Paint and bodywork guidance

[jgerock]

38 minutes ago, JohnP_02 said:

Any ideas on how to deal with rocker crust on the seams? It’s not rusted all the way through or enough to have to replace them, but how else would you get in there without at least cutting a hole in the side? Or do I need to consider replacing? 
 

 

 

I could only wish an older car I bought looked like that!  My car had outer rocker rust in several places so the shop patched it. 

[popovm]

On 9/11/2022 at 11:36 AM, JohnP_02 said:

 

 

This pic cracks me up. My car also looks like it was dragged through a rock garden at some point. Do I blame weed in the 70s or coke in the 80s for this? 

[Son of Marty]

I'd blame the 80's, going into turn 4, the grass looks smooth but it ain't. The 70's would have been fine?.

[JohnP_02]

Almost ready to head out to the bodyshop. Just need to remove the glass and dash, basically everything else is out.

 

 

A couple questions, I don’t think we are doing to do anything inside other than clean and tidy it up. Its super dry, the paint is still gorgeous inside, and seems a waste of time money to try and remove all the sticky stuff under the carpet just to say I did. There is absolutely zero rust in the floor pans.

 

Will take out all the glass, but thoughts on just leaving the door glass in?

 

Any idea wth is going on here? The top of front side engine bay was “chewed” off and they put some rubber seal over it. I forgot to take a pic after I removed it, but it’s horrid like hacksaw ridge horrid. I can’t imagine that will be easy to repair. Maybe get a replacement piece from a donor car? 
 

 

Also, the headlight buckets had these gaskets on them I’ve never seen before?!?

 

 

 

[slowbert]

1 minute ago, JohnP_02 said:

 

Will take out all the glass, but thoughts on just leaving the door glass in?

 

 

 

 

The window seals are a big leak point, and it never hurts to refresh them with new ones.  Also, you will need to remove the windows if you are going to replace the headliner.

 

Better to take the glass out in my book.

[Conserv]

 

20 hours ago, JohnP_02 said:

 

… Also, the headlight buckets had these gaskets on them I’ve never seen before?!?

 

 

 

John,

 

A thin gray feather-edged gasket sealed the gap between the headlight surround (a fixed component of the grille) and the asymmetric headlight filler ring (a component of the headlight bucket assembly). As have your car’s gaskets, illustrated by your photo above, most of these gaskets have hardened, and many have disappeared entirely by now. The gaskets have been NLA for decades. Thus, I see most cars assembled today without the gasket. Hell, I suspect 40% of the deep-grilled ‘02’s today don’t even have asymmetric headlight filler rings… 😯😳🤫

 

The photo below shows a gasket in ever-so-slightly better condition.

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

 

[bergie33]

On 9/6/2022 at 7:07 PM, Son of Marty said:

To me the one spot on the car where I can spot all but the best repaints is where the rear roof pillar meets the body, it takes a lot of careful sanding to match the original body line. There are also several shadow lines that can be sanded to the point where they just go away. I'm sure your at the right shop but it takes time to get it right. I would ask to see the body after the primer coat goes on and close your eyes and see with a light touch with your finger tips.

Bringing this topic back, as it has been on my mind.  I think it would be nice to have some good pictures, from different angles, of these subtle, yet important body details.  Such as this location that is mentioned by Son of Marty at the bottom of the C-Pillar, and the other "shadow" body lines in the door panels, rear quarter and the roof.  Are there other subtle details that might get forgotten?  After looking at the body work that was done by the PO on my car, one of the roof lines has disappeared and one is not very noticeable and one of the rear quarter panels doesn't quite look right.  I want to try and reclaim these, but several good pics would certainly be helpful to me/body shop.

[1936spyder]

Roof shadow line and lower body shadow line just above the black knee trim. I can take more pictures when I return to my car.

[JohnP_02]

Thanks for the bump @bergie33 and @1936spyder! 

 

We only have the glass left to remove this weekend and I will be trailering it to the shop next Monday. 

 

I think the only way to make sure that those lines stay visible is with proper block sanding to try and reproduce the single-stage paint effect. I am hoping to convey this when I bring the car up next week along with areas where the rust may be hiding. I need to add that to my list as well.

 

 

[1936spyder]

I’m sure that others can send you better pics of the aforementioned shadow lines. My car wears two stage paint and was not a bare metal re-spray so the paint is a little thick. But for what it’s worth:

[JohnP_02]

Just received the initial set of pictures and the work has begun (yes, they will be removing the fenders). I am in regular contact with them and looking forward to monitoring the progress. I am sure some issues will come up, but excited to see things get started and wanted to share a few pics. I believe the rusty panel is the front valence.

 

 

 

[jgerock]

I’m case you haven’t already told the shop…add the upper seat belt anchor.

[Pdxguy]

On 9/9/2022 at 10:57 AM, Rakearch said:

 

 

 

 

I did remove the US side markers and converted the wiring from USA to Euro as I found original old stock harnesses so IM not a total Purest.  I also made the 5-spead swap. 

Off topic resurrection to an old thread. When you converted from a US wire harness to Euro, what were the changes/adjustments you needed to make? I inadvertently purchased a new harness only to realize it was for a 1974 Euro 2002 and I have a 69 2002. 

 

Thanks,

Dennis

[Conserv]

10 hours ago, Pdxguy said:

Off topic resurrection to an old thread. When you converted from a US wire harness to Euro, what were the changes/adjustments you needed to make? I inadvertently purchased a new harness only to realize it was for a 1974 Euro 2002 and I have a 69 2002. 

 

Thanks,

Dennis

Dennis,

 

I suspect the differences between any 1974 harness (square taillight, Modell ‘73, 12-fuse fuseholder) and any 1969 harness (round taillight, pre-Modell ‘71, 6-fuse fuseholder) are far far greater than any differences between a Euro and a U.S. wiring harness of a given year.

 

If you were comparing a 1969 Euro and a 1969 U.S. harness, I’d venture that the differences were minor. The two may have even started with the same part — I haven’t checked the parts catalogue yet — and simply used or didn’t use certain runs of wire, e.g., for sidemarker lights.

 

If you’re dedicated to installing the 1974 harness in your 1969 — and, yes, there were significant upgrades that occurred over those five years, such as relays on headlights — you need to understand that you’ll need to fit the 12-fuse fuseholder, and twice as many circuits. I’m certain it’s been done by others, but the current hole in your left inner fender will need to be modified.

 

My point? You may be opening a can of worms. You may, indeed, want to open that can, or you may want to leave that can sealed. Other alternatives include repairing your existing wiring harness or finding another wire harness closer to your car’s year. I’d venture that a 1968 through March 1971 wiring harness — Euro or U.S. — will be quite similar to yours. And a December 1968 through March 1971 wiring harness will be very similar.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[Mikesmalaga72]

If using newer fenders etc... Perhaps during nose panel repair...Mock up the front grilles to the grille openings so fine bodywork matches them, and turn signal assys to fender body work to assure there is no gap is at the bottom of the t/s assy. Install assemblies and fine tune the body work drilled screw holes.