Isn't it amazing what you find when you start sanding on an old car?

Amazing like a hemorrhoid?! That was awful. I like the hid swap, looks really good. And there's something very cool about the pic with the fender sitting on the semi wheel.

Both fenders were off different cars. The passenger side had 3 colors on it but the drivers side had 8 without ever being stripped. The paint was do thick & had chips so deep that I originally thought there was 1/8" of bondo covering the entire fender until I sanded it down. The fenders will get used on the new shell in a few years so I took the time to fix them right.

The semi makes a good work bench LOL. The storage owner is nice enough to let me park it at my unit while I work which also makes it a 600 horsepower air compressor. Now that I have the ability to weld using my generator I can do pretty much anything there which is nice because I may have this job another year & a half before switching to the terminal near my house.

I installed halogens when I bought this car & never had much problem at night but the HID's are an experiment. They're a cheap $70 set from Taiwan but the quality is better than you would expect. If they perform as well as I think then the plan is to upgrade a couple other cars down the road with a better quality version NOT made in Asia. I'm also planning to french some LED fog lights into the bumper & out back some LED tail lights will replace the stock ones.

If I don't like any of the mods I wont duplicate them when I start prepping the new wagon body down the road. This car is still going to be my winter beater for a few years & this body is a mess but I want to take it from a nasty beater & make it presentable.

Hope you made to hold more future pintos ,  just in case 😏

Hope you made to hold more future pintos ,  just in case 😏

I've got another one like this that's 18x30 & a 24x24 to work in so once I get organized & sell off what I don't want I should have plenty of space for a new addition or two.

All painted up with new rustproof brake lines, wheel cylinders & an upgrade to 1/2" U-bolts.





Finally tackled my frenched marker lights. Welded up the stock ones.



Laid out the new location & drilled the perimeter.



Connected the dots with a pencil grinder then cleaned it up with a sanding roll.



Made a 3/8" deep ring & hand formed it to the new marker.



Welded it & cleaned it up & got a tight fit.





I fit it to the inside of the fender, tacked it then welded & ground it from the outside.





Some bodywork later



A coat of primer & it's ready for final blocking.

I've always wanted to try frenching lights but this is my first attempt. I always thought Pinto markers were massive & I really like the smaller 79-80 fronts but decided to try these Ford oval shaped ones & like the look.



I found some oval LED tail lights I might try out back plus a 3rd brake light I want to recess into the hatch.

looking good!

So last week I got back on my door issues. The red door is junk. There's nothing left to fix so I used my spare drivers door which has it's own rust issues but they are fixable.







I chopped out the rot & cleaned it up for welding.



Patched the holes in the doorskin.





Repaired the front corner with fresh sheetmetal.



The rear was replaced with part of the red door that wasn't completely rotted out plus some sheet steel.



Stripped the rest of the paint & it's all steel now. A few minor dings to smooth over with filler and it will be good to go plus some POR15 inside & out to keep future rust at bay.

I stripped it with wire wheels on my die grinder & my D/A sander. Blasting is the one thing my storage owner may frown upon. I can do it at home but dragging the door back & forth is a pain.

You are making good progress !

My next flurry of activity will likely be over the xmas break.

I'm behind where I wanted to be on this car. Since it's a driver my plan was to zip tie the body together just to get it on the road but it's so bad I can't even halfass the stupid thing. I'm just going to finish the doors, Tiger Hair what's left of the quarters, blow some cheap Street Rod satin black on it & call it a day. After I get the 80 hatch running I'm gonna bring the other wagon shell down & prep it for the parts swap ASAP.

A little POR15 followed by some Blackcote on the inside & bottom of the doors. All that's left is to primer & paint it & get it back on the car.



An 1/8" indentation on the body line doesn't sound like much but it takes some work to get it straight.



I got back on mechanical work because winter is coming fast in Ohio. I put new U-joints & a new T5 yoke on the Aerostar aluminum driveshaft & installed it.



Next was cutting up the stock throttle cable bracket & welding it up to work with the Weber 38/38 which pulls down rather than up like the stock carb. It works perfectly.





I cut up the stock 76 downpipe & welded it together to work with the Ranger header.



It tucks neatly into the stock location.



I built the midpipe from 2" heavy wall aluminized exhaust tubing & some mandrel bends.



And I made an over the axle pipe the same way.



It's got plenty of clearance & does not rattle.



The U clamps are temporary. My flat band clamps arrived this week to replace them.



I welded the stuck muffler hanger to the new Dymomax muffler & tucked it in the stock location.



The tail pipe is just some scrap pieces. When the other shell is ready I'll make a nice dual exhaust to finish it off.



I cut & welded the stock battery clamp for my shorter battery & bolted it in place.







I closed up the shifter hole with some sheet metal. I'll weld it up nice on the next shell but I'm not wasting time on this mess of a back half so I screwed it down.



Here's a good shot of the buckled inner structure down the drivers side. This has always been a driver but there is so much damage it made another shell mandatory.



After all that I finally took it for a spin around the storage lot & got it up to 45 mph on the entrance road.



All that's left is the stereo which I'm working on now & throwing some paint at the fenders & door & getting it ready to drive this winter.

3rd last picture - the sound (?) deadener on the floor. Is it tar backed ? Meant for this application ? Light weight ?

Thanks for all the pictures, really makes a build come alive!
Also like your bench, I have one Freightliner mudflap (used, million miles approx.) hanging in the garage, haven't found any particular use for it, other then nice decoration.

Lookin better all the time..

the air shocks look like gm ones from a sedan!