Where to start...

[Fletcher]

It's here at long last and I'm trying to figure out where to start.  I have some ideas but am certainly open to others.

Mechanically, @rocketman who installed the engine/drivetrain over the last couple of weeks and drove it here (~760miles!  Much gratitude, Bill! ?  ), told me I need to replace the ignition coil (recommending Bosch blue core w/ internal resistor) and the ignitor(?) I think (pertronix was mentioned specifically in regard to this and looking on their site for my 02, ignitors is what they offer) as it's idling rough and misfiring a bit while driving.   Will confirm with him on that later.   I have a complete list of repairs going back to 2007 that has been done to it mechanically.   Which is cool as I know what's already been replaced in the relatively recent past.

The leading edge of the hood is shot. the rot visible in the photo for the passengers side goes all the way around (hence why the trim is missing - it's in the trunk).  
Thinking fiberglass replacement is the quickest solution there.  Thoughts?  Sources? I've looked at IE & AIR.  Bill said someone here on the FAQ was making nice carbon fiber ones.  I'll poke around unless someone knows who he's talking about there? 

Replacing the fenders with fiberglass was also suggested, but they look salvageable to me unless there's issues there I just haven't looked close enough to see.  The tops and bottoms of the doors though need help. 

The rot under the passengers side window is significant - it's holed right above the hood and the rust goes up under the seal and the pillar on the drivers side at the base is in similar shape.  Is that something people generally fix on their own or is that fabricator territory? 

The diving boards are coming off.  I'll reclaim several square feet of garage right there.  

Interior wise: 
The dash is cracked. 
There s a couple bulbs out in the instrument panel
The speedo is needs to be recalibrated to show the correct speed (currently ~15mph under - 75mph actual looks like 60mph)
The boot for the stick shift is missing.
The front seats are drivers side Recaro (mostly foam, fabric is gone) and stock (passenger) needs attention.
The carpets and the headliner need some love.
I haven't tried the sun roof.  It's little rusty on the outside.
Radio still works
And the heater/fan both work

It won't be registered / insured for a bit, so I'm in no rush to get it on the road.  I think I'll take the trim and the bumpers off and try to address the surface rust and oxidation as best I can while formulating plans for more serious work.

 

[AustrianVespaGuy]

So honestly, I think the starting point for this particular (rusty) car is to start stripping it to determine if/which bits of metal are going to be salvageable. I'm assuming it's destined for some sort of paint before too if you decide you're keeping it.  So get all the trim, bumpers, etc. off and then start pulling panels where you can. Next move inside to the interior, cluster/dash and carpet.  It's easy-peasy to bolt the drivers seat back in if you actually want to drive it around some in the mean time, but with the exterior looking like that you really need to get down to the floor metal for a thorough examination and probably some sort of repair.  In parallel while your working on/needing a break from the body refurb, you can work on the electrical stuff, especially while some of the interior stuff is out of the way.  Remove what you don't want (emissions bits and the annoying seat belt buzzer, for example), and clean up/update the stuff you want to keep.  Check out my article on how to upgrade the headlight wiring to a MUCH better/safer circuit.  Once you're in there and have gotten a feel for things, you can then start thinking on if you need/want to progress further to things like glass, engine, transmission, subframe, etc. removal or not.

[Fletcher]

To add some context, this is a California Car

It's just a San Francisco, California car that's spent much of its life near the beach.  

That is to say it hasn't rusted from the inside out, but rusted primarily from salt air landing on it.  It is structurally sound and has been thoroughly inspected by Bill at Road Rockets, Sonoma Raceway in California.  He pulled Its engine & drivetrain and then parked it out in a field in Sebastopol with a tarp over it some time ago, intending to make it in to a race car eventually.  When he learned I needed something to keep me out of trouble, he graciously put it back together and brought it to me.

 

[Mike A]

Sorry to be so doleful and hopeful you haven't invested too much in this puppy but it's appearance on the face it classifies it as junk.  The rust looks to be distributed pretty much all over the entire car and I don't think you have found it all yet. For me the rust makes it a parts car. But if, for some reason I was keen on salvage, the approach would be complete disassembly and a proper strip with a goal of making it a reliable track car or street rocket, although the sun roof would make that problematic. As you know there are lots of folks here who do this as a livelihood and can give you perhaps better advice but mine is you can't begin to understand what you have until its down to bare metal.  

Edited September 9, 2020 by Mike A

[airborne85]

Fletcher

 

That's an absolutely beautiful car..Rust is relative especially Bay Area rust......You can probably run that thing without fail for the next 10 years with or without the rust..

 

Have fun. You've saved a good'un

 

All of my 02's have Bay Area rust. All of them run great and the rust is sexy......Some folks call it Patina

 

Enjoy the car..Fix the rust someday...if you'd like..

 

For me I'll be driving my rusty daily driver to work tonight...like i stole it?

 

ira

[Son of Marty]

I think it's going to come down to whats underneath if it has a equal amount of rust on the bottom you'll have your hands full on the other hand if it's just surface salt rust you'll be ok. 

[Mike G]

Rust is lighter than carbon fiber.
 

I’d start by taking off that wind deflector for the sun roof. Treat the rust with some ospho and drive it for a while to decide what route you want to go. 

 

that’s not a hole in the hood, it’s a cold air intake. 

[Guest_anonymous]

C.D.iesel once said in a post to me (sort of) if you get all your parts at a junk yard you'll have a junkyard car. I'm ok with that still 21 years later.

Run it till it breaks, do what you want. They are all not going to be restorations.

[Fletcher]

More pics
 

[Fletcher]

1 hour ago, airborne85 said:

Fletcher

 

That's an absolutely beautiful car..Rust is relative especially Bay Area rust......You can probably run that thing without fail for the next 10 years with or without the rust..

 

Have fun. You've saved a good'un

 

All of my 02's have Bay Area rust. All of them run great and the rust is sexy......Some folks call it Patina

 

Enjoy the car..Fix the rust someday...if you'd like..

 

For me I'll be driving my rusty daily driver to work tonight...like i stole it?

 

ira

 

Thanks, Ira!  That's awesome!

[Mike Self]

Yeah, that's classic salt air rust...they tend to rust from the top down, while road salt cars rust from the bottom up.  The sound rear wheel arches and lack of rust down the front fenders' trailing edges, plus the rusted out hood leading edge and fender tops are classic coastal salt air rust patterns.  Also check where the C pillar meets the roof, and the tops of the doors, just under the window sill.  Salt air cars rust there too.  That's why you never buy a car that spent the first half of its life in Michigan or Ohio or Pa before the owner moved to Houston or Miami.

 

If you can weld (or know someone who can), you can make lower door skins and weld 'em on.  Make the seam under the knee molding and you won't have to spend a lot of time smoothing the seam.  Same with the hood--if you can find one that damaged/rusted elsewhere, you can graft on the leading edge skin to the hood frame--and in the process learn how to MIG weld.  

 

So long as the floorpan, inner sills, front and rear subframe mounting points are as sound as the rear inner wheel arches, your rust is "mostly" cosmetic.  You'll need a parts car to fix that rust around the windshield, though, or you're gonna have rusted out front floors sooner rather than later.  Do that first--even if it means slopping some roofing cement in the rust holes--before you drive it in the rain or you're gonna have an aquarium in your glovebox, and wet pants legs.

 

Go for it--and save another orphan!

 

mike

[irdave]

Assuming you're going to keep this one and work on it yourself (not pay a shop to deal with all the bodywork)...

 

And since it's currently running and maybe just needs a couple of ignition bits...

 

I'd offer- just do one little thing at a time.  Starting with the ignition to make it run better.  Often when one takes 'everything' apart it never goes back together.  Hell, I might go register and insure it so you can drive it.  And then one little bit at a time so you can keep driving it.  Like Mike said, need to get the holes sealed up by the window, but the hood and fenders?  I would just get good used ones.  That's not true- if it was me, I'd get a good used hood and box flare that guy- but that's me.

 

Projects are fun and fixing stuff is fun, but driving it is more fun.

 

Personally, I try to limit my projects to being able to have it back on it's wheels at the end of the day- way less overwhelming that way.  And I can drive it.  I like driving it.  Have fun.

[Fletcher]

4 hours ago, irdave said:

Personally, I try to limit my projects to being able to have it back on it's wheels at the end of the day- way less overwhelming that way.  And I can drive it.  I like driving it.  Have fun.

That sounds like an excellent way to go about it.  Thanks!

[Dudeland]

I love the look of it.  Make it water tight, make sure that the structure is ok and protect the patina.  Rev to 9K and repeat. 

 

 

 

 

[irdave]

4 hours ago, Dudeland said:

 Rev to 9K and repeat.

 

Did I miss something?  That thing have an F20C sitting in it?