caprice total redo

i thought the rhino liner might be good also but then i would need to transfer the body to them. did not like the idea of getting it there in one pc. has amyone polished the fuel rails and what did you do to get them to look good? mine have alot of marks in the finish. jerrod is coming down this weekend to do some paint work and i cant wait. oh i also got lucky my friend was helping me carry the frame in garage and he fell while carrying it. he did not get hurt just bruised his foot when the frame landed on him. i did not see any damage to the finish

I think you can buy the spray on expoxy bed liner stuff, and do it yourself,.

It comes in tintable urethanes too,. would look good body color,.

roll on bed liner

I,m going to try this on the next project i do,.using a roller would seem easier than spraying,.

The pliable chassis paint looks interesting too,.

look under the tab "got rust?"

Nick

jerrod got here fri. he painted one side of my car and we will be painting the bumpers tomorrow. here are some pics. the reflection looks great.

some pics of work







my hero and me

my wife stopped by to drop of camera we forgot so we put her to work

It is going to look great John!!

Oh MAN!!!!,
What a shine. No one will top that wagon!

Jarrod is the Picasso of auto paint,beautiful work guys!

Thanks Jim!

It took us 15 hours start to finish, then another few hours at his house on monday to finish up the bumpers. I ended up leaving around 2:30 and got home late lastnight.

Had an awesome time and John and Jennifer they are awesome host. My son had a great time with Nicholas so now he wants to come to wagonfest to see Nick again.

Flasheroo wrote:

Jarrod is the Picasso of auto paint

He really, really likes gray ?

it is a little strange after jarrod left i cant find any soap or towels.

Jen said it was ok, and thanks for the frying pan. She said you'd never miss it cus you don't cook.

i use the oven all the time but it is for powder coating

John,you so called rear end project needs to be called something else like "The Wagon Project".Its coming along nicely and you wont want to drive unless its sunny and no chance of rain and I wouldnt blame you at all.

it is far from a rear project at this point. i hit the 1st page of my post and realize how far off coarse this has gone. i will post more pics soon. i am ready to start putting frame back together. feels like there are a million bolts to clean.

Wow!! That looks amazing!!!

All I have to say is you better lock that garage, I know where ALL this is!!!!! Programmed into my GPS!!

Looking good, when I get back down that way i'll help you put it back together. Hopefully soon. I may just do a 3 day weekend.

Update?

no real update. i was putting the doors back together and could not find the clip that holds the door lock in the door. then my friend called he broke down and i went to help him by the time we got it towed to the shop it was late. i stayed at shop till 2am. i went to yard to day and got one also got some clips and a set of sony 140 watt speakers all for $5.oo. had to wait around the house to sell my escort the buyer was only 5 hrs late no call or anything then shows up and we go to tag place and he does not have valid insurance info. he paid me for the car but now we have to meet tomorrow again.

I have a question....how in the heck did you get the engine mount plates off the frame?? I've never been able to do that (or at least...I've given up when I realize I can't reach the back of the bolts)

Chris

With no lower control arms in place, it's a lot easier.

Oh..that's right Joel!

Well, you have a beautiful project and that frame is amazing!!

At this rate, when he gets done, he'll drive it to Seagirt, park it next to the black wagon, and that's the last we'll hear of it for awhile...

joel is right if the arms are out is is easy. i think if it is complete just remove the springs and you should be able to get to the bolts. i hope to get up to my dads tonight and get something done

did some work tonight. not a good night got the upper arms in then the lowers would not go in. took awhile and i got 1 bolt in could not get the other side of the arm in. i thought maybe because of the powder coating. i tried using a flr jack but with no body on the frame it just jacked the frame up. so i ran a chain around the frame to the jack then it still would not go in. so i did what i shoud have done 1st took the arm out and looked up there. looks like the bolts have caused the edge of the bolt hole to be pushed in si that is why they dont fit. i think i will need to use a flat file and file the mushroomed lip down. the real bad part is i messed up 1 spot of the arm i had welded some metal at the bottom of the arm near the bushing so the bushig area is closed up at the bottom. the weld broke where the 2x4 i was jacking up was pushing now i will need to grind the powder coating off that area to reweld it then i will need to paint that spot. sorry if this ran long just venting i am so mad.

Considering all of the impressive work that you and friends have accomplished,this is a very minor setback and nothing to worry about.You,re are just getting in a hurry to get the wagon back together!
Chill John

i know it is still going to be alot better than it was, its just murder trying to get it together without messing up the finished parts. that and trying to find all the little parts is driving me nuts. the next rant will be about bending the brake lines.that is the next big thing after the front a arms are in

mtrhead79 wrote:

i know it is still going to be alot better than it was, its just murder trying to get it together without messing up the finished parts. that and trying to find all the little parts is driving me nuts. the next rant will be about bending the brake lines.that is the next big thing after the front a arms are in

You mean NUTTIER!

calmed down today ground the cracked area down and rewelded it. will just have to touch it up with paint. going to go work on it again i will bring camara this time

I had the same issues when I put my 9C1's front end back together. I POR15'd the whole front frame and suspension pieces, then marred a bunch of places putting it all back together.

Wish I had time to go down and help but right now busy again.

no biggie jarrod u helped out enough. well went and got most of front end done. i used a file on the inside of frame to nock down the edge around the bolt hole then i used a 1/2 '' all thread rod and 2 nuts and washers to open the frame up a little. here is a pic of the spreader i made


then i put the arms in then the springs. the springs are just cleaned up originals until i decide what i am going to do with the front. they were painted and got scratched. the funny thing is i touched them up with the same paint and it lifted some of the paint and wrinkled the finish. it would not be my project without a misshap. i put the drivers side spring in by myself and had to use a chain to the frame and then to the jack because it just lifts the fram up without weight. well when all said and done the frame was laying on the ground and the jack on its side. git a couple scratches in the finish and i touched them up.had to use the hoist to lift the fram back on jack stand.

my buddy came by and helped with other side went alot better still the frame is tough to hold down.







oh here is the control arm i messed up last night

That's looking awesome John, and you're doing a GREAT job! No one will see the mishaps and the only one they will bother is you. And every time you tell the story, you'll feel better about it all...

Hell of a job, Dude. Seriously. Mad props.

thanks bill. i appreciate the kind words. i also post my problems so if anyone does some of this work maybe they can avoid the same problems. real life does not go like the tv show overhaulin . its funny also if you just stop and take a brake then go back you can find the problem. i will go back tomorrow hope to have a rolling chassie early next week. then get the body back on so i can get it out of my friends shop. i will put the rear in next so the weight evens out on the jack stands. if i even lean on the front it wants to lift the back end off the stands

Beautiful work John,if you are not going to be reusing those old yellow and blue shocks I will be more than happy to take them off your hands,I,ll even pay for the shipping!

Looks amazing! Are you sure you aren't Gerry's (95Wagon) twin seperated at birth?

looking good john.

forgot the camara today but got most of the 2 front brake lines run. cant finish without the body being on. got the rear control arms hung and put the mtr and trans in. hopefully i can work on it tomorrow would like to get the rear brake line and the exhaust in not the headers just the exhaust. need to do some mtr work before the headers go in. maybe some pics tomorrow. the garage looks way bigger with the mtr and trans in and i also took the ehgine crane back to my friends shop.

threaded rod down thru the shock hole will compress the spring ,..

Nick

Keep going! I got my wagon started today (first time in 8 months) and fixed a few minor leaks. Oh and don't forget to reconnect the EGR line! Tomorrow I will get it out of the garage and around the block!

sherlock9c1 wrote:

Keep going! I got my wagon started today (first time in 8 months) and fixed a few minor leaks. Oh and don't forget to reconnect the EGR line! Tomorrow I will get it out of the garage and around the block!

Then you should start your own thread,..

nick i just saw them doing that on tv. wish i would have thought about that earlier. it would have been alot safer

Just trying to encourage; sorry!

John, how did you keep track of all the loose parts and hardware while the car was apart?

joel zip lockbags. but with parts in 3 places some stuff is a little hard to find. went to jy for some clips that have broken and it turned out bad. went to yard and lost the key to my new to me van. just the 1 key all my other keys where on my hook. went threw the jy 5 or 6 times. called tripl A hoping they where in van guy came out in a van opened it not there. then had to wait another 1/2 hr for flat bed to come get me. i also had my cell in the locked van so i would not loose it in the jy. you would not belaive how many peopl i had to ask to use there phone. the dinner across the street had no pay phone and would not let me use there phone the waitress had no cell phone, the jy would not let me use there phone to call home . they finally said they would call aaa for me. i was a little over 1 hr from home that is why i had it towed. luckily i had just had a dup key made so i drove it of the flat bed. SUCKY DAY so i am done for today no work on wagon

1 step forward 2 steps back i thought i had the brake lines done and went to do the back and realized they are bubble flared and i did the front double flare. i tried to cut and reflare there was not enough line to do that and now i ripped the lines back out. so i will have to pull the mtr back out and redo the lines. here is my problem the stainless line is harder than the normal steel line and i cant seem to get it to form a bubble flare. has anyone done bubble flares on stainless line? i thought of another way just double flare the lined and see if camaro flexable stainless lines would fit i am going to check on my 79 camaro and see if i can use those lines i think they are regular double flares. either way i now have to make all new hard lines again. here are some pics of the lines before i tore them out. they looked good to me. watch the next set will come out bad.









i wont but some times i feel like just giving up. i will let everyone know about the camaro lines

Try Cunifer brakeline instead of stainless:

http://www.fedhillusa.com/

that looks like the line my friend uses at his shop. he said it bends easy and works great

well been sitting here thinking and i am going with the copper alloy tubeing like the stuff joel suggested. my friend can get it local for me. i just gave up on the stainless, its a shame i loved how it looks. plus the moeny i put down the drain.oh well i will keep everyone posted on the dumb drama.

mtrhead79 wrote:

1 step forward 2 steps back i thought i had the brake lines done and went to do the back and realized they are bubble flared and i did the front double flare. i tried to cut and reflare there was not enough line to do that and now i ripped the lines back out. so i will have to pull the mtr back out and redo the lines.

The Cunifer lines are great for a repair shop needing to get a car back on the road, but the best part about the kit was the box of fittings that came with it. I played with a section of the line cut from the roll and after 10 minutes of trying to get it to look not “like something that came off of a roll”, I told the person I was working with that we wouldn't be using it on any vehicle that we cared about.

If you haven’t already pulled it all apart, why not cut the existing line back to a place that isn’t as noticeable and add a union. Better than having to re-do all you’ve already done.

mtrhead79 wrote:

here is my problem the stainless line is harder than the normal steel line and i cant seem to get it to form a bubble flare. has anyone done bubble flares on stainless line?

Yes.

Hard telling, not knowing, but I’d bet you’re having trouble with not being able to keep the tube in place while forming the flare. So the tool just pushes the tube through the holder instead of mushrooming it. Over-torqueing the clamps often doesn’t work because the holder just flexes around the tubing.

I find a decent sized C-clamp or locking the assembly into a vise with pressure placed as near as possible to the tube being flared is a big help to prevent the holder from bowing and letting the tube slip. Some lubricant (grease) on the mandrel isn’t a bad idea either, as long as it’s not so much that it runs down onto the holder, or then we’re back to having problems with the tube slipping.

mtrhead79 wrote:

i wont but sometimes i feel like just giving up. i will let everyone know about the camaro lines

Don’t worry about it. We all (well any of us that actually accomplish anything) usually feel that way about 75% through a project. The Mustang is sitting w/o its new rearend as I still haven’t completed changing out the brake lines & E-brake cables to support the new rear calipers. And the engine that was intended to just be detailed and go in as it was, is now in pieces so it can be changed to an aluminum block.

HTH

- J