Right Rear Frame Rail Repair

The passenger side had some similar damage. This is after some cleaning to get down to the base metal:


After going in from the top and doing some more hammering and welding I got this section fixed up too:


I coated it with some corroseal when I was done, but no pictures of that.

Right Front Frame Rail Repair

Passenger side front was probably worse than any frame rail section (this is obviously not a good lift point):


Here's a pretty good summary of the process of repairing from the top :


After surface prep, bending, welding, and corroseal, it looks like a frame rail again (for the most part):


When I'm done up top I kind of do the same sort of process there:

Honestly, there's a lot going on right now that is much more important than FUBAR, so the project is moving slowly right now, but it's still going. Thanks again to everyone that keeps rooting me along, it's much appreciated

Left Front Frame Rail Repair

A few more update. I finished all the frame rail repair. The final section was the driver's side front. Like the other sections, it started out a little bent:


Once again I had to go in from the top:


After some hammering, surface prep, and welding, it was all re-shaped about as good as I can manage:


I sealed it up and called the underside good:

Up top, I kept up with the 'while you're in there theme' and sealed up the inside of the frame rails:


Then I finished up welding the sections I had to cut open to reshape the frame rails:

(as you can see from the holes I started by trying to hammer out the rails with a broad punch, quickly realizing that I needed to get in there completely)



As per usual, finished up by sealing things off:


I'm going to go back and seam seal the air gaps before I spray the car.

Underbody Restoration (part 3)

I finished a pretty big milestone this evening. The underbody is all finished up. Here's where I started:




Here's the intermediate wire wheel step:

After the cleanup was done, I primed everything with some Corroseal:




And finally, application of an underbody coating:




The next big step is painting, I'm really hoping to finish that up before the new year.

Paint (part 1)

I finally made it to the big milestone I've been working toward for the last 6 months. I started by removing all the windows to address a few rust spots underneath the front and rear windows. The front windshield was already out, as it was cracked and needed replacement to be SCCA compliant, so I pulled the spare from my parts car:



I then moved to the rear of FUBAR and removed the rear window as well as the side windscreens:


You can pretty clearly see the rust spots here back to front:

After getting all the windows out it was on to my favorite process of wire wheeling and application of corroseal:





The side windscreens had some goop that needed to be cleaned off. Luckily, there was no rust:

The next step was actual paint prep work. After lots of sanding I got the car looking ready for some primer:

Finally, I took the last step before I lay down some primer by building a paint booth in the garage with some spare lumber I had laying around. I was actually able to use pretty much every last length of 2x4 I had left, which was cool. It's hard to photograph the whole thing with my little camera phone, I still need to join all the plastic sections with some tape and run some plastic over the top, but you pretty much get the idea here:



Hopefully the next step will involve putting down some primer

I had to circle back and fix a few areas on the body that I wanted to be flat. Some people detest bondo for this purpose, but whatever, it works:

I also sealed up the welding I did in the cabin with some seam sealer:


And the true final step before putting down the primer was wiping down the body to remove "loose dust". This tar remover is pretty serious stuff, it ate through my latex gloves, and I had to switch to my chemical gloves to finish the job:

Paint (part 2)
It's been quite a road to get here, but I'm finally on to priming FUBAR. Here's the shell after 2 layers with some wet sanding in between applications:




I've actually already put on the topcoat, but I want to wait until I've fixed a few problem areas before post another update

I'l say it again I love this build one of my favorite espe silly the rust repair I've been welding some it' fun.

iugrad92turbo said:

I'l say it again I love this build one of my favorite espe silly the rust repair I've been welding some it' fun.

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Thanks so much, that means alot to me.

What've you been welding on? Maybe I can give you some pointers since I've definitely learned a few things not to do on this project.

Paint (part 3)

I have always liked the way the GVR4 Works cars looked, so I decided to go with white when I re-sprayed FUBAR. I found a single stage polymer paint from Summit that, it turns out, goes on quite well. Even though this is my first time spraying an entire car, I was able to achieve a pretty good finish after 2 coats and fiddling with settings on the HVLP spraygun. The painting process has been a valuable learning experience so, if I have time, I might write a how-to... we'll see. Anyway, here is what FUBAR looks like with a new coat of paint:

I was doing rocker work but my new she'l shouldn't need any welding I'll get it soon and post pics. Just fenders and doors. And a quarter panel fix up.

That would be nice a paint thread I've dome that too My next car will need a full repaint one day, now just get her some what together to enjoy.

iugrad92turbo said:

I was doing rocker work but my new she'l shouldn't need any welding I'll get it soon and post pics. Just fenders and doors. And a quarter panel fix up.

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Right on. So it sounds like if you've been doing rocker panel welding, maybe you already know this, but, on our cars the sheetmetal is super thin. I found, especially on the moonroof replacement, that heat control is vital to avoid warping. If I could go back and do that section again, I would have just done some tac welds then sealed up the joint with some sandable seam sealer... maybe some Bondo.

I was able to straighten that section up somewhat with an elaborate wooden jig and a torch for stress relieving the warped sections, but it's still not perfect and never will be. It's a shame because if I'd have just tacked it in, no one would have ever known the car had a moonroof to begin with. Oh well, hopefully others can learn from my folly.

Yeah the roof area is thin I was able to learn some but don' plan on getting that involved again so I got another body took much rust ,and for to fix after I got her home. I said nope. Plan is to restore her best can in really picky takes time im on 6 in 23 years this one is special.

iugrad92turbo said:

That would be nice a paint thread I've dome that too My next car will need a full repaint one day, now just get her some what together to enjoy.

Click to expand...

I was just looking through the tech article section and didn't see anything. I took lots of pictures in anticipation of sharing my critical learnings during the paint process. If I have some downtime over the holidays I'll go ahead and write one up. If I could summarize it right now, the secrets for me were 1) don't halfass it 2) don't be shy when laying down the paint 3) take some time to set up the gun correctly 4) use the same form everywhere... it really is a bit of an art

iugrad92turbo said:

Yeah the roof area is thin I was able to learn some but don' plan on getting that involved again so I got another body took much rust ,and for to fix after I got her home. I said nope. Plan is to restore her best can in really picky takes time im on 6 in 23 years this one is special.

Click to expand...

I can relate. After this project, I don't have much of an appetite for another big restoration. I appreciate what I've learned, but I think my time is better spent doing other things with my automotive passions.

Sound great man well I'm definitely followng your progress thanks for sharing.

intense restoration. Mostly everyone would have scrapped it from all the rust.