BUILD THREAD JRP's '87 Regal Thread

[TURNA]

Got a little more done today, I would've liked to have done more but there just isn't enough time in a day. First I had to get my propane bottle refilled so I wasn't working in the cold. After that I got back and heated up the garage. Then I picked up with the die grinder where I left off. I mostly worked on the drivers side, and definitely found some ugliness.

That doesn't look like factory seam sealer-

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Ah, I was right! Don't think that was factory-

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I've owned this car for almost 8 years and I'm still finding surprises. Fawk! I don't think I've ever seen another one rusted in this spot. Not sure how I'm gonna handle this. The correct way is probably to drill out the spot welds for the wiper motor brackets then cut out the rust and weld in a piece cut from another car. That would mean drilling and welding into my paint. Grr....
It would be in the door jamb where it would be unlikely to ever be seen once the fender is on, but it still sucks. I'm open to suggestions on it.

Then again hey, it's a project and I'm at least working on it. It's not too bad working on it with heat and good lighting and a decent compressor. The compressor did well again today, it ran pretty much nonstop as before, but it kept up. I definitely need a water filter though. Also Home Depot sells a retractable hose reel with a hybrid hose for $71.xx. Best deal I've found so far. Probably my next purchase.

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Husky 3/8 in. x 50 ft. Hybrid Retractable Hose Reel 588HR-RET-HOM - The Home Depot

Husky Retractable Hybrid Air Hose is enclosed in a durable, crack-resistant case, making it great for anyone using pneumatic tools. It is highly flexible with cold weather tolerance. It has a maximum 300 psi and includes a wall-mountable bracket and retracts automatically.

www.homedepot.com

Here's some other pictures from today-

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Got rid of that tab above the brake booster. Still not sure how to get all that shitt under the cowl without the cowl coming off.
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[pagrunt]

I'd say use panel adhesive to patch/seal that hole.

 

[joesregalproject]

That's all that New York Socialism for ya... spreading the wealth. Don't worry when Mike Bloomberg gets elected, it'll probably be $100 here too!

 

[joesregalproject]

I'd say use panel adhesive to patch/seal that hole.

It's just in such an awkward spot, it'd be hard to get the welder in there without removing the wiper motor bracket. Even if I glue a patch I still might need to cut a couple of the spot welds and tweak the bracket just a little bit to get it out of the way.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Pretty sure according to the Home Depot website we can't buy that one here. They have another brand I have never heard of for $128, no mention of the hose type. They want $200 for one at Canadian Tire here, even on sale, still over $100. We are obviously Socialist here, I would like to see Scandinavian level Socialism for the tax level we pay.

 

[Texas82GP]

Mine had the exact same rust Joe. I think debris accumulates there like leaves and promotes the corrosion. At the time I wasn't planning on pulling my dash and the firewall pad so I primed the area real well and filled over it with seam sealer. Not a concours repair but it will outlast me, especially considering the car won't hardly see any weather under my stewardship. Hell, it hasn't rained on it in five years at this point.

 

[joesregalproject]

Mine had the exact same rust Joe. I think debris accumulates there like leaves and promotes the corrosion. At the time I wasn't planning on pulling my dash and the firewall pad so I primed the area real well and filled over it with seam sealer. Not a concours repair but it will outlast me, especially considering the car won't hardly see any weather under my stewardship. Hell, it hasn't rained on it in five years at this point.

Jared, I'm surprised more of them aren't rusted there. It's a terrible design. It's basically a shelf off the firewall where crap can collect. And the cowl and the wiper linkage and the booster conceal it enough that no one probably ever thinks to look there to clean it out.

Actually tiger hair or seam sealer is probably ideal for this repair. It's not really structural, and it's not a huge hole. It would just be a matter of getting the metal really clean before applying it.

This won't likely see much weather either. I think it's been rained on maybe twice in 8 years.

 

[joesregalproject]

All right, looked at this a little closer today and after hearing your suggestions (much appreciated as always) and thinking it over, I think this is gonna be a job for U-Pol Fibral. The hole is just a little too big to fill with only seam sealer but it's not so large that it really needs a metal repair. And due to the difficult location and the curvature of the panel, a metal repair would be difficult, even if I used panel adhesive to attach it.

The hardest part will be getting the metal clean. A spot blaster as Driven suggested with glass bead may be the best way. I'm used to using a die grinder with a carbide rasp, but with this much rust that would be probably be pretty labor intensive.

 

[joesregalproject]

I drove to Harbor Freight today to buy a bigger spot blaster and a box of glass media, got to the checkout and realized I left my wallet in my other coat. At home. So that sucked. I didn't have it in me to go back today, I'll shoot for tomorrow or Monday.

 

[TURNA]

I drove to Harbor Freight today to buy a bigger spot blaster and a box of glass media, got to the checkout and realized I left my wallet in my other coat. At home. So that sucked. I didn't have it in me to go back today, I'll shoot for tomorrow or Monday.