[dservati]

Winterization - Rebuild of the Winter-War-Wagon

Now please no haters, but my wagon is my winter ride. The SS is the summer ride, and as winter approaches it's time to get her ready and turn back the ravages of the salt used here in Western New York.

Got my girl WB4 Roadmaster from Fred in Waterloo back in '06. I bartered the price down and finished the front end collision damage .. she looked great!

in '06:

almost done:

Finished in '06:

But 5 salty winters later, and now at 230,000 miles rust has taken it's toll:
Lower pass quarter had to be repaired after sandblasting

Pass wheel well:

Driver-side rear pillar (what started as small hole the sandblasting
made it the size of the grand canyon:

There's more rust on the driver-side quarter and wheel well I'll post pictures when I get to that side ... but it is UGLY!

It's amazing how much salt and corrosion that hides behind that chrome molding ..so I am removing it all and De-chroming the girl.

Also picked up some Buick Rally wheels to keep me motivated and here's a shot of them:

I am also repairing some TCD or Teenage Crash Damage - front fender, bumper, and hood. So I had an extra caprice bumper support & skin, and went to the local pick a part and got a hood... so stay tuned!

-Dave

 

[Deadman]

Put some Firestone Winterforce tires on the back and it will go where most trucks won't!

 

[dservati]

I cut rust out, I weld steel in...

Sandblasted and then cut out the afflicted metal:

I cut rust out,I weld steel in.
I cut rust out,I weld steel in.
I cut rust out,I weld steel in.

After finishing the welding the tabs, I'll weld in metal over the tabs creating the 1/8" lip around the wheel well.

 

[dservati]

New metal

Top steel added leaving 1/8" to create the lip that the molding fits into:

Clamps off:

Lower-half:

Grind down the welds and move on... wish I had a real MIG welder instead of this Harbor Freight Chinese wire-flux welder!

 

[patgizz]

if my quarters start going i'm opening them up to sedan size...

good luck with the repairs.

 

[dservati]

Not a bad idea!

if my quarters start going i'm opening them up to sedan size...

good luck with the repairs.

Yeah that could have been an option especially on the driver's side the rust there was out of control!

Driver side sail pillar is now under construction. Welded in the channel metal first to ensure the correct contour, then cut out the remaining pitted metal back to clean stuff. Tomorrow morning mock up some cardboard templates and get to welding again!

 

[dservati]

Passenger side pillar rust repair

Found a small hole on the passenger rear pillar - so welded in a small patch - all will be filled in with filler when all the welding is done.

 

[dservati]

turning the corner ... literly

Yeah that could have been an option especially on the driver's side the rust there was out of control!

Making the turn from passenger side to driver side sail pillar is now under construction. Welded in the channel metal first to ensure the correct contour, then cut out the remaining pitted metal back to clean stuff. Tomorrow morning mock up some cardboard templates and get to welding again!

Patch metal tacked in:

This took for ever, I had to re-build the inside structure first, then the easy part was the piece you can see above. Also had to recreate the lower lip in metal, and weld in a bracket to hold the taillight as that area was rusted away! Tomorrow the driver side quarter and wheel well!

 

[Northern Classics]

You have done a tremendous amount of work!!

If you plan to keep the car for more than a year or two, it would be worth it to consider protecting all of the seams, edges and welds from the back side to prevent the condensation from attacking it and causing the filler and repaint work to crack or bubble.

It may seem crazy, but the same protective measures would have prevented this damage to begin with!


.

 

[matthimself456]

Very impressive, Dave. If you get bored this winter mine needs D-pillars, bottoms of the A and B pillars, and floors. All the chili you can eat and only 10 minutes away...

 

[nomrlz]

dayum! you got some skillz dude. my wagon is my summer toy, winter beat, tow vehicle and work car. LOL

 

[dservati]

10 minutes?

Very impressive, Dave. If you get bored this winter mine needs D-pillars, bottoms of the A and B pillars, and floors. All the chili you can eat and only 10 minutes away...

hey Matt we should meet up and exhange war stories! A local RAISSE club member is parting out a sedan .. if you need floorboards let me/him know his handle here is Hamilton. Hurry cause it's close to be scrapped.

I'm headed back in the garage ... got beat the snow!

 

[dservati]

Driver side ...

It took a lot longer to cut out the rust on this side, then I noticed the inner fender and wheel well was also rusted through. So I'll have to repair that first with a few metal patches then reconstruct the wheel well lip and quarter panel here are a few shots:

rotted from the rear door to the lower quarter!:

 

[dservati]

2 hours for what !???

Made some more progress bit there was a lot of work at a be done on the substructure & inner wheel well before I could even weld the small patch panel seen below - in total I spent 2 hours tonight ... thought I would have had more done than just this:

 

[JimKellyfan]

reminds me of that pic I found on the net, attached
good work and lots of it, more energy than I
some of us, we fix them all day and are too beat up to do it later

 

[dservati]

reminds me of that pic I found on the net, attached
good work and lots of it, more energy than I
some of us, we fix them all day and are too beat up to do it later

Love it!

Found some rust on the front passenger fender .. there was a large bubble. Was talking to some local club members tonight and they said don't dig into it you'll never get the car done before the snow flies..... well... I took a screwdriver to the bubbling paint tonight... to my surprise paint was bad and there was just light metal oxidation underneath!!! Just a quick sand and putty before paint and it will be as good as new!!! WOOT !!!!

 

[JimKellyfan]

Me, I just got underneath mine in the spring with about 7 cans of black gloss and 2 cans of high heat flat black and went to town. Mine had only spot rust underneath, to which compressed air took care of. Used to live in the rust belt, but now in the bible belt - cars much less rusted down here - I got mine from Danville VA - Davis Auto sales - same place we got the Denali, which is needing much more work mechanically - For me, it was finding a place on the net, which just had cheaper cars, a demographic that was more challenged than the one I am in - Driving 3 hours saved me 1k on the wagon and 2k on the Denali - good work though, if you are talented enough to do it, then do it, looks like you are - I am lazy on body work, can't spend enough time sanding and hate it (compressed air reference)

 

[dservati]

Back to work on the driver side

Kids had a Halloween party/sleep over for the kids so lost some time Friday night and most of saturday, but tonight I attacked and finished the inner fender. I am also weld in the fender lip recreating the entire opening, and tied in the rear quarter patch.

Next the top sheet of metal.

-Dave

 

[sprocket]

That is some very nice work!

I'll just say I'm really glad I live in FL!!!!!

 

[dservati]

Salt Sucks

That is some very nice work!

I'll just say I'm really glad I live in FL!!!!!

lol no kidding!

Here's today's progress ... wish it would go faster ...

Added more top sheet metal and tied in the quarter patch panel and adjusted the curve of that same patch:

Then four additional pieces welded in all with a space to create the lip for the molding to ultimately fit into:

Here's a shot, I just sprayed black primer to see what it might look like at the end to keep me motivated:

Oh well off to carve some pumpkins!