81' FB restoration
 

Hello everyone,

Well this started as a ill timed radiator leak. I was about to head down to the Lake Hartwell Lakehouse meet in Ga and the day before th erad starts leaking. I missed the meet and got the itch to restore the FB.

A little history on the FB , I bought it for 500.00 dollars:D I had seen it under a car port for a couple years. Then one day I saw someone outside and stopped in. Long story short 500 bones and I drove it home.

So Far I have put 20 bucks worth of U-joints in the Driveshaft, New rotors and pads up front, and a set of HTR 200's in the back.It went for 15k miles this year before the rad problem!! Awsome little bugger. best 500 I ever spent.

So far I have gutted the enginebay in preperation for a good cleaning, sanding priming and then paint. All teh suspension pieces up front will be pulled and painted as well. All bushings will be replaced, etc..

Here is the start of what I did in the last 24 hours. Past the point of no return!!

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Not bad for a few hours work removing 28 year old rusted body fasteners!! More pics to come as I do more stuff

Another 1/2 hour and the engine and trans are out of there home. And man it is dirty:D

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Got the entire engine bay gutted. Steering box and shaft and all. In a couple days I will have it up on stands and drop the front suspension and cradle. Also I will drop out the drum rear end in preperation for the LSD disc brake rear end:D

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taken with my jetpack!!
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I am pretty excitedabout getting to do this finally. Even the wife is into it...the planets are in alignment:D

See, that is why I love FB's. You can tear them apart in no time, so simple!!

Good look, and can't wait to see the results!

My only complaints so far is that 1) The main harness is a mile long and has to be pulled back thru the firewall.( Seriously thinking about doing a bulkhead conector) and 2) The clutch master nut(top one) is almost impossible to get my big ass heands into with any tool. Other than that I am really liking the FB

Some shots of the little parts after a coat of POR15. So far the clutch master and slave, brake booster and master, battery tray, and heater hose pipe(not shown).
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EEEEW!! 28 years of grimey build up!!
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Here is what happened after cleanig. Much better looking. Still have the oil pan to clean better and paint tomorrow. Also the radiator shrouds are in 3 coats of rustoleum for rott stop( out of POR15), Then tomorrow they get primered, sanded and sprayed in black base/clear coat. Should be slick.

The engine I am leaving all Aluminum colored until I rebuild it. The water pump will be black and the alternator and The intake manifold are getting color matched to the enginebay. Sanding the enginebay tomorrow as well. Got it nice and clean with the pressure washer and SG. Hopefully doing the tranny as well tomorrow, lots on the plate though. It will be Aluminum as well. Still shooting for a completed enginebay by next weekend hopefully. I still have the cradle and suspension to tend to paint wise as well. And the rear axle...It never ends!! But I love it. Kinda sick

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Some shots of yesterday and todays progress. Rust taken off to bare metal and spot primed to stop flash rust.

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2 coats of sealer to start things off. Hopefully shooting primer tonight. We'll see how it plays out.

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so i take it your going to restore it to originalish color

Hot damn. If I had another car, I'd be motivated to rip mine apart and clean it. This thread is motivational

No not original colors. It was a white car to begin life. I got it and cleaned up some rust spots and removed and filled the badge holes etc.. I then put it in a coat of black epoxy primer. ( which it still is in)
The car is going to get a 2 tone job. The enginebay and topp of the car are going to be a PPG Brilliant orange. Similar to the 350Z and Honda VTX cruiser bike color. The bottom half of the car is getting a gloss black( On the fence about throwing some small copper flake in it as well)

Hopefully I will spray the enginebay tomorrow. I still need to wetsand the primer down tonight or tomorrow morning. Then it is ready for color and clear. The wheel wells are going to get a truck bed coating or a rubberized undercoat of some sort. As will the entire underside of the car eventually.

I just got back from a buddies house 20 minutes ago with the GSL disc brake LSD rear end that is getting put in. As well yesterday I got the full RE-Speed(energy suspension) bushing kit. Installing those bits as well next week if all goes well.

well i was incorrect, lol

Here is the initial pics of the newly aquired GSL rear end. The chunk is in the garage, just forgot to take a pic of it. I did a quick wire wheel on the right side of the axle to remove the rust. Then it started raining and I covered it up and came inside:D Going to POR15 it and then some gloss black. with a color matched center I think. 100 dollar rear end is a good thing. Now I have disc breaks and LSD. I already refurbished the GSL M/C and booster to go with the new discs.

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Really great post, I can't wait to see the finished car.

Good job man - I like it when somebody takes the time to do it right, reminds me of somebody I know... ;)

Cant wait to see the orange... I've thought of doing an Orange FB... not sure if I can do the bright orange though...

^ Thanks man, I enjoy seeing your metal work skills as well. And the time involved. It is never appreciated. The orange is really more of a copperish orange than the Grabber orange from GM so to speak. Here is a shot of the color on the cap for a sense of the shade.

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Just came in from the shop, I ws planning on spraying some color tonight. My guns had other ideas. In the last few days of working I must have forgot to thuroughly clean my guns....now I must work hard to clean all the crap out of them. I hate dumb mistakes:(

Ah - thats a good shade of orange. thats more what I was looking for.... cant wait to see it!

Is that paint a mica or larger flake? What gun are you using to spray it?

Awesome job so far. I love seeing someone putting in the time and effort to bring one these cars back to life, rather than just driving it into the ground and throwing it away. Most people would ask why you bother, but we all know they're stupid and just don't understand :). This is a real inspiration, I'm trying to do the same thing with my FC.

The paint is a mica paint( pearl paint, same thing) My priginal color choice was the "copperhead pearl) used on the show trucks when they built the C10 truck. Problem is it is 230.00 a quart!!! So I did some flipping thru the color books and found this. I hope it turns out like I planned.

As for guns, I currently have just some cheapo HVLP guns. I believe they are made by DevilBiss. They work OK but I really want a couple anesta iwata(sp?) guns. My buddy switched from SATA jet to those and loves them. $$ guns though. But they do nice work on getting the product to the surface you are spraying. Much like any paintwork, it is all about the prep. I have seen some awsome paint from a 40 Kobalt gun from Lowes

Yea - I just have a cheapo HVLP that I intend to use someday on an FB project... havent cracked it open yet. Paint is something I dont have enough practice with just yet...

Where you spraying the Por15? If so how did you like the product? I'm leaning towards using their stuff and it's hard finding people who pony up for it and to get impressions from them.

I like the product. So far it has worked well. I buy it in the quart form and actually apply it with a traditional hand brush. About a 2 inch brush works well. The main thing is you still MUST remove as much of the rust as possible. It can't work miracles. It is a inhibitor I believe more than a rust converter/transformer. I took everything that had rust down to bare metal and then put it on. Scuff it with a scotchbrite pad and prime over it. Then prep as normal/needed.

You can use a spray gun to apply it as well. I just have never needed to do that big of an area. I think a quart is about 40 bucks at my paint shop;)

I applied all my POR15 by hand as well. Used a 2" foam brush and small roller... turned out ok. I didnt like it at first as it seemed VERY easy to get runs, once I got the hang of it though I was pleased.

I used their semi-gloss which turned out glossier than expected, but still looks nice!

Yeah, the POR likes to run pretty quickly. And I also have found that thye foam brush works better as it doesn't leave bristle marks.( As I found out) I fear major runs if sprayed. I'll try it one day.

I have the color layed down and it looks pretty nice. I have a couple areas I don't like, but that is due to not hitting the tight areas well enough when wet-sanding. I can live with it for the time being. Laying clear in a little bit tonight. Tough engine bay to paint. I need to get a mini HVLP gun now. It would have made the job alot easier getting to the little tight corners. I'll go snap some shots of it with just the color on it now and post them in a few minutes.

Thanks for the comments so far on the project. I still haven't addressed the leaky radiator:D I may throw a S4 rad in there as I have access to one. We'll see.

Dave

May as well go w/ the S4 radiator since you've gone through this much trouble.

Cant wait to see the color :)

Like I said. It is not perfect. But for a quick budget resto, I think I will proceed. Although the flash really shows where I didn't get good coverage. Afraid of runs if I went closer or longer in those tight spots. hopefully they will not be to embarrasing. The wheel wells and shock tower inners are going to be blacked out. Either truckbed coating or rubberized undercoat.So is the bottom of the frame rails and the trans tunnel area;)

Here are some color shots. No clearcoat on it yet.1 quart of color, or 3 good coats.
Opinions on whether to proceed are welcome. Or try to cover the few small areas.

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Looks really nice actually - I love that color now even more.

The only areas I would attempt to get more coverage on before clear would be the areas behind the headlights leading into where the rad shrouds go. Since you'll have those nice black rad shrouds there, it'll make a nice sharp line in the paint and with the hood up it would great... other than that I think you're good.

Most people will just be impressed at how clean the engine bay is and the fact that its cleared. Only you will really notice the "bad" spots...

Yeah, Those are the spots that bug me the worst. I know I will see them everytime I lift the hood. So, I did not clear it yet and will redue those spots and maybe the frame rails a bit further back into the tunnel area. I have come this far I might as well spend 1 more day getting full coverage. Time to head to a friends paint shop and borrow a mini gun and some advice on the touch-up procedure.

I was impressed with the color as well. Thanks for the comments, it confirmed what I already knew I needed to do;)

Dave

That copper looks a lot better than I thought. I like it a lot.

Well, I broke out the old mini spray gun I had about 8 years ago. Broke it down at 3 AM and started soaking it in cleaner for the day. Got back to the house around 3 and did some touch-up work with it in the few spots that were still showing primer. I haven't used this gun in like 8 years as stated earlier, so I was rusty as it is a conventional pressure gun instead of HVLP. But, I think it worked out alright.

Then I layed down 2 coats of clear. Ran out of clear after 2 coats:( I usually like to do 3 minimum) Waiting for the smoke to clear so to speak. Then I will snap some pics and post them up.

Nice.... yea, we went w/ 3 coats of clear in my engine bay.... a little added protection against fluids, lol. Although 2 will still be better than the stock paint....

Here are some shots. I had a couple small runs that I may attack with the razor blade. They are on the passenger side. Still didn't get the "bad spots" perfectly. I think I need a airbrush to get in the real small areas. I'll live with it.

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Man I just really noticed that I need to clean the shop up bad after the last couple days of working.:( So sad. I hope I am doing the rotary gods happy with my undertaking. Reassembly of enginebay starts in a couple days after a good curing.

Looks really good - the spots I noticed before look touched up and the rest you will probably never see... good job man!

Made some progress today. I got a new puppy last Friday so my time has been busy trying to tame the poop/piss factory that is a little dog.;) Anyways, Applied 3 coats of "Plasti-Cote" truck bed liner. ( A gallon was 43 bucks) I used a 2 inch brush to cut in the corners and then a 3 inch roller to do the rest of it

A word on this, It is a absolute mess to work with. I like the end result, but it gets everywhere. Cleans up easy though. Also be warned it WILL come thru the seams at some points and the open holes into the enginebay. I taped all them off and was glad I did. The strut tower seams still leaked when I did the inside of them. Wiped it off easily. I also "pinned" the door hinges in preperation for removal to paint the inners and jams. Pinning them is drilling holes in the hinges so that when you re attach the doors. You stick a few "pins" ;) into the holes and the doors are lined up rite off the bat.

Also, cleaned the crossmember, steering box, Motor mounts, steering shaft case, lower control arms, sway bar, and some steering links.. Then I sprayed them with gloss black rustoleum as I have used on all the other black parts so they match.

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Looking good... what kind of "rust prevention" or protection does the plasticoat offer? Not that I dont like POR, but i'm looking for something more "rough" to undercoat the belly of my FC and that stuff looks pretty rough....

I would guess that the prevention abilities are limited to just keeping water off of the metal. I did it to protect from rocks and debris. More than that though it just gives a nice contrast in colors. And it looks more industrial rather than just a black spray bomb or base/clear. Really "most" of it will not even be visible to the outside world. As the inner fenders cover much of iit.

The truckbed coating is imprgenated with lots of plastic chunks. Which gives it the textured appearence. I am going to do the remainder of the underbody eventually. I need to get the car road worthy in the next week or so.

labor Day weekend update#1

Making good progress today. I have the crossmember, lower control arms with RE-Speed bushings back in place. As well the sway bar mounts are in place but will be removed to actually mount the sway bar when it is dry enough( couple hours more) The struts and knuckles have been painted black as well as the debris gaurds.

Also I have installed the clutch and brake m/c's. That is the worst part of the whole job to me. I am a big guy at 6'2 and 2-210 lbs. So contorting myself into inverted chicken wing stance sucks:D But it is done.


Ah yes, I can't forget that I re-wrapped the entire enginebay wire harness main section so far. The plug on leads are next( Starter, etc..) That took a long ass time as well just sitting there burning thru 2 roles of electrical tape. But it is mucho bettero!! Lots of pics to come later on tonight. It may even be on the ground on it's wheels tonight. We'll see.

Still to do:

Clean and paint steering linkage parts.
Paint the tranny aluminum to match the engine.
Paint all the little brake line hold-down thingymabobs.
Install the engine and trans
Paint the headlight motors and brakets.

Something else,....hmmm, oh yeah fix the bloody radiator or replace it :D

Pics as promised. Just a few shots of the progress. I like the way it is coming together with the color combo.

Master cylinders installed.
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crossmember,steering linkage, steering box installed
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Swaybar mounts, swaybar, and crossmember again
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new swaybar end links, cleaned and painted suspension bits
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I ended up painting the tranny black, as that is what I had here and did not feel like going out to the store just for Aluminum color spray. The engine and trans will go in tomorrow. The headlight motors and brackets will be painted tomorrow as well.

Next big pieces to spray are the underside of the hood, brake calipers Front and rear. Then I will drive it for a bit as I am needing a FB fix bad.The next big thing will be the new LSD rear end with Disc brakes once it is cleaned and painted to match the car scheme.