Yep , just like the Southpark movie "Bigger , longer , & uncut" ....


Course , the fact that there is not one spot of rust through on any of it is quite the relief as well

 

I thought you were going to say build sheet.

 

 

My thought on seeing the title was "clean metal" so "Yay me!"

 

He's excited there isn't a trap door. A big deal or point of argument on some 4th gen forums/groups. Not so much here.

 

The trap door, or lack there-of, is good indicator of the previous owner's penchant for cutting corners.

 

It can be. I've also heard horror stories of shops that were paid to do the work that cut a hole. On a Thirdgen 99.99% of the time I would be against a trap door. Mainly because you have to either cut a very large "L" shaped hole or cut the hard lines. The location between the shock mounts isn't ideal either. With that said, I have seen some that were done well (Not with a factory tank though). Typically these involve a hinged access panel and an other than factory tank/fuel cell.

 

So you're saying this ISN'T a factory speed hole?!

Middle of floor pan replacement, along with some inner and outer rocker repair... Coming along though.

 

Does. Not. Compute. Divide by 0. Error 404 - Thirdgen Qualified Shop Not Found.

 

Congrats OrangeBird!

I too was thinking buildsheet, but clean floors and no access hole cut in...that's certainly good news for any car owner.

 

Thank You guys , Your right that not only am I happy there is no trap door cut into the rear deck but also that there is not one spot of rust/rot anywhere on the car . You bet I'd love to have found the build sheet but I know that was long gone before I got the car , due to the car's strange history .

And now , the backstory on Orangebird !

Orangebird was born in Van Nuys with the typical and common red/silver paint scheme . After the first owner experienced the failure of the paint it was sold relatively cheaply to the second owner who just happened to be an alumni of University of Miami . As some of you college football fans may know UM's colors are orange & green . Yep , you guessed it , the second owner had the car repainted in his school colors which while this may sound all well & good , "school spirit" & all , the job was HIDEOUS ! Specifically , while the outside of the car looked OK orange and the exterior orange paint was done well , they had also painted just about every single component of the interior green , and a few of the outside accents too (bumper cheeks , wheel center caps & such) which was just plain out nasty to look at . The steering wheel was green , the dash & shifter were orange , and it's taken me 6 years to get to where the interior is finally gonna look good again (the factory silver on black) and of course all the green has been long eradicated from the exterior in favor of black . The poor thing even had UM's "fighting eagle" mascot on the hood (we used to tease my friend about "the angry chicken" , which is what it looked like from any distance) and I have piece by piece turned it back from the automotive version of "Ugly Betty" to a daily driver that gets positive reactions from everyone (but the police ) . So anyway , I ended up with the car when my friend , the cousin of the UM grad , brought it up north and then lost interest in restoring it . Being an old guy (for perspective I was in my 40s when these were new) I work at my own pace and six years ain't bad considering life's other obligations .

PS Many Kudos to WTR388 , God Bless your dedication to undertake such an extensive project ! In my younger years I restored a number of vintage cars , boats and airplanes and I know firsthand the kind of commitment it takes to see a project like that through to it's completion . You will have something to truly be proud of at the end of your journey

 

Gross. Sounds like you're giving the car a second chance.

 

Gotta agree with Drew. School spirit aside, orange and green sounds disgusting for an automobile. Thanks for saving the poor thing.

 

Clean floors and no damage from some jack as$ trying to change a fuel pump hack style.

I'm relieved and happy for you haha!

 

It helps that I had a solid summer of driving the car after the LS1 swap before I tackled the floors, so I get to daydream of driving it once again to motivate me to get it finished.
I'm an aircraft structures tech in the airforce, working on our light helicopter, I build lots of parts by hand, so working on the car is a bit easier as I don't have to be quite so precise and meticulous.

The history of individual cars is interesting, I've learned a lot about my cars past, it's had 12 owners previous! I'm it's final owner, until I pass it down in many many years hopefully... Or until we're all forced to have a computer drive for us.