Down with Plastic- 88 wagon project begins.

[IowaEagle]

Yikes!

[shanebo]

I feel for ya man!! I had to abandon my poor 86 sedan for the same reasons. It was a tough decision but im no sheet metal worker and the amount of money it would have taken to have someone fab a whole new roof, rear floor panels and the entire spare tire well was just too much. Its now a parts car.

[runs.like]

my working situation is challenging as i don't get home from work until close to 5 and living in a residential niehborhood i fell it's rude to run the grinder or cut off wheel to much durring the evening,  but i have made some progess cleaning up the wheel wells/ spring plates.

the rear shackle mounting plates are a little worse than i had originally thought.  the drivers side is actually pushing upword where the plate mounts because of the soft metal around it.  i have decided that i should do the entire trunk floor area with 1/8 or maybe 3/32-i think i can get it to shape decently, if i pound it enough (with some heat).  right now i am looking at two 13"x35" pieces that will go from the very rear to about 15 inches up the whee wells.  the wheel well itself i will do in 18 gauge or maybe even lighter.  I made some cardboard templates out of some old record sleeves that have been laying around next to the wood stove since fall.  Found a litte crack in the sub frame today while cleaning up, i think i will patch that up with a scrap from the 1/8.
i'll post some pictures when i have a little more done.

i just want to say that the Nest is such a great thing to be involved in.  It's really motivating to have a place where people care about your story, offer great advice and share your passions.  I would not be nearly so excitd for these project of it were not for all you people.

[shanebo]

We're all here to help eachother! Alot of us at one point or another has had to deal with serious rust issues...This rust stuff is no joke, but atleast everything you need to know is right here.....best of luck...cant wait to see your progress

[philotomy]

Good pictures,she's still in good shape though.I wish I knew how to weld.

[Baskinator]

Boy, if I was gonna get a wagon this type would be it ! I love the look of that '88 in all black. As for the rust, I hope you stuck with it. My SX/4 is better in some places and worse in others, and I'm trying to finish by the end of summer. It's an intimidating job, but very rewarding to see the shiny metal when you cut and fix it, especially to be able to share that with everyone here. Eggs to you!

[philotomy]

  Hey everyone I bought the 88 wagon yesterday and towed it home from one end of Vermont to the other.got a tow dolly at u haul and proceeded to undo the rear u joint in prep for the long haul back,man it was nothing but hill after hill the whole way home.The last 24 miles we got off the interstate in Lyndonville and drove rte 5 N home .I had to laugh as we were driving thru quiet neighborhoods at 10:30 ish and that dolly was banging away on the uneven roads HAHAHAHA! Wake up everyone!!,no seriously I (kinda) felt bad about the noise,no not really,lots of vacationers in their summer lake homes  .So she has a new sister sort o speak,Eagle babes got a twin now.

[Baskinator]

WOW, you have two now? Those are some sweet Eagles, good luck!

[philotomy]

Best part is :they have the same paint and int colors and same motor and trans,stood outside tonight for some time just looking and thinking

[eaglebeek]

fortunately my rust and rot wasn't that bad, I'm sure you will do a much better job than I did on mine.  I'm going on 4 months of just bodywork.  Any ideas where I can find those window rain guards?

I'll look through my stuff...I think I have some

[philotomy]

They used to have em on JC Whitney,not sure if they still carry em though

[runs.like]

Ha, just re rereading my old post.  That black 88 wagon was sweet on the outside but a big mess down deep... not unlike some women i have known. 
super glad to be back