ksechler

Here is my repair of the driver side dogleg. I chose to eliminate the stock seam. It's my car so :-P

I think they came from zcarsource, but I can't find them now. There are lots of options. MSA has some too. They actually look better than the ones I used.

It didn't occur to me to do so. Hopefully that wasn't a mistake, but without any weight in the car things didn't seem to be moving and the fit up went ok.

Here is the driver side rocker repair....

...and more

Here's some photo's from the driver side floor replacement. It actually wasn't too bad:

The fiberglass was already starting to pull out. No choice but to redo it.

I forgot about this post. Wow! I've done a lot since then, and I need to update this. Maybe later tonight I'll start. Funny, I actually reworked a lot of stuff shown here. For example, the home fabbed rocker front section I cut off and replaced with the front of a formed rocker repair panel. The flares... didn't like how I had done them. Took them off and started over (still in progress). The pink bondo on the dogleg? Stripped it off and redid it (right this time). The seam sealer is Eastwood's brushable seam sealer. http://www.eastwood.com/ew-brush-on-seam-sealer-quart.html I'm a big fan of Eastwood. They have some real nice stuff. Here are a few favorites: Their body filler is awesome. Sands really nicely: http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-contour-premium-body-filler.html These are worth every penny! http://www.eastwood.com/quick-mix-board.html Use this for places you can't reach http://www.eastwood.com/internal-frame-coating-w-spray-nozzle.html

My hat's off to you if you can save that sending unit. Personally I'd start trolling ebay for a rebuilt or rebuildable replacement.

Mechanical issues aside I would be reluctant to idle the car in the garage even with the door open. Carbon monoxide....

Alright! All done. How's this?

Did the tank level sending unit work? Take care those can be expensive and hard(ish) to find.

Thanks Pat. You've pretty much described what I was thinking. I'll give it a shot and post pictures when I do. May be a while, though, because I'm working on the doors right now.

Cool! Good Luck.

All- Please disregard. I found what I needed: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/14377-fender-flares/

Is that a rotisserie under the car? Getting ready to put it up? Which bolt is frozen?

Can anyone offer advice on how to install ZG style flares. I don't favor the bolt on look, and since I will be painting the car I planned to blend them to the fender. I'm not sure how well that will work in the long run, though. I guess I'd rather go with the bolt on look than the cracked bondo look. Has anyone installed and successfully blended their flares, and can you make suggestions on how to do it right?

My thoughts exactly. You also have to wonder why it was parked in the first place.

No I didn't! I wish I had remembered that trick. Probably would've made things easier.

I MIG'd them closed today. I had already removed all the rust by blasting it yesterday. It was hard finding good metal. It kept blowing through which wasn't a surprise. I finally got it and the results are good enough for my purposes.

I'm stripping my rear hatch and have some rust issues to repair. There are a few holes that were under the window rubber. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to repair them. Cosmetics isn't too much of an issue since they're under the rubber. The options I batting around are: 1). Cut out the rust and weld in new metal. I'm a little concerned about my ability to effect a good repair since I'll have to fab the patch and the locations a little challenging. Also I will need to cut out enough metal that the repaired area won't all be under the rubber so I'll have to take care to blend everything and make it pretty. 2). Skip the patch and just try to build up metal with my MIG welder. This will probably be a little ugly and lead to a lot of grinding in places my 4 1/2 grinder doesn't fit to well. A dremel would fit but would take forever. The grinding problem probably applies to #1 too. 3). Fill the holes with fiberglass. This is probably the most half assed approach, but since the repair will never see the light of day is viable. Anybody had take make similar repairs? How did you do it?

I've been looking at that car myself. Not too far from where I live, but I think that ones pretty far gone too. The floor picture and passenger door tell the tale. It's hard to find a car around here without a lot of rust. I think Roanoke is about 4 hours from DC. FWIW. Steath, I'm pulling for you buddy, but be patient. The right car will come along.

Funny...Centralia, PA is the first thing I thought, too. Of course, no one lives there because of the mine fires...

Ditto. No complaints here either.

So now you're into it for another $85. I admire your enthusiasm. I still think you're making a HUGE mistake. Why are you so in love with that particular car? I know in your mind you are thinking; "Hey! I got it for $500. I'm gonna work real hard and have a z-car for cheap." You won't. The most likely scenario is that you will start and never finish because that car is too far gone. Life will get in the way, and next thing you know you're 35 and watching them load it on the wrecker headed for the salvage yard because your wife is sick of looking at a rusty old car in the yard. All your time and money will be wasted and you still wont have a z-car. The second scenario is that you employ your considerable drive and finish the car. No matter how dedicated you are, though, it's going to take money for repair panels, sheet metal, or whatever. You'll spend at least $2K. So you'll be into the car for $2,585 plus your time, but you have to paint it. If you do it yourself maybe $700 for paint and consumables. Now you're at $3,285. You see how this goes? $2,500 will get you a decent chassis. This will save you a lot of grief, give you a much better chance at succeeding in your dream to have a z-car, and also provide you a better end product. I have a long history of doing things the hard way so I speak from experience.