The Dark Side

[El Matador]

Did you find it off kijiji? I remember seeing it on there.

Yes, this is/was the one on Kijiji.  The pictures used in the ad were obviously taken shortly after the car was painted, because it didn't quite look that good when I went to pick it up.

The matte black on the grille, headlight doors, and taillight housings is flaking off to reveal chrome, and the gloss black on the body itself has developed numerous flaws.  Peeling, cracking, etc. with one rust spot at the bottom of the right rear door.  There's a spot on the roof where it looks like the paint went on too thick and pooled in one of the contours, and never dried properly.  It subsequently lifted off to reveal a sizable area of original paint.

The doors all open and close nicely with little to no sag, but not one of them is aligned correctly.  They're in too far in some places and out too far in others, and don't flow smoothly with the surrounding panels.  The gaps are very inconsistent too.  The driver's door was replaced, and the sticker and metal tag are long gone.  The hood is also horribly misaligned, and the rear hatch has crept down as they so often do.

The window tint is scratched in a few places, and will eventually have to be removed or redone.  The dash has a huge crack in it, and could probably never be repaired to my satisfaction.  I'll have to replace it, most likely with a black one I have on hand.  Parts of the interior were taken apart for the paint job and a stereo installation, and there are incorrect screws used everywhere.  This drives me nuts.

For the time being I'll just drive it as is and make a few small cosmetic repairs here and there, but overall I view this as a project car.  The long term plan is to strip it down to the shell, and redo it right.  Several body panels will probably be replaced in the process.  I'm also going to go back to an original stereo, and remove the alarm.  The entire wiring harness will be replaced with an uncut factory unit.

I suspect the car will get lots of looks and positive comments as is, but overall I'm not satisfied with it in its current state.

[Prafeston]

That's quite a list you already have going. I would have to say the pics make it look pretty darn nice. Enjoy it for awhile before you start the restore over again!

[amc78concord]

Dang that's an awesome Eagle... My first time seeing this.

ME LIKES!!! 

[AB-SX4]

Good paint jobs are hard to come by. It's a pain to do it yourself. Have done it a few times (not on Eagles yet) and man is it ever a lot of work to do it properly. Hundreds of hours of taking apart, sanding, welding ...
I hope you'll enjoy your new Eagle anyway though.

All the best!

[hemlokk]

  Speechless....Nice find, Dean!   Man, $2600, such a steal for a rare gem like that.  Can't wait to see 'er for myself.

[thebanshee89]

bummer dude. that kinda sucks, after i read your list of things wrong and things to do i feel like i would have left it there and not got it for that price. but you sound like a sound gentleman who knows how to fix everything so good luck!

[Whuntmore]

The car has a bit of rot in the rockers, but it's repairable.

[85AmCfreak]

  More pictures please