Down with Plastic- 88 wagon project begins.

[runs.like]

Well after reading priyas awesome project thread i feel a bit embarrassed to show my work, but I've been holding off for a while so here goes.
I got into a fender bender recently which required the drivers side front fender to need to be removed, so off came the fender flare, end cap, rocker cover and inner wheel well plastic, and what did i find??  You guessed it: rust and rot!   so off came the rest of the plastic on the car and what did i find? you're right again even more rust and rot!! seems as though the plastic isn't really good for much other than holding moisture, dirt and road salt against old metal and covering the holes it creates. The plan is to repair all the metal and not put any of the plastic back on, instead i will uses a spray on truck bed liner around the wheel wells and along the bottom covering the replacement rockers.  I will post picks as I go.  
Driver side: about 50" of the inner and outer rocker panel starting at the front fender and going back is basically gone.  there is a soft spot in drivers floor.  the rear wheel well has two rotten spots 1 on the front near the back of the rocker and the other at about 2 o'clock where about 6 inches of the pinch seem is gone.
passenger side: about 16" of the outer rocker under the front door is flaky and soft, about 30" under the rear door is gone.  the front fender has a big rot spot right at 12 o'clock. also front floor pan has a hole.  the rear wheel well is in about the same shape as the drivers side, about 4 inches of the pinch seem is pretty rotted.  there are a few other areas that will need some attention including the fuel tank hanger mounts and i am sure I'll find some more as i dismantel the vehicle. I don't have a big shop and lots of tools like some of you guys but i do have a small garage, mig welder, angle grinder as well as lots of other hand tools and some power tools.

[priya]

It's not a competition, I'm sure you'll do yourself proud.  I'm looking forward to seeing your project

How about some pictures of what you're starting with?

[brownbear]

I'm in the same boat, months ago I started to remove trim cuz of the rust on my vinyl roof.  Them came the plastic and I had a lot or hidden rust and the more I probed the more I found.  I cut out tons of rusted metal, por 15 everything, replaced with some metal and now I am in the bondo process.  About 90% done now, I just have to smooth things out, primer, paint and hope for the best.  I have been working on the bodywork 4hrs. a day fro about 3 months now and I am sick of it.  It takes a lot of time and patience, plus I have no idea what I'm doing, this is my first body work job.  I hope you have better luck than me......

[runs.like]

thanks for the encouragement. i know it is not a competetion and my car will never be a show car just a good old rig to get me and my tools where we need to go, but priya your work is very inspiring.  
here is an old pic of the wagon:


i will post some pics of the eagle in its current state when i get a chance to snap some photos.  its pretty exciting to start his project.  i haven't welded or done body work in a few years and back then i had a pretty decent shop set up with a compressor lots of space, its definetly different now as my eagle is about the same size as my garage space which leaves no room for work in there.

when i uses to build vw beetles we sometimes did a modification called "california style" whis basically meant removing all the chrome stripping, trim, etc and replacing the door handles, windshield trim, etc with boy colored pieces.  I think i will be doing this with my eagle and as i mentioned in my first post i will not be reinstalling the plastic fender flares end caps etc.  instead i'll be covering all those spots with a spray on truck bed liner, i think the texture willl help hide any imperfections in the body work and because the car is black  i will never be able to match paint with my current set up so I might as well make it and obvious difference.. should i use black bed liner or gray?

[priya]

Thanks,  runs.like, its been a lot of work.

I think I'd be inclined to go with the black bedliner, but it might be nice to have the grey and then do a two-tone thing like the Eagles originally had.  I know what you mean about cramped spaces.  We frequently have to move things around to get access to different parts of the Eagle or various tools.  Sometimes we have to shuffle a bunch of stuff outside to work on the car and then bring it back inside after we're done working - its a real pain.

Your picture didn't work for me, it says "This image or video has been moved or deleted".

[runs.like]

should work now

[priya]

I see it now.  Looks good in all black.

[runs.like]

ok here are some pics of whats going on.

as it sits:



drivers side:




passenger side:






underneath:

[shanebo]

Thats what my 86 sedan looked like under the vinyl top....The feeling is indescribably bad!! Its terrible what goes on under plastic trim and vinyl tops...very scary!!
Eggs to you for sticking with it!!

[runs.like]

ok so i got the trunk area cleaned out and found more rot around the wheel wells and rear spring hangers than i had originally expected.  also found that the mounting plates for the fuel tank J bolts were pretty much gone (glad my gas tank didn't fall off when i hit a bump.) I dropped the tank and in the process one of the nipples from the sending unit broke and i found that the return line was rotted and not not hooked up(but thats a post for another day)

The spring hangers are still mostly solid so i will clean those up and reinforce them with some 1/16 or 1/8 plate.

the wheel wells don't concern me too too much though i am wondering if i should:
1:use a lighter guage steel, 20 or 18, that is more workable and replicate the pinch seems for strength or
2: use a heavy guage steel or plate and butt joint.
any thoughts would be helpful.

i am not sure what to do about the tank hangers because i assume they will need to be attached rather precisely in there origianl spot.

[juhap]

Oh my...

And I thought that my  Wagon was a rustbucket...

[priya]

If it was me I'd use the lighter gauge steel.  I've never used plate steel, but if you need to shape it that's going to be a real problem.

[brownbear]

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?

[runs.like]

  we'll see how many more issues i find with my wagon... it may turn into a parts car and you can buy mine.

[runs.like]

i tend to agree with you priya,  looking at whats there it appears to be no thicker that 20guage.  i was also talking to a frind of mine who warned if you use heavy steel that the car will lose the flex it is supposed to have and make a ver rough ride i believe he said "riding down the road with a I beam between your legs"