74 Thing Rebuild
Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 11:02 am
I bought this car back in 99 as my first car. It was rusty then. I made it worse 
Drove it around for 3 years then parked it at my parents house while uncle sam sent me to the far east. It was rusty enough before I parked it that I couldn't have passed a PA inspection so it was time for a rebuild. Started in on it but life has a way of interrupting things. Fast forward to now. I've got the whole thing tore down. New pan halves are welded to the tunnel and the whole thing is coated in por15. Buried in the back garage standing on the trans forks so no pics of it right now.
On to the rest of the body.
Here it is on the trailer it sat on while I was working on the pan. As you can see I have a hardtop. Unsure of its origin. The windshield frame is in really good condition on small spot of surface rusting but nothing cancerous. 4 good doors and decklid all with matching locks. Wiper motor works. Though it's missing the rod that makes the self park work. Here we've made a bar so we can lift the whole thing. Next up was a frame with some casters so now it's mobile. As you can see the rockers are garbage will need to chop them out and replace. Various rust holes in other spot but they are all on flat surfaces. Got to love rust patching bricks
Next up I've gutted the dash. The wiring harness was all dry rotted from its years in the New Mexico desert. So all the copper wiring was brittle and cracking. So time for a full harness replacement to accommodate some more modern functions like lighting relays. The Dash pads are still in great condition. No cracks in the surface and still pliable. The passenger grab bar is also still tight and undamaged.
More to come as we head through winter.
Drove it around for 3 years then parked it at my parents house while uncle sam sent me to the far east. It was rusty enough before I parked it that I couldn't have passed a PA inspection so it was time for a rebuild. Started in on it but life has a way of interrupting things. Fast forward to now. I've got the whole thing tore down. New pan halves are welded to the tunnel and the whole thing is coated in por15. Buried in the back garage standing on the trans forks so no pics of it right now.On to the rest of the body.
Here it is on the trailer it sat on while I was working on the pan. As you can see I have a hardtop. Unsure of its origin. The windshield frame is in really good condition on small spot of surface rusting but nothing cancerous. 4 good doors and decklid all with matching locks. Wiper motor works. Though it's missing the rod that makes the self park work. Here we've made a bar so we can lift the whole thing. Next up was a frame with some casters so now it's mobile. As you can see the rockers are garbage will need to chop them out and replace. Various rust holes in other spot but they are all on flat surfaces. Got to love rust patching bricks
Next up I've gutted the dash. The wiring harness was all dry rotted from its years in the New Mexico desert. So all the copper wiring was brittle and cracking. So time for a full harness replacement to accommodate some more modern functions like lighting relays. The Dash pads are still in great condition. No cracks in the surface and still pliable. The passenger grab bar is also still tight and undamaged.
More to come as we head through winter.