Help me save the bird!
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Help me save the bird!
These pics are the passenger side front where the floo meets the firewall. The exterior pic is right behind the tire where the fender meets the gfx. Am I wasting my time? I realy want to save this car! Getting a rust free car and swapping my good parts is not an option at the moment (I cant buy another car and have it sit in front of my house unless I want a divorce
).
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Car: 1991 Camaro RS
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Re: Help me save the bird!
haha this is when you Figure out one of two things.
1. How Creative you are to make it work and look good.(whos going to see it? besides us since your going to keep us updated
haha
2. If you've got the money to have someone else do it and possibly do worse than you could've in the first place.
do you have a mig welder? Your going to need one and i always prefer argon/co2 75/25 mix, I am ignorant with Flux core. and i refuse to learn. haha Your going to need some sheet metal from a Hardware store.. Sheet metal usually has oil on it when you buy it whatever you do if your welding it, don't use brakleen or Carb cleaner, any brands. Don't do it.
1. How Creative you are to make it work and look good.(whos going to see it? besides us since your going to keep us updated
![Smilie](https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif)
2. If you've got the money to have someone else do it and possibly do worse than you could've in the first place.
do you have a mig welder? Your going to need one and i always prefer argon/co2 75/25 mix, I am ignorant with Flux core. and i refuse to learn. haha Your going to need some sheet metal from a Hardware store.. Sheet metal usually has oil on it when you buy it whatever you do if your welding it, don't use brakleen or Carb cleaner, any brands. Don't do it.
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Re: Help me save the bird!
I have a welder and I'm already set up with 75/25. I was hoping to avoid the cost of new floor pans, but I think I'm going to have to replace them. So much rust... I don't really have the tools to fab the sheet metal my self either. So glad this isn't my daily driver!
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Re: Help me save the bird!
Not sure what you mean exactly. The frame rails under the floor are rusty. I'll know how bad when I cut some of the floor away tomorrow. I'll post pics.
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Car: 87 Pontiac Trans Am
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Re: Help me save the bird!
Good luck on your project. No pun intended but im glad that there are people whos car looked worse then mine. I had alot of rust as well and I am still battling with it but have won the fight for the most part. I have two really bad spots behind the rear wheel in the the trunk area that I am going to get welded up this Friday. They are the worse spots on the car and I saved them for last lol.
#9
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Car: 1991 Camaro RS
Engine: The Wicked six'ah
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Re: Help me save the bird!
yea in the rear wheel well, its a major support piece, they make replaceable ones set ya back $700 ea without shipping... Ive seen a few get quite soft, and this may play a roll in whether its worth fixing or parting. as i hate to say that... but hey rather be safe than sorry. http://www.rickscamaros.com/camaro-f...1982-1992.html
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Re: Help me save the bird!
Weld sheet metal or replace floor pan but worth saving. You'll feel better inside when its done.
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Re: Help me save the bird!
I'll locate them this morning (fingers crossed) It's going to be a couple months before I can afford (by afford I mean - before my wife will let me) floor pans but there is plenty of rust elsewhere to fix until then.
I'm going to do some serious rust searching today. I'll post pics so those of you with rusty cars won't feel so bad.
I'm going to do some serious rust searching today. I'll post pics so those of you with rusty cars won't feel so bad.
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#14
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Re: Help me save the bird!
yea pictures are good. haha Dont be shy, take a hammer one handed of course, and hit the rusty stuff That way you know what you have and what you've got to work with....
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Re: Help me save the bird!
Are these the rear frame rails? Whatever they are, they're not in bad shape. Definitely need to be cleaned up, but the entire underside of the car needs that.
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Re: Help me save the bird!
Inside the yellow Lines.
![](http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg853/scaled.php?server=853&filename=jfcr.jpg&res=landing)
I do not own the rights to this photo. The Photos source can be found here.
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...ouve-ever.html
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I do not own the rights to this photo. The Photos source can be found here.
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#17
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Not at all what I was looking for. I'll take a look when I get home. thanks for the pic!
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#18
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Re: Help me save the bird!
Okay... The rear frame rails are in really good shape! The rear fender wells are shot. At this point, I'm going to need most of a donor car. Maybe I'll be better off trying to find a rust free(ish) car and scrap this one for parts. Hmm...
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Car: 1991 Camaro RS
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Re: Help me save the bird!
You can weld in steel for the fender wells. no biggie... theres threads and pics here somewhere im just not going to dig em up at 11pm hahaha I just wouldnt get too carried away with patching the frame rail.... but if its good your all set!! just needs a few minor patches
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Re: Help me save the bird!
If you're battling surface rust or you can grind off/sandblast off the rust I've been having good luck with Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator. I'm restoring an 84 Firebird with some surface rust all over the underside ( no rot though ) and what I've sprayed so far has stayed rust free vs what I originally sprayed with Rustoleum. Spots that have been sprayed with rustoleum have already started to bleed through a bit. Good luck!
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Re: Help me save the bird!
If you're battling surface rust or you can grind off/sandblast off the rust I've been having good luck with Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator. I'm restoring an 84 Firebird with some surface rust all over the underside ( no rot though ) and what I've sprayed so far has stayed rust free vs what I originally sprayed with Rustoleum. Spots that have been sprayed with rustoleum have already started to bleed through a bit. Good luck!
I will be doing a lot of that as well. If I had 3 wishes, no rust would be one!
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Re: Help me save the bird!
I picked up 5 or 6 cans off of ebay and even though its Eastwoods ebay store it's cheaper than on their website and it's free shipping too. Check it out.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eastwood-Rus...68f756&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eastwood-Rus...68f756&vxp=mtr
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Re: Help me save the bird!
I picked up 5 or 6 cans off of ebay and even though its Eastwoods ebay store it's cheaper than on their website and it's free shipping too. Check it out.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eastwood-Rus...68f756&vxp=mtr
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eastwood-Rus...68f756&vxp=mtr
#24
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Re: Help me save the bird!
Looks like Im going to have to pull the dash so I can weld in a patch panel without burning it up. I am also tearing apart the front end to get rid of the rust and repaint. Any ideas for a sturdy dolly with casters so I can still move the car around?
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Re: Help me save the bird!
If you plan to leave the wheels and tires on harbor freight or Northern tool have some beefy reasonably priced dollys with wheels
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Re: Help me save the bird!
No wheels, I'll be removing everything that's not welded together. There's rust everywhere. I want to kill it before it get's as bad as the floor pans.
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Re: Help me save the bird!
You can build your own then, pick up some heavy duty casters and build 4 dollys from 2x6's. Place those under the frame rails front and back you should be golden.
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Re: Help me save the bird!
I was thinking exactly that. Just wasn't sure if 2x6's would be stout enough. This is off opic, bu what kind of power are you getting from your 400?
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Re: Help me save the bird!
2x6 will work out just fine, the smaller the dolly the stronger it will be, I would think that if you made them 1.5ft x 1.5 or even 2ft x 2ft that would work out fine to support your car in 4 places. And at the moment I'm getting no power from my 400 because it's torn apart right now. I'm in the process of doing a full restoration on an 84 bird. Right now the engine is mostly torn apart but with the parts I'm looking at I would expect around 450hp. I'm not getting crazy but I'm going to put in a cam, aluminum heads, aluminum intake and most likely a 650 cfm carb.
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Re: Help me save the bird!
Will, I'm goin to have to post pics of my iroc so you will feel better.. your ahead of me tho I gotta find a welder, learn to weld and buy parts. Anyone know a good divorce lawyer? Wife is goin to kill me when I bring home a welder....
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Re: Help me save the bird!
I would love to see pics of your ride.
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Re: Help me save the bird!
I got a step son that's 5 next month lil girl that's 2 in Dec. And one due next month......
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#35
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Re: Help me save the bird!
If I decide to go with new floor pans, what is the best way to remove the bracing from the existing floor?
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Re: Help me save the bird!
I may be giving up on this bird. The junk yards around here want $400 for a full floor pan. I can get a new one for around $500. I'm sure I can find A (mostly) rust free roller for not much more than that. On the plus side, I have a ton of parts now and I didnt pay much for the car to begin with. Hmm... maybe it's time for a standard transmission? I guess there is an upside.
#38
Re: Help me save the bird!
sometimes they will sell you the whole shell cheaper than the floors. junkyard around me choke you to death with labor charges. if all the rust you have is the fender spot and by the heater core thn i say fix it. i tried fixing my 85 and if i could do that you can fix yours because thats nothing compared to mine.
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Re: Help me save the bird!
I'd take a battery powered saw and chop it out my self if I was you
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#41
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Re: Help me save the bird!
sometimes they will sell you the whole shell cheaper than the floors. junkyard around me choke you to death with labor charges. if all the rust you have is the fender spot and by the heater core thn i say fix it. i tried fixing my 85 and if i could do that you can fix yours because thats nothing compared to mine.
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#44
Re: Help me save the bird!
best bet is to take all the good parts off it. find a local fbody forum offer up and body panels for free and cut the rest of the car apart. my 85 is also too far gone but the memory and history of it is too great so i bought a clean 92 that i will be swapping/ modding to keep my 85s memory alive
#46
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Re: Help me save the bird!
A friend of mine just told me about a salvage yard that will let me do the labor myself. I'll be calling them this morning to see about a floor pan.
I pulled the dash over the weekend. That is going to be a PITA to put back in. I see a 4th gen swap in my future.
I pulled the dash over the weekend. That is going to be a PITA to put back in. I see a 4th gen swap in my future.
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Originally Posted by tylercamaro
id ask how much the whole car is personally. floors are a big long time consuming job. once you start theres no turning back
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