My '71 02 PROJECT

[jerry]

well, here goes. as probably happens more often than admitted to, my small refresh has turned into a full-blown project.

A little background: I bought this car last february because its engine was freshly rebuilt (<20K per PO) and it appeared to have minimal rust for these cars. the car is relatively stock except some minor upgrades from the PO. My intent is to keep this car essentially stock with perhaps the following exceptions: move battery to trunk, reinstall missing swaybars, bilstien HD's, repaint using the non-OEM dark brickred paint that is currently on the car (could be granada or granarot, perhaps). install 5spd.

According to MT this car was made July 19, 1971. This will be my 2nd extensive refurbishment I've done. The first was a 1974 '02 that I did back in 1994. Enough time has passed to have forgotten the pain.

I plan to reuse any and all parts that appear useable with my criteria being, effect of failure, difficulty of replacement. With this mindset, I would consider reusing a wheel cylinder, whereas I would always replace subframe bushings. I would consider reusing a good used front windshield gasket but would not reuse a used rear quarter gasket.

This car will not be a show car but I hope to make it a good '10-footer'. In the hope of speeding things up a bit, I am seriously considering sending the body to a paint shop to free up some time. I have another '02 to do after this one.

I've attached a few photos that show general condition at this point. I've been busy cleaning and repainting miscellaneous parts. It is well worth the money to have parts cadmium plated. I started this effort by completely disassembling and salvaging a crashed 02 with 5spd. All those parts were cleaned, blasted and repainted in preparation of reinstalling on this car. The parts removed from this car will likely end up on my next car....

By including my project in a public forum I hope to accomplish two things: bragging rights,

peer pressure to keep me on topic and perhaps encourage others to post

[robspeed]

thats how to restore parts!! cant wait to see more i wish i had the time and patience to do lisa's underpinnings like that. I did fully strip and repaint her front subframe (after STOUT reinforcement), but lost patience and energy when i got to the backside of the car.... looking forward to more progress on your project!!

[jerry]

work is proceeding slow and mostly on weekends, but i've tackled a couple hurdles since the original post. I've actually practiced MIG welding with my 'new to me' Craigslist Craftsman welder. I used the beat up fender I'm replacing as my learning tool. Additionally I sorted out the used air compressor that's been sitting around since buying it 5 months ago. Next up is a go at sandblasting next weekend if the weather's good. before stopping for the day I cut my rusty spare tire well out, to be fitted with a spare purchased from 2002AD last march. it'll probably be several hours of cutting, filing and nudging the replacement in place. i definitely am aiming to butt-weld it in place. we'll see. i'm alarmed at just how THIN the spare tire-well sheet metal is. hopefully, there's enough material from the rusty one to patch up another tire-well I have, for the next car (waste not, want not...).

[jerry]

well, it's been a while since posting, BUT, i have been busy. thought i'd save up before posting again. in the interim i've sucessfully welded the spare tire well in. not the prettiest welds but should be easily hidden with seam-sealer and paint when finished.

BiG TIP: it would have been MUCH easier to cut the spare tire well oversize and merely drop the new one in IF you are lucky enough to have a lip to hold it in place. unfortunately, the folks at 2002AD did not see fit to provide enough lip (in spite of request at time of order) so i had to spend a lot of effort to make a snug fit. it required two additional cuts inorder to squeeze the new tire well in the opening. these slits were welded up and ground to shape.

NEXT UP is the front nosepiece. i've cut and fitted two patch panels to size. i would have welded them in place but decided that i'd better metal-prep the remaining rust. this entailed powerwashing with soap to remove as much residual grease followed by phosphoric acid spray. i'm currently letting it soak while i update this post.

upon drying i will use POR-15 on the inaccessible areas covered by the patches. the backside of the patches themselves will receive a coating of cold galvanizing compound prior to welding.

[jerry]

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted any progress. I've been busy doing a lot of little rust patches. it's tedious work and the quality of my welding leaves much to be desired but i am seeing some improvement. i rely heavily on my cheapo craftsman grinder.

i've spent quite a bit of time on the passenger side front fender. truthfully, if this were being done in a shop it would certainly be cheaper to replace it with new, but my goal is to reuse as much as possible that is original. i've already committed to replacing the driver's side door and fender (a tough decision cuz it means loosing the original VIN tag on the door...). the front fender suffered earlier bondo job which i spent some time hammering and smoothing. i'm hoping that it will require less filler this time. my quarter panel also appears to have thick bondo as well. we'll see when i get there. till then i've added a couple older photos for completeness, put some recent work.

[jerry]

more photos showing some of the small patches i've been doing. also included is a photo of some of the metal bits i've cut out. this car actually is not really that bad as far as rust goes, so far.

soon, i'll be stripping the paint and preparing for epoxy primer.

[jerry]

just an update as proof i haven't given up on this. most work occurs on the weekends. i'm almost through with the strip to bare metal (or nearly bare metal). the following three photos show progress to date. i've got one more little rust patch to put in the nose section.

my biggest surprise is how incredibly straight and rust-free this car actually is under the paint. a PO really put on some bondo thick and i was expecting the worst. fortunately, this car is in great condition and should be somewhat easy for me to tune my body smoothing abilities with.

[jerry]

(nt)

[jerry]

i took the suggestions from this forum to heart regarding the thoroughness of paint stripping that i still needed to do. that in itself set me back another month and a half of weekends to get ALL the paint off this car. i've been reading up on painting as well.

the following pictures show the first step in the paint process: epoxy sealer on the fenders, hood, doors and trunklid. i hope to lay some bondo on tomorrow. additionally, i'll be sanding and preparing the car body for its coat of epoxy sealer. all this sitting around under a cover outside doesn't help w.r.t. surface corrosion.

additional work to date since the last posting has included rebuilding my rear trailing arms, more cleaning and painting of parts and removal of suspension and installation of temporary wheels for the body to roll it around.

[jerry]

here's a couple photos for completeness. i haven't accomplished nearly as much work as i had hoped for this long weekend, but i did actually use my HVLP gun for the first time. baby steps i'm sure, but forward progress nonetheless.

[TMK-001]

Looks like it is coming together very nicely!

What sort of cat is Ramone?

He looks just like Tabetha... she doesnt belong to be, just visits frequently while her owner is out.

[jerry]

it's nice to know i'm capable of learning on the job. last week i sprayed the fenders, doors etc only to find fisheyes.

after spending a couple hours over the course of several days with solvent cleaner and clean rags, i'm happy to report absolutely NO FISHEYES this time. additionally, the finish is not as shiny and more of a matte finish this time. i think that is more of what the sealer should look like.

i actually had to get on my back to paint the rockers and the rear section by the exhaust.

i hosed the floor prior to spraying which i think helped. i'm very pleased with the results. i'm going to get additional lighting when i apply the actual base coat/clear coat. admittedly, there were a couple thin spots i found only after emptying and cleaning the gun. oh well.

btw, i'm using an Accuspray gun with 0.9mm tip. i bought this used on ebay and had to completely clean and rebuild it before using. i'm happy with it so far. don't have any other gun to compare it with though.

[TMK-001]

Nice progress! I am hoping my car is at this stage right now as well!

Did you say you hosed the car out? Does that mean you added water? I hope not. Blow out with a compressor and use a product by PPG called Prepsol... that will clean the surface perfect for paint.

Todd

[jerry]

Did you say you hosed the car out? Does that mean you added water? I hope not. Blow out with a compressor and use a product by PPG called Prepsol... that will clean the surface perfect for paint.

Todd

no, i didn't hose the CAR out, i hosed the floor of the shed down to minimize any airborne dust. it seemed to help, too. i wiped the whole car down with wax and silicon remover prior to paint and it really helped.

btw, i like your friend tabitha. she does not look amused at your attention, at that moment. i also like your choice of Polaris. that is the color i want to paint my tii when i get to it after this car. actually, this car is 'training wheels' for that effort... my tii is originally Malaga. i come to like this color more and more, but one car is enough and i've always liked the smart looks of Silver and Chrome on these 02's.

[TMK-001]

Thanks :-) I certainly love silver and mine is originally silver, so I had that bonus. Maybe my next one will be a different color. Who knows.

Now I understand what you mean with the watering of the floor... while I have been over working on my car in the paint shop, I have seen them do this with a simple watering can. They have a concrete floor in their booth rather than the grate with the water underneath and they swear by it after years with a grate and water filled booth floor.

Keep us updated, it looks like it is coming along very nice!

Tabby always looks cuter in real life than she does in pics, she is a bit of a dram queen when the cameras come out :-P

Todd