[russosborne]

Originally Posted by F ROCK

that's awesome!
do you have a welder?

Sort of. I mean I own one, a Lincoln HD something or other 100. Need to get a bottle of gas for it. I already have the gas kit for it. Then I need to start learning how to weld. Figure that won't be an issue with all the replacing I will end up doing on this car.

I also own a Lincoln Weldanpower 250, an ac/dc gas powered welder/generator, that is in many pieces and needs to be cleaned up and put back together. I bought it as a project a year or so ago and got distracted from it by buying a house and moving and then getting the Lemans.

Russ

[russosborne]

Originally Posted by Loffen

Wow, going fast now, good work

Thanks. But it is going to get slow here really quick. I haven't really had to spend any money on taking it apart, but going to have to spend to get it back together.
Good thing is as far as body panels go I am less than one hour drive away from Summit Racing in Tallmadge Ohio, so I can get those there without having to pay for shipping. Which hopefully will mean I can go with the more complete stuff like a full trunk floor instead of the 3 piece kit since half the price won't be shipping charges.

Speaking of spending, $600 to get the frame powder coated. I am not clear if that includes blasting or not. Would really like to do that, just have to wait and see though. Might be just me, some sandpaper, and something like POR-15 or similar. Bleah.

Russ

[russosborne]

Originally Posted by 2002Z4CSS

Looking at these pictures makes me want to tear my GT-37 apart soon.

Hey, go Buckeyes. Just kidding, I am not into that rivalry stuff much.
But you are going to be dealing with a long cold winter like us in Ohio, so it's a good time if you have a place to do it out of the weather. My garage isn't heated, but I have halogen lights on stands that do a decent job. I also have a little propane heater that uses one pound bottles that I haven't tried yet, but it is a good backup.

I like taking things apart, especially when I don't have to be carefull, which on most of this car I don't since I am replacing a lot of it. It really helps me mellow out some.


Thanks,
Russ

[F ROCK]

yes get the gas bottle. i love welding stuff now since i've got a bottle.
get a helmet that dims instantly too, it makes it alot easier.

[russosborne]

I've got an auto dimming helmet, if it still works. Bought it like 5-6 years ago and tried it a couple of times while playing around making sure the welder was functional. But it has been in the dark since then, and is a solar powered one. Hoping that putting it in front of a bright light will bring it back to life, but if not it is only a cheap harbor freight one so it won't be a big loss.

Heard on another forum about some welding wire that is ideal for body panels, problem is it has been discontinued. But someone linked to a store in Florida where they still have some, so hoping to get that as well. I am going to need all the help I can get.

Russ

[Loffen]

Do not even think about doing the frame by yourself with sandpaper.

You frame needs a blasting for sure

My frame, even if it is pretty good will also be blasted in a week or two, it is just not possible to get the rust off with out blasting (or acid dipping)

[2002Z4CSS]

Originally Posted by russosborne

I've got an auto dimming helmet, if it still works. Bought it like 5-6 years ago and tried it a couple of times while playing around making sure the welder was functional. But it has been in the dark since then, and is a solar powered one. Hoping that putting it in front of a bright light will bring it back to life, but if not it is only a cheap harbor freight one so it won't be a big loss.

Heard on another forum about some welding wire that is ideal for body panels, problem is it has been discontinued. But someone linked to a store in Florida where they still have some, so hoping to get that as well. I am going to need all the help I can get.

Russ

I thought these had a battery inside of them. Check that 1st.

[russosborne]

Originally Posted by Loffen

Do not even think about doing the frame by yourself with sandpaper.

You frame needs a blasting for sure

My frame, even if it is pretty good will also be blasted in a week or two, it is just not possible to get the rust off with out blasting (or acid dipping)

Well, the frame might need it, but I might not have the money to do it. The potential budget on this car keeps shrinking these days.
Have to just wait and see for now.
Russ

[Loffen]

Well then it is an electric drill and a heavy duty wire brush and rust converter, just forget sandpaper

[russosborne]

My bad, that is what I meant, although it might be a grinder with a flapper disc.
Yeah, I could just see me sitting forever trying to do this with a piece of sandpaper. But my arms would be huge when I was done.

Will have to check around to see how much getting it blasted or dipped (if any place around here does that) would be. If it is say $100 or so I could manage it. If I could afford a decent compressor I would just get one and do it myself.

Thanks,
Russ

[russosborne]

Well, this may be how things go for a while. I didn't get much done this past weekend, no money to really spend so couldn't do the stuff I had wanted to do. Took most of the front suspension off, except for the lower control arms. One bolt on each being a pain. That and a few brackets are all that is left to remove. Oh, and the two body mounts that are still attached to strips of the trunk floor. :-)
Need to get the frame inside the garage. I don't think it is going to fit where I had thought it would, so I might have to do some rearranging. This thing is heavier than I was thinking as well. Got it laying on it's side on the 2 car dollies I had under the car so it can be moved. Problem is it isn't heavy enough to stay in place when I run into something like the lip of the garage floor when I tried to move it in there. Being alone I ended up just giving up and it is leaning against my fence right now. And of course it has been raining like crazy here since then.

Russ

[russosborne]

and I don't mean like a pro street. Talking the body. I have pictures I will post later, don't feel like going to the basement right now-that is where my computer is.

Was feeling semi energetic, so I cut out the section of the trunk floor I know I am replacing.Got the measurements off of Summit's site, and tried to cut smaller, but lots of rust.

Got to looking around the outside rear of the body and saw what looked like maybe metal splitting apart. Well, turns out it was bondo coming off the metal. Lots of it. This is the area below the trunk lid where there is a lip that the back bumper top sort of fits into. Totally gone from one side to the other.

I need to post the pictures, but I just don't feel up to seeing this again right now.

there is more fiberglass in the trunk. Found out the person who did it glassed the whole floor, including the wheel wells. The panel that goes at an angle from the flat floor to the vertical rear panel(this is the part that the rear of the support brackets follow) is pretty much toast as well. In general, everywhere that there is a support bracket the floor is rusted out along it on both sides of the bracket and both sides of the floor.

I know that this isn't the worst car that has been brought back, but I am getting worried that it is going to be beyond my feeble/non existent skills. Flatish panels don't worry me much, even I ought to be able to mig those, but stuff with complex curves that I don't think are even reproduced, well I am not a metal worker.

In the front cowl area I am going to need to replace/patch about the entire thing from just below the lower door hinge all the way down and all the way across, and it is looking like I might need to get full floor panels and cut out most except for the tunnel area.

And I haven't even begun to strip the outer body, and I know that the lower quarters have been patched, I can see the rivets from inside the trunk.



Russ

[russosborne]

That is a neat smilie. It just about exactly represents my feelings from the day I bought the car to now. Only I haven't quite run out of fuse yet. but getting awfully close.

Russ

[russosborne]

here they are.
I don't know what is up, but about one-third of them came out way out of focus. I deleted most of those, but a couple here still show the problems and I wanted to include them.

going to take a couple more postings, have about 17 of them.

Russ

[russosborne]

more

[russosborne]

and more

[russosborne]

Last one for now.
this one is of the driver's side floor/cowl area after I finally got the kick panel off.

Thanks,
Russ

[Loffen]

Wow you have done a lot of cutting, was it really so bad ?

Anyways, have you bought any of the new panels you need ?
If not it might be an idea to wait with the rest you need to take away until you have them, your rear end are pretty weak now and there is also nice to have some reference points on the old body parts.

[russosborne]

Bad, yes. The area along all the support pieces is rusted out. I measured and cut using the dimensions from the replacement panel I hope to use. But while cutting I found more bad than I had already known about. Still have lots of fiberglass to remove and I am afraid of what will be under that. Not sure what I am going to do in the end. I just can't afford a complete trunk floor from back seat to rear of car. Probably going to have to buy some sheet metal and patch the places that the one piece panel doesn't cover.

I bought a cheap set of damaged wheel tubs from Summit Racing in their clearance section a couple of weeks ago, mainly for the metal.The box they were shipped in was bent as was the metal. But I may end up using them if the original wheel wells are too far gone. The price for replacement wheel wells is just ridiculous to me, as well as out of my budget. Since this isn't going to be anything near stock I am not worried about that.

Just feeling really stupid right now. I could have bought several other types of cars ready to drive for the money I have into this already. I have had a habit of doing this for the last several years. Although on this car I honestly looked but due to fiberglass and bondo work didn't see all the bad areas. Just hope I can get this one fixed, or else I will give up on cars and start with model railroads.

Russ

[Loffen]

I do not mean to ruin you day but I think you know it by now anyways..

From what I have seen you look at repair panels for around 1000 Usd now maybe more when it comes to the quarters and other pieces you might need. so let's say that you will need panels for 2000 Usd total to be on the safe side.

Then you will need some suspension parts and maybe some engine parts, then some paint.
The price will be hard to say but when everything add up I do not think you will get it back on the road for under 5000 Usd, and that is a low estimate...


In the stat the car is in now the value is what you can get for the parts, so I think you have to ask your self about what to do from now on.

Will you be able to get the money to finish the project ? maybe over a year or two ?

Anyways my suggestion is that you stop now until you know what to do, and do not start working on the body before you atleast have bought the panels you have cut out and know that you will need...

And model trais are not cheap either, I know, had a pretty large Märklin collection