Hi all. Been a while since I've been really active on the forums, but I'm now starting a long ang probably grueling complete frame up restoration on my beloved 86 trans am WS6. This car has always been my baby, and after 3 years of being off the road, and trying to get a picky 355 to run, I decided I wasn't happy with the way the car was going. My work looked half a$$ed to say the least, and I couldn't stand to see my girl like that. About 2 months ago, I decided that was it, and I went off the deep end. Here is the start of a frame up resto. I'll have a TON of pics showing you my progress so make sure you check in often, and even subscribe if you want. I'm starting with an extremely high quality paint job by a local guy that has painted a few show winning cars. He does an excellent job and his prices are good, but I am doing 100% of the prep work. I decided on 2001 plymouth prowler orange for it's nice bright almost candy like color. Other body plans include completely stripping the old seam sealer, pinch welding all the body seams and strut towers and applying new seam sealer, followed by an application of POR15 on the floors and then finally dynomat to replace the bulky musty factory junk. Later on, I will be installing a 4th gen complete interior which I am picking up this Saturday, including dash, door panels, a pillars, & center console. Stay tuned in and this should be a fun project! I'll be sure to ducument it all as well with pics on how I did everything.

First set of pics. . . .I started snapping pics kind of late so this is where I'm at. Car is very stripped and I'm working on sanding the T-top seal area down to bare metal to get all the gunk out.







I need to lay off the beer! Although stress from the car causes me to drink in the first place! Haha.

Looks good. Should turn out amazing. You have a clean car to begin with. Hope everything goes smoothly.

I didn't realize what I had gotten when I bought this car 6 years ago for $2200. Here are some pics to show you that there really is not a spec of rust on this entire car....hard to believe for a T-top car, but I'll let the pics do the talking.


Spare tire well...clean as a whistle!


Drivers side rear quarter


Floorpan is SPOTLESS. You can see just how stripped the car is in this pic, and the drivers door and fenders are off as well.


This spot ussually rots BAD. I have yet to see another car without rust in here. It's the corner of the drivers foot area. I've started pulling off the factory seam sealer too.

Thanks! Me too. Should be an awesome learning experience, and good practice for when I get my 69 trans am haha

Heres a few misc pics I had. . .


Nice and light weight, but you have to Fred Flinstone it!


Stripped interior


Clean tailight area


Instructions not included. Proffesional installation HIGHLY reccommended! LOL

Stay tuned in. I'm kind of in a sanding stage right now...lot's of boring stuff, but when I start stitch welding and seam sealing, I'll take plenty of pics.

WoW ...that is clean. You're MUCH farther ahead then most people on this board. Sweet....

Just an update. Worked on the car after work today, and have almost all of the old seam sealer scraped out. Need to do a little more on the firewall and then it's time to wire wheel it to bare metal. I bought some etching spray paint by a brand called SEM. Paid 16$ for the can, so it better be good stuff!! After the seams are taken down to metal, the etching primer is applied and then the seam sealer goes on top of that, followed by a nice coat of POR15 just to keep everything clean looking and rust free.

I decided against the stitch welding because after asking peoples opinions and doing a lot of research, I found that first off, if you're not careful, you can warp the metal pretty good. Second, when you apply a great amount of heat like that, it gets rid of the factory E-coating, and that makes it even easier for rust to start at the seams. I'm told that with good subframes, you will never need the stitch welding anyways.

But thats the update as of now. I'll have the whole day sat to work on it, and at a minimum, I want to have the seams wire wheeled and the primer on. I'll have more pics soon!

Didn't get as much done as I had hoped today. I wanted to get everything sanded and primed, but I only ended up getting the drivers side done. Wire wheeling takes a long time! Especially getting into all the grooves and what-not. Anyways, heres some new pics of the seams all wire wheeled and primed.


This was with the insulation off and the old sealer scraped off







And thats where I'm at for now. Hopefully the nice weather tomorrow lets me finish this....it's a crappy part of the project, but it will be good in the long run!

Got done what I had hoped to this weekend! Old seam sealer is removed, seams are all cleaned up and wire wheeled, and then sprayed with a nice coat of etching primer. One day during the week, I'll put the fresh seam sealer on and then it's time to start sanding.

I'm getting pretty excited because I can just picture it back in the garage with a nice fresh coat of paint, and everything all brand new! Anyways, enough of my ranting. Here's some pics of the fresh seams.





When I scraped off the old sealing patch from the front pass side drain plug, I noticed the floor was about 2 inches higher than it should be. . .some moron tried lifting the car from the floorboard!!! I took a 2 lbs hammer and pounded it back into shape, and it honestly looks almost factory! The drain plug fits right in nice and snug. Heres a pic of after I fixed it....sorry, forgot to snap one of the before.

Well, today was a busy day! I went to LKQ salvage yard and picked up a nice little 35K mile 5.3 LSx engine out of a 2005 tahoe!!!! It even came with the wiring harness so hopefully I can convert it to work with my set up.

I also got some seam sealing done and should finish the rest this weekend. Pics are definately coming of engine and car. This project is really starting to look good. It feels great to finally join the LSx swap guys!!

As always, stay tuned for updates.

Havn't posted in a while and theres good reason....because I've been lazy, hahaha. Had some motivation to work on the car over the weekend and the seam sealing is completely done. I also pulled off the rear hatch, and stripped everything that was left in the engine bay out. Looks kind of scary being so bare but it will be worth it in the end.

I mentioned in my last post that I picked up a 5.3 LM7 engine, and I just recently picked up a T56 6 speed as well. The parts are slowly coming together and I'm really getting excited that I almost have everything to bolt in an LSx motor. I can't wait for good gas mileage!!!

I will snap pics of the motor as soon as I have it on a stand and cleaned up a little. For now it's just sitting on a palet with the harness all connected. I'll also get some of the cars current state.

im going to start my taredown after my move to south cali. im going to start with the interior and get that done first. the pics u put up gave me somthings to expect thanks.. nice work

glad to see a complete frame up resto. not many people do it these days,mostly cause of money but its good to see that some people care about their third gens this much. someday ill find an IROC and do the same your doing. my cars not worthy lol

ill be checkin in to see progress. have a good one!

Looks good so far. Will look good in the orange and with the LSx. Good luck man.

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So, was gonna finally get some pics up of the progress, but my mother stole the camera for a birthday so I am left with nothing for today.

Anyways though, I appreciate the comments! Just pulled the windshield out yesterday, and today I have to pull the old crap 5 speed out with the driveshaft. I decided that sanding is the biggest headache in the world and you risk ruining the metal, so I am having the entire shell and engine bay soda blasted. Soda blasting is very easy on everything, and will not hurt plastic, chrome, or glass, and it leaves the car in a nice ready to paint finish. Took off my 18" wheels in favor of some nice crappy rollers for the blasting and painting process.

I also have a question for all of you. . .I feel like I have to leave the car white because I have been the white devil on every online forum and site I'm on. It's kind of the cars trademark, and I aslo LOVE white cars. So I'm asking you all, should I do the car something like a cadillac or 350Z pearl white, or the prowler orange? In your opinions, what would look better?

Excellent job so far man!

My '86 is awaiting a frame up restoration as well. (Actually I have 2 '86's worthy of frame up restores, but I have to sell one due to lack of storage space).

I say leave the car white, but go with some form of pearl like you suggested. Keep it true to it's origins. Plus, with that new engine, might make a little bit of a sleeper without the poppy eye catching colors.

Can't wait to see more of the engine work and how the interior comes together.

Well, pics finally as promised. Took the car to the soda blasting place today, so next time I see it it will be a nice shiny ready to paint shell!! I'm getting pretty stoked because now I can get it in primer and start re-assembling some of it once I get it back.

Here it is leaving the garage! And theres my shelby in the back, haha. Who says we have to pick sides?

Bare front end

Stripped interior. You can see the new seam sealer there too. only the exterior is getting soda blasted. There not touching the floors.

And the tow rig. Gotta cruise in style. Big thanks for my buddy who towed it!

Also had a chance to get a nice pic of my suspension goodies up front while it was stripped.



Well, thats it for now. The guy at the blasting shop said it should be done by thursday, so I'll be sure to get pics up when I get it back!

I think I am going to stay white. Pearl whites are such awesome colors because they change with light, and they look great on any car and really accent chrome wheels and new lighting like HID.

Now I just need to decide WHAT pearl white. So far nissan, cadillac, and lexus all have really nice pearl whites, so I'll make a decision soon!

Well, good news! I got the car back from soda blasting, and they did an AMAZING job. I can't even believe how much time this saved me and the paintjob will look factory now since ALL the old stuff is gone. Props to Aqua Blast in Bloomfield, CT and thank you CRAIG!

I've begun hanging plastic sheets to convert my garage into a spray booth. I'm going to get the car into it's coat of etching primer this weekend, and then this project should start to look good! Heres some pics of the fresh metal.


I would have never in a million years been able to hand sand the engine bay to this level. It looks amazing!

VERY clean quarter...just as I had hoped.

And the one TINY spot of bondo on the entire car....I'm guessing from a minor door ding. I have since re-shaped it and it is ready for primer


Stay tuned guys the fun part is coming (not) Haha. I can't wait until the painting stage is done so I can get back to what I do best....mechanical!

are you gonna run those wheels or not? i like em.

No, we just keep them around as rollers. I have a set of 18x8.5 and 18x9.5 rims that are in the first sets of pics on this post that I'll be using. The problem with these wheels is that they are meant for a 3rd gen offset but I have a 4th gen rear, so they stick out pretty good. There also only 15x7 so there not real great for any kind of drag radial because size is limited. Plus one is dented haha.

Well, this weekend I made a TON of progress, and am VERY happy with the results! I got the metal completely prepped and all minor surface rust was ground down, as well as a few very minor spots that the blasting missed I sanded. Got my garage all taped up and sprayed the car with it's first coat of PPG self etching primer. I did it on a rainy day so the air is clean and bugs are non existent, and I must say, there is not one flaw in the paint as far as debris, bugs, or drip marks! I am very happy and now I can sleep knowing the car is not bare metal! Anyways, check out the progress. . .

By the way, for anyone interested, I used an HVLP Iwata spray gun. Paid about 125$ for it and it is by far the best gun I've ever used.




As you can see, the primer laid on very nicely and there is no orange peel!

Here you can see my makeshift spray booth, haha. It gets the job done though!

Another good pic of engine bay. It's nice to start out bare metal like the factory would have.


I was test spraying the prowler orange I was considering today, as I am still undecided on paint, and a few of my freinds that were over loved the color so much they decided to give me a few projects to try it on! It's a beautiful orange and I may still do the car in this. . .

Heres my buddy Travis's valve cover for his turbocharged nissan 240SX. . .he was like a kid for christmas after I sprayed it for him!


Heres 2 of an air cleaner lid I did for my buddy John for his 93 mustang LX 5.0. These shots shoe the color nice!




Such a hard decision!!!!!!!!!!!

Good news. Got the car in a coat of 2K primer about a week ago. Blocked the entire car over the past few days and found a few small dings here and there, and played with the spot on the drivers rear quarter until everything was PERFECT. Now my rear quarters are straighter than factory! Put another coat of 2K primer over the bodywork, and the car is looking amazing now. Just have to wet sand the primer with 600 grit paper and she'll be ready for fresh paint!!!

Before this project, I knew NOTHING about bodywork, and by asking questions on here and doing hours on end of online research, I can honestly say I can't believe I made it look the way it does. Freinds of mine look at the body and say they can't even tell there was ever anything there.

I will be sure to get some pics up of the body lines tomorrow when the car is pushed out into the light.

nice work! i can honestly say you saved your self hundreds of hours of sanding to get it in bare metal. i finally painted my engine compartment after almost 10 months of part time sanding with 3m abrasive disks in an electric drill.....whew! i'd estimate 300+ hours.
have you thought about a bit of orange pearl mixed in with the white? i think it would look awesome! plus, not very many like it. i was going to go that way, but now i'm thinking charcoal grey.

Havn't thought of doing the orange pearl in the white, but I can picture it and think it would look nice actually. At this point, I think I might stick to the prowler orange paint. I just love something about bright colors and it is by far the coolest orange I have ever seen in a base/clear paint.

It's funny too because I was considering a charcoal grey type color as well, like the one the new mustangs come in. Good luck with yours!

subscribing

looking great! You're really doing it the right way :-) It looks like a great body to start with too.

subscribing

subscribed

looking good!

Pics as promised. Here she is in 2K primer.

And heres a closeup of the rear quarter crease line that needed fixing. Came out awesome. Pic makes it look wierd but in person it is perfect.



Thats it for now. I completely stripped the internals out of the drivers door today to get it ready for blasting. Maybe sometime this week I'll get that over there and have a door back on the car!!

Hey all. Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I'm on hold at the moment because the guy at the sandblasting shop is taking FOREVER to do my doors. I'm waiting on a week and a half now, and he is now saying Monday they'll be ready, so another weekend lost. You can only do so much I guess when you are forced to rely on others.

That being said, I may spray and clear the engine bay and start the slow and long process of putting her back together just so I can accomplish something. It's not a real big deal since you'll never see a tape line or anything once the fenders and doors are back on. As always, keep checking back for updates. Hopefully I'll have new pics soon!!

Finally got something done! I decided to mask off the engine bay and spray it so I can get to work on the drivetrain. The cool weather is setting in here in New England and it looks like the paint job will have to be on hold till next spring but in the mean time I can get other things done.

I did end up going with the prowler orange and I must say I am SO glad I did. Will look perfect with an LSx in there! Unfortunately it was getting dark when I took the pics so you can't see the orange really pop in the daylight but I'll get new pics on a sunny day.









I used the flash on the last pic in an attempt to show the orange....kind of worked, but it has to be seen in sunlight. Nice to see something other than primer now!!!

That's an awesome color, should really bring out the body lines. Amazed that there isn't at least a little surface rust in the spare tire tub. My buddies 92 GTA is spotless everywhere but he had just a sminge of surface rust right there, partially under the sealer. And no dents in the floorpan? Mine was abused by an idiot with a floor jack.

That soda blasting sure beats hand sanding, it looks amazing (no one does it here though)

Hey awesome thread man! I just noticed it. I'm from CT too! Is aqua blast in Bloomfield expensive at all? I'm thinking of sending some of the rusty suspension pieces from my 1991 Trans Am 'vert for blasting since they're still good but they're just covered in surface rust and not looking too hot. Do you anybody who does some sort of powder coating? (bad idea to powder coat suspension pieces? i.e. swaybars, coil springs, control arms, etc.)

Hey! Aqua blast isn't bad at all as far as price goes. If your going to blast some suspension parts, I would bring them all at once since he seems to price cheaper if it's all together. For an example, the entire shell cost me 450$ and that was A LOT of work. I also paid 60$ for an entire door, inside and out. I'm sure a few suspension parts would be under 150$ and it is worth it IMO. Theres a place in East Hartford that does powdercoating and ceramic coating. I've had a part done by them before and it came out awesome. The name of the place is Central CT Coatings (centralctcoatings.com) and he's pretty reasonable on price as well. As far as powder coating suspension parts, thats probably the bast way you can do it. Nothing wrong with that at all. It won't flake off like paint will. Good luck!

Looking great man! That orange is gonna be really nice. I wish I could do this kind of restore on my car, but thats gonna have to wait till I get my own place. Haha, my parents wouldn't be too happy with my car in pieces.

Been a while since I've updated. Waiting on some extra cash to start buying parts! Heres some progress though. Pulled the entire front suspension off in preparation for the BMR K-member.









I've since puled off that vacuum canister since I won't have any cruise control. I also plan on cleaning all the old undercoat off and using either POR15 or truck bed coating (an idea I got from twin turbo on here) before the K-member gets installed.

Also got my drivers door on. I replaced the pin and bushings in the hinge and the door has zero slack now. Feels new! Also lined up almost perfect for being a door off another car. I just need to shim the lower hinge to bring the top of the door in and the bottom out just a tad. Then it will be perfect.





And heres the heart of the beast! My 36K mile 5.3. It's a little dusty from sitting but it's a clean engine. I can't wait to start playing with this when the time comes.

subscribing...awesome work so far, keep it up

Thanks for using our parts in your build

Killer color for a 3rd Gen .....

Subscribed. Awesome work! I just did the prep for a paintjob with someone who has been doing bodywork for 6 years now. Its alot harder than it looks and your making it look damn easy. Keep up the good work.

Thank you for making quality third gen parts to use! Ever since I purchased my A-arms I was hooked on your quality. I will now be purchasing your LS1 swap K-member, T56 crossmember, and adjustable torque arm as well as possibly a few other parts as I go.

It's definately not easy, and body work is something I really hate doing, but you learn as you go, and just keep shaping until you get it perfect. It's one of those things that you really can't screw up...just add more filler and re-shape. Thanks for the comlpiment and good luck on your project as well.

Do not use POR15 for undercoating. It's designed to work on rough or porous surfaces like rusty or sandblasted parts. On bare smooth metal or over paint it will not stock, it'll peel off in no time.