After I removed the engine, fenders, suspension, steering assembly and grill, I moved on to the doors and interior. Compared to newer cars, these things come apart like Lego kits, super easy. I just hope they go back together just as easily when the time comes.
After removing the seats and carpets, the floor pans were pretty bad and poking at the rust inevitably made it worse.
But not as bad as the frame rails. It was shocking to realize that the passengers side suspension was held on by very poor welds and the drivers side was held on by practically nothing at all. To think I had been driving the car for months in this condition. Looking back it was truly amazing it stayed together.
Moving on to the engine bay, I began removing wiring and other components so I could take it down to bare metal.
Once I had most everything out I could see how bad the rust really was. Especially in the battery tray area. Which, once the tray was removed, the whole area pretty much disintegrated.
I remember thinking I may have gotten in over my head. I mean, I’ve done a little here and there with cars in the past, and practically rebuilt entire motorcycles, but this was a whole new ball game.
But I figured the car wasn’t that expensive to begin with and it would have probably been destined to become a parts car or headed to the junkyard otherwise, so what did I have to lose? Maybe I can learn a new skill and it’s not the end of the world if I make a mistake or two, so I decided to press on.
To find a particular page, use the search feature or index page.