I thought putting on a boot would only take 15 min.

With work finally slowing down I decided it's time to fix all the little things before the GM Nationals. I figured the first easy fix would be to install the shifter boot so my exhaust stops leaking into the cabin. I was going to just cut the carpet but was convinced to peel it back to for the install and this is what greeted me.



We decided to do a quick fix until I can cut the floor from a parts car we have access to. An old sign from the garage, rust convertion stuff, a can of rust prevention spary paint, some silicone and a rivit gun gave us this.



It's not pretty but should hold until a proper fix can be done. I did get the boot on eventually.



Now all I have left to do before Carlisle is headers, exhaust and a front end rebuild.

Yikes, that is some scary stuff.

Man salt SUCKS!

I love the 6-spd mod and that is a sharp looking car!

-Mike

I love that car.

good repair,.
another idea which i,m fond of,. cut cardboard to fit,. then slap fibreglass resin all over cardboard and floor,. tear the fibreglas cloth into random pieces and coat liberally with resin,. press into the soup already there,.it'll harden and will out last the rest of the car,..
The florr and cardboard can dissolve underneath it,. and it'll still keep your feet dry,..

nick

Great tip, Nick.

I will never ever complain about having to re undercoat my wagon ever again. Yikes!

Nice looking wagon and am envious of the 6 speed. I have two wagons that I don't drive in the winter, but I did have one that I drove for 13 years in New Hampshire winters. Some time this summer, I would take the seats and rug out, just to make sure you don't have any surprises.

You probably know all this, but here goes anyways: check the tire compartment and the opposite side and where the rear seat belts connect to the rear wheel well. Also one other area that I found was the frame right in front of the rear wheel drivers side. Catch it, if you have it.

Tom C.

Nice Tough looking wagon.

I love the car, man! Now you've got me rethinking the Marshmallow's path again! lol

Sucks about the floor, but that's not the worst I've seen... or owned.

Thanks for the compliments. I was planning on replacing the carpet later this summer so I may do that fiberglass fix instead of of cutting the floor out of a parts car. Sounds like it will be easier.

I didn't notice any other major rotting under the car. I have all the stuff to paint the frame and other rusty parts under there. Lots of surface rust but nothing real bad except a possible hole in the drivers side rear wheel well.

Some times I think it would be easier to find a rust free car and swap over all the good stuff.

I would strongly consider buying a rust-free shell and then swapping everything over before doing a front end rebuild on a rusty car. You will have all that work, and only get a few years out of it. I faced the exact same decision and had to junk the car about 9 months later. That would have sucked if I had put that effort into it.

There's some guy named 81x11 on here who knows about a few rust-free wagons down in Texas. If somebody totals mine, I'm taking a flight down there and coming back with one.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/2369709197.html - It runs and drives good enough to get it home. Consider it a $500 car with the $500 shipping included, get in and drive it home.

Too bad the oil companies think gasoline is made of gold now...

Thats what I would do.Let Mike (81X11) find the car that meets his standards and just pay
for it.Let Mike keep it until you can pick it up and hopefully drive home in a very clean and
detailed car.There is no way Mike can leave a dirty car sitting in his driveway.
Take Care All
Jim Gordon

The rust is nothing a weekend on the lift with a wire brush and some paint cant fix. The frame is solid and hopefully the rest of the floor is.

When I'm ready for a 2nd wagon I'll look into importing a rust free one from Texas.

Thats a good looking car for sure.Did you use blue window tint or am I going more blind
than I thought.Without rust where would the manufactures be.I know that the newer cars
are better designed and treated to prevent any rust period but it seems that the chemicals
used for snow and ice are much more corrosive than it use to be.
Jim Gordon

The tint was put on my the PO and has either aged or was originally a purplish color. It bugs me but not enough to change out right away.

Nice car...........+1 on Nick's comment, my Dad rebuilt the 73 caddy that way, carboard and fiberglass.....EZ to shape, etc, sands nice and with some body putty blends real well.

I got my chops from fixin surfboards for over 25 years, lol