"Valiant Effort" - Wintermute's '73
I went looking for a new trunk lid on craigslist and scored a whole car! Now I have a '72 Valiant 4-door that I'm using for parts, even though it's actually in better shape than my project. #-o In addition to the trunk and rear quarters, I needed all of the stainless window trim, plus it also has fender-top turn indicators, rear defroster, remote mirror and even a trunk light.
Fast forward a bit and I've removed all of the window trim from both cars and confirmed what I expected with the '73 rust!
Because the car will be black with a vinyl roof when I'm done, and my body finishing skills are firmly at "novice", my plan of attack is to avoid patches and replace entire panelsall the way up to the factory c-pillar seam.
Both rear quarters on the '73 have some dents and scrapes along with the rust seen earlier. I haven't removed the rear glass yet, but I'm pretty sure the flange is toast. I'm thinking of taking out the center panel with the rear shelf first. (naturally everything needs to be triple measured and braced before removal)
Any advice or thoughts on my planned approach?
Also, this was the trim removal on the '72, notice the clumped dirt, which was all under the stainless! It's easy to see how the '73 got so bad.
This also means I'll have some '72 front clip pieces for sale before too long as well :D
I went looking for a new trunk lid on craigslist and scored a whole car! Now I have a '72 Valiant 4-door that I'm using for parts, even though it's actually in better shape than my project. #-o In addition to the trunk and rear quarters, I needed all of the stainless window trim, plus it also has fender-top turn indicators, rear defroster, remote mirror and even a trunk light.
Fast forward a bit and I've removed all of the window trim from both cars and confirmed what I expected with the '73 rust!
Because the car will be black with a vinyl roof when I'm done, and my body finishing skills are firmly at "novice", my plan of attack is to avoid patches and replace entire panelsall the way up to the factory c-pillar seam.
Both rear quarters on the '73 have some dents and scrapes along with the rust seen earlier. I haven't removed the rear glass yet, but I'm pretty sure the flange is toast. I'm thinking of taking out the center panel with the rear shelf first. (naturally everything needs to be triple measured and braced before removal)
Any advice or thoughts on my planned approach?
Also, this was the trim removal on the '72, notice the clumped dirt, which was all under the stainless! It's easy to see how the '73 got so bad.
This also means I'll have some '72 front clip pieces for sale before too long as well :D
