Melanie's R/T

[stansblue72]

As some of you know we bought a 76 aspen r/t to restore for my daughter to take to shows with us.
I thought I should start a restoration thread for it.

Looked pretty good on the trailer, but when we tore into it some we found some bad areas.
Here's our plan:
Get the rust fixed in the engine bay first.
Next prep the engine bay for paint and paint it.
Install the motor and get it running so we can move it in and out of the shop easier.
First thing we started fixing was the hood mounts. We have the drivers side done and are now starting on the passenger side.

So here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

Drivers side hood hinge area.

Cleaned up some, but not as far as we went.

And the area fixed to best of our abilities. :tongue1:

So now it's on to the passenger side.

 

[jasperjacko]

Thats good, you're getting after it. Are those s-10 wheels? They look good

 

[stansblue72]

We haven't figured out yet what the wheels are. We're hoping to find some center caps for them someday.

 

[res1vw21]

Gotta love it when someone doesn't prep before they paint...

 

[stansblue72]

Yeap, we're sure glad we decided to pull the fenders.

 

[ramenth]

Think I'd be pulling more. Where there's some hidden rust, there's bound to be more.

Looking forward to seeing the transformation take place on this one.

 

[bremereric]

That's a typical rust area for these cars. Glad to see it wasn't worse. Pull the carpet and check the floors. Also have a real good look at the frame rails.

 

[BHA43]

Thats good, you're getting after it. Are those s-10 wheels? They look good

s-10 WOULD BE 4 3/4 CIRCLE INSTEAD OF 4 1/2

 

[stansblue72]

That's a typical rust area for these cars. Glad to see it wasn't worse. Pull the carpet and check the floors. Also have a real good look at the frame rails.

Checked all that out before we bought it. The frame rails are good and the only part of the floor that is bad is on the passenger side. There's a little rust under the tail lights too.
The left lower rear quarter needs some loving also and because of a bad trunk seal there is some rust in the trunk.

Is there any place that sells sheet metal for these?

We did drive his asking price down quite a bit because of the stuff we could see.

 

[bremereric]

No aftermarket sheet metal except for frame rail caps and rocker panel patches. Get a hold of FbodydeconstructorJim for some nice used sheet metal and floors.

 

[stansblue72]

Thanks Eric I'll check that out.

 

[roadrunnerman]

your rust in the hood hinge area is the same as my wife's volare so i will have to keep a close eye on your rebuild.take lots of pics so i can follow it when i get the chance to work on it.

 

[bremereric]

Thanks Eric I'll check that out.

Rocker panels were found on eggbay and the frame rail caps are made by Auto Rust.

 

[stansblue72]

Found some rust right above the heater core hoses at the fire wall and behind thr brake booster.
We're going to strip the paint in the engine bay to make sure we get all the rust.
I'm going to have to get some more sheet metal, anyone know what gauge metal they used on the fire walls?

 

[roadrunnerman]

Did you check under the cowl and the little rubber drain flaps.I know my wife's car had alot of leaves and crud sitting in there from not being able to drain.