Hey guys, I just wanted some advice if this is a sound plan of action. I am starting to have work done on my 89 305 tbi Formula that I have owned for 5 or 6 years now, it was my high school car. It seems to be in overall good shape, with rust in the usual spots for a Northeastern car- around the wheel wells, lower corner of the doors, and the metal piece that the t-tops slide into. I want to begin restoring the car so it doesn't deteriorate more, which will of course mean new paint job and body work. I want to learn to do a lot myself, but have little experience working on cars and don't want to mess up some of the important things.
So I was thinking:
Phase 1: Suspension rebuilt front to back (20 year old parts not the safest?)
Phase 2: Body work- to remove rust and preserve
Phase 3: Engine and drivetrain

TT Performance in NJ is actually doing the suspension work now for me (pics: http://www.ttperformance.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1317) . After that I was thinking save up and start thinking about body work, which will be a big job.

I appreciate any advice.

 

i would suggest do it in this order.

1st: engine/drivetrain - make sure theres some life left in the engine before spending money on anything else.

2nd: suspension treatment(replace/fix/upgrade

3rd: body/paint

4th interior (depending on how picky you are about this paticular car)

this is the order i did my car except i did suspension 3rd and body 2nd

but hey goodluck on your restoration you will be fine any order you do things

 

if ur keeping the drivetrain stock, and not adding a lot of power, then either that or susp. first; if more power is coming, then make sure the susp. can handle it before a swap. (though, if the susp. is already being installed, i guess it doesn't matter, lol). do the body and int. after....my last year of high school, we helped a former student swap out a 305 for a 400 in a 72 'maro. ended up chipping his year old pain't job in a couple spots...he didn't mind, since he was partially responsible, but if ur going higher cost in paint, I'd do that last.

 

For the suspension I just assumed most everything on it was worn out by now and hit up the Spohn site:
-Moog front end rebuild (ball joints, tie rods (inner/outer), idler arm, Spohn tie rods adjusters
-powder coated a-arms and installed polygraphite bushings
-front and rear sway bar
-adjustable wonderbar
-adjustable panhard bar
-tubular lower control arms
All the parts are from Spohn

Last summer I had Eibach prokit springs and KYB shocks/struts installed along with the Spohn fabricated strut mounts, which they recommend for lowered cars

 

get rid of that 305 and get a 350 do u have any pics of it if so post

 

before doing anything, id just make sure the body is striaght and not totally rotten in important/expensive to fix areas (just a check, no real xpensive work etc...). then from there, engine, suspension, and then body.

 

Which areas do I need to check? When I get back home in 2 weeks I'll post some pics

 

The floors by your feet towards the outside of the vehicle. Get underneath just behind the front wheel well/fire wall and look towards the outside. There is a vertical wall of the body that flanges to meet the rocker panel. Driver and passenger. This has been the worst spot on every car I've looked at. Floor boards in general after that.

Nice thing is these areas are covered by the carpet or under the car. Good place to learn patching.

I'd leave engine for last. I'd rather replace a bad motor in a good body than find a new body to stick my rebuilt engine in.

 

Before I answer this, I am going to make some assumptions. My assumptions will lead me to determine the order in which I do things.

I am assuming that this is not a current daily driver.
I am also assuming you plan to get the car completely finished before driving it.
I am also going to assume you have the room to store some parts while you work on your car.

Based on that I would do it in this order.

Take some before pictures.

Power Wash the heck out of the car.
The outside and the underside.

Then I would pull the engine and trans and power wash the engine bay.

Then I would inspect the entire car and look for the rust.
If you have ground effects, remove them too, because rust likes to hide under them.
If you have a bra on the car, remove and burn it.

Take good pictures of the rusted areas.

Fix rusted areas first.
Rust can continue to rust if you don’t take care of it, so that is why I suggest fixing that first.
I also suggested removing the engine for a few reasons.
1. There might be some hidden rust there.
2. If you are going to be doing all that work to the car, might as well repaint the engine bay.
3. If the engine is out, you won’t get overspray on it.
4. Suspension and linkage work might be a bit easier without the engine in the way. At very least you will have more light.

After fixing the rust, at very least spot prime these areas to protect them while you work on other things.

At this point it’s a toss up between suspension and linkage work and finishing up the bodywork. I think I would finish the bodywork first. Sure you have to be more careful not to scratch your fresh paint, but on the other hand, you won’t get overspray on your new suspension components and linkages.
But, when you do your bodywork, make sure you remove your struts and the top bearing caps for the struts to make sure you don’t have rust in your strut towers. Rust loves to hide there.


After the body work is done.
I would then do suspension work.
Then Engine work.
Followed last by interior.

Thats just my 2 cents.
Don't forget to take lots of pictures to post on this site.

 

The car is in fact my daily driver. How do I go about posting pics on the site?