The '70 Vista Pro Tour Project

[ent72olds]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I will hopefully be pulling in my brother's '70 VC after the holidays for a body resto! We've done much under the hood already and once the nose comes off we'll continue. I'll be posting pics throughout and be looking for advice. I'll also give the story of the car coming soon. Stay tuned!

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[ent72olds]

Just to be fair and honest with everyone up front, I started this project over 4 yrs ago....it started as a resto, but as I discovered this site, the direction of the project started to take a different direction...........:idea: It is a pretty extensive thread, and I am trying as I can to get it caught up to the present! I will add when I can...:)

[ent72olds]

:woot:Finally got car inside this past weekend for disassembly. Started removing trim. Will start posting pics this week! Car was found locally on e-bay. Original owner's daughter was selling it. Since he passed about 10yrs ago, they continued to insure and inspect it every year. They would take it to his grave on the anny of his death every year. That's the only time it was moved other than to and from the service station yearly. She finally decided it was too much $ to keep the car. 119,000 mi. protectoplate, most of original paperwork etc. All there, even the optional hood lock!

[ent72olds]

OK...My bro and I started on his '70 VC project and I must say, so far we are pleasantly surprised! Removed all the fixed window glass and found virtually no rust. All trim came off without incident...well ...almost. There were 2 clips left on the top of the windshield moulding and I asked my brother if he wanted to give it a shot. The first was no problem. The second was accompanied by a high pitched sound. He didn't realize but I said instntly, "you just cracked it!" Sure enough...hence my other post about the windshields being interchangeable. He wasn't too upset. He kind of wanted a new glass anyway! I'll have a pro remove the glass this weekend. May not remove the skylights. Channels look super clean, and I rather not risk it if I don't have to. The rear qtr glasses will have to come out for sure due to some rust. Took some pics of the action so far on the right side of the car. Car has add-on air-condition in the rear wheel area. Dogleg is gone. I found patch panels from opgi. Don't look great, but we'll make do. Floor board on pass side is spotless. Amazing for a northeast, island car! Also posted some pics of motor after de-grease(car did not run when purchased) then after I "spruced it up". Runs like swiss time! Stay tuned!!!

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[ent72olds]

7329473295732967329773298Here are more photos!

Bear with me as I'm having technical difficulties with the size of the photos...these are all located in another computer, and I'm trying to get them off the other site I'm at......

[oldsmobeast72]

Sweet, gotta love a pt wagon . Ill be following this

[ent72olds]

Thanks...don't know how I was able to post the first 2 pics, then all the others came out tiny! I will have to find the thumb drive where all the pics are located so I can post these properly. The body is ready to be put back on the chassis, and motor should be back within the next few weeks! I will try to catch this thing up this weekend......this thread is pretty worthless without pics....:spank2:

[ent72olds]

Pulled the rear side glass and windshield out but after removing all the trim, elected to leave the tinted vista glass in! It looked very good around the roof glass and we felt it wasn't worth risking. The side glass revealed some damage though! Not very surprising. After stripping and blasting the rough areas, the holes revealed themselves. I figured I wasn't going to get away without a little welding in these areas! I posted some photos of the swiss cheese. We were very happy to find the cowl area (base of windshield) and windshield pinchweld almost pristine Got lucky I guess! Next will be the welding of the holes, and stripping of the roof...I will post more soon! To be continued...
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[ent72olds]

Pics of the cowl and windshield pinch!.....https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

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[ent72olds]

Well, we've been working when we get the time and I'm happy to say that the roof and window channels (except vista glass) are stripped, holes patched and welded and bodywork done. We decided the factory leaded seams (and there are a lot on this roof) were pretty nasty. They were wavy and it looked like they were finished in 36 grit before being painted. So we went ahead and smoothed them all out. The back of the roof above the tailgate was also very wavy so we took care of that! Also fixed a couple of dents in roof. We'll get it in primer this weekend then we will work on straightening the rear bumper before we remove it and send out for re-chrome. Tailgate will also come off next and be stripped. I bought a couple of dogleg and wheelwell sections from DVAP that I'm waiting on to replace the rotted ones on the car now...until next time!!!
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[ent72olds]

A couple more pics...as you can see, I started this thing by doing all bodywork first, before moving to chassis and running gear...
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[ent72olds]

Well, we finally got the roof masked and into primer and surfacer today.https://www.pro-touring.com/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif Next on the hit list will be the tailgate! Here are today's progress pics!

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[ent72olds]

We disassembled the tailgate and pulled it off the car this weekend. Word of advice, take plenty of pics and notes. The dual action is a pretty intense set up, especially the swing-out hinge spring on the left side. Overall, very good shape w/only minor welding needed! Sand blasted the inside shell on the bottom to be sure. Stripped the woodgrain off with heatgun and razor blade. Here are some pics.

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[ent72olds]

We stripped the outside of the taigate and did find a few dents under the woodgrain and the bottom edge was very wavy from the factory so I filed the bottom edge where it will only need a tight wipe of filler and picked and filed the dents with the help of my uni-spotter to get them very close. Only thing left is a tight wipe and some primer and surfacer. We also "unearthed" a pretty big rot hole in the bottom of the rt rear qtr behind the bumper and under the taillight. Will tend to that next

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[ent72olds]

Got the plastic work done and got the tailgate into primer last night. Disassembled rt rear door. Will be stripping and repairing that this weekend. I figure 1 panel a week...of course the qtrs will take longer being they need much more work. Still waiting for the sections to come in for those. As most of you know, when you only get a couple hours here and there during the week and trying to juggle the project with the family on weekends it can be difficult!

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[ent72olds]

Sandblasted some areas on the inside of the rear door this weekend and it was surprisingly solid...not even worthy of any pics! The outside of the door was a different matter. Had several nasty dents and the skin was stretched due to some of the dents. Spent quite a bit of time with the unispotter, file, hammer and grinder. Got it pretty close for some thin plastic and thin coat of poly. Primed and completed. Just got home about 1.5 hours ago. I owe my wife big for Valentine's...maybe even chocolates! Here are the latest pics of progress!

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[ent72olds]

Check out the smoke from the duals!
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[ent72olds]

We scored a sweet console and shifter (don't get mad anyone...) for free today out of a '77 Buick Regal. I get some pics this week of it. Think it would look pretty trick in the VC with a set of original buckets. We can probably get the tilt out of the same car also. I'm pretty sure it would work in a '70 Vista

[ent72olds]

Started the rt ft door this weekend. Disassembled and removed it. Stripped it and found not many dents, but some rot inside and out. I decided the rot on the outside just needed to be plug welded as well as some holes on the inside corner. But the front inside corner of the door was like swiss cheese...had no choice but to cut out and make a patch. Here's the end result...
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[ent72olds]

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[ent72olds]

My brother and I got started today at about 4:30pm due to the fact we had to build a 20' handicapp ramp for my wife's aunt. We made good progress all things considered...here is the rot repair at the to rear corners behind the rear bumper!
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[ent72olds]

My brother pretty much got the center post and rocker stripped also...check out the bottom of the fender

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[ent72olds]

Still on schedule, I finished the bodywork on the front door, and got it into primer. Now I just have to finish the inside shell and rt side jambs and prime those by the end of the week...might be a couple more late nights. On a positive note, DVAP finally called me today (only has been a month and $750) and said they finally cut my doglegs, wheelwells, and wheeltubs. If the finally keep a promise, I should have them in another week or so. I was starting to lose faith in them. They aren't off the hook yet...

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[ent72olds]

Put in a very late night tonight just to stay on schedule. Finished up at 1:15 am(and like an idiot I'm posting now at 2:40 am instead of sleeping...just too wired right now!). Finished prepping up right side jambs, tailgate jamb and inside of rt frt dr shell from the weekend. Masked everything up and primed! Will clean shop on Sat. and disassemble and remove 2 left doors. Also hang 2 rt doors just to get them out of way...here's tonight's pics!

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[ent72olds]

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[ent72olds]

Well, my bro and I decided that we needed to clean up the shop this weekend and we also decided we needed a day off from this...so we took Sunday off! After cleaning shop, we tapped the threads in the doors we finished up the previous week and to get them out of the way, we hung them on the car! After that we disassembled the 2 left doors and removed them. Wire wheeled the bottoms, and then sandblasted the bottoms. Overall, not bad. will need a patch on one door. and some small plug welds. We didn't touch the outside of the doors yet. Once I finish the inside shells, I'll move to the outsides. We'll also do the post and rocker at the same time. I figure a week and a half to have all of this done...here are the latest pics! I also had to make a patch for the inside of the drip rail.

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[car_designer]

Erik, this build looks familiar, almost like I've seen it somewhere else before... ;)

I'll be watching for more updates.

[SRD art]

Coming along nicely! Love wagons but the roof windows make these ultra cool! Keep it coming!

[ent72olds]

:twothumbs:twothumbs:twothumbsHa, I new you were over here...you found me! I thought your Cutlass was blue?

[ent72olds]

Thanks Ben! Ben lurking by you for a couple years.....I might be talking to you about some renderings on this thing....hope GA is treating you well!

[SRD art]

Man I would love to do a rendering of this thing! Let me know when you'd like to get started.

GA's been fun but I'm actually moving back west in a couple weeks. Here we go again... ;)

[car_designer]

Is my new sig pic better? :)

[ent72olds]

Man I would love to do a rendering of this thing! Let me know when you'd like to get started.

GA's been fun but I'm actually moving back west in a couple weeks. Here we go again... ;)

Aw man.....sorry to hear that! Hope everything is OK! You could always move here to Long Island! I could probably get you a job pretty quickly! Only thing is, you'd have to give your left leg to afford to live here! Yes, you will be doing my rendering....I went to your web page a while back. I will be in touch soon. Let me know when it will be convenient with the move and all....

[ent72olds]

Is my new sig pic better? :)

I checked in first on Sparky's Sabre and saw that right away! I had to laugh.....that car is super sharp! Much better....

[ent72olds]

After stripping the 2 l/side drs on Wed nite, we put some welding time in last nite! Finally welded up the driprail, plug welded some holes inside and outside on the doors and began making a patch on the front door! Looks a lot like the other front door...same rot! Overall, not bad though. I hope to sneak over to the shop before she finds out today and weld in the patch I made so I can do plastic and primer tomorrow! Shoul have the 2 doors and the rocker and centerpost done by the end of the weekend! Getting ready to send out the chrome, hope I get it back in time...car has to make it to 7 Springs in July!

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[ent72olds]

Here's the inside door patch...I'll post final pic when it's final!!!!
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[ent72olds]

OK...mission accomplished! My brother and I put in some hours this weekend...goal of this week was to get the centerpost and rocker on the left side stripped and in primer, and to strip, sandblast any rust, weld, do bodywork and primer the left side doors inside and out. We usually do one panel a week but we pushed it a little this week and did two panels. I also left time to do some interior construction around the house...if there was a smiley face symbol for exhausted I would insert here...oh, and I also shoveled 16" of snow with 2' drifts all around my house this morning....but enough about me! Here are the latest pics! https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif
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[ent72olds]

The outsides of the doors were in pretty good shape! one corner had some holes and needed some welding, but the worst part about them, again, I know Mr. Bluevista can back me on this, is the bottoms of the doors are very wavy from the factory. So I did some filing to help eliminate the highs before doing one coat of plastic!

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[ent72olds]

I let my brother do things like stipping the jambs and such. He says he's getting an appreciation for all the hard work and time that actually goes into doing something like this! He kind of had an idea from watching me over the years, but until you spend every minute doing it, you can almost understand why a good job is 80% labor. Labor ain't cheap!!! He used wire wheels to do much of the paint removal in the jambs...works fast and right down to clean metal!

Next we'll be taking off the hood and doing that and also the rear load floor panels and such while we wait on fender bottoms and rear wheelwell sections! Hopefully soon

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[SRD art]

Looking good Erik! I look forward to getting to the body work on my wagon. You're both an inspiration in seeing your progress, and an evil reminder of what I'm going to have to be doing. ;) Lol!

I'll start packing next week and take off as soon as I can. I'll probably take 3-4 weeks off from drawing to get settled and then ramp it up again. I'll let you know when I get to that point. In the mean time I'll keep watching your progress.

[ent72olds]

Last night we decided to do some shop cleaning before the weekend! I then tapped clean threads in the two left side doors and we hung them on the car to get them out of the way...we then took the rear load floor panels out and rear seats out as all these will need recovering, and repainting! Tomorrow we will remove the hood and degrease the underside first before I start work on the outside of it....

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[ent72olds]

Sounds good Ben! Have a safe trip back home!

[ent72olds]

Man, you don't really take into account when you're doing a project like this, how much work can go into the interior! Obviously, Rob knows, but, I didn't initially plan on doing anything more than having somebody else recover the seats, and just putting in a new carpet...but what about the rear load floor in these beasts? They weren't treated kindly over 39 yrs. And then we have to do all the plastic covers that are all faded and worn! Let's get started then.......we stripped the metal panels, seat backs and rear floor hatch. Alot of work.. Some of the panels are double sided. A lot of hand sanding...we then cleaned and checked for various dents and repaired those. Then hung everything, etched, and primed. We will sand everything with 600wet tomorrow night and paint all the pieces back to their original beautiful brown glory! Then put away for safe keeping. I will use dupont vinyl on these and also use the same paint on all the properly prepped interior plastic pieces. I will probably do that soon just to get that over with so if anyone is interested (Rob), I'll make sure I take plenty of pics and explain thoroughly! Dupont vinyl is very easy to use, and once the right gloss level is chosen, is ready to spray right out of the can!

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[ent72olds]

This stuff worked pretty well to remove the glue left behind after pulling off the vinyl "mats" attached to the load floor!
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[ent72olds]

Woodgrain samples I got were terrible! Going to look at a couple other options before the idea of custom paintingit with airbrush. Didn't want that "custom" look but if it is the only way then we'will make it wicked.
Anyway, inside rear load floor now painted.color was probably on a scale of 1-10, a 8! We were very happy. Gloss was perfect. Dupont vinyl was so easy, a baby could spray it!

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[ent72olds]

These actually look better in person. I couldn't get a good enough pic!

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[ent72olds]

I knew we had a couple more pieces to spray on the interior, so I went upstairs to dig them out! It's only been 2 mos. since we took this thing apart...couldn't be that many more....! I forgot how many pieces were on the interior of this car, metal and plastic! Here are a couple tables full....like a smorgasbord! One has metal pieces, one has plastic! All You Can Eat!!! I guess we'll get these done next while were in this mode. I'll have to get at least another half gallon on paint as thats how much I used on the floor pieces.
We also sandblasted and started stripping the inside of the hood as that will be the next major panel done! Also received the fender bottoms today from 2blu442(John), thank you sir, pleasure, I'll let you know if I need anything else!

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[ent72olds]

OK...After plenty of sanding, plastic -prepping, cleaning, hanging, etc. we finally got all the interior pieces painted! Praise be to God! As usual, I used DuPont Vinyl paint. The same paint works on the metal and plastic. The difference is in the prep work and primers user on the two different substrates. If anyone is interested in procedures, I could explain in detail here or in the paint section, if anyone asks! Here are pics! We also stripped the inside of the hood this past weekend. That will be in primer and surfacer by the weekend. I hope to have the hood (outside) stripped and repaired by the end of the weekend! Then I will be spraying the entire thing in Sprayable Polyester. Needs to be pin straight. It has over 35 dents and dings in it!

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[ent72olds]

If you looked at the previous set of pics, you could see how discolored the armrests and other pieces were. Totally fugly! I used medium vinyl gloss which looked like a perfect sheen for interior pieces, plastic and metal.

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[ent72olds]

I used Dupont 2320s plastic cleaner after washing the plastic parts thoroughly with soap and hot water. I used a grey scotch brite pad with the 2320s and cleaned the pieces very well. This is the most important step. I used the Spies Hecker 3304 plastic primer(adhesion promoter) before paint! I'm kind of partial to Spies Hecker. The pics look much better when the sun came out!

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[Zanie]

Cool!
Love the Hot Rod Wagons!
My buddy has had his Hot Rod Vista Cruiser since high school!
73398
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[ent72olds]

Now, 11.20.....in a 2 ton wagon....that's cool!

[ent72olds]

Got working on the hood! Loaded with dings and dents! Did some stud welding picking and filing, took 2 nights to get most of it out! This weekend I will strip the outside(chemical so as not to warp it), and give it a light coat of plastic. After that I will spray poly it! As far as the underside, we found a stress crack near the hole where the latch locks in and that made the hood flimsy in that spot. I drilled a 1/8" hole on each end of the crack, then with a dremmel, v'd the crack out. I then welded it. Good as new! Some minor dings and pits were taken care of with polyester, before primer and surfacer! Here are the latest pics!

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[ent72olds]

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[ent72olds]

It was a slow week! We did not put in any time at all this week. Last weekend, we picked up our qtr sections, kindly sent to us by jensenracing77(Thanks Eric!), and started to look deeper into the rear of the car, the cargo stowage floor under the hidden door area, and what we thought was minor, was pretty major. Swiss cheese! OPGI sells a repro, out of stock, 6 weeks!..........looks like the Nats may be missing this Vista Cruiser! Reality is starting to set in.
But, we will soldier on!........extensive bodywork on the hood just about done! My back is broken after working last night and today bending over that hood! If the wife allows, I will try to get some time on it tomorrow! The last pic is Spies Hecker Sprayable Polyester 3508...I will block that with 180 dry before applying surfacer!

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[ent72olds]

After about 5 hours of careful block sanding the polyester, I was able to get the hood in surfacer and I'm very pleased with the results! From what this hood was, to what it is now...straight as an arrow! I was expecting to see a little something, but no. After blocking of the surfacer it will be very exciting to see paint on it! Here are three pics...spray poly blocked, etch, surfacer! One night this week we'll wet sand the inside of the hood, and on Sat. we'll paint it Spies Hecker 1004 Rallye Matte Black.

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[ent72olds]

OK, today we finally got the hood finished until we are ready for final paint! We are very pleased with the final result on the inside of the hood. We wet sanded it and dried and prepped it. Masked it and put two coats of Spies Hecker 1004 Rallye Matte Black. S/S urethane that dries to the perfect matte black finish that was original when car was new. It matches almost 100% to OEM. Now we will put the hood away for safe keeping and the next order of business will be sectioning in the wheel wells with the good used pieces jensenracing77 sent me! This is where it gets real fun! Stay tuned.......

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[ent72olds]

We finally got working on the car again today after pretty much doing nothing for 2 weeks! And today wasn't too productive as I woke up this morning with a wicked migraine (I missed my meds yesterday, and look what happens!) We began work on the rotten right qtr panel. My brother worked on cleaning and wire wheeling the donor section while I worked on cutting out the rust. By the time I was done, I started puking up a storm and I could not function anymore....then, on the way home...my '72 decided she wanted to go to sleep on the side of the parkway!...although they call them parkways, they are meant for driving!!! Luckily, my bro was behind me. He ran back to the shop and grabbed the battery out of the vista as we could not jump this one for anything! Started up with the vista battery. Weird thing was, I went to gun it to merge on and the car just shut off like somebody pulled the plug??? Another problem I need to figure out and I am trying to sell this car!! Maybe she's trying to tell me something! Anyway, here is what little I did get done today!!!

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[ent72olds]

Now I have to try and patch this all up!!!!!

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[ent72olds]

Started trimming up the donor wheel well and wheel house tonight! Not for the faint of heart! Had to drill out about a hundred spot welds, but with some patience, got what I was looking to achieve! Next I will trim this patch panel to fit exact, and also be cutting out a radius of the donor outer wheel house that will be cleaned up and trimmed to fit exact and welded in. Here's what I have so far...

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[ent72olds]

Nothing like factory sheetmetal!

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[ent72olds]

A little more trimming and it will fit like a glove!

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[ent72olds]

Cut out the outer wheel house section last night and got it fitted and trimmed. It took a lot of test fitting not only the wheel house, but the qtr/wheel opening patch also just to make sure all lines and gaps lined up properly to the rear door. I spent a couple of hours doing this before I was happy and did my final trimming. My bro also media blasted both pieces in and out so we have fresh metal to work with. I hope to weld in the wheel house on Sunday.

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[ent72olds]

I trimmed the donor piece bigger so I have room for error! I would fit it, put a couple of spot welds, fit the outer panel, check lines and gaps, then trace with a sharpie, the outline of the existing wheel house on the inside of the donor. I also traced the donor onto the existing just to show the amount I had to trim (for pics!). Then I would remove the donor panel and trim it. Then repeat the process until I was satisfied.

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[ent72olds]

By the end of the night we were happy with our progress. This weekend we will weld this in, then work on the patches on the inside of the spare tire well. After that, I will finish the outer panel...

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[ent72olds]

I had to take the wheel house off one last time today to weld up all the holes created by cutting out the spot welds to separate the outer wheel house from the qtr on the donor! Before I did, I drew a couple of triangles here and there so I would have exact reference points for the last time! I didn't do it earlier because I like to do all my welding at the same time.......don't ask me why! I guess when I get in one gear, I like to stay in it!
Anyway, after doing that, I did get the outer welded on. Worked out excellent! Ground it down, and am now ready to move on to a couple of patches inside the spare tire well.

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[ent72olds]

I butt welded the two together from the outside. It was just easier. I provided a couple of pics of what the inside looked like after the welding. My brother will clean these up during the week. I'll do a quick skim of polyester to clean it up, once primed and painted(possibly re-undercoated) you'll be able to reach in with your hand and slide your fingers inside the wheel opening and you'll never know there was a repair!

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[ent72olds]

I figured I'd finish up anything on the inside before I weld on the outer panel. So we got the ole' wire wheel working again and what do you know! More swiss! Oh well, better to discover now than after it's finished...so I made up a bunch of patches. Hopefully weld these in tomorrow!

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[ent72olds]

Started welding in some of the patches today! About three more to go and I can finally finish up the outer panel....

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[ent72olds]

The more I weld, the less daylight I see....

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[ent72olds]

Took a little break from the project. Welding was making me crazy! But when I went back, it still had to be done. So here we go...
When I last left off, I needed a couple more patches on the inside of the spare tire well, as well as plug welding a bunch of "new" holes that cropped up!

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[ent72olds]

The more I weld, the less daylight comes through!

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[ent72olds]

After all of that, I decided to torture myself one last time, and pull back the support for the spare tire. The bottom was like everything else....rotten! So I cut the bad off and welded on a new base, but first I sand blasted behind and under it while I had access. You win again! More daylight! If I didn't take care of this area, it would be like taking a shower, and not washing your@#$%....so it was the right thing to do. We will all sleep better tonight!

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[ent72olds]

I feel much better now!

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[ent72olds]

Yes, I know...all that work, and it gets buried by a spare and a cover! Well, I'm not done yet, it still needs a light coat of plastic, primer, and paint....

We now move to the outer panel! Horray for me. I feel like Michael Vick. I just got released, but still have that bracelet on my ankle!
After several test fits, I marked and trimmed the patch panel. I then made a patch for the patch panel...

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[ent72olds]

After much more welding, I patched the patch panel. Put it in its final resting place, and spot welded it in (I'm butting the panels of course!). I will finish welding it up sometime this week! Then, a lot of grinding! Also, wear sunglasses when looking at these pics, I loaded all the hard to reach, never to be seen again places with corrosion protecting/weld through/ etch primer before install.....

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[ent72olds]

Only daylight left is the seam to be welded!

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[ent72olds]

I know this is beginning to seem like a repetetive thread, but I'm just trying to demonstrate, how much work goes into a job like this to do it correctly....I don't mean to bore anybody, but here we go....
I did not work on the car during the week or the weekend as I was busy around the house and my wife had to go out of town for a couple of days and I was left behind with my 2 girls. Some things are much more important!
Tonight I welded up the outside panel, inside the dogleg, started doing some grinding, and redrilled the holes for the molding. It took me about three hours to weld it up because I could only do a spot at a time and jump here and there, also giving plenty of cool down time in between, so as to minimize warpage. Came out pretty good! Here are some progress pics...

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[ent72olds]

Here are a couple of inside pics....I covered the flash on the second pic to show where the light is coming through. I still need to weld under the spare tire well(you can see the seam) and spot weld around the wheel well(under the wheel opening molding). I did not feel like welding upside down tonight! The holes you see are the ones I drilled for the molding!

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[ent72olds]

At least on this panel....I haven't been putting in too much time in the last few weeks. Trying to get MY VISTA roadworthy enough to make it to the Nats...anyway, all the grinding is now finished and I picked and filed a few other dents on this panel. This is the first panel we've run across on this car with any old bodywork in it! Pretty amazing....small amount at the top of the qtr. There was a major crease at the lower back of the panel that was "hidden" by the woodgrain. Fixed it up and put a foundation coat of fiberglass filler over the welds for a good base. I will now proceed with plastic and poly. I'll get the outer panel primed before moving in to do the inside area and the wheelwell. Here's where we are at!

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[SRD art]

Nice work! I commend you, sheet metal work is my least favorite thing to do next to sanding. ;) I'd rather build roll cages all day than have to replace sheet metal, lol!

[bonecrrusher]

I like the wagon updates - is there any way you can shrink the size of your sig?

The Tbird - while looking nice is almost bigger the update pics you are posting.

[ent72olds]

Thanks Ben! Bonecrrusher...LOL, I hear you with the sig pic....I am very embarrassed, but I tried everything, even deleting it. The site won't let me. I did it!!!

[ent72olds]

Bodywork on the qtr is pretty much complete! 1 coat glass, 2 passes with plastic, and I will do a thin coat of poly. Came out pretty nice with little effort on plastic work. Warppage was minimal thankfully. Now I'll do the bottom of the spare well, a little on the inside wheel houses, and inside where the spare is stored. I want this to be as undetectable as possible! Here are the latest pics....

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[ent72olds]

Finally! Right qtr is primed and it looks pretty flawless if I do say so myself! This was the most difficult panel on the car with all the welding etc, the other should take half as long! All that's left to do here is some light bodywork on the inside spare tire area so as to make it look "unrepaired", and to strip the wheel well, and do some light bodywork in there. I won't be touching this car again until after the Nats as I'm getting my Vista ready for the long drive....see ya'll there!

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[ent72olds]

More pics!

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[ent72olds]

It's been about 3 weeks since I last touched this car so time to get moving again. My bro cleaned up the inside of the qtr where the spare goes. Now I just need to do some bodywork to clean it up........

Also started on the left qtr! Trimmed out the patches from the used sections I got. Separated the inner and outer, and now will wire wheel pieces then blast in cabinet. Then the fun begins AGAIN! Of course, before I dig in I will remove the gas tank for safety!

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[ent72olds]

Nice to see everyone again! I see there are quite a few projects going on here now since I last reported and it's good to see everyone is excited about their oldsmobiles! Some really cool builds going on here, and even some other "Vistas" in the family!
Well, I took the summer off pretty much and am now ready to start making the push towards Sturbridge!
I finally finished up the inside of the spare tire well and cut out the storage compartment tub. Found a high quality replacement through OPGI. I also started mapping out my cuts on the left qtr panel! I removed the gas tank and rigged up a gas can to move the car around! Here is where I'm at!

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[ent72olds]

Got the heat working again....been cold here in the Northeast! First day really working on the car since the summer! Now I'm in for the duration until this thing is finished! Or at least roadworthy...I'm setting a goal again of getting this car to the Nationals in Sturbridge! I hope I don't disappoint again.......

Started working on the left qtr today! Very rotten Trimmed off bad stuff and after some fitting , trimming , more fitting and trimming, this is what I came up with today...

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[ent72olds]

Thank the Lord for factory original replacement panels(and thank you Eric "jensenracing" Jensen for the help!

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[ent72olds]

Of course the replacement panels are much better than the swiss cheese that came on the car, but also needed some work to be perfect! Here I cut some rot out and made a patch, then welded up all the holes that I made when drilling out the factory spotwelds. Next will be permanently welding in this inner wheel well lip!

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[Motown 454]

Its looking good nice work.

[ent72olds]

Its looking good nice work.

Thanks Wayne!

[Dave B]

Looks awesome!! Glad you got your signature fixed, I had to upgrade my Internet, since it was so big. :D

[ent72olds]

Looks awesome!! Glad you got your signature fixed, I had to upgrade my Internet, since it was so big. :D

Thanks, LOL!

[ent72olds]

Got back to welding today...got the lip of the outer wheelhouse in! Also finished a patch on inside wheelhouse.

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[ent72olds]

Will grind everything smooth tomorrow....then I'll start working on outer panel!

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[ent72olds]

Doesn't look like much, but I got the inside all ground down and did quick a grinding on the outside! Once the outside panel is put on, it becomes invisible anyway! The last pic is from inside the wheelwell....reach your fingers in and can't even feel a seam!

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[ent72olds]

Well, it was time to trim the outer wheelwell, so I had to figure out how to do this? I notched it in the corner near the dogleg, and slid it up under the qtr! Now I would be able to trace the exact cut onto the replacement panel, therefore, making a nice seam for butt welding.....I then used my airsaw to cut it!

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[ent72olds]

After trimming, it fit up very nice! So I applied weld thru/corrosion resistant primer very heavily......

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[ent72olds]

Well, as you can see, the whole bottom inner and outer of the qtr is still missing! Before I could do the inner, I needed to solve the outer! I took some measurements from the other side and clamped on the NOS wheel opening molding for guidance! I then needed to transfer the cut line on the qtr to the patch panel! I couldn't just sneak the panel behind as I did before because the inner qtr wouldn't allow me access. So my bro and I came up with the idea of making a paper transfer. We traced the cut of the patch panel onto the paper, then cut with scissors.....we taped it to the qtr, then let it hang past the cut on the qtr. We used a pen to crease the paper over the cut on the qtr. Do not try to use your finger if you ever feel the need to do this at home! Very sharp!!! We then removed the paper, and cut along the crease with scissors.....transferred the template we just made back to the patch panel, taped it tight, and used a "sharpie" to "color in " the cut line we last made....

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[ent72olds]

...then removed the paper and revealed the "cut line" that is also on the qtr! To highlight and to give me a cutting guide, I applied tape along the line!

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[ent72olds]

.....then cut with the air saw.....perfect seam every time! This will also be butt welded.....now it's starting to look like a qtr again!

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[ent72olds]

Today, I need to figure how to do the corners where the outer qtr meets the inner qtr. I started by welding together the outer wheel well and bottom of qtr. Then once clamped back on the car, carefully trimmed the rear part of the patch to make it useable. I made a flanged piece with the correct curve by shaping it on the other qtr, therefore making it symetrical. Clamped it up and spot welded and shaped with a hammer, the end until it started folding like an envelope. Works well when the metal is hot! Welded up the seam and had that complete....

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[ent72olds]

...I then need to make the front corner of the inner wheel house so did that. In one pic, you can see the lower qtr I cut out of there. Had been "patched" over before, although not too well! Next step is the inner panel itself, then I can start to button this qtr up...

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[SparkyRnD]

nice looking build, and I love to see the vista coming along (sucks for all the metal work though)

[ent72olds]

Thanks Sparky!

[ent72olds]

Went back to work on the inner qtr today! Made up a cardboard template of the lower panel I needed to fab up....had no real idea as to what it should look like so I guessed! There wasn't much left of the original. I got it welded in and now need to grind and clean up seam! This is up behind the gas tank, so it won't be noticed unless it gets pulled out Allan....don't worry, I'll still make it "presentable"!......

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[ent72olds]

After welding in the panel, I clamped up the "outer panel" to make sure everything was still where it needed to be! I flanged the bottom of the inner panel, and will trim the flange on the outer panel to mate the two. I'll spot weld along the flange to hopefully replicate a factory look!

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[ent72olds]

OK....Got the inner lower qtr all welded in and ground down! Protected the metal with primer, and installed outer panel for the final time! Got it all spot welded permanently.....now this weekend I need to concentrate on completely welding and grinding it all down. I know some of these pics seem repetitive, but I'm just trying to demonstrate how much work goes into this kind of job. The shows on SPEED and SPIKE, and the mags make it seem 1-2-3! Trust me, that's Hollywood!

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[ent72olds]

The inside of the lower qtr...ground down....

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[ent72olds]

I didn't get quite as far as I wanted this weekend, but getting close! I managed to weld up and grind the dogleg, and do all the spotwelds around the wheelwell lip and on the lower pinchweld/flange. Also got that ground down. Then realized that a couple of brackets that hold on the stoneguard for the gas tank were MIA, so I made a couple of those and welded them in! The guard fit like a glove. No more sheetmetal screws to hold it in, screwed into the inner panels. Back to the way it was when born. I installed it to see how it fit and "got lucky", as I rebuilt the inner and outer lower qtr, without checking fitament of this as I was going along.....here are pics showing how it fit!

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[ent72olds]

I did manage to also get the lower part of the qtr welded and ground. Just the radius of the wheelwell left, then I can move on to stripping the rest of the panel and do bodywork. Here are a couple of pics showing how the flange turned out....

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[csouth]

Excellent work Erik! To bad no one thinks Olds are worth enough to repop some thing like wheel arches and stuff because I think one of mine has a small issue. Definitely following this thread...

[ent72olds]

Thanks Chris! Let me know if you need the arch, I can hook you up with someone with good dry used sheetmetal....

[ent72olds]

Was out of town last weekend, so I didn't get to work on this much, and am leaving town again tomorrow morning, so I did what I could today! My brother stripped the qtr. During that process, we discovered more rot(surprising) under the gas door! Proceeded to weld that up, then circled all the dents that needed pick and filing, did that, and finally, I'm ready for bodywork!

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[ent72olds]

While my bro stripprd the qtr, I did some bdywk on the inner wheelwell around the seam on the right side....that is now ready for primer!

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[ent72olds]

Yes it's true....the qtr is done! Been traveling a lot, a little sick and some family obligations have slowed the project down....back on track now!
Finished the bodywork today, and got it primed.....was more work than expected, as the thing was riddled with dents and dings. The first pic is the fiberglass over the weld, had to do 2 passes with plastic and 1 with polyester. Overall, I'm very satisfied with finished product.....

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[ent72olds]

I also finally primed up the rt wheelwell......next stop will be the rear tub....

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[ent72olds]

Working on the rear cargo pan....started by having my bro prep the flange for welding, then I cut out and filed the plugs in the new pan....this was also the optimum time to wire wheel everything we could get to with the pan out! Inside frame rails etc....also coated those with POR-15...as you will see later, that was all a waste of time, as the project took a sharp turn later on down the line.....Did some test fitting, and it fit well on three sides! The front of the pan wasn't close as evidenced by the pics! About 1 inch short....I will have to make pie cuts in the corners, and carefully bend the pan to reach the crossmember that the seatbelts for the third seat bolt to! Also coated everything with weld through/corrosion protection primer as it was much easier with the pan out of the car.....

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[ent72olds]

As you can also see, I "discovered" some more rot! It went through both panels, so I did the usual ritual of making up some patches and welding and grinding....., sorry, those pics are in next set of photos!

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[ent72olds]

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[ent72olds]

More pics!

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[ent72olds]

Took some doing, but I did finally get the rear pan welded in. I had to make a couple of pie cuts in the corners to make it work, then made some triangle patches to clean it up! Tomorrow will be the fun part....grinding....

I also made up the two brackets that the cardboard partition screws to as the originals were rough!

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[ent72olds]

I did continue working this weekend, and got a bit done....first, I completed all the bodywork inside the new rear pan, and got that masked and primed! Then I went ahead, and repaired and primed the rear gate inner panel....came out nice.....

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[moreHP]

Very cool project! Always nice to see another Olds guy building something!

[SRD art]

Somebody's going to have one big sigh of relief when all the sheet metal work is done! Keep 'er goin'!

[ent72olds]

Very cool project! Always nice to see another Olds guy building something!

Thanks Bob! Seems this site is taking on an Oldsmobile-Volvo theme....

[ent72olds]

You got that right Ben....are you close to moving yet?

[ent72olds]

To do the inner gate panel, there was no way to save what was there, as it was rotted pretty good! I cut the bad off, used it as a template on a sheet of 18 gauge steel, cut that out, flanged the remaining good part and spot welded it together.....

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[ent72olds]

...and the finished product! I also primed this and it will be painted to match everything else! The seam will become invisible once the new carpet is installed over it!

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[ent72olds]

OK....got the rear portion of the car sanded, seam sealed, and painted....finally! Now I can move on to the front of the car.....

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[ent72olds]

I matched the seam seal as best as possible...it would have been much easier, had the factory not put it on so messy!!! You can see it in some of the pics...was white before it was painted.......

Next project, pulling engine and trans, sending those out for rebuilds, meanwhile, I can get the fenders done!!!

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[ent72olds]

Shop looks different with the car turned around! Pulled off the nose, in preparation to pull the engine and trans on Sat. I finally got a break to go my way.....obviously, the bottom of the fenders are gone, but the cowl is spotless! No rust at all at the bottom....

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[ent72olds]

OK...today was just a dirty, greasy day! Pulled out engine and tranny...wish I had a lift! Felt like a teenager all over again...without the hormones of course! Now I have a bunch of "stuff" that needs to be delivered etc...gas tank and radiator to one guy, trans (plus a trans I picked up for the '65 Vista) to another guy, engine to another guy, order up brake and fuel lines, new wiring harnesses.....

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[CruizinKev]

looking good! :twothumbs

[csouth]

Wow Erik, you are really going to work over there. I wish I had those skills.

[ent72olds]

Chris, you don't seem to be doing too bad on Delilah....

[ent72olds]

Weather finally dropped into the low 80's and the 60% humidity disappeared so I thought it would be a good day to go to the shop! It's only been 2 1/2 months so......

I only have bodywork left on the front fenders, so let's get started...

I took the fenders off the rad support, and reinstalled the support on the frame rails for fitament of fenders as the lower patches are made. Here are shots of the damage and a shot of the patch panel provided by John(2blu442)...

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[ent72olds]

I marked where I wanted to make my cut, and removed the damage...the reason I wanted a complete fender bottom was because the inner brace was also swiss cheese! The outer skin didn't mean as much because I was going to remove it anyway to access the brace from both sides for proper welding and corrosion protection. The original panel I cut off was transferred to the patch panel and marked for a cut ensuring a perfect fit....

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[ent72olds]

I cut the skin of the patch higher than the brace for easy access...then attached the patch to the bottom of the fender and tested fitted on car! Looks excellent! Now I'll remove the rusted outer skin of the patch(hey, they were cheap and the patch panels sold aftermarket that we originally bought were not even in the ballpark as far as shape, especially at the wheel lip), media blast, corroision prime, and final weld to bottom of fender!

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[ent72olds]

Went back at it tonight, working on the pass fender bottom...same as the other fender, just had to cut higher due to more extensive rot...

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[ent72olds]

Again, I transferred the cut to the "new" fender bottom, leaving the brace accessible!

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[ent72olds]

I then cut out the outer skin of the replacement panels for two reasons...1-they were rough and B-it allowed my bro to media blast the other side of the brace for a thorough job! He then applied POR-15 to the inside while we had access. These bottoms will never rust again!!!!

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[ent72olds]

Started working on a "patch for the patch"! I spot welded the fender bottom on, and spent about an hour getting the line between the fender and door acceptable....gotta say, the '70-'72 model year fenders for an olds A-body are about the worst to line up!!! The patch looks good, and I even hammer shrunk it to the exact contours.....

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[ent72olds]

Yes, just need to strip and do the bodywork on this fender, and we'll be down to the last panel! After that, it's all downhill.....

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[CruizinKev]

good work Erik! :twothumbs

[ent72olds]

Thanks Kevin !

[ent72olds]

Well, today I finished welding the other fender up! Made a patch for the patch, welded it up, and ground it down...of course, I hammer shrunk them to the proper contour!

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[ent72olds]

I know the pics look repettttettttttive, but it's only 'cause there are two sides to this particular car!

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[ent72olds]

Also finished stripping the left fender! It is now ready for pick and file, and plastic work....

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[ent72olds]

Picked and filed the left fender today....just need a couple hours to do the plastic work, and then do the right fender! By the time I finish this fender, my bro will be done stripping the right fender.....

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[ent72olds]

Finished the plastic work on the left fender tonight! Also finished stripping the right fender....both fenders will be spray poly'd before primer!

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[ent72olds]

Finished the bodywork on the right fender...also was able to spray-poly both fenders today! Only thing left is to block them both, and prime them! After that, I can move to the firewall......

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[ent72olds]

I'm very happy with the way these came out, considering how bad the tops were dented, and how rotted the bottoms were....here are some pics in poly!

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[ent72olds]

Yes it's true...all the bodywork is complete on this monster! Blocked down the spray poly tonight on the fenders, now tomorrow, I will prime them! Next stop, paint firewall and do front suspension....

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[ent72olds]

OK....primed fenders tonight! They look mint!

For anyone interested, I did infact check out a Vega today! It's a '71 wagon, old lady owned, excellent all orig condition, mint black vinyl auto w/console interior, w/39K original miles....the service station guy says the lady is a customer, and can't drive anymore! I asked how much and his reply..."$3000...she's not in a hurry to sell!".....I laughed and said, "have a good day!"

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[ent72olds]

Progress continues as we stripped 80% of the firewall and cowl...etched it, seam sealed it to match factory application(in other words,"sloppy"), sealed it, and painted it...wet on wet on wet....we also decided , since they were off, to paint the insides of the fenders satin black.

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[ent72olds]

More pics....

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[ent72olds]

In these pics, you can see the seam seal before I sealed and painted it...

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[ent72olds]

I haven't had much time lately to work on this, but did find a few hours tonight! Prepped and painted the dash and tops of the door frames.....

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[ent72olds]

Finished product.....

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[Kenova]

...... check out a Vega today! It's a '71 wagon, old lady owned, excellent all orig condition, mint black vinyl auto w/console interior, w/39K original miles....the service station guy says the lady is a customer, and can't drive anymore! I asked how much and his reply..."$3000...she's not in a hurry to sell!".....I laughed and said, "have a good day!"
If the body is in excellent shape and if the paint is acceptable then that isn't a bad price for those of us who need to hire someone to do our paint and body work. If you are only willing to pay half of that then you will easily wind up spending $3000.00 in bodywork and paint.

Ken

[ent72olds]

To get back on track, my brother and I decided,"let's just pull the body off the frame and make sure all is good, replace the bushings, all lines, etc..."

So here we go...

We will be using POR-15 on the frame after a good wire brushing. All new lines, rubber parts and hardware will be installed. We were pretty happy when we found only one bad body bushing hole....I guess I could WELD this up......

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[ent72olds]

This is where things start to take different path..........

Got back on the chassis today! Cut out the rot around the bad body mount bushing hole, and made a patch. Welded it up. Then, as we started wire brushing the frame, after 15 mins of feeling like we were getting nowhere fast, the decision was made to send the frame out for blasting and powdercoating. I made a couple of phone calls, and will be having it done for $800........positive side is it will be much cleaner and nicer looking. Negative would be more taken out of our "looser by the minute budget". Some of today's progress.

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[ent72olds]

While changing direction, we also decided to go for tubular upper and lower a-arms with uerethane bushings, kyb's and 2" dropped hotchkis springs in the front. Chip will be doing the quick ratio conversion and rebuild of p/s pump. We will also be dropping the rear 2" and installing boxed lowers and sway bar, kyb's and hotchkis....should ride pretty tight on 17" Cragar S/S rims. Started removing front end pieces...

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[ent72olds]

Finished dissasembly of frame today. Made up final parts list for chassis...being I only get once a week to work on this, we are moving slower than a snail in molasses...we did get some parts in this week. The boxed lower rear control arms and sway bar came in, dropped springs are here, have to pick up upper and lower front a arms from Fed Ex and got a brake dist. block and disc hold off valve along with new line clips from ILT. Hope to be bringing all pieces and frame to powdercoaters next week.

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[ent72olds]

Still working on some degreasing and scrubbing on various suspension and frame parts. This is the worst part of the whole job! We did uncover some factory paint daubs......maybe we put these back......

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[ent72olds]

This is one of the "funnest" parts!

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[ent72olds]

This frame must have been welded on a Monday or a friday...very sloppy! So, I cleaned up the welds and slag, on the front section....also, took care of the "speed bump rash" on the cross member...

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[ent72olds]

After taking the frame , rad support, top plate, grille/latch support and trans crossmember to the powder coaters last weekend in a sleet storm, I went back to the shop and figured since I was already wet and cold, might as well pull the rear outside and clean it up. Fast forward to this weekend, and I was ready for some fun...well sort of. My bro and I tag-teamed the rear with a couple of drills and wire wheels to get the scale off...came out pretty nice! Was almost a shame to have to paint it...what really surprised me was the number of different color paint markings all over this thing...

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[ent72olds]

For what it is worth, it had the letters "TA" stamped into the right tube...if anyone could tell me what rear it translates to, I appreciate it......by the way, we stayed 'till 10pm last night getting this thing painted! Of course, Spies Hecker etch primer 3255, sealer 8590 and single stage black with matting agent MA100 added...what's nice about this matting agent is you can vary the degree of gloss and it is pre-flexed, making it much more durable and chip resistant!

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[ent72olds]

We started off the day checking all the new pieces that arrived during the week...much of it came from In Line Tube....have to say, the quality on their stuff if pretty incredible. Fuel line was dead on. Unfortunately, the intermediate brake line was not. I will be sending it back, probably with the old line for them to match up. All other brake lines were perfect. The e-brake cables in stainless are beautiful, but again, intermediate cable was wrong...they apologized(somebody didn't read the highlighted note on invoice to custom make to 113 1/4 inches). I hope it was the same issue with the brake line.

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[SSLance]

Love bolting new shiney parts on, that's the best part of any project.

[Zanie]

sheesh y'all work fast.
Do you guys sleep?

[ent72olds]

sheesh y'all work fast.
Do you guys sleep?

I suffer from insomnia......but, my updates aren't being done in real time.....:sleeping:

[ent72olds]

Got the frame rad support and other misc. parts back from Action Powder Coaters, and am very pleased! Turned out better than I expected....

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[ent72olds]

Also finished degreasing, blasting and painting a bunch of suspension parts...

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[ent72olds]

And...we got the rear cover torqued and painted.....the build is moving along slow now that we only get one day a week to work on it.

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[ent72olds]

We finally were able to get the assembly of this chassis moving in the right direction. After a couple more hours of cleaning and painting, I started putting the rear back together. Packed the bearings and installed the axles with new backing plate to axle tube seals. When we took this apart, there weren't any seals? On another note, I once read somewhere, NAPA sells , if I remember rightly, a graphite spray or something that you can use to maintain the master cylinder and wheel cylinders or any natural cast steel. Keeps it looking natural and keeps it from rusting. Would be better than painting these items. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, please chime in....

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[ent72olds]

The pieces went together with little effort. I did have to rattail any holes in the frame for bolts to pass through. The powder coating is surprisingly thick..
We opted to install the Hotchkis Air Bags in the rear. Being we are dropping the car 2", and going with 18" rims, we wanted to be safe, just in case we need to level the rear for any reason. Putting the bags in the springs was a job in itself...when finished, I thought it looked like a stick of C4 from a Roadrunner Wil E Coyote cartoon....

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[ent72olds]

SS brakelines from ILT are pretty impressive, although I have seen the post about someone's recent issues with their customer service. I believe the intermediate line will be short, just comparing it to the original, looks off...but I'll leave that issue for another day! Don't want to ruin my fun right now. We stayed working last night 'till 1am. Wish the shop was closer, we might be able to get more done!

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[csouth]

Erik, you guys are moving right along. Are you sure this project isn't already done and you're just getting the time to post?...lol

[ent72olds]

I know rear drum brakes don't really jive with the whole theme of this thread....neither does the rear gear, but I have a feeling we may be doing discs and gears in the future. Here's where we proceed....Finally got to button up the rear part of the chassis today by putting the rear brakes together. We degreased the drums and painted them in Eastwood Spray Gray, to prevent future rust.

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[ent72olds]

We also get to start putting the front end together. A bunch of small set backs, coupled with the fact that I wanted to install the races that came with the new bearings(pretty difficult to do without a press). Well, we did get one side done...

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[ent72olds]

Today, we got real close to making this a rolling chassis. We had to wait on some missing parts for the upper and lower control arms on the left side. Finally, after a lot of back and forth with the company we bought them from, they sent us the missing pieces. We decided to go with a steering box from AGR after talking with Chip from Power Steering Services. He is backed up, and it would be an 8-10 week turnaround. Box should arrive this week. About another hour and a half, and it should be rolling. Also installed front brake lines and new pinion seal...

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[SRD art]

Lookin Good! Nice to see a break from sheetmetal!

[T_Raven]

Seeing this for the first time. Always liked these wagons. Good progress so far, can't wait to see it done

[ent72olds]

Lookin Good! Nice to see a break from sheetmetal!

You got that right Ben......

[ent72olds]

Seeing this for the first time. Always liked these wagons. Good progress so far, can't wait to see it done

Thanks for checking in Traven!

[ent72olds]

We finally got the chassis 80% complete today! It now rolls. We are still waiting on the front to rear brakeline from ILT. The original one they sent us was completely wrong, so we sent them the original line to make a line to match. We also need to install the engine and trans, but we are waiting as it is much easier to roll it in and out without the extra weight.

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[ent72olds]

The AGR steering box looks very impressive, we are happy with it, and the specific fuel line fit well! Frame is as long as my truck! Next up, we will be stripping the underside of the body, and are thinking about bedliner...depends on how good it comes out!

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[CruizinKev]

looking good!! :twothumbs

[Glenn]

Very nice work!

[SRD art]

Looks great!!

I have those air bags on my wagon. Don't plan on using them as a way to increase load capacity. I've blown out two of them now because of that. Pretty much they're only good for adjusting spring rate or balancing the chassis at the drags.

Your front sway bar looks a bit thin. Are you going to autocross the car? The rear bar will suffice, but in the future if you are after really good cornering you'll want to get a bar that is bolted to the frame rather than the rear lower control arms. It's a lot more effective that way, especially with the big bootie and heavy weight tailgate she has. When I swapped from the factory style to the frame mounted bar I noticed a big difference.

I have the AGR 12:1 ratio box in my wagon. Since I installed it I've had a pull to the right. I had the alignment done and it still pulled right. I swapped tires side to side and even front to back and still the pull. I thought maybe it was a caliper dragging but it was still there after putting the 98-02 Camaro brakes on the car. Recently I had the alignment checked again, this time by a performance shop that does a bunch of SCCA and exotic cars, over 30 years with performance alignments. Left caster was just over 5 and right was 7 degrees. By the numbers it should pull left, but it pulls right. While on the rack and we were trying to figure out what was causing it and the guy had me steer the car on the swivel heads on the rack to the left and then right with the engine running. It was a lot harder to turn left than right. I'm wondering if maybe my box is defective and there's pressure pushing it to turn right? The alignment guy told me to contact AGR, but I haven't had a chance yet. Let me know if you experience anything like this too.

[ent72olds]

The only time we will use the bags will be when people are loaded in! This car won't be making any autocross events, or at least not in this configuration! We started out as a basic resto, and it morphed into a kind-a-sorta PT cruiser......I will keep an eye on the steering box. Thanks for the heads up Ben! After working on this wagon, I have the itch to do a full out AC car, so that will be my mission with my '65.....

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[ent72olds]

Being that the weather got nice here early, I had no choice but to to projects around the house...so not much work being done on the Vista! When last we touched it, we got hit with another low blow to the gut! I only lifted the front carpet, never the rear footwell carpet.....low and behold! So I started work cutting out the last bit of rust and started making patches. Then I ran out of argon......

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[ent72olds]

More carnage...by the way, I am now able to hoist the body to the roof!

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[ent72olds]

After not touching the car since May, time to jump back in.....of course, just picking up where I left off......patching some floor rot that wasn't discovered until we pulled the carpet up under the front seat. Front floors were spotless, but who would have thought there would be damage under the seat...finished patching the pass side, and started doing driver's side, which was worse....

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[ent72olds]

I got as far as making a pattern for the patch, than traced it to the sheet steel and cut that out. I will weld it in next weekend. My brother also started on the underside of the floorpans. A lot ot scraping and heat gun usage, and the original satin black still looks pretty good. We will be priming any bare metal here, and applying a truck bed liner under here!

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[ent72olds]

Finished the floor work up this weekend. Made the final patch up and got all welded up.....my brother has still been working on stripping the bottom of the car.

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[ent72olds]

This car will be converted to buckets and center console. We will order the brackets this week, and I will fab some brackets for the console. Once those are in, we will be dynamatting the entire floor.....

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[SRD art]

You mean that 65 is yours too? Do you have any others I can have? You've got some cool machines there my friend! I'd love to have a nice wagon for my wife to drive, to think she wants a mini van. :( Lol!

Have you guys thought of using one of these? A wire wheel on a 4.5" electric grinder...

75350

They strip floor pans, and pretty much anything else, very quickly, and don't really hurt the metal of you don't use a lot of pressure. Just got to be careful not to let it hit your shirt, been there done that and it gets a little scary when it tries to pull your shirt off, lol!

[ent72olds]

Yes, today we got the bucket seat brackets welded in....we are installing buckets from a '69 H/O, which we bought from WTony! They still have the gold stripes on the headrests, although, I don't believe these will make the car any faster.....

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[ent72olds]

This car will also be growing a center console between the seats...no, it won't be a 70-72 olds a body console! I have to admit, the consoles from a mid '70's colonnade Buick, with horse shoe shifter, IMO, are much better looking! Plus it was free.....so next will be to make some brackets to hold it down. It will be very cozy behind the wheel, especially once we install the floor shift, tilt column from W31man(Greg).......the last pic shows how it looks with headrests.

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[ent72olds]

We got the inside floor sanded, cleaned and primed today!
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We used Rustoleum and brushed it on....will be putting Dynamat over this to finish up....

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We also finished getting all the undercoat off the bottom side. We will run the wire wheel over it now, clean it and prime before applying truck bed liner!

[ent72olds]

Continued wire wheeling, sanding and cleaning the bottom of the floorpan....not fun on your back! Times like these that I wish I had a rotisserie... ...anyway, while taking a break from that, I had to make up new wire harness straps for the rear tailgate harness as most were rotted or gone! These are welded to the bottom of the floor near the rear bumper. They are basic 1/2"x3" strips of metal coated in rubber. I used tool handle "dip" to duplicate....came out very surprisingly nice!
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[ent72olds]

It's been a couple of weeks, so I decided it was time to update....after breaking my a$$ for 14 hrs yesterday on my back, I know if I ever do something to this extent again, and I am sure I will, I will need a rotisserie!
We finished cleaning, masked, epoxied, seam sealed and "linered" the belly of this beast yesterday. By going "wet on wet", I saved about 2 extra days of work on this....chemical adhesion is always a stronger bond than mechanical! Therefore, we eliminated the need to sand between epoxy and bed liner/sound deadner....
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We got the car as high as we could, and trusted the roof would hold while I spent a good part of the day underneath...
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[ent72olds]

I ended up using PPG DP Black....I will admit, it is an awesome product, so, I wasn't predjudiced! Spies Hecker Epoxy 4500 is what I would normally use here, but it is gray....therefore, I give the nod to the competition...
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We sanded the majority of the factory black paint of where it was compromised. Where it was still in good shape, we sanded it to give it a good "tooth"(mechanical adhesion) We were amazed at the fact that the factory paint was just "slopped on" resulting in runs and sags just about everywhere! I'm guessing, that it was applied "upsidedown" while it moved through the assy line? We left a good amount of them there for authenticity's sake!
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[ent72olds]

We decided to spray "Rock-It" (funny on an Oldsmobile, and quite coincidental I might add..) truck bed liner/sound deadner on the bottom of the old girl! We allowed proper flash of epoxy and seam sealer before spraying this product on. The results were quite nice, and will also be bullet proof over the flashed epoxy(chemical adhesion).......this product is a catylized spray which when bought as a kit, comes with its own spray gun. It's made by SEM!
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[ent72olds]

The Rock-It Liner will dry down to a satin sheen that is very easy to wash, wipe and keep clean!
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Now that we are finally finished with the underside, we will start restoring the gas tank in preparation to install it into the body before dropping it back on the chassis. Once that is done, finishing the chassis will be the priority. We need to detail the driveshaft, paint and install the engine, rebuild and detail the trans and finish the exhaust!

[Glenn]

Your a brave soul to lay under the body.

Top shelf job, very well done!

[ent72olds]

Life insurance is paid up Glenn! Thanks for the comp!

[ent72olds]

Well, after taking a few months off, I am getting ready to get back on this thing! I repairing the gas tank now, but more importantly, Ben (SRDart) got my rendering done.......

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[SRD art]

It was sure a pleasure working with you Erik! Now lets see the real thing get finished! ;)

[csouth]

Ok Erik, time to get back on this...lol

Rendering looks good Ben...

[ent72olds]

Ok Erik, time to get back on this...lol

Rendering looks good Ben...

Chris, you know how it is! Problem is, I'm already starting to plan the next one...my '65 Vista. That will be more PT for sure, this one certainly is not, oh.....and I will be stealing alot of your voodoo from you build my friend!

[ent72olds]

It was sure a pleasure working with you Erik! Now lets see the real thing get finished! ;)

I am with you Ben! You will be hearing from me with more work in the future! Super nice guy and easy to work with!

[BuddyP]

Coming along nicely! Chassis/Frame look good.

[ent72olds]

Thank you Buddy!

[csouth]

Erik,

I'm sure you've seen the Lingenfelter wagon? It's definitely a nice motivator for Vista owners

[SRD art]

Anything new Erik?

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

This is a cool one, definitely wanna follow this build!

[ent72olds]

Thanks for checking in Ben and Josh. I haven't touched the car in a year while working on my '67 Delta and '65 Vista. I am also in the middle of a total kitchen redo. As soon as the kitchen is done, I will get back on The '70 Vista.

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

Got pics of the Delta or the 65? When I was a teenager working at a friend's shop (only about 10 years ago, haha), I helped restore a beautiful 67 Delta 88 convertible, medium blue/blue. Car was gorgeous. Always liked these cars since then, don't ever see them around. This might be the first time since back then I've seen or even heard a 67 Delta 88 come up!