Mild Restoration: Start inside, or outside?

[Mucci]

Picked up an '02 in rough shape visually. Mechanically it's pretty solid. It needs a full strip and paint on the exterior. The interior took on water and mold and needs to be gutted and replaced. I'll be doing all the work myself aside from spraying the car and upholstery.

 

I've been trying to rationalize which is better to tackle first, the exterior or the interior? I want to avoid ending up with a bare shell and a garage filled to the rafters with sandwich baggies. I build custom motorcycles in there so I need to be space conscious. I'd like to segment this restoration and tackle it one area at a time. I'm not looking to dump $30k into this, just clean it up to be a nice daily driver. Engine bay and interior will stay the stock paint.

 

What makes sense to take on first?

[rstclark]

Start with a good exterior inspection for rust   Not just surface rust on the body  but structural rust in the rear shock towers  the spare tire well. the side rails the pedal box under the brake fluid reservoir  front of the doors  front fenders  anywhere else you can find it  Floor pans etc.  Rust is the biggest issue  If it's too much,   get another shell before you sink too much money into the car

 

Surface rust on the body is not the end of the world  The interior is manageable too . The mechanics are not too difficult or expensive.  

 

Rust !!  Like Willy Nelson said "rust never sleeps"

[Mucci]

51 minutes ago, rstclark said:

Start with a good exterior inspection for rust   Not just surface rust on the body  but structural rust in the rear shock towers  the spare tire well. the side rails the pedal box under the brake fluid reservoir  front of the doors  front fenders  anywhere else you can find it  Floor pans etc.  Rust is the biggest issue  If it's too much,   get another shell before you sink too much money into the car

 

Surface rust on the body is not the end of the world  The interior is manageable too . The mechanics are not too difficult or expensive.  

 

Rust !!  Like Willy Nelson said "rust never sleeps"

 

Good point. Interior and mechanics can be in shambles and still easily swapped out. The chassis though...

 

I know the shock towers front and rear and spare tire well are good. I'll check out the other areas that aren't solved by replacement panels.

[echappe]

This is kind of determined by how much money you want to spend. Some pictures would help in deciding which areas you want to throw money at

[2002#3]

Congrats on your finding and purchase.  Only after the all-important rust inspection/discovery and you decide to keep the car and move on, you might want to consider playing with the interior.  That's the part you see, feel, and manipulate the most. 

• instrument cluster:  remove, clean, refurbish, secure grounds, replace bulbs,
• carpet:  remove, see if it needs replacing, check the conditions of the fuel lines along the floor of the cabin, and check the condition of the floor pans, foot wells, and pedal box,
• console:  remove, clean, and refurbish 
• headliner and seats:  clean
• doors:  clean and lubricate window mechanics, repair/rebuild door panels/cards, lube locks 
• heater box:  remove and overhaul/refurbish (admittedly, a separate topic)  

All of these improvements are relatively inexpensive, simple (well, uh...the heater box will be an adventure; check the 1,000 posts here re: same), and emotionally satisfying.  You can spend as much time as you want (1 month, 6 months, 1 year...) addressing these areas and having as much fun as you want.  Costs will be relatively low and you will get to know your car that much more.

 

Good luck.

[John_in_VA]

If it's mechanically solid & you feel like driving it, but the interior is roached, I'd start there.

[Vicleonardo1]

Not an expert. 

My priorities. 

1. Make it safe and dependable. That includes stopping rust. 

2. What ever is going to get you in the driver seat the most. If a rough interior keeps you from getting behind the wheel, or the fact you can't stand driving a multi-colored primer kalidascope then address what ever bugs you the most. 

 

Because an  02' that sits is not a good thing. 

 

Congrats and enjoy. 

 

Cheers! 

Edited February 19, 2017 by Vicleonardo1

[LikeStig]

Pictures of your car would be ideal. If it has been resprayed you never know what to expect.

 

1. Put the  car up on jackstands, go to the rear wheel wells and look at the structure which the shocks mount to; you should see two sizable drain holes. Feel around the inside with your finger, feels pretty solid in there? That is the inside of the cavity which often gets rust cracking through in the trunk. I wouldn't be too surprised to feel some corrosion, if you stick a shop-vac in there you'll spend 5 minutes sucking up random crap. Buy some rust encapsulating paint, spray/dump it in there and move on. Run your fingers around the lip of the fenders where the inner fender and outer panel attach. If you hear any crunches as you squeeze around the circumference there is some doable, but less-than-fun metal work to be done. Do this on both sides.

 

2. If you happen to have an "inspection camera" or access to one you can inspect the frame rails pretty easily. Pull out the rear interior cards on each side of the rear seat. At the bottom of the cavity is the frame rail. Drill a hole and have a poke around with the camera. Looks good for another 10-15 years? Good half the battle is won.

 

3. Look up around the front clip of the car which the radiator attaches to. Any corrosion? If the outside sheet metal is good then all is likely well. Inspect the cavity areas which are below the grill area. Inspect where pieces of metal are joined/overlap. Although hard to get to with the fenders mounted- pull the front wheels off and inspect the inner fenders. Look at the rear mounts, and take a close look at where the fender wraps around the grill structure on the front clip. Corrosion is expected, but if these areas in the fender well need attention you will probably need to pull the fenders which adds more complexity and cost to a respray.

 

4. Take a look around the general underside of the vehicle, especially along the frame rail and subframe mounts. Some corrosion is expected but nothing which weakens the structure of the vehicle.

 

I think after doing this you will have better perspective on whether the bodywork is a project you want to take on. Interior is much easier and will put your car out of commission for the shortest amount of time. I think so long as there aren't any problems found in the frame rails or in my 4th point- going ahead with the interior should be fine.

 

[echappe]

If the front seats are ratty looking and you're not into originality, You can find a pair of late model buckets seats at a junkyard. VW or Mazda seats with a little ingenuity and fabrication skills can be modified to work and can often be found for around $100

[Stevenc22]

As long as you dont plan on pulling the motor for the repaint, then i would

 

1) Mechanicals. Get the car fully finished mechanically that way you dont scratch up new paint doing a brake job.

 

2) Exterior. Get the car fully painted.

 

3) Interior. You dont want over spray or paint dust all over a new interior so do that last.