The Lazarus Project: The end of the chapter.

[Vegafan]

Then after the disappointment of not getting the exhaust removed and on a slightly more humorous note, it is kind of helpful when the car wants to help you tear itself apart. But not in the way that you had planned...



It isn't all bad though, I have a compass/thermometer auto dimming mirror ready to replace it. Also I finally went to start test fitting piddly stuff like this....

[bs009]

Looks like the mirror mount came off? That's good in your case because the compass/autodimming mirrors don't seem to mount up tight enough on the older mounts. newer mirrors snap in place rather than clamp in like the old mirrors. I'd try to find a newer mount if you can.

[Vegafan]

Well, that part isn't going to be a problem. I just have to remove the glass from the mounting piece. I never thought I would break a windshield to get a part, but I left a nice circular mark where it used to be.

[Vegafan]

Dang, I hadn't realized how long I have gone without updating this. Sadly I can't give any progress at the moment but please stay tuned, because things are being prepared for a build thrash here in the next few days.

[Vegafan]

Finally! Something resembling progress.

I will admit that I have been slacking on actually repairing the car due to some last minute plans, but in the mean time I have gotten my hands on a few parts that should make things more interesting. As always though, the process revealed more cringe worthy stuff.

Draining the fuel line, after breaking it with my hands


Then after removing the pieces that I had put in over a year ago to keep some water out of the car.








More progress should come tomorrow.

[tytotheler92]

Oh wow. The rust really got to it, eh?

[Zeik75]

Yeah thats pretty bad, not completely gone but defiantly not an easy fix.

[MattStrike]

Cut that rot out while you can, and weld or rivet in patch panels. Otherwise it will just spread and get worse. You will want to make sure to seal the patch up as well, paint, and of course new undercoating in the wheel well side. For the frame rails, check out something called evapo-rust.

[Vegafan]

Sadly I will admit that this wasn't something I really wanted to revisit, but yes the car does have its hidden secrets. These were pieces that I riveted in a couple of years ago trying to keep the water out, but I made the mistake of buying aluminum rivets. The other thing was that I could never get the patches to seal completely, no matter how much sealant I added. When I started pulling the car apart, some of the rivets started falling apart. So far the plan is to weld in some fresh steel in certain parts of the car to make it watertight and to stablize the car. Also thank you for the suggestion, I will be looking into it since removing more rust can't hurt.

[MattStrike]

Lowes has a polyurethane roofing adhesive, in the caulking section, that will work for this. It's a low hardness adhesive. Once it dries, it won't let go, and is flexible so it won't crack. You can paint over it with undercoating/truck bedliner too.

[Vegafan]

As always thank you for the suggestion, MattStrike.

But on to today's update......please pay no attention to the goofy person in a couple of the pictures.
I finally got the exhaust off of the car. Like the rest of the car though, it too has seen better days but future plans call for its replacement with something a bit newer. The bolts holding it on did not want to budge or even cut easily with a dremel so out came the trusty hacksaw.



Finally after about 20 mins, the offending bolt had been severed and victory was mine!



Surprisingly though, the rear manifold restriction that many speak of regarding the LN3 was not all that bad in the case of my car... but it will still be cleaned up before it goes back on the car.



More updates tomorrow...

[Vegafan]

Since I didn't jump on here yesterday, me and a couple of friends finally dropped the fuel tank. I had to cut the straps since the bolts didn't want to come out... But in the process of dropping the tank, I found that the car had already had an EVAP delete... mother nature style. The line was rusted away at the hose coming from the sender.



As always though, the cringe worthy find of the day..... rear rubber brake hoses dated 1/90

[Vegafan]

Progress!

Today began the uphill battle to rid my car of some of the rust damage... sparks flew and dremel wheels died as more and more of the inner fender came out of the car. I ended up taking more of the inner fender out than I wanted to, but the more I cut into things, the worse it was looking.



The final result of all of the cutting and the grinding.



Then the first step in the right direction!



More progress should be coming soon, as long as mother nature permits

[Zeik75]

That actually cleaned out fairly nice. I would suggest a light coat of spray paint in those areas it it will sit for any amount of time, that will start surface rusting pretty quickly.

[Vegafan]

As long as the weather holds for tomorrow, I am planning on getting the pieces tacked into place and put some of the pieces in primer.

[Zeik75]

Thats probably fine, just if its gonna be a couple days or something paint wouldn't hurt.

[95naSTA]

Nice progress on the rust clean up.

[Vegafan]

The last time I updated, the largest spot of rust damage to the inner fender had been removed. Today, I finally had a chance to begin the process of rebuilding the inner structure. While I will admit the welds aren't that pretty, they are solid.

The first part that went in, that braced the inner fender.





My nice clean partial template..



Then the new shiny..



I have done a bit more welding on it, but there is a long way to go. The second part of that panel though is putting up quite a bit of a fight.

[Zeik75]

What kind of welder are you using for that, i would assume a mig but is it gas or flux?

[Vegafan]

The welder is a Lincoln Weld Pak 100 with MIG conversion. It has a C25 tank attached.