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OK so I finally began tearing into the front end of my 91 T/A 'vert. I don't plan on frame-up but I just want the car to look good. I picked this thing up early August and now it's time for the winter fun to commence. Gotta keep a 17 year old occupied you know?
I just started tearing into it at around 4:30 this afternoon and finished (more like stopped) at 10:30 at night.
OK so here's the driver's side front brake, suspension kinda rusty, what do you guys think:
Not liking the looks of that brake line... your thoughts please:
I started working outside but it suddenly started raining (clear skies earlier... thanks New England) so I crammed the car into the garage lol.
I kid you not... this was the sky literally minutes after I pulled into the garage... f-bomb heard 'round the world.
Got the driver's side inner fender along with gfx off. Fender became rotted where it hides under the gfx:
I hate my garage... so cramped, gonna move the car into a bigger place soon hopefully:
Finally some real progress (unscrewing those bolts was KILLER!)
This was the same spot where I showed you that rotted fender earlier with the fender off. Fortunately no rot, just surface rust.
I really botched the job of removing this gfx thingy... I didn't know it was glued in... D'OH. Oh well, it was kinda messed up already (someone hit a curb or something) Gotta find a new one:
Last edited by musclecar70sfan; 10-14-2009 at 08:26 AM.
Looks good! Is that a birds nest in the pass inner fender? WTF?
The main company that makes fasteners is called AuVeCo. Just google them and you can find lots of their ditributors, you can get a whole 2"thick catalog, and just overload yourself with fasteners in bulk. Usually a box of 25-50 screws goes for around $5 from a distributor. There's a place in KY that I deal with and they always have good prices. And these are the same fasteners that you buy in the stores in packs of 5 for $2.99. And the same ones that are used on the cars on the assembly line.
Good luck on the search for front GFX, also keep in mind that the black plastic deflector under the GFX is also impossile to get, so make sure you don't throw it out or something.
__________________ 1992 Trans Am "RARE 92" ----- Jamaica Yellow, L98, 147K, All Original CA car 1991 Trans Am GTA ------------*2,800 miles*--1st Place Stock, TA Nats 2009 1992 Trans Am "PMD 92" ------47K, Best of Show, ThirdGen Fest 2008 1989 Formula 350 "PMD 89" ....Sold.... Redline Performance Machines
I hope not! Well for now the project is being slightly delayed, I may have to put the car back together temporarily so it can be road worthy for a quick trip to another garage, and I wanna take it to a shop that can weld in a new battery tray (how much should I expect to pay?). On top of that it's college application season... yay! not.
I'll be making slow progress on it. However I did buy a car battery charger to use for that special rust removal method (where you dump water/baking soda into a bucket and put in your rusty part, attach the negative clip to the piece and the positive clip into the water). I might start on that tonight just to see how it works out. I have this tuesday and wednesday off from school and hope to make some progress then as well.
And thanks for the info RPM WOT L 98 about the fasteners.
And I've seen countless parts cars on craigslist so I don't think that finding those gfx pieces should be too hard?
Oh and I'm kinda facing a "moral" dilemma. I want to simply replace both front fenders with non rusty pieces (kinda rotted underneath the gfx as in the pics^^^). But my dad is saying that it'll spoil the "all original" feel of the car, since we wanna keep it that way. He's saying to just get rid of the rust (or have someone weld it) that's already there and it won't matter whether I do a perfect job or not since its covered by the gfx. And I also am replacing the hood since it looks like a branch fell on it (he's telling me to keep it and fix it as well). True, the car will practically have a new front end since I wanna replace the hood and both fenders, but I don't think I have the skills/patience to fix those weird dents on the hood and I don't like the thought of bad metal on the fenders. What are your thoughts?
EDIT: I forgot to mention that if I do replace those pieces they'll be the exact same as factory.
Wont ruin the value at all. In fact having rust free fenders that have not been tampered with will probably increase the value if you wanna look at it that way. Just do yourself a favor and DONT buy aftermarket fenders. They suck...period. I tried about 5 different aftermarket fenders for my camaro from different manufacturers and they all fit like crap. I finally gave up and found someone on craigslist selling two GM replacement fenders for 50 bucks. I jumped on that and havent looked back.
Made some more progress today:
Got the passenger side fender off.
Remember that crud built up behind the inner fender on that same side? here it is cleaned out and with some random plastic piece I found buried in the crap.
Wow talk about rust. You know that little bracket that holds the front end of the gfx in? Mine COMPLETELY rusted away, the only thing holding the gfx on with those bolts and boy that was not fun at all. The other side is pretty intact though. I believe that these pieces of rust are from that bracket:
Got it outside on ramps since the weather was so nice and I wanted better ventilation for sanding rust. Rolled on perfectly now that the bumper is gone:
More....
Here's the belly... doesn't look perfect but I think I'll leave it for now except for perhaps the swaybar links and steering links.
I guess the only "rotty" part on the suspension are the swaybar links:
Battery tray is rusted to hell, gotta find someone to weld that up for me.
I might replace the horns now that I have the fender off, I don't see any other way to change em. They work but they have a coat of rust on the outside and I'm afraid they'll eventually fail as a result.
Began sanding the rusty areas under the fenders. I gotta take the wheel off to finish it.
I wasn't expecting or hoping for those holes to open up from sanding. Oh well. Cosmetically, it doesn't bother me since it gets covered by the gfx anyway but I guess structural integrity is my greatest concern. This is the only bad part on these frame reinforcement things (other side is perfect). What do you guys think? I don't see why it shouldn't hold up. I'll probably put bondo on it just so crud doesn't get inside. Or I might get it welded.
OK anybody know anybody who does decent welding at a good price in central connecticut? For now I need a new battery tray welded in and perhaps that rot in the pic above. Please shoot me a PM with the info if you have any.
I would not repair the fenders, just replace them with good OEM ones.
Take care of the front GFX, all those parts cars that you speak of are all missing the fr GFX, or they are broken. Trust me, I am looking for a set of good used ones for my JY car, haven't found them yet.
I wasn't expecting or hoping for those holes to open up from sanding. Oh well. Cosmetically, it doesn't bother me since it gets covered by the gfx anyway but I guess structural integrity is my greatest concern. This is the only bad part on these frame reinforcement things (other side is perfect). What do you guys think? I don't see why it shouldn't hold up. I'll probably put bondo on it just so crud doesn't get inside. Or I might get it welded.
OK anybody know anybody who does decent welding at a good price in central connecticut? For now I need a new battery tray welded in and perhaps that rot in the pic above. Please shoot me a PM with the info if you have any.
Def get those holes fixed the right way. Thats your built in subframe connectors from the factory. Only verts got em.
Still no clue what it is. Is that some sort of filler piece that goes in the wheel well to keep crap from building up behind the plastic inner wheel well? Why not answer his question rather than playing the ..."guess what this part is" game.
Still no clue what it is. Is that some sort of filler piece that goes in the wheel well to keep crap from building up behind the plastic inner wheel well? Why not answer his question rather than playing the ..."guess what this part is" game.
Yeah that picture isn't doing much for me. Maybe zoom it out a bit and circle that part in MS paint or something. But my car seems to have the power antenna in that spot, and it seems to look different overall. Is that a camaro perhaps?. I temporarily put the front end back together since the weather is nice and I just wanted to spend the last few warm days of this year topless in my T/A.
Yes, it is a Camaro, but his car obviously has the same piece, since he is holding it in his hand. The rubber flapper that is on mine in the pic is missing off of yours. It is there as a drain for the water that is pushed down by the wipers. Look at the piece in the pic I posted, (imagine it without the rubber flap), and hold yours up next to the pic I posted and you'll recognize where yours goes.
Subroc, I was trying to be helpful. No need to get upset because you don't understand. If you go take the plastic liner out of your PS wheel well, then look back above where the engine wiring harness comes out of the passenger compartment, what you will see should look a lot like the pic I posted.
Subroc, I was trying to be helpful. No need to get upset because you don't understand. If you go take the plastic liner out of your PS wheel well, then look back above where the engine wiring harness comes out of the passenger compartment, what you will see should look a lot like the pic I posted.
Now the peice is circled:
No, being helpful would have been telling him (and everyone) what it is right then and there, not asking him to guess. The reason i got upset is you were talking down to him for no good reason. And yes i do admit i didn't know what it was which all the more reason to just to come out and say it in the first place. Ive been around these cars for awhile so if i didn't know what it was chances are there are others that didnt as well. Next time just come out and say what it is rather than sitting back feeling good that you know something that others don't.
Yes, it is a Camaro, but his car obviously has the same piece, since he is holding it in his hand. The rubber flapper that is on mine in the pic is missing off of yours. It is there as a drain for the water that is pushed down by the wipers. Look at the piece in the pic I posted, (imagine it without the rubber flap), and hold yours up next to the pic I posted and you'll recognize where yours goes.
Subroc, I was trying to be helpful. No need to get upset because you don't understand. If you go take the plastic liner out of your PS wheel well, then look back above where the engine wiring harness comes out of the passenger compartment, what you will see should look a lot like the pic I posted.
Now the peice is circled:
Oh gotcha. Hmm well does that mean I should avoid driving in the rain? Considering you said that's a drain.
Oh gotcha. Hmm well does that mean I should avoid driving in the rain? Considering you said that's a drain.
No, it should be fine to drive in the rain. There isn't one of those for the DS of our cars, (so it shouldn't be that important) but on my DS under where the water drains there was some surface rust under the seam sealer, so just make sure you seal all the steel good.
Last edited by gregsz-28; 11-09-2009 at 09:50 PM.
Reason: sp
