1980 2 Door Sedan - What have I gotten myself into ??!!

[ynwa]

It's been all quiet on the sedan resto front. I got the rear end back in, lifted, poly bushings but I was still having issues getting some body welding together.

I don't know how this happened but another 1980 2dr sedan shows up in GREAT shape!! No rust (some on the rear well) but nothing like my other proj had in the back. I'll post a bunch of new pics but I have a question regarding Vinyl Repair. The roof is 'starting' to deteriorate and I'd like to hear anyones experience with extending it's life with some spot repair. There are a slew of products out there and I'd like to exploit everyone else's trial and error. 

Here's an example blemish.


what say thee?

Also did the '80 sedan come stock with power window/locks? My other is all manual.

Cheers!!

[shanebo]

They were optional but available in 1980.

[Whuntmore]

You're saying there is absolutely no rust anywhere under the vinyl anywhere?  Not anything around the opera windows?

You might wanna double check that, cause those are soo prone to getting rot under the vinyl around those windows, it's almost guaranteed to have some rust/rot.  

I'd do that before I'd do any kind of vinyl repair.   I'm guessing you really want to keep the vinyl look?

[maximus7001]

I have an 81 concord with whats left of a vinyl roof. It started to look like your picture in a few places about 3 years ago and now almost the whole thing has crumbled apart.

[ynwa]

Naw, there's some rust peeking under the opera windows on one side, looks very minor on the other. Just looking to extend the life a little bit on the top. At some point I'll pull it off but having done this on the 'rust bucket' It's an arduous task.

So no miracle smear on resto products?

[shanebo]

They do make vinyl top repair...you can get it at alot of auto stores. They work to a degree...I used it on an old cadillac I had...They look ok but if ya look close you definatly know its there.

[ynwa]

Okay it's been a while. Here's a little of what I've been up to on the Raven (see how that wears, hehe.. Seeing as it's be matte black when I'm done).

Ripped the dash apart and found that several pins on the dash side of the plug had busted off (same with the parts car) Okay that clears up some of the missing dash light issues. hehe.. I soldered the pins back and due to the delicate nature of the solder I fabbed an alternate plug option: In case anyone has this issue and can't find the OEM plugs which will fit the plug channels. (mine were buggered and corroded)




Those reducers aren't cheap but they fit perfect and are very neat. Shrink tube fits overtop, flush to the end to protect any metal on metal contact from adjacent plugs.

Oh yea.. Motor in 'non rusty' car was bagged and had very bad blowby. Swapped with the rust bucket which ran fairly nice.

Out comes the Old


In with the New (ish)


Some crazy dude


Uhhhhhh...


Action Shot: All In both Eagles.


It turns out that the donor motor was already switched out. The vertical mount for the front dif which mounts to the block on the stock motor was fabbed with a piece of angle iron with the bracket mounted to it.. I thought I shot a couple pics but I'll get them up soon. Sorta Sketchy actually....

[shanebo]

Makin good progress dude!....your light years ahead of where im at on my project. Time has not been on my side this summer.

[Gil-SX4]

ynwa, is that a build in mechanic or one of dose gremlins that keep playing with our AMC Eagles?

[ynwa]

Hehe, Gremlin for sure. Never really knows what to do next. Been sidetracked with a shed build but intend to be right back on this. Forgot to mark the flywheel to the TC so that was a fun exercise. The 4 bolts only line up once (if that makes sense). Anyway, hope to have more progress shots soon!

[ynwa]

Trying to restore my project post.
Finally dusted off the Sedan, cleaning the engine deck and saw this:



Will she blow up if I try to build like this? I'm thinking yes, and that's a very demoralizing outcome...

Appreciate all replies (if this gets seen).
Thanks.

[vangremlin]

Thanks for kick starting the thread back up.  I don't know enough to give you a good answer, but I'll reply anyway.  I would think the deck would need to be ground enough to get rid of that big channel.  Whether taking that much material off causes other problems would be the question.  Or maybe its possible to fill it, and then grind it smooth???

[carnuck]

No need to grind. It would have to be the same end to end or it will act like a warped block. As I said on the evolution board, you can fill those grooves with shellac right before you put the head on (I even slathered the top of my Rambler flathead block because it was warped and I didn't have $$ to fix it. Drove it 5 years that way)