GP rebirth chronicle

[91GPSTE]

I've decided to fix my GP...finally. Wasn't sure on what I was going to do with it but decided to try and get it back into great shape. I started off today with body work and it was worse than I expected. The spot that was bubbling up under the gas cap turned into a large hole a few inches wide. I managed to get the bumper off partially...broke every bolt that held it in place. Patched it up and now waiting for the bondo to dry. Second rust spot to take care of was on the hood. Ones again another hole that was patched up. While trying to take the rear bumper off I discovered that my bumper support pretty much rusted through in the middle. Would be nice to get another one but I will leave it for now. Other rust spots include door bottoms and fender bottoms but there are no holes, just paint came off. Gonna get those painted as well.

 

After all the body work is done I am gonna move onto the engine. Probably new valve seals and head gaskets. After that I am gonna try to see if I can do something about my sun roof leak. Finally I will get my headliner glued back in place. Hopefully it will be back to it's near mint shape in a few weeks.

[5speedz34]

Yeah, I thought your car was mint!

[GP1138]

Damn, man, I've got painted over rust under my gas filler. I really hope it's not a hole, but I'm betting it is. I may not have the car long enough to fix it, though, you've got a much nicer car than mine.

[91GPSTE]

Yeah, I thought your car was mint!

 

It was but after driving it this entire winter it no longer is.

[SigEpCutlass]

Did you forget to ever wash anything off of it and trash it the whole winter? That's really accelerated for things to rust or rust through if you ask me.

[91GPSTE]

Did you forget to ever wash anything off of it and trash it the whole winter? That's really accelerated for things to rust or rust through if you ask me.

 

Haven't washed it a single time. I think it had some rust before from the previous owner, it just didn't show up until soaked in salt.[br]Posted on: May 03, 2006, 09:31:21 AM_________________________________________________Spent most of today sanding and reapplying bondo to the car. The quarter panel is looking better every time. The hood is almost perfect.

[1990lumina]

Cool, yeah I agree of the rust. I did minimal washes on my Lumina and it definately shows.....but since I'm demoting it to rainy days and winter time it can rust all it wants. I'm gonna fix the rot on my driver's door before it goes right through, but that's all.

 

Good luck with your car dude!

[91GPSTE]

Thought I would take some pics. Body work on the hood is almost completed, quarter panel is getting final touches. I started fixing the sunroof seal as well. Wish I had taken the before pics to show how big of a hole there was on the quarter panel.

 

[jeremy]

that looks purdy

[Heza]

all i gotta say is...Bondo is NOT designed for filling holes. it is designed to level imperfections in body panels to make a perfectly straight car. Bondo with holes only leads to problems from hell a few years down the road.

 

not trying to be an ass at all, but just putting out my $0.02 as i have done my fair share of body work and know Bondo's failures.[br]Posted on: May 06, 2006, 09:24:55 PM_________________________________________________quick followup since i forgot for my last post....

 

that Grand Marquis actually looks exciting with those pipes in back! how does it sound?!?!

[digitaloutsider]

Ditto on the Bondo stuff. Believe me, I know firsthand with the Grand Prix..

[91GPSTE]

I am not filling holes with bondo by any means. There are metal patches on both the hood and the quarter panel. I am using bondo to smooth out the surface and prepare for painting. The red stuff is spot putty.

 

As for Grand Marquis, those are Marauder non resonated tailpipes. They don't do much as far as sound goes. I have stock mufflers on there and with engine mods that I have it sounds slightly louder then stock. Quiter then Mustang GT but louder then stock Grand Marquis.

[91GPSTE]

Finished painting the hood this morning, gotta wetsand and polish it in a few days. Still working on the quarter panel. Will probably be painted by tonight.

 

The sunroof seal was redone as well. Hopefully no more leaks. BTW where are the drain holes for the sunroof located? I heard they are only in the front and none in this rear, does this mean I have to park nose down all the time?

 

On another note, I started it up this morning and it was running what felt like 5 cylinders. Gotta do something about that motor soon.

[91GPSTE]

Finally got it painted. The hood got sanded and polished though not 100% perfect yet. Quarter panel still needs to be sanded and polished. Engine is next.

[slick]

Looks good, but the only bad thing I will say is that you should have cut out the bad and welded in good metal. The bondo may not last that long.

 

But, atleast you haven't given up hope yet with your STE.

[97loudcut]

curious how the paint matches up in person.

 

looks good though

[91GPSTE]

I did cut out all the rusted metal and riveted in the new one. Bondo was only used to smooth out the surface. The paint doesn't match 100%, you can even see it in the hood pic. It has a tint of purple to it. it is all unifolm, just the color is a bit off.

[slick]

I did cut out all the rusted metal and riveted in the new one. Bondo was only used to smooth out the surface.

 

[Regal_GS_1989]

Princess Auto Paint sprayer FTW

 

Looks like you did a good job

[91GPSTE]

She is all done...body wise anyway. I guess I can go take some pics now, eh?

[91GPSTE]

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

That doesn't look bad at all!!

 

What brand/model of sprayer do you have?

[91GPSTE]

Too lazy to look up the sprayer model but I got it at Princess Auto in Toronto.

 

BTW started engine work this morning. Was just wondering, if one of my plug wires is bad, would I get white/gray, ash type deposit on the spark plug?

[ns87]

You make any type of body work I've tried in the past 5 years seem easy as cakewalk lol. Looks great

[91GPSTE]

Since I still got my old motor laying around in the garage, I decided to see how hard it would be to replace valve seals on my new motor. So I took the valve covers and heads off the old motor and discovered that one of the head bolts was broken. When I got the car the old owner told me that he had the head gaskets replaced. When I pulled the heads, the gaskets looked like they've never been touched and the rear head was tightened so hard that it was still a factory install. Guess whoever worked on his motor, fucked him over. Broke one of the bolts and didn't bother to continue.