BillGrissom
Well-Known Member
Before I bought the car, I did peer underneath and saw rust-thrus on the passenger side. Typical, so I bought the car anyway. It is actually fairly rust-free for a convertible, even a NorCal one. Now that I am into it, I find many "interesting" repairs. I think most was done by a shop, since the prior owner was no fixer. I am guessing the shop used workers and methods from south of the border, since the car was down the Valley a ways, though we have all seen as shoddy work by good old boys. I think it didn't take her long to figure that having this car maintained by shops would be a money pit.
Under the carpets, I found the rusted floors had been left in place and overlaid with flat sheet metal, hovering up to 1" over the old floors. They welded them in just a few spots, which is good since will make removal easy. For now, I will leave as is since bigger fish to fry. I will cover the rust-outs w/ fiberglass to keep water from splashing in and trash from collecting. The black paint on the new floors is already flaking because they sprayed over surface rust.
The bottom of the dash rusted thru, below a wiper pivot, so likely source, or a windshield gasket leak. Probably took out the passenger floor, plus heater core leaks usually pile on there. I will do the DMC pivot seal w/ grease fitting, as I did in my 65 Dart. The spare tire well bottom has many rust thrus, which is common when people don't clean leaves from the trunk gutters or let a convertible roof go.
Another funky repair was hacking the radio cutout, but not for a modern radio. It had a vintage Valiant AM radio w/ round push-buttons and a bezel that fit the dash (~1966?).
Finally, I found they fixed the front seats by spraying "Great Stuff" polyurethane foam (Home Depot) underneath. I am guessing that leaving the "period rust" on the rails didn't cost extra. The vinyl seat covers aren't bad, but I have Cobra seats to give shoulder belts and head restraints.
For those planning to restore other people's cars for a living, this is what you will compete with. Hard to beat shops who work like this on price, and it takes the rare knowledgeable customer to go for the "do it right" price.
Under the carpets, I found the rusted floors had been left in place and overlaid with flat sheet metal, hovering up to 1" over the old floors. They welded them in just a few spots, which is good since will make removal easy. For now, I will leave as is since bigger fish to fry. I will cover the rust-outs w/ fiberglass to keep water from splashing in and trash from collecting. The black paint on the new floors is already flaking because they sprayed over surface rust.
The bottom of the dash rusted thru, below a wiper pivot, so likely source, or a windshield gasket leak. Probably took out the passenger floor, plus heater core leaks usually pile on there. I will do the DMC pivot seal w/ grease fitting, as I did in my 65 Dart. The spare tire well bottom has many rust thrus, which is common when people don't clean leaves from the trunk gutters or let a convertible roof go.
Another funky repair was hacking the radio cutout, but not for a modern radio. It had a vintage Valiant AM radio w/ round push-buttons and a bezel that fit the dash (~1966?).
Finally, I found they fixed the front seats by spraying "Great Stuff" polyurethane foam (Home Depot) underneath. I am guessing that leaving the "period rust" on the rails didn't cost extra. The vinyl seat covers aren't bad, but I have Cobra seats to give shoulder belts and head restraints.
For those planning to restore other people's cars for a living, this is what you will compete with. Hard to beat shops who work like this on price, and it takes the rare knowledgeable customer to go for the "do it right" price.
