Looking for advice on sequencing of restoration work

[Kevin McSweeney]

11 minutes ago, rcb280z said:

That's amazing considering it spent some time in Nevada. Mine is a CA car as well but has quite a bit of rust because it was in Nevada for 17 years. And yes it does snow in Vegas. And freezes. 

Yeah, i don’t know the entire history of it, but I know it was garages in Reno for quite a few years! And of course I may find more rust as I strip, but so far so good. 

[Kevin McSweeney]

Bit of an update - first and foremost, I finally got to drive the car for the first time since I bought it! Actually drives surprisingly well, though the suspension could do with a bit of work. Anyway, first milestone achieved!

Now, I spent most of Saturday trying to remove the fenders. As you can see from the photos, it looks like some nice person previously jacked the car up right where the fender bolts to the sill. Short of cutting the bolts off, any suggestions on getting these 2 bolts out? Similar story on the opposite side! I did try to bend the pinch weld back but couldn't get much leverage on it. Also, as I'm sure is pretty common, the 2 screws underneath the cowl are stripped on both sides. Any advice for getting these out. Finally, do the headlight buckets have to come out before the fenders can come off?

I also cut that horrid rear bumper off. Planning to fill any holes next weekend but I need to remove the chrome trim that runs the length of the body along the doors first. I thought this would be pretty easy to remove but it doesn't want to budge. What's the easiest way to remove this?

I also marked out the locations and roughly fitted the fender mirrors (I figured I better do this before the fenders come off).

[Mark Maras]

 Lower fender bolts, I had to bend the bent flange down to get to mine. Used a Crescent wrench, (adjustable spanner) to get the leverage to bend it down.

 Cowl screws, copious amounts of penetrating oil, heat, cut a straight slot in the head with a Dremel Tool.

 Headlight buckets can be removed with the fender.

 Side trim, heat. I'd try a hair dryer first. If you use a heat gun, take care, the sheet metal is very thin.

[esmit208]

Ok for the bolts underneath the winshield cowl, take a screwdriver that really fits, then take a hammer and try to shock them with not too heavy of an impact in order to avoid bending the panel. If this doesn't work go to O'reillys, they sell a can of propellant that freezes bolts and nuts temoprarily and they shrink to allow them to break free. Next for the place on the lower valance the was used to raise the car take a 2X4 and a heavy blow hammer (4lbs or greater) and just try to slowly move it away. The bolt that was driven through the lip should not be there. Remove those on both sides and more than likely the fender will pop away from the chassis. When you do this you may find that the lower valance that runs the entire length of the door may need to be replaced. The vertical bolt that holds the fender on probably either was broken off before or cancer took care of it. This is the worst case scenario so be prepared when you do remove the fender to assess the rest of the repairs that may be needed to put everything back the proper way. The lower valance for both sides can be ordered from several vendors but they have to be welded on. This car appears to have sat in the elements for far too many years so every piece of fabric, rubber, and plastic needs to be removed for a true asessment of the task in front of you. Also this will not be a quick restoration, you can do it right the first time or you can do it again in a few years! Now is the time to decide your level of commitment. Good luck I will watch this space with much interest over the next few momths (years) GOOD LUCK!

[gwri8]

If the side trim door guards are dealer installed, they are probably riveted in with aluminum backing.  You'll need to pull out the black rubber strips and you will see the rivets. Then drill them out.  If you want to keep the original door guards you should be able to buy replacement rubber.  If they are not dealer installed they are probably a stick on type and the heat gun will be the best way.

Edited February 12, 2018 by gwri8

[wheee!]

I am interested to know your level of commitment to this project... Is this a quick touch-up and drive it situation, or are you going to seriously restore or mod the car? A lot of our feedback will be irrelevant if you are not planning a serious restoration etc. Not judging, just establishing a baseline. No point in going into long winded details if you are planning on bolting back together a rusty, un-restored car. You want to drive it until it dies, then that's okay too! Some people do that as well, and restore it later on after they've driven it a bit. I started out like that, thinking I could drive it a while as is, then quickly discovered the only route for me was a complete refresh.

[Kevin McSweeney]

10 minutes ago, wheee! said:

I am interested to know your level of commitment to this project... Is this a quick touch-up and drive it situation, or are you going to seriously restore or mod the car? A lot of our feedback will be irrelevant if you are not planning a serious restoration etc. Not judging, just establishing a baseline. No point in going into long winded details if you are planning on bolting back together a rusty, un-restored car. You want to drive it until it dies, then that's okay too! Some people do that as well, and restore it later on after they've driven it a bit. I started out like that, thinking I could drive it a while as is, then quickly discovered the only route for me was a complete refresh.

 

I am very serious about restoring this car, and don’t plan on really ever selling it. The only reason that I’m not doing a complete frame up restoration right now is that, as mentioned in the original post, I do not have space. As anybody living in the Bay Area is aware, space doesn’t come cheap here. That said, I do have access to a locked and enclosed yard where I store and work on the car. But sandblasting, priming and painting will need to be outsourced. I hope that makes sense!

[wheee!]

Then I'm not sure where this is going if you intend to restore the car. Without a good secure work space with tools and a rotisserie, you will be very limited with what you can "restore" on the ground and with the car in as as sad a shape as it is.

My advice would be to first research and plan what it is you want to do. Then start assembling what you will need to accomplish that goal. Buying fender mirrors for a car that is mile away from ready for the road is a bit premature. Assess your mechanical situation and determine if the power plant will need a refresh or replacement. Determine if the frame (and yes, all the hidden areas) are salvageable enough because they WILL have rust. Make sure the bones are good first. See if you need floor pans and frame rails for example etc. Then plan for a place to do the work. Without that, this project will never succeed and will only ever be a patch job. Once you have all of the basics in place, start amassing your hoard of parts that you will need. Keep a budget and stick to it. Revise it monthly if needed but make sure you can afford to do what needs to be done. Too many of these cars get started as restorations and end up a disassembled pile of rust in a small shed somewhere....

Most of all, check in here all the time for tricks and tips to keep you going! We all want to see your car properly restored and on the road!

[Zed Head]

A simple point that might help clarify - you already cut the bumpers off.  So this is not a "restoration".  Not to start an argument about what's proper, just pointing out that the word restoration is pretty well defined for car work.  It means taking it back to its original from-the-factory condition.

Resto-mod might be more correct for what you're doing.  Refurbishment would sound right if it was a part.  Doesn't feel right for a whole car.

Anyway, the question is, as whee says, what are you intending the final product to be?  Since it's not a restoration, you have a lot more leeway.

Edit - some examples of descriptive labels might be show car, daily driver, street/track car, like that.  Gives a feel for intentions.

 

Edited February 12, 2018 by Zed Head

[wheee!]

I too have a problem with labels. I called my thread a restoration when clearly it is not... but what did I know back then!? There are truly very few real restorations being done due to the cost and detail it takes. Most are modded to some degree or another. Obviously, HybridZ is an example of the place to go for extreme customization. But a sleeper car that looks factory but is tastefully modded can be called a resto-mod I assume. Where is the line? Any single non factory option part is now a Mod? Maybe... I hope your resto-mod goes according to your desires and gives you the car YOU want in the end. Good Luck!

[Kevin McSweeney]

Point taken - maybe I throw the term 'restoration' around too loosely. Clearly, as was pointed out, the goal is not to restore the car to factory-original condition. It's not going to be nut and bolt restored from the ground up - at least not for the foreseeable future - but that doesn't mean I can't do some decent work to keep it alive! Resto-mod sounds about right. The aim is to have a good looking, good sounding, fun to drive car for weekends.

[87mj]

On 1/31/2018 at 12:13 PM, 240260280 said:

Suggested Sequence

1. Do you plan to install ZG flares, front air dam, spoiler, bumper change, new performance parts like aluminum radiator, wide/bigger wheels, exhaust, french/delete parts, etc?  If so, fit these parts/do work before you strip the car to ensure they work and roughly line up with no interference.

2. Once you have this done then strip the car completely.

3. Address the body work first on stripped shell.

4. In parallel you can work on refreshing the systems (brakes, cooling, wheels, engine, lubrication, steering, ignition, fuel, drive train, wiring/electrical)

5. For reassembly, some like to install engine and suspension/wheels before painting, I like to do this after.  Be sure to install the brake and fuel lines before putting engine and drive train in.

6. Do the interior before the glass and trim (except of course door glass and quarter windows which go in before the adjacent interior parts).

7. Put dash in after interior trim and windshield is in place. (put wiper motor and linkage in before windshield).

I was reading through this got a little confused. 

My plan was to have the body shop blast and paint the inside and outside. Then install the windshield and rear hatch glass. 

Then I would get the car back and install the vinyl trim along the a-pillars, headliner, etc. Installing the dash was going to be one of the last steps.

is it your recommendation to install the vinyl trim around the windows and install the headliner before the windshield and rear hatch are installed?

Thanks