gvr41190
Active member
I purchased 1190 in May of 2010. Shortly thereafter, I decided to tear it down and do my best to clean it up. I don't have much time to work on it, so progress has been slow. I finally have enough done to share some things. Any input or criticism is welcome. This is the first time that I've taken on a project this big, and I'm definitely in over my head. That said, I'm very thankful for this forum!
1190 was a very used Ohio car with a good amount of surface rust underneath. The fuel tank was in bad shape, and there was some rot in the passenger rear wheel well area. The subframe components needed attention, too. In addition to the rust, the frame rails that connect the front part of the unibody to the back were badly crushed, looking like they had carelessly been used as lift points. Not cool.
After reading about rust prevention, I decided to go the POR-15 route, but before I could get to that point, I had a LOT of time under the car with a wire wheel. Not sure that I'm interested in doing that again! After getting the bottom prepped, I decided to address the crushed rails. I started by beating everything back into place as well as I could. I then wrapped the crushed rails with angle iron and welded them in place. I was a bit leery of doing this without having the car on loaded suspension, but after consulting a couple of body guys that I trust, I felt okay. Next, I made some patch panels for the wheel well area, and then addressed the fuel tank issue. Rather than searching for a decent 20 year old tank, I decided to install a fuel cell. I had a circular plate with an area for the sump made at a local fab shop. Once it was welded into place, I FINALLY was able to do the POR-15. I then seam sealed everything - rather sloppily, but it's all coated. I painted the trunk, and now I'm ready for rubberized undercoating to cover the seam sealer in the wheel wells and underneath. It feels good to be close to finished with the underbody work!
To address the subframe pieces, I bought a whole 4 bolt rear from of a Talon and had it powder coated. I replaced all of the ball joints, wheel bearings and bushings. The trailing arms have been welded using Larry Parker's washers. I got new brakes and rotors and a super ugly green Suspension Techniques sway bar. The front subframe got the treatment, too. I found a decent used manual steering rack and cleaned it up. Lots of other little things got the powder, too - the old H&R springs, the stock front sway bar, rear upper strut mounts, and tow hooks. The old AGX shocks were wire wheeled and painted with the POR-15 then topcoated with chassis black. They're not leaky, so good enough for now. Better suspension will happen at some point.
This is how it sits now.
As I've been doing this stuff, I've also been gathering parts: a freshly rebuilt 8 blade HX35 with BEP housing, TiAl MVS wastegate and Punishment Racing O2 housing, Jay Racing 044 fuel pump and -8an braided line, FP exhaust manifold, and other little stuff. My block is at the machine shop now being assembled with a Ross/Eagle combo. I still have a long way to go, but it feels good to finally share some of my progress.
Thanks for looking!
Steve
1190 was a very used Ohio car with a good amount of surface rust underneath. The fuel tank was in bad shape, and there was some rot in the passenger rear wheel well area. The subframe components needed attention, too. In addition to the rust, the frame rails that connect the front part of the unibody to the back were badly crushed, looking like they had carelessly been used as lift points. Not cool.
After reading about rust prevention, I decided to go the POR-15 route, but before I could get to that point, I had a LOT of time under the car with a wire wheel. Not sure that I'm interested in doing that again! After getting the bottom prepped, I decided to address the crushed rails. I started by beating everything back into place as well as I could. I then wrapped the crushed rails with angle iron and welded them in place. I was a bit leery of doing this without having the car on loaded suspension, but after consulting a couple of body guys that I trust, I felt okay. Next, I made some patch panels for the wheel well area, and then addressed the fuel tank issue. Rather than searching for a decent 20 year old tank, I decided to install a fuel cell. I had a circular plate with an area for the sump made at a local fab shop. Once it was welded into place, I FINALLY was able to do the POR-15. I then seam sealed everything - rather sloppily, but it's all coated. I painted the trunk, and now I'm ready for rubberized undercoating to cover the seam sealer in the wheel wells and underneath. It feels good to be close to finished with the underbody work!
To address the subframe pieces, I bought a whole 4 bolt rear from of a Talon and had it powder coated. I replaced all of the ball joints, wheel bearings and bushings. The trailing arms have been welded using Larry Parker's washers. I got new brakes and rotors and a super ugly green Suspension Techniques sway bar. The front subframe got the treatment, too. I found a decent used manual steering rack and cleaned it up. Lots of other little things got the powder, too - the old H&R springs, the stock front sway bar, rear upper strut mounts, and tow hooks. The old AGX shocks were wire wheeled and painted with the POR-15 then topcoated with chassis black. They're not leaky, so good enough for now. Better suspension will happen at some point.
This is how it sits now.
As I've been doing this stuff, I've also been gathering parts: a freshly rebuilt 8 blade HX35 with BEP housing, TiAl MVS wastegate and Punishment Racing O2 housing, Jay Racing 044 fuel pump and -8an braided line, FP exhaust manifold, and other little stuff. My block is at the machine shop now being assembled with a Ross/Eagle combo. I still have a long way to go, but it feels good to finally share some of my progress.
Thanks for looking!
Steve