Project Evolution *** Project Complete **** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Topic: Project Evolution *** Project Complete **** Wednesday July 9, 2014 (Read 1162319 times) previous topic - next topic

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #30 – December 20, 2007, 08:54:55 AM

Before: "The Flintstone car"
During: "Project Bedrock"
After: "Out of the Stone age"

You're doing an awesome job. I'm really looking forward to seeing the final product.

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #31 – December 20, 2007, 04:14:57 PM

OK I did some poking and prodding around the motor today there is rust on the front frame. where the frame and k member bolt together. seems to be just heavy surface rust, no holes or denting when I hit it with a bar. Looks to be usable and able to be cleaned up by blasting. the wheel sides of the frames are already blasted and primed. I did pick them to see if they were rusted through after blasting.

here's the drivers side frame

and here's the drivers frame looking down along side the tower (more or less)

here's the passenger side frame

and here's the passenger side frame looking down the tower
this one is easier to get at. the drivers side is about the same condition.

By the looks of the color of rust being dark red. the moisture from the garage is still keeping the rust moist and alive.
and it felt a little damp when i stuck my hand in there.

The rear end of the car is also has a little bit of heavy surface rust in a couple areas but not rotting through anywhere. the battery died on my camera while looking at the front.

The rear end seems to be ok structurally but it's gonna suck getting that undercoating off.

I guess I'll find out if there's anything bad hiding as I go.

Let me know what you think about the rust in the front
I'm open to any thoughts.

I did see a product that will get rid of the rust by recirculating the liquid over the area.....and its non toxic. I'll try to find the link

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #32 – December 20, 2007, 04:38:55 PM

found it
It's called ----safest rust remover
I didn't know if it was ok to put a link like that on our forum
so i just put the name

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #33 – December 20, 2007, 10:25:04 PM

A link for a product like that would be fine. I link stuff all the time. Fantastic progress you are making!

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #34 – December 20, 2007, 10:54:23 PM

Here's the link for the rust removal stuff. from what I heard at the body shop forum It works quite well. there's also a video about it on the site

http://www.safestrustremover.com/default.asp

I did notice that we don't really have a body or metalworking area of our forum. could be useful for the do it yourselfers who want to share body working Products along withframe and panel repairs for our fox cars as we can't buy much in aftermarket panels.
I notice it's pushed together with interior and appearance

If anyone else needs links to body work supplies and welding stuff let me know I may be able to help and pass on the info.
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Thanks everyone for there input so far. Motivation is what keeps things going.
If anybody sees anything in a pic that i may have overlooked let me know. I'm always up for suggestions or ideas. :cougarsmily:

Jerry

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #35 – December 21, 2007, 09:04:20 AM

Yea those pics are kind of hard to see much jerry.
There is definetley rust there but you need to see more of where the tower is welded to the rails as well as the inner ledge behind the front tires and just rearward of the tower to frame.
The front sections are usually good.
The ledge in the inner fender behind the tire allows all the road debri to sit and develop into a mud which rots it out.
There is also a few factory punched holes in this location(their purpose still baffles me)that let water and mud into the rail itself rotting it from the inside as well.
I ended up sealing those holes up so that it would stop that partcular problem(not that my car ever sees any rain or snow anyways lol).

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #36 – December 21, 2007, 11:20:49 PM

In other words, if your shock towers look like this, you may have a problem....

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #37 – December 21, 2007, 11:54:04 PM

Exactly,even if they have a small hole,the rot came from inside out.
See how the front of the rail still looks mint but it's toast all the way through right under the tower right through to the other side.
This car was obviously a 2.3 turbo as it is the passenger side rail right near the turbo(excessive turbo heat tempered the metal causing even faster rot) but it happens to v6 as well as v8 cars.
Also like i said,make sure those rear rails at the torque boxes and the boxes them selves are not rotted through as well as the pass side gas tank mount in the rear end valley(it's hard to see without the car being on a hoist but i bet there rotted.
Even my 100k not winter driven TC has a little bit of rust on that mount(not through but still there)reminds me i gotta clean it up and coat it.

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #38 – December 22, 2007, 09:12:01 AM

Thanks for the tips. I'll have my project manager look at it again now that I took more apart. If I do decide to get a different body to work with, Is there anyone here at a reasonable distance that could help me out. the body and interior don't have to be worth saving. but if I could find one with a fairly good running motor and frame I would feel better and I wouldn't mind swapping everything over. the transporting has always been my problem. It would have to be a 87-88 cougar or 87-88 TC (but i'm leaning more towards the cougar unless the motor in the TC is really good)

The more I get into it the more rust I'm finding. I'm all up for a good restore project. But I may be replacing to much of this car in the long run. It now looks as if its getting to be at the 40% mark between body, floor and surrounding sheet metal.
It's not that I can't do it. but I don't want to find the parts that I haven't replaced rusting out in 5 years and trying to fix them the rest of my life.
I really just want to do this 1 time.(until I get another one)

This has been my reason not to weld anything on the car yet. I've only got 12 hrs into this project since september, so I'm not in the position to have lost any time working on it. most of the time was removing the interior and the front end. It would have be done anyway if i got a car to swap with.

Let me hear your opinions and suggestions as I wont be working on the cougar until after the holidays.

Jerry

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #39 – December 22, 2007, 09:35:37 AM

Jerry it's not that we don't appreciate the time and effort you're putting into your cat,it's the fact that you'll will be fighting structural problems very soon and your car is in really bad shape.
I'd hate to see you do all the exterior work just to have the tank fall out or the rear end rip from it's perches(i know because it happened to me after waisting countless hours and 1000s of my own money which should have went into my TC instead of the rust bucket).
Honestly you can find a nice TC or Cougar with low miles and virtually no rust for 3000.00 or so then you'll have a solid platform to work with.
I found my TC up here for 2200 4 years ago.
I know where a mint TC is up here for 2300 without an eng(but when i say mint i mean mint,you could eat off the floors)and a mint 88 cougar with a 2.3 turbo conversion for 3000.00.
There are cheaper cars for less but you get what you pay for.
Around here and where you are(the salt belt)you have to pay a bit more as these cars in good shape as they are getting harder to find for less than 3g's.
If you want to travel to the southern states i'm sure they can be had for cheap with almost no rot but after transporting them back the dollar figure may be about the same.

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #40 – December 23, 2007, 12:37:01 AM

that Turbo Cat is gone Chris... I already called about it.... I was dreaming of it... HAHA, I even printed of a bunch of pics of it to show my parents, "my next project car" LOL

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #41 – December 23, 2007, 01:07:02 AM

Good to know.

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #42 – December 23, 2007, 08:56:25 AM

Keep your eyes open guys. Drivable would be a plus. I won't rule out a Canadian car. but the exchange isn't in my favor anymore. If I can find a drivable one, I'd consider a road trip as far down as alabama/ tennessee. but I would have to ask a favor of someone thats close to where the car was found. (to check it out). spring time Possibly would be the best time of year to find one. the roads would be clear.

Like I said We'll be cutting off some more panels to see what's going on in my car after the holidays
Everything is replaceable, just a matter of how far do you want to go and how safe will it be when your done.

My father in law has replaced and repaired frames in cars before, so thats not a problem here. It would be the how much needs to be factor. which also goes for the sheet metal on the car.

If you don't hear from me ........
Have a Merry Christmas guys, and talk to you after tues.
Jerry

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #43 – December 23, 2007, 10:52:20 AM

I'll keep my eyes on the wantads/craigslist (not that I dont already :hick: ) I see stuff pop up every once in awhile. I know this is across the state but it sure would be closer than Alabama! :hick:

Project Evolution * Project Complete ** Wednesday July 9, 2014

Reply #44 – December 23, 2007, 11:00:32 AM

Yes it would. Thanks