here she is the body is not in its best shape it is moldy and dirty as you can see i am going to start on the floor tho and work my way around and then finsh that and put some cheap carpet down and fix things here and there
small restoration
- Thread starter 78pontiac
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Looks like a solid start. Keeping the vinyl or not? Looks like you need a new hood and bumper fillers, are you going to fix the door or just get another one? I really like those wheels too. I've always liked the GPs the best. good luck 😀
i am doing away with the vinyl they make this chorme trim that goes around the rear windows but i dont know who makes them the hood i think i can fix and the door i am going to pull out the dent thanks i like them wheel and get bumper fillers
Those floors will be the death of your sanity. Mine were just as bad and "fixing" them was easily one of the worst parts of my car's (continuing) rebirth. If I had the money, I would have just cut them out and replaced them as it would have been much easier in the long run.
78pontiac said:
I think it is in my build thread, but I basically cut out the really bad parts and welded in new metal. First, I cut out all of the worst sections. Next, I made patterns for the patches to be made out of poster board. Then, I beat out my own patch panels in the shape of the floor by using a set of hammers and an old T shirt folded up and used as a shot bag. The panels themselves were cut from some clean metal on an otherwise rusted out hood from a 1981 AMC Eagle SX/4 that was on my 1979 Spirit GT. The parts that were not patched were wire brushed, then acid etched to remove all possible traces of rust. I then fiberglassed over the whole thing top and bottom to seal it.
It should last for quite some time provided I properly seal the car from rain water. To that end, I have spent countless hours making sure every single hole or seam in the body is properly sealed. These include every place where wiring or cables come through the body. I replaced the windshield and back window and cleaned the channels back to bare metal before installing them with urethane glue. The side windows were also sealed, and I even spent time on sealing the taillights and their mounting holes to the body. All of my weatherstripping is new (except the trunk-for now), and I spent countless hours working on window and door alignment to be sure the doors and windows operate as well as they did when it was new and don't leak. I sealed the weatherstripping channels to the body, and also resealed the A/C suitcase the the body where it was leaking rain water inside. I finished everything off with 3M rustproofing spray, which is the same as the waxy yellow stuff GM used when the car was new. I did the doors, Door pillars, quarter panels and roof. I also tested every single hole that I sealed with a flow of water from a garden hose to simulate heavy rain and to ensure that the car's shell is leak free.
Pretty much all of this work is detailed in pictures here on the forum, or in my build thread, or on my Myspace which has over 200 pictures of my car's restoration. There is a lot more coming too. I just did a photo set on restoring door lock switches, and another on polishing lock cylinders that have yet to be edited and uploaded.
bad
ok as yall know i have been working on the floor and every time i go out there is water in the floor board after it rains so i started looking and seen it running down the piler so i took the molding off and you can see it coming beside the top of the dash so i think it is coming from the crack in the windsheild but i dont know if that is it
ok as yall know i have been working on the floor and every time i go out there is water in the floor board after it rains so i started looking and seen it running down the piler so i took the molding off and you can see it coming beside the top of the dash so i think it is coming from the crack in the windsheild but i dont know if that is it
My guess would be that the sealer that holds the windshield in is bad and leaking. My car had this problem in 1997 and it was only 12 years old then, so imagine how much worse it could be on a car that is now pushing 31. The other source of possible leaks would be where the heater box joins the firewall, especially at the top of the joint under the inlet screen. I basically had to strip the windshield trough to bare metal, and then acid etch the rust out of it to fix it. I also had to fill in a pinhole or two with weld. I kind of know that my car has a death sentence with it's roof though, and will have to change it within the next 5 years. Even if I garage the car, it won't save it because of Florida's perpetual high humidity. The car that is in the garage now, and has not moved from there in 3 years, is now popping new little rust bubbles up in odd places. I figure I will replace the roof and floor the next time I paint it.
Also, you will probably need to replace most if not all of the seam sealer in the car. I did it on my car only to have it dry up and crack within 3 years. So, my solution was to use JB Quick epoxy this time. (I have owned my car since 1993) I also used it to fix a few pinholes in the trunk lip area after first etching them clean with acid. The drip rails on my car are all epoxy as I was tired of using caulk that didn't last. It wasn't cheap to do it, but I feel that it is a more permanent repair.
For right now, I would advice you to go to Wal Mart, get a big tarp (at least 10x10) and some bungee cords and cover the roof of the car, all the windows and the base of the hood by the windshield. This will keep the rain water out, and it shouldn't trap too much moisture if you work on it regularly. Get the heavy duty tarp sold in the camping good area. I think it is silver on one side and brown on the other. It will last for a few months unlike the cheaper ones which won't do you much good. Strap the bungee cords to the corners of the tarp and then fasten them down somewhere on the front of the fenders and back of the quarters to keep it taut. It will scratch the paint a bit, but I don't think that is much of a concern. You may also wish to either pull the drain plugs at the bottom of the back seat's foot well, or drill a few small holes to keep water from puddling for a long time.
Also, you will probably need to replace most if not all of the seam sealer in the car. I did it on my car only to have it dry up and crack within 3 years. So, my solution was to use JB Quick epoxy this time. (I have owned my car since 1993) I also used it to fix a few pinholes in the trunk lip area after first etching them clean with acid. The drip rails on my car are all epoxy as I was tired of using caulk that didn't last. It wasn't cheap to do it, but I feel that it is a more permanent repair.
For right now, I would advice you to go to Wal Mart, get a big tarp (at least 10x10) and some bungee cords and cover the roof of the car, all the windows and the base of the hood by the windshield. This will keep the rain water out, and it shouldn't trap too much moisture if you work on it regularly. Get the heavy duty tarp sold in the camping good area. I think it is silver on one side and brown on the other. It will last for a few months unlike the cheaper ones which won't do you much good. Strap the bungee cords to the corners of the tarp and then fasten them down somewhere on the front of the fenders and back of the quarters to keep it taut. It will scratch the paint a bit, but I don't think that is much of a concern. You may also wish to either pull the drain plugs at the bottom of the back seat's foot well, or drill a few small holes to keep water from puddling for a long time.
yea i am sure that one of the leaks is coming from the windsheild because you can feel the rubber around it and feel that it is soaked and under the dash around the heater box is rusting so there is another leak i am getting over my head here lol but i dont know if i should replace the windsheild i guess i have to
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