (glue based spot welds for lack of a better descript). Seam seal as needed. This would allow the ability of an easier 'un-do' if you were to go into greater lengths in the future.

 

[Northernregal]

Mikes expanding foamed quarters on the first pass. 🤣🤣🤣

Deep down you wanna see him do it, I know i do. Unfortunately he is hiding his plan and we don't get to know what it is just yet, very clickbaity. 🤔

Assuming this was in 'jest'.... If not, that would be a hard no.

Panel Bond/Epoxy if you have no intent of refinishing the exterior surface @ this time. Use it to anchor your filler piece @ select referenced locations (glue based spot welds for lack of a better descript). Seam seal as needed. This would allow the ability of an easier 'un-do' if you were to go into greater lengths in the future.

 

[scoti]

The stuff is a moisture retainer so it will yield more rot w/Ma Nature.

 

[motorheadmike]

Assuming this was in 'jest'.... If not, that would be a hard no.

Panel Bond/Epoxy if you have no intent of refinishing the exterior surface @ this time. Use it to anchor your filler piece @ select referenced locations (glue based spot welds for lack of a better descript). Seam seal as needed. This would allow the ability of an easier 'un-do' if you were to go into greater lengths in the future.

Oh yeah, I was joking about the expanding foam. My Dad commissioned an '88 Z24 as my first car that had been wrecked. The body shop, or previous owner, filled the quarters with expanding foam - sounded great with my 12" sub. I miss high school.

Thanks for the advice, that seems very consistent with my mindset at this time. If I can find a small tube of 2 part I believe this will be the approach I take. But, I have been eyeing how to make it a little more refined.

The car probably won't see paint for a year or so. I hope to tackle a patch panel at a time over the Summer.

 

[motorheadmike]

Today was pretty much a slog of doing all the unexciting and tedious little sh*te. First order of business was degunking the wheel lips from all of the panel adhesive, sealant, goop that was crusted in there. Scraping, wire wheels, razor blades, picks, rolocs... it never seemed to end. After that was done I got out the laquer thinner and soaked down the rubberized undercoating that was lining the inner quarters and scraped with a razor blade and scrubbed with a scuff pad and cried until I had it all worked away. After that was done it was a matter of prepping the wheel lips and factory tubs with a roloc, and then rust treating it (and a few spots on the underside I missed earlier). Finished fitting the replacement panels and got that 1/8" gap along the inner quarters. Then sprayed primer on everything, and tossed some paint on the panels as their backside will pretty much be inaccessible once installed.

Pictures? Nope. It was just bunches of piles of crap.

If things go well I should be painting the underside next weekend, and with the good weather here I can do it with the door open! Then reassembly (and probably more fabrication). Oh, don't let me forget to fix that brake line I ruined...

Exciting times.

 

[motorheadmike]

Fine. Here's a picture.

Had to remove the tape from my half-assed paint job. Nothing like laying down some 1/8 cans of left over wheel paint with suspect coverage.

 

[motorheadmike]

"Once you get perfect out of your head..."

You got that right, Mike.

 

[mclellan83]

Yes, a back-half would have been far less work. But, waaaay more expensive. Rails, tin, suspension, rear end, etc, etc, etc... all would have been on the menu.

The rationale, beyond money, is that I wanted it to look stockish. Kind of like what ASC did to the GNXs. Which are about as precisely built, BTW. Hence the COPO idea.

Right now it's kind of a halfway point between stock and a Guldstrand MCSS:

CarDomain.com - Under Maintenance

Tires will be something between 315 and a 390, up to 30" in diameter, tucked inside the fenders. The option to run anything in that range gives me a lot versatility.

Eventually I will get the car more "road race" oriented with proper suspension parts and modifications. But, that is a long term goal.

For now just having good power and cruising is plenty fun.

Just when I thought I was happy to be getting a 305 under the back of the Blazer

 

[motorheadmike]

Just when I thought I was happy to be getting a 305 under the back of the Blazer

You should be.

I am not trying to come off as superior or disparaging with what I am doing here. I have had great success and fun doing things the traditional (and perfectly fine) way that these cars are built (and most other era GM vehicles).

My goal here is just different, and more involved, than normal. Plus, you will still be "most low" around here being on bags.

 

[mclellan83]

You should be.

I am not trying to come off as superior or disparaging with what I am doing here. I have had great success and fun doing things the traditional (and perfectly fine) way that these cars are built (and most other era GM vehicles).

My goal here is just different, and more involved, than normal. Plus, you will still be "most low" around here being on bags.