All the regret - 81 Trans Am

[sweetbmxrider]

Them layers tell some stories

Sounds awesome, da **** is Craig wearing?

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

Them layers tell some stories

Sounds awesome, da **** is Craig wearing?

Haha. Yea it's lived through some bodywork. Metal is good so that's all that matters I suppose. As for what he's wearing, I call that his incredible hulk shirt lol.

[TaKid455]

Looks like nitro stain (reddish) in there. Watch that stuff as it shrinks and F's up your finished product. Its a old product that is no longer recommended.

OE colors looks to be Nocturne blue. Nice color.

I may have a set of tails if yours are bad. A buffer works great for the lens. Just watch the heat build up.

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by TaKid455

Looks like nitro stain (reddish) in there. Watch that stuff as it shrinks and F's up your finished product. Its a old product that is no longer recommended.

OE colors looks to be Nocturne blue. Nice color.

I may have a set of tails if yours are bad. A buffer works great for the lens. Just watch the heat build up.

Thanks for the comments on the red stuff. Our current plan is to strip it completely and go from there. We do not want any crappy product or prep screwing with the new paint.

The one tail light had some significant cracks but my Dad did a nice job with the repair. They will get some VHT nightshade as well.

[WildBillyT]

Blue Dragon? Ha ha.

[IROCZman15]

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

Blue Dragon? Ha ha.

HAHAH perfect!!
(although thats probably the scene my neighbors see happening in my driveway several times a week!)

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by IROCZman15

HAHAH perfect!!
(although thats probably the scene my neighbors see happening in my driveway several times a week!)

I have no room to talk after a few driveway burnouts

[sweetbmxrider]

Originally Posted by Blackbirdws6

Thanks for the comments on the red stuff. Our current plan is to strip it completely and go from there. We do not want any crappy product or prep screwing with the new paint.

The one tail light had some significant cracks but my Dad did a nice job with the repair. They will get some VHT nightshade as well.

Might want to wait and do a couple drops of black in automotive clear, longer lasting and nice finish. Just an option/opinion.

[Jersey Mike]

That man's rattle can work is better than some of the paint jobs I've seen at car meets

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

Might want to wait and do a couple drops of black in automotive clear, longer lasting and nice finish. Just an option/opinion.

There are a few coats of clear put over top the VHT. It will have that shine brah. Good tip though.

Originally Posted by Jersey Mike

That man's rattle can work is better than some of the paint jobs I've seen at car meets

He wasn't happy with the rattle can efforts on the body. Not that he expected amazing results but he painted in high temp, high humidity and basically it was flashing as it hit the panel.

[Blackbirdws6]

It's only been almost a year so why not toss up an update.

The winter stalled major progress on the car but my Dad is back on it just about every day. The body work is pretty close to complete but still requires some final fitment/sanding/etc. It's pretty crazy but my Dad, who is 60 years old mind you, has been putting in 10-14 hr days almost every day for weeks. The attention to detail is pretty crazy so I'm hoping the results come out after all this diligent prep. A couple images below are my dad "working the body line".




My sister took this pic of my Dad on father's day. Dad didn't know it was being taken as he would have brought his gut in a bit. I still like it.



Upon the previous assembly effort, we didn't see it at the time but 4 mid/rearward body mounts were not in good shape. There wasn't much point to continuing with body fitment until we know the body and frame are in happy harmony. Luckily I had purchased solid aluminum body bushings to remedy the issue. Sadly, replacement of them was not as easy as I had hoped. The "mid" mount on the drivers side has a pad off the frame for the bushing to sit. Well the center of it had rotted away so that wasn't going to work. On the other side, the bolt was rusted to the nut in the body so the head decided to snap off. I did get the rear and front bushings replaced but that wasn't going to be good enough.

After some deliberation, we hooked up with a local certified welder to give a hand. Off came the front fenders and wheel wells for access. Luckily, no cutting of the body was needed and they were able to get the old nut/bolt free from the car. I purchased a repair kit from UMI for the frame work which worked beautifully. They burned that in so not the bushing on the drivers side has a place to sit. The other side was easier for them so all was well. Of course it wouldn't be that easy though.... When the fuel line was moved out of the way for welding, it decided to spring a leak. While my Pops wasn't pleased, I saw it as a good thing to happen now vs later.




The fuel line was removed with plans to run a fresh one from front to back. In the mean time, we took the opportunity to have our welder friends install the subframe connectors. These could have been bolted in but its nice they got welded. The chassis should be in good shape now.

This is hopefully the last week it is at my house before it goes to the paint shop for some color. Right now there is a lot of fix/prep work being done under the hood because once all the body is back on, it will be a pain to get to those areas. Most notably this includes refurbishing/replacement of the HVAC assembly, run the new fuel line, and replacing spark plugs. From there, the body will go on for final fitment/prep before it's time to get it to paint.

There is a ton of work left to do but the paint will be a huge step. I have a ton of pics saved to a Google Drive acct so all the progress will be made available for those who care to see it later on.

[Jersey Mike]

Phenomenal. Love hearing that every day Joe's are overhauling these things for themselves versus all the Barrett Jackson bound TV shows. Good on him!

[WildBillyT]

Looks great!

Are the door hinges in good shape? Now's probably a good time to replace pins and bushings, and 2nd gen doors are stupid heavy.

[LTb1ow]

https://www.mcmaster.com/#isolation-mounts/=1djl2j9

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by Jersey Mike

Phenomenal. Love hearing that every day Joe's are overhauling these things for themselves versus all the Barrett Jackson bound TV shows. Good on him!

It will never cross that block but this is definitely a built not bought situation.

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

Looks great!

Are the door hinges in good shape? Now's probably a good time to replace pins and bushings, and 2nd gen doors are stupid heavy.

Yep. I rebuilt all of the hinges. You aren't kidding about these doors. They are absolute monsters.

Originally Posted by LTb1ow

https://www.mcmaster.com/#isolation-mounts/=1djl2j9

Thanks pal. If this quiets down the roudy fuel pump, pops will be very very pleased.

[LS1ow]

Your dad is such a boss.

[ThoR294]

looks awesome. I hope to do this someday with my dads 72 442

[IROCZman15]

Awesome progress. He’s doing a great job and hats off to him for the hundreds of hours of hard work

[wretched73]

Originally Posted by ThoR294

looks awesome. I hope to do this someday with my dads 72 442

I picture you and you're Dad fully restoring a 1992 Toyota Camry

[sweetbmxrider]

Originally Posted by wretched73

I picture you and you're Dad fully restoring a 1992 Toyota Camry

[ThoR294]

Originally Posted by wretched73

I picture you and you're Dad fully restoring a 1992 Toyota Camry

We have a 92 Dakota close enough

[Blackbirdws6]

Big progress yesterday. My Dad's friend, Dave, swung by to give a hand with putting the body panels back on the car.....again. Everything lined up much much better this time. I guess it helps to make sure the body doesn't move independently from the frame LOL. The hood/fender/door line at the top is pretty damn good. There might be room for some slight final tweaking once reassembled after paint but it is certainly acceptable.

Dave was giving my Dad some pointers on "working the body line" so now that everything is where it needs to be, Pops will finalize the body work so its one step closer to paint.

[sweetbmxrider]

An action shot! Looks great from here

[LS1ow]

Stopped at BLS HQ other night to drop off some tires, Father BLS didn’t even notice I was there due to focus on work. Phenominal

[edpontiac91]

AWESOME EFFORT to stay on track. Nobody here has mentioned the silent killer "THE WEEK FROM HELL" with temps over 100* with the dew factor factored in. God Bless Him, I could NEVER work under those conditions!