I decided to take on my very first restoration, and I just so happened to discover 2002’s this year.  So the search on fb marketplace began and one popped up that was in my budget.  I was all to excited to find one I could afford, and it was running and somewhat drivable.   The idea was to have a driver I could work on and enjoy driving at the same time, but those dreams were quickly squashed. I neglected to really dig into how bad the rust was, and it turned out to be really, really bad.  I have clue how this will turn out, but I’m gonna try.  Even if it drives sideways down the road, it will run again. Here she is the day I got her. 
Even the dog approved. 
 

Then the tear down began. I got it up on some jacks and pulled the tires and fenders off.  That’s when I noticed what should have been obvious when I bought it.  The frame rail is toast.  Cracked from a collision and rotted completely under what used to be the driver floor pan.  

 

At this point I realized this just became a resto and not a drivable project.  With the frame needing fixed the motor had to be pulled, and with that I just decided I’m gonna strip it completely.  And thank god I did because I just kept finding more bad.