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EDIT: Progress is happening but slowly... Car is  Credit cards are paid off, expenses are minimal, I have decided it's time for a project. Since I was a kid I have wanted to (re)build a muscle car at least partially because I think that most things on the road today are absolutely ugly. It's worth nothing that this is my first major car project. I have been looking for a base to build off of for several months and finally found this:         1966 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu 2 door coupe. I found it for sale locally where the owner just wanted out of it because of a series of events that I think worked in my favor. The owner had money but apparently didn't do any research to restore an older car so his expectations didn't necessarily line up with reality. I had a couple hours to talk to the guy while waiting for the slowest tow truck in the city to show up. He bought it on Ebay from Florida and he said it looked okay in the ad pictures so he bought it without having it inspected by anyone or looking at it himself, and had it shipped straight to his mechanic so it could be media blasted and primed and done right. Predictably for a 50 year old car from Florida the body was apparently held together with bondo and dreams and turned to swiss cheese with entire swaths of metal missing when it was stripped. Instead of finding another car, he hired a mechanic/metal shop to replace all the rusted metal on the car wholesale. The entire Roof, all the external panels, the entire trunk and the entire floor pans were replaced wholesale. He had receipts for 15 to 16,000 in metal work he had done over a number of months replacing almost everything, including the factory firewall with a nice smoothy. He then sealed the floors and trunk and had a basic priming done, decided the car was a money pit because it "wasn't any closer to really driving than when I started" and sold the whole thing to me for 7500 after asking for 8k. The Plan: This leads to today where I have essentially a blank slate of a 66 Chevelle that I am going to have to replace nearly all parts on it that aren't in the pictures, which is almost everything. Which I am fine with, because the goal for me is not to restore it to the way the car was in 1966, I want to rebuild this car with the even better poo poo that we as a people have come up with in the last 50 years in the mean time. This is going to be a long term project, I estimate 5-6 years. I am going cash only and will not be going into any debt for the duration. The ultimate goal is to make a car that is an an enjoyable daily driver, and that I can run in the Silver State Classic Challenge which means I can't gently caress around and cheap out with parts selection because this thing will need to be stable and not get me killed when going 165 on a 2 lane highway, possibly faster if I get ambitious about it. The first major change will be the body being moved to a Roadster Shop Independent Rear Suspension Chassis which is pricey but actually removes a lot of the guesswork from the rebuild. It lowers the body 3 inches on the chassis without altering the ride height, because the exhaust now runs inside the chassis instead of below it. It also wholesale replaces the suspension with one from a modern corvette, not just coil overs but the entire suspension geometry is modern and built to run with wider tires. Speaking of which, the chassis supports 10 inch wide rims up front and 12 in the rear so I can run 275/35ZR18 in the front and 335/30ZR18 in the rear. This chassis in other people's cars:   The current engine block is leaving, and I will be initially running on an LS3 and will probably change that out later but I am not sure for what. I want to keep good weight balance but I will not be exactly sure what I have to work with until I get the new chassis. All other parts of the car will basically have to be bought new. I am open to suggestions for safety improvements, because I know older cars have issues with safety compared to modern cars. Feel free to tell me how stupid and/or crazy I am and how I have no loving idea how deep this rabbit hole is going to go!  Advice appreciated!
BitBasher fucked around with this message at 05:10 on Apr 28, 2021 |
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Oct 8, 2016 21:21
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If your goal is 165 in a frame-on-chassis muscle car, I imagine "safety" would involve the interior more or less resembling a NASCAR race car. A heavy cage, harness, and a HANS device at a minimum. 165 might be overly optimistic. But I like your thinking. And that is a loving gorgeous find that you got for a song. All the boring stuff is done already, you get to have all the fun.
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Oct 8, 2016 22:10
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OMGVBFLOL posted:If your goal is 165 in a frame-on-chassis muscle car, I imagine "safety" would involve the interior more or less resembling a NASCAR race car. A heavy cage, harness, and a HANS device at a minimum. If that chassis is decent, I don't see anything impossible with your aims, but $16k is no small amount of money. Could you not achieve much of the benefit with a full cage and subframes from a modern vehicle?
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Oct 8, 2016 22:26
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Maybe roadmap a set of staged goals. Not that you shouldn't lay groundwork for the loftier goals, but maybe don't shoot for the first time it runs and drives being when it's in 165-mph trim. It might be worth it to run the engine you have, or some similar cheap junkyard/secondhand v8 for now. Next to the expense and timesink of getting that chassis set up and rolling/steering/braking, getting an old v8 and trans to spin the driveshaft will be next to nothing, and it'll get you driving your baby at least $10,000 sooner than anything that will get you anywhere close to 165. But I'm also just an armchair quarterback. Either way, looking forward to following this thread!
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Oct 8, 2016 23:07
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OMGVBFLOL posted:Maybe roadmap a set of staged goals. Not that you shouldn't lay groundwork for the loftier goals, but maybe don't shoot for the first time it runs and drives being when it's in 165-mph trim. Nah. Running an EFI LS motor is going to require different everything (fuel system, wiring, mounts, trans tunnel, crossmember, etc etc) than some random 350 you get from Craigslist (that probably is already hosed up from the PO), so any effort you put into setting the car up for the old junk is wasted effort you'll have to undo. However, if you want to just get it running with an iron block 5.3L for now and wait until the rest of the car is done to build your blown 600HP LS3 to swap in, that makes sense. Just make sure to over-build your fuel system now so you don't have to gently caress with it later.
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Oct 8, 2016 23:17
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Raluek posted:Nah. Running an EFI LS motor is going to require different everything (fuel system, wiring, mounts, trans tunnel, crossmember, etc etc) than some random 350 you get from Craigslist (that probably is already hosed up from the PO), so any effort you put into setting the car up for the old junk is wasted effort you'll have to undo. However, if you want to just get it running with an iron block 5.3L for now and wait until the rest of the car is done to build your blown 600HP LS3 to swap in, that makes sense. Just make sure to over-build your fuel system now so you don't have to gently caress with it later. OMGVBFLOL posted:Maybe roadmap a set of staged goals. Not that you shouldn't lay groundwork for the loftier goals, but maybe don't shoot for the first time it runs and drives being when it's in 165-mph trim. Since the car is literally empty Any intermediate parts I put in would just be replaced later. There isn't anything in it now I can use in the mean time. Why buy twice? I'm a pretty patient person. I don't expect this car to actually drive maybe 4 years. That being said there is a roadmap of staged goals, they are all just when I buy things for the first time. Also I can do little things in the mean time like while the car is totally empty I plan to dynamat the living poo poo out of it because it will be far more of a pain in the rear end to do it later, and it's just really nice to have done. In order (conservative time estimates): -Save assload of cash and buy roadstershop chassis. (3 years, dec 2019) -Immediately swap body to new chassis and possibly sell current chassis. (3 months later after delivery, March 2019) -save cash for engine transmission, have them installed. (May/June 2019) -install power steering/brakes and start assembling all of the other 9 billion parts I am missing. (only god knows, cash permitting) -buy fuckoff expensive rims rated for speeds I need, likely Forgeline (4-5 months later) -Install basic interior, possibly just seats, install all lighting as LED and modern tech (2-3 months after that) -Paint and final bodywork (After everything else) I'm aiming at black base with cobalt blue Pearl, no badging at all but the chrome and trim stays shiny and chrome. Let's face it, it's gonna be a clusterfuck! I won't even know what I'm missing until it happens InitialDave posted:If that chassis is decent, I don't see anything impossible with your aims, but $16k is no small amount of money. Could you not achieve much of the benefit with a full cage and subframes from a modern vehicle? OMGVBFLOL posted:If your goal is 165 in a frame-on-chassis muscle car, I imagine "safety" would involve the interior more or less resembling a NASCAR race car. A heavy cage, harness, and a HANS device at a minimum. OMGVBFLOL posted:165 might be overly optimistic. But I like your thinking. I would like to think I can hit 165!
BitBasher fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Oct 9, 2016 |
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Oct 9, 2016 00:03
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BitBasher posted:I wish it was actually 16! The reason it's going to take 3 years to buy is that after all the options, like the independent rear, It's more like 37k. And no, as far as I can see no modern swappable frame will do what I will be getting out of this one. I was thinking you use the subframes from something modern of appropriate track width and incorporate the necessary pick up points on a fabricated cage/spaceframe structure.
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Oct 9, 2016 00:20
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InitialDave posted:Jesus. Ok, you get what you pay for, but I think wanting it to be a straight swap-in proposition is restricting you. Since he mentioned having the engine and transmission installed, rather than installing them himself, I'm guessing he's pretty much going with off-the-shelf compatible parts, rather than building his own. Yeah, you can pull the IRS out of a Thunderbird or something, and the IFS out of a Mustang II, but all the fab work required to make it work together would probably cost as much (at shop rates) as just buying the pre-made thing. If he was doing his own fab-work and engineering he could definitely achieve a similar goal for a lot less money, but I don't think that is the direction this build is going.
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Oct 9, 2016 00:39
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Raluek posted:Since he mentioned having the engine and transmission installed, rather than installing them himself, I'm guessing he's pretty much going with off-the-shelf compatible parts, rather than building his own. Yes, like I briefly mentioned above this is really my first meaningful project like this. I don't have the space nor own the tools to do major operations. I'm not opposed to the idea it's just not really viable right now. For all the major mechanical work I will pay out for it. For the wiring harnesses and assembling all of the 9 trillion bits and bobs I can do that myself in my garage. The only things I plan to really have someone do entirely are the chassis swap, engine and transmission, interior rebuild and possibly power steering/brakes install because I really don't want to gently caress those up. I don't think I can accidentally kill myself loving up anything else. Most of the other major mechanical things are built into the new chassis.
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Oct 9, 2016 01:49
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OMGVBFLOL posted:If your goal is 165 in a frame-on-chassis muscle car, I imagine "safety" would involve the interior more or less resembling a NASCAR race car. A heavy cage, harness, and a HANS device at a minimum. Fix up some aero and basically any LS motor will get it that high with a long enough run up.
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Oct 9, 2016 02:01
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I guess I should have admitted to myself that I was mostly thinking out loud with those posts. and 240mph, jesus loving christ
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Oct 9, 2016 05:38
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Thats faster than Jeff Lutz did in his promod at dragweek!
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Oct 9, 2016 06:13
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OMGVBFLOL posted:and 240mph, jesus titty-loving loving christ FTFY
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Oct 10, 2016 03:06
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So some hopefully minor difficulties have popped up. I forgot to mention that the car is not in my name yet. I hold the signed Florida title and live in Las Vegas. The issue is that there are no VIN plates on the car, at all. The A pillar plate is completely gone and the primary plate was on the firewall which was completely replaced. From what I could find elsewhere on the internet there should be a CON VIN stamped on the top of rear frame rail under the trunk, so I went looking for it. The frame had been media blasted and painted over at least once and I couldn't find a VIN there at all, but fortunately a friend looked and found a really faint number or two, so at least we had the right place, but we couldn't remotely make out all of the numbers. In order for me to get an out of state title transferred into my name the DMV is required to perform a VIN inspection, for which the vin is required to be obvious and legible. So me and some friends who know more than I about this process measured and cut a hole in the (newly replaced) trunk pan over the appropriate spot on the frame rail and went to town on it with some abrasive. It made the letters more legible but still quite faint in parts, and it was then realized that this was not a full VIN. It was only the rear 10 out of the 13 characters of the VIN for this car. The first 3 numbers are not there at all. SO now I have to try to get the title transferred into my name when the full VIN is literally nowhere on the car. I'm headed to the DMV tomorrow to ask about it. In the mean time I'm picking up some CLR and aircaft paint stripper to try to make it more legible. For bonus points when we removed the tape from the trunk after cutting we also realized that the previous owner's mechanic was a apparently a jackass at least in some ways. The car was media blasted then a coat of some back paint referred to as sealer was put down on the inside, grey primer(?) on the outside. When we pulled up the tape some of the trunk liner came up with rust attached to it. Apparently the car was not properly treated before painting and there is surface rust forming between the trunk and whatever paint looking stuff they sprayed onto it. So now as soon as all the title stuff is hopefully taken care of soon I get to have an on site media blasting company come and strip then rust proof the entire car because I have no way of knowing what is lurking underneath from the previous dude who already paid a mechanic to do it once, apparently poorly. This also means I have to try to get off all of the knock off noise dampening foam/foil covering the entire floor and firewall. Not sure how that is going to go.
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Oct 18, 2016 03:51
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BitBasher posted:The A pillar plate is completely gone and the primary plate was on the firewall which was completely replaced. Isn't it extremely federally illegal to tamper with the VIN plate? I thought whenever body work was done on a panel that has the VIN plate (I thought the primary plate was in the doorjamb on the A-pillar, and the firewall plate had the options/body/paint codes on it? That's how it is on my Impala anyway) you have to be very careful to preserve the metal right around where the plate mounts so that your car doesn't become unregisterable forever.
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Oct 18, 2016 03:59
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Sanity check: you're talking about putting a $35,000 chassis under a poorly stripped/prepped vinfucked car. In the end having about having $60k+ into this thing, wouldn't it make more sense to spend a little more on something a little more solid? considering it's 3 years out, maybe something you could enjoy in a running state until then.
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Oct 18, 2016 04:01
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Raluek posted:Isn't it extremely federally illegal to tamper with the VIN plate? I thought whenever body work was done on a panel that has the VIN plate (I thought the primary plate was in the doorjamb on the A-pillar, and the firewall plate had the options/body/paint codes on it? That's how it is on my Impala anyway) you have to be very careful to preserve the metal right around where the plate mounts so that your car doesn't become unregisterable forever. I hope to god not. It was gone before I got the car. I found info online that the DMV here in NV can reissue VIN plates but apparently not all states will do that. Here's to hoping that I'm not hosed. Great. Not I'm gonna sleep lovely. Powershift posted:Sanity check: you're talking about putting a $35,000 chassis under a poorly stripped/prepped vinfucked car. No money goes into the car until the VIN is sorted. If it does go forward I would have that poo poo taken care of before the chassis is bought. I'm a very patient person, I have no problems waiting to do poo poo right, I don't have to drive anything right now. I like my current car just fine. That said after a pile of research I probably will not opt for the independent rear suspension which will decrease the cost and time a good deal. From everything I can read It's not nearly enough of a benefit to remotely justify cost. That will take about a year or so and a third of the price off. If I decide later I want it I can add it back into the frame retroactively but I don't see it happening. BitBasher fucked around with this message at 04:09 on Oct 18, 2016 |
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Oct 18, 2016 04:02
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Does the partial VIN match your title?
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Oct 18, 2016 04:11
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Actually, it looks like there's an exemption if "a person who repairs such vehicle or part, if the removal, obliteration, tampering, or alteration is reasonably necessary for the repair;", which may be the case if you've had a bunch of metal replaced. I'm not sure why the VIN tag never got put back on the A-pillar, though. That's fishy. So I guess it depends on the state law wherever it was worked on, and the state where you're registering it. So maybe not all is lost? Did the numbers you found on the frame rail match the paperwork you have?
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Oct 18, 2016 04:11
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Raluek posted:So maybe not all is lost? I'll post what I find after vising the DMV tomorrow after work. Raluek posted:Did the numbers you found on the frame rail match the paperwork you have? OMGVBFLOL posted:Does the partial VIN match your title? Yes, my bad, I can't believe I left that part out. Yes, the partial VIN on the frame matches the last 10 characters of the VIN on the title. The part missing in the frame is the first 3 characters 136 which are just determining it is a Chevelle, Malibu coupe 8 cylinder. The rest matches but some sections are very faint.
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Oct 18, 2016 04:20
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Fair chance that VIN is now residing in another registered vehicle.Raluek posted:Isn't it extremely federally illegal to tamper with the VIN plate? I thought whenever body work was done on a panel that has the VIN plate (I thought the primary plate was in the doorjamb on the A-pillar, and the firewall plate had the options/body/paint codes on it? That's how it is on my Impala anyway) you have to be very careful to preserve the metal right around where the plate mounts so that your car doesn't become unregisterable forever. The VIN plate should be between the hinges in the doorjam, yeah. Same spot as the Impala. A lot easier to see than in the Vette, where it's under/behind the goddamned glovebox. The old women at the DMV love that. Godholio fucked around with this message at 06:55 on Oct 18, 2016 |
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Oct 18, 2016 06:52
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Talked to the DMV. A partial VIN on the frame that matches the title may be enough for them to issue me a new VIN plate and have the title moved into my name. They were noncomittal about it because apparently it depends on whether the VIN looks like it has been tampered with, which mine does not. Also they checked the VIN from the title and the last time it was registered was Florida in 2013 which matches what the title says. Nothing else fishy found. I need to put it on a flatbed and get it down to them for VIN inspection now and I can more than likely have the title changed over. That's a lot better news than I was expecting.
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Oct 19, 2016 01:27
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Small update: Today is a good day! The car is not VIN hosed, the partial serial was enough for the DMV and the car is now in my name! Real title ships to me in 4-6 weeks. They also issued a new VIN plate and attached it to the car at the back of the driver's door below where the B pillar would be if there was a B pillar on this car. I can post a picture of the new VIN plate if anyone cares, I doubt anyone does. It's blue.  I am unbelievably happy! BitBasher fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Nov 20, 2016 |
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Nov 20, 2016 02:54
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Nice...really glad you didn't get hosed by that VIN. Getting the blue pre-82 plates, antiques, or regular? I really wish NV would allow year-of-manufacture plates like some states do. 
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Nov 20, 2016 03:25
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Godholio posted:Nice...really glad you didn't get hosed by that VIN. They actually didn't make me register to get the title changed over. Eventually after I get and assemble about a billion more parts so that my car more closely resembles an actual car and it can move on its own I'm absolutely going to get the classic colored white on blue pre-82 plate the state had forever. I am not going to go for the "Classic Car", "Classic Rod" or "Old Timer" plates or similar because those are really for people that have cars older than 25 years but are made after 1967, which makes them exempt from emissions testing on the condition that they are driven no more than 5000 miles a year. Since my car is a 66 I am exempt from emissions testing outright without the need for any qualifiers, so I plan just to get the classic pre-82 colored plates with no special text or other bullshit. Actually Nevada does offer the use of Vintage plates where you can use the same colors and design as the original year of manufacture but only for cars made before 1942. If you have an original set of blue plates they can be reinstated if in good condition, but I don't have any. The only thing that bothers me is that the classic colored plates do not have raised letters and are completely flat which looks really wrong to me. I would pay good money to get a classic colored plate with the raised letters like the plates actually had at the time, I think they look far superior but unfortunately that is not an option as far as I can tell.
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Nov 20, 2016 04:14
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No, it's not. License plates are one of the few downsides to moving here from Utah last year...UT actually allows for YOM plates if you can find a set in good enough condition. So for a couple of years I had a sweet pair of white-on-black 1966 plates on the Corvette.  The blue plates are good enough, I guess.
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Nov 20, 2016 07:52
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I'm sure you've probably researched it to death, but another chassis option is Schwartz Performance. I only am aware after researching some "won the lotto" options for my full size '64 Chevy. But they cater to A bodies too.
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Nov 20, 2016 08:33
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Thelonious posted:I'm sure you've probably researched it to death, but another chassis option is Schwartz Performance. I only am aware after researching some "won the lotto" options for my full size '64 Chevy. But they cater to A bodies too. Yes they do. The three main ones I have found are Roadstershop, Art Morrison and Schwartz Performance. Each offers primarily the same thing with some minor differences such as shock types offered rear gearing. I'm leaning towards roadster shop because they are the only ones that actually alter the original chassis design so that the car sits 3 inches lower on the chassis. It requires a different oil pan and custom headers which they can sell me, but in the end they have space to move the entire exhaust system into the height as frame so that the center of gravity comes down and looks lower while actually retaining most of the original ground clearance. In the time between now and when I buy the frame maybe another company will offer the same thing. I'm always open to changing course as I go. Other people know more than I do so it's always worth it to listen to them and do more research. Next on the agenda is to have the whole car media blasted and again primered and sealed. It's going to be sitting for a while and after I pulled up the fake knock off dynamat from the drivers compartment there was surface rust there just like under the trunk sealer. Apparently the car was media blasted and sealed in Florida before being shipped out here and/or whoever did it hosed something up, I'm not about the details, just the current results. Either way it's Vegas now so I'll have it done just to get rid of the rust once and for all. This will happen in Feb or so. After that it sits until the new frame goes under it and things will progress a lot faster. In the mean time, after It is sealed and has primer that I know doesn't have rust under it I can Dynamat the thing within an inch of it's life since I can do that myself here and it will feel like I'm actually doing something. BitBasher fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Sep 10, 2017 |
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Nov 20, 2016 15:44
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Brief update, car got shipped off to the shop that will media blast it. Handheld tool meter of some kind read out that there is some bondo on it after all, and the previous owner was either full of poo poo or his mechanic was, and I'm leaning towards the second option. Looks like I'll be buying replacement door shells and front fenders, which are pretty easy to swap. Rocker panels will need welding work. Does anyone have experience with aftermarket doors and fenders? Auto Metal Direct claims to use the original gauge metal and claims to be Chevy approved. There are cheaper brands that seem sketchy. Any preferred manufacturers? I shall have pictures after it is stripped and before it is re primered and sealed in 10 or so business days. The place media blasting it is putting it on a rotisserie and stripping it inside and out.
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Jan 28, 2017 02:52
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Not that I take it as gospel but the show Graveyard Carz owner raves about Auto Metal Direct parts. He seems like a big enough Mopar weirdo to actually obsess over this stuff. Says often on the show how it The og gauge and fit
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Jan 28, 2017 05:14
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everdave posted:Not that I take it as gospel but the show Graveyard Carz owner raves about Auto Metal Direct parts. He seems like a big enough Mopar weirdo to actually obsess over this stuff. Says often on the show how it The og gauge and fit This generally seems to reflect what I can find on random forums I find through Google Search. I was just hoping someone here had first hand experience. I don't want to buy a grand worth of sheet metal to find that the parts are poo poo and the forum posts were astroturfing.
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Jan 28, 2017 05:19
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I mean he raves about them but I have noticed some boxes from them show up at Gas Monkey and at least one other show (can't remember which one). Love or hate these shows these are big dollar businesses.
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Jan 28, 2017 05:37
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The Chevelle of Theseus. So they hosed with the floor pan and firewall, and then bolted hosed up fenders back on?
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Jan 28, 2017 06:07
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Powershift posted:The Chevelle of Theseus. Pretty much yeah. And even less will remain before I am done!Oh hell. I may make this my custom plate. THSEUS (I only get 6 characters) Powershift posted:So they hosed with the floor pan and firewall, and then bolted hosed up fenders back on? The fenders looked fine but had a good chunk of mud directly behind the wheels. The rear fenders were fixed properly and the guy said they were good as far as he could tell. The floor pans and trunk were replaced entirely. The doors look like they had external pitting and the metal must have been really thin then bondo used to smooth out big sections, because you could see solid metal inside the doors, as they are empty right now. Yes, the firewall was replaced wholesale with a smoothie firewall. Oh, and the entire roof was replaced. Bonus points: all the body mounts were essentially finger tight. I'm surprised none fell out during moving it around. BitBasher fucked around with this message at 06:26 on Jan 28, 2017 |
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Jan 28, 2017 06:24
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Oh boy. This is going to be a big, long, expensive project. Best of luck to you and your wallet.
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Jan 28, 2017 22:44
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Larrymer posted:Best of luck to you and your wallet. Thanks! Speaking of my wallet, it's somewhat lighter as the Chevelle got back Ram ProLine after having been media blasted! I have somehow have even less car now that I had when I started, but I know exactly where I stand. So here she is, in the buff. Nothing but metal left.            You may notice doors and fenders media blasted sitting inside after I said I wasn't going to have those done. Well, the guy at the shop had a communication error with his techs and they first blasted the fenders and doors at first and didn't touch the rest of the car. Whoops. They didn't charge me for it, so all is well but apparently they couldn't have been happy because they were all big rear end sheets of mud and they had to have spent a pile of time and media doing them for free. Still looking like the fenders and doors are getting replaced anyway. From here it gets sent on a flatbed to the shop that will prime it and possibly do some finishing metalwork on it before hand. I'm pretty excited about it now that I EDIT: I'm also not sure what's up with those fender wells in the trunk there is like a ridge floating in space on both sides like they didn't use the right part but welded it in anyway. Not that it matters, They are leaving to be replaced by an ABC Performance wheel tub kit regardless. BitBasher fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Feb 9, 2017 |
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Feb 9, 2017 03:33
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I'm quite surprised at how much metal you actually have.
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Feb 10, 2017 04:38
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man, i can't see pictures of that hulk without immediately picturing myself sitting on the bare floor stomping the firewall swinging the steering wheel and yelling engine noises like a goddamn five year old thanks for continuing to share!
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Feb 10, 2017 07:58
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Godholio posted:I'm quite surprised at how much metal you actually have. I'm pleasantly surprised about it. Of course, the previous owner replaced the roof, rear and both outside rear sheet metal fenders are more or less new. The down side is that the welder wasn't the best. the weld are pretty ugly. The metalworker is coming to take a look at it this upcoming Friday to see what of the doors and front fenders can be used, if any, and give me an estimate for the rest of the body work to bring it up to spec. I also have some concerns about the measurements being done right when the new roof was put on. It may be fine but it may need some adjustment. Something about it doesn't look entirely right to me, but I know jack poo poo. I'll wait for the metal guy to tell me what he thinks. OMGVBFLOL posted:man, i can't see pictures of that hulk without immediately picturing myself sitting on the bare floor stomping the firewall swinging the steering wheel and yelling engine noises like a goddamn five year old Thanks! If I said I hadn't done that I would be lying! A milk crate may have been involved...
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Feb 11, 2017 20:10
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| # ? May 6, 2024 00:30 |
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Update, the metalworker that was recommended to me came over today. The Chevelle of Theseus joke is coming true! The verdict: As was suspected, it would cost more to clean up the mediocre welding job on the fenders and doors than it would to just buy new ones so new ones are coming. I also get to replace parts of my car I was not expecting to! Apparently the door jamb and A pillars on both sides are all metal but have had various bits cut and welded over the years to a mediocre collection of patchwork. Likewise the floor pans are intact bit in 7 or so pieces of iffy quality, likewise the firewall which is not so smoothie after all. So all of those are going. This will all apparently help keep it structurally sound so I have a lesser chance of dying when I get it up to 150 like the idiot I am. Placed orders on OPGI, Summit Racing, and ABC Performance for a few new parts: Both Doors, both front fenders, both external windshield A pillar post sections, both door shells, door hinges and fasteners, hood, hood hinges and fasteners, trunk lid and fasteners, the vented cowl panel between hood and windshield, the firewall, rear wheel minitub kit and the entire floor pan with braces. I guess I'll attach parts as I go. After everything comes in it goes to the metal guy who then apparently has to do primo work because I want to paint it a dark color. On the upside, the back half of the car and the roof seemed solid to the guy, so I have that going for me!
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Feb 18, 2017 05:12
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