[gto406]

Another alternative is to use a grinder (with a flap or wire wheel) and pre-clean as much as you can. Then hit it with the blasting media (sand used to finish clean and get in those hard to reach spots).

Keep at her!
BR/Brian.

[rohrt]

That body is pretty bad. My bird was close to that but I had still had a good trunk pan and solid rockers.

My take on it is, a car that is still assembled has way more value then a car sold as parts. If you get ride of it now you will take a major loss. In fact any restoration of this magnitude on anything other then a super rare care would not be profitable venture in my opinion.

Since you said you don't want to give up on another project I would work to hunt down a body. The catch is it may cost you a couple grand, but the flip side is so would all the metal you need to replace. Save up some money for a body. Make some calls, send some emails. My brother has two Le Mans shells from AZ and I have a rust free shell from CA. It is possible.

No sense giving up on it if it doesn't cost you anything to keep it. Keep working on the frame. Put a nice paint job on it, replace the bushings, paint the rear end, redo the braks and get the frame into a rolling state. you could still working on the drive train and set that in the frame too. Work on the fenders doors, hood and trunk. Get them striped, straitened and in primer.

I don't know the aftermarket availability and cost for sheet metal for your car so that would determine what is a resonable amount to pay for a new shell. And just because its not a GTO don't let that be a deciding factor if you plan to keep the car the rest of your life.

One last thing, it took me 10 years to finish my car, 15 if you count the 5 years prior where I was broke as heck and the best I could do was buying one or two parts for it. I even lived through a divorce and started all over again financially.

[John Eiseman]

Hey Russ, I've been following along w/your thread here and watching this unfold. The last post [ rohrt ] has some good advice. I will keep a look out for a nice body for you out this way. They are still available....I know someone who purchased a 70 rust free Az. car recently, a driver for 1500. Will let you know when something turns up. Regards

[russosborne]

Thanks all.
John, thanks, but there is just no way I could buy something out there and get it here.
Most of my family still live in Phoenix, so if getting one here was an option I could easily get a body. Although I can't afford a body anyway right now.

Going to keep going on the chassis. nothing else to do really right now.

Russ

[russosborne]

Originally Posted by mikes2nd

ack yeah that isnt a big blaster. can you put it up on a couple saw horses?

maybe sit down and blast? its going to take a while I know...

You might have to throw some oil in that compressor? I forget if I filled it up?

Mike, yeah I probably should look into sawhorses. I think I figured out it would take 3 to be stable, but might be able to figure out a way to do it with just two.

I'll check the oil level. Only ran it about 10 minutes total so far. My back starts hurting pretty fast. Still have to figure out the best place to do the blasting anyway, now that I know it will work.

Thanks,
Russ

[mikes2nd]

it might be oil less, I dont even know how to check it, yeah def get comfortable before you start blasting.

Hey it sounds like a good workout...

Ohio, 80's sandblasting under the sun for a couple days. I just hate the fogged goggles...

[russosborne]

Well, something positive got done. I got the water crossover separated from the rest of the intake. Now I need to get something to clean up the edges. I used a hacksaw and a drill. Not the prettiest, but it worked.

And I took off the water and crank pulleys, and got the new serpentine crank pulley drilled for the Pontiac crank holes. Need something to enlarge the big hole. It almost fits on the crank, just not quite. I knew it wouldn't, but it is so close. A dremel might work, or maybe just a half round file. The Ford serpentine water pump pulley fits without any mods. Just need to get the spacers. Then I can see how the CS130 alternator from a Cadillac fits in this scheme. And still need to get the power steering pulley.

Other than that, nothing going on with the car at this point. I needed to do something semi destructive today.

Russ

[russosborne]

Well, may have some good news soon, thanks to someone here. Details later, once finalised.
Now I need to get off my butt and get out and clean the garage and get the frame going.
Russ

[russosborne]

For those (if any) who doubt the strength of the wooden tilter, I just pulled the body out of the garage with my Explorer using a chain wrapped around one of the 2X6s while the body was still vertical (tilted) and absolutely no problems.
And I was worried about setting it back down, but the only issue I had was due to my weight. I can't bend over real well, so I had to start it by holding on to the rocker panel, and then move to the wheelwell. But it was really easy to do, and I was able to control it all the way down with almost no effort at all.

That tilter is one of the few things I have built over the years that I think I can be really proud of.

Russ

[hpp]

Russ what are you doing with the shell?

[russosborne]

Not sure yet. The person I am getting the other body from may need it. If not, you can have it if you want to come get it. Not sure it would be worth the gas money myself though.

[hpp]

If they dont need it and you decide to part with it I need a section of the firewall. I have a 72 that's an A/C car and im converting it to non air.

[russosborne]

Ok, will let you know. I think that is what he is considering doing with his car too. It definitely needs to go one way or another. And that section is actually one of the few good ones on this thing. I was going to use a repro firewall, but only about the bottom third.

Russ

[russosborne]

Well, I have another body.
Extreme thanks to mikes2nd.

Now I don't have any excuses not to get back to work.

Well, maybe one. The stupid garage door isn't working. It isn't the opener. The rollers got stuck, I unstuck them not knowing they were stuck (thinking it was the opener), and now it is worse. The cables that go to the springs are off of the door bottom, and at least one of the brackets looks too bent to reuse. Need to figure out how to open it. Might have to take it apart and move one section up at a time. I don't know yet. Got the new body on jackstands and it is tarped, but I want to get it in the garage right away.

Ran out of daylight today but going to try to get the body on a dolly tomorrow. (I have the day off from work) Should be able to build one out of wood no problem. Need to get it rollable as soon as I can too.

Russ

[hpp]

Great news glad you have a new shell to work on! Good luck on that garage door and post some pics of the new shell.

[John Eiseman]

Hey Russ, Good to know you have acquired another shell. Hopefully this one doesn't have too much rust or bondo to deal with.

[russosborne]

No pictures yet, barely had the energy to get a tarp on it yesterday.

It is basically done. new floors and trunk, one new full quarter and a partial on the other side. Needs some finishing touches, a few welds, etc, but it is nice. 10 or 12 easy payments and it will be mine.

Not sure what to do about the garage door. I am seriously thinking of taking one section off at a time until it is off the garage and putting the body in and then reassembling the door. Need to find some brackets for it, Home Depot only has the hinges. I need the bottom brackets that the cables attach to.

Can't afford to fix it right now anyway. Had to make a run to Tennesse and back this last Saturday. That makes 2 in 2 weeks. Spent more than we could afford, but it was to bring my wife's best friend up for a visit for 2 weeks, my wife needed someone to talk to besides our animals.

Thanks,
Russ

[mikes2nd]

Eh don't rush, get things protected, cut your body up and take two weeks off

You might want to get them some basic pictures

We both got hooked up. I will have this body done in hopefully 2-3 weeks, just ordered the stuff I needed(center trunk section, lower quarter patches. (edit okay 3-4 weeks) just to get parts delivered.

Ordered some "quietcoat", its like lizard skin, not sure what to coat the bare body again... uhg

You have rust bullet and then rust proofing paint.

Guy I got the car off has so many cars it sick, i don't blame him for just getting some of them out of the way. It is a ton of work getting these things rebuilt.

I think he had like 5 or 6 64', 65's in the back yard, aside from the bunches of 68-72's(tempests, gto, lemans)...

[russosborne]

I used to have a friend in Phoenix who was like that with 69 Mustangs. He had some really rare ones. He started getting them while in High School, around 1977. Back when they were just cheap old cars. Don't know what he ever did with them, he sort of drifted away from all of his older (high school) friends and we lost track of him.

Definitely not doing anything until the weekend gets here. At least. Maybe the weekend after that. I am not recovering from the stupid road trip as fast as I used to. getting old bites.

[russosborne]

here they be.
Russ