1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sat Sep 16, 2017 11:36 pm

Finally received the donor patch for the right rear quarter! Wooo! H-body people are the best!

patch1.jpg

I stripped it with the 3M stripping discs. They do a fantastic job and work quick!

patch2.jpg

Just laid the patch onto the car and taped it in place. I hope to finish cleaning it up and weld it onto the car Sunday.

patch3.jpg

Made some progress on the valance too. Finished sanding down a bit of filler and sprayed it with some flexible surface primer. It will need some sanding and then a few coats of the filler primer. I need to make some little metal tabs for the ends of the middle section. There were some holes to connect the bottom edges of the end pieces to the center but they were broke off. I plan to make them out of metal and either epoxy them onto the piece or rivet it on.

valance.jpg
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sun Sep 17, 2017 9:38 pm

I cannot believe that the shell is almost done being patched!! Installed most of the last quarter panel patch today. Just needs a small piece added at the bottom rear of the wheel lip.

Hit the inside with the wire wheel and some self etching primer.

Patch1.jpg

The hardest part of this repair was this inner wheel well lip. First try was a total disaster so I cut it out and tried again. I clamped the patch panel in place and then taped in a template to get the curve right. Then tacked in a piece to set the curve followed by the backside of the patch. Added the inner lip for the fender last. Ground it down and painted it. Fortunately this is hidden inside the quarter. :lol:

patch2.jpg

Primed the inside and then hit is with some rustoleum black just for more protection.

patch3.jpg

A thick bead of seam sealer was laid into the inner fender and the rear flange. I bolted the rear of the panel through the tail panel holes to make sure it was properly located. Finally, I stitched in the panel. Came out nice and I just need to knock the welds down and add the small patch at the bottom.

patch4.jpg
patch5.jpg

Off to NJ for the week but can't wait to get home and finish up the metal work! I have a few spots to grind down that I spot welded and I need to work on the right A-pillar a bit more but nothing major. Then I can finally get it into epoxy primer!!
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Tue Sep 26, 2017 8:12 pm

Throw back pictures of the Formula. The guy I bought the car from found these pictures just this week. He said they were from about 1994. Hoping he can find some pictures of the full car.

Old1.jpg
old2.jpg
old3.jpg
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sun Oct 01, 2017 9:40 pm

All major metal work is done! Woooo! Rolled the Formula outside and cleaned it up. Hit it with the DA and then wiped it down with some cleaner. It is finally ready for some primer. The plan is to spray it Monday or Tuesday.

cleaning1.jpg
cleaning2.jpg

I hung up some plastic to make a paint booth. Really it is just to keep everything from being coated with primer. The metal ceiling was great as it allowed me to use magnets to hold the plastic up.

paint booth.jpg

I have also been working on the dash. This is the original dash from the Formula. It was in pretty good shape but badly faded. I cleaned it up, sanded it a bit and repainted the black and the red with SEM Firethorn. I'll grab some paint markers to redo the chrome edge and white on the letters for the wiper and lights.

dash.jpg
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:00 pm

EPOXY!!!! YAY!!!

epoxy1.jpg
epoxy2.jpg
Epoxy3.jpg

Planning to lay down a second coat tomorrow and then start the filler work.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby zeke » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:18 pm

Looks great! :th: #Milestone :dance:
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Tue Oct 03, 2017 7:30 am

zeke wrote:Looks great! :th: #Milestone :dance:


Thanks, buddy! I over catalyzed the epoxy (mixed 1:1 vs 2:1) but several people I talked to said I'll be fine. :bang:

Hope to sand it a bit and then put down a second (and correctly mixed) coat today!
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Wed Oct 04, 2017 7:51 am

Second coat of epoxy is down.

Rolled the car outside to warm up in the sun for a few hours. Then sanded with 180 for the second coat.

e3.jpg

Second coat is on!!

e2.jpg

Engine compartment looking a lot better than it did 11-months ago.

e1.jpg

Next up, filler work.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby Chris402 » Fri Oct 06, 2017 3:21 pm

Looking great keep up the good work.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sat Oct 07, 2017 11:28 am

Decided to start working on the fenders. They looked pretty good but after blasting them the lower rear of the fender was pretty much full of holes. I tried welding some up but the metal was just too thin so out came the marker and the cutoff wheel.

fender1.jpg
fender2.jpg
fender3.jpg

I used my paper templates to make a patch. Then bent and twisted and ground it down to fit in the hole I cut out of the fender. It was tacked into the fender and slowly stitched into place.

fender4.jpg

Once the patch was all welded into the fender, I hit it with the grinder and cleaned it up. I am very pleased with the result! :th:

fender5.jpg

The wife has work for me today otherwise I'd be working to get the fenders, hatch, header panel, and hood into epoxy. Ahhh...maybe tomorrow.

The doors are up next and they will need a few patches and some dents pulled.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sat Oct 07, 2017 10:38 pm

Well, the wife decided to take a nap this afternoon so I had a chance to do some work. Sprayed the fenders inside and out with epoxy. I bumped up the air pressure a bit and the cheap Harbor Freight gun worked a bit better; 40 PSI at the regulator after the dryer. I'm probably losing 5-10psi through the line before the gun.

Fender1.jpg
fender2.jpg

I don't have much room to spare so I had to hang the fenders on the car for the moment. Fortunately, epoxy dries really quick.

fender3.jpg

Hope to spray the header, hatch, and hood tomorrow.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sun Oct 08, 2017 9:57 pm

Making quick progress!

The hatch took a bit more time that I expected. The donor hatch was a car without a spoiler so the holes for the Formula spoiled needed to be added to it. I saved the old hatch just for the purpose of using it as a template. I ground the edges of the hatch sheet metal until the skin was separating from the shell. The old hatch was well beyond repair as you can see. Crusty in there.

Laid out the holes, drilled a pilot hole, and used a step bit to make the hole 7/16" which is the size on the original hatch. I used a 1-1/8" hole saw on the inside of the hatch to make the needed access holes for the nuts that hold the spoiler to the hatch.

crusty.jpg

I had to widen one hole a hair to get it to sit evenly on the hatch.

spoiler.jpg

Once all that work was done, the hatch and the header were sprayed with epoxy. I am really starting to get the hang of spraying this stuff.

hatch1.jpg
header.jpg

Just when I was finishing up, I opened the paint gun to see how much paint was left. Put the lid back on and walked across the garage. Then noticed the cap wasn't on securely and I dripped all over my freshly epoxied hatch. :cuss:

hatch2.jpg

Oh well... I'll sand it down next weekend and respray as needed. I'll do the hood at the same time.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:20 pm

Spent about 6 or 7 hours in the garage on Sunday. Managed to get the upper part of the quarter smoothed out.

First pass of filler.

q1.jpg

I put down multiple thin layers of filler and block sanded each one.

q2.jpg

Used some primer as a guide coat and blocked it some more.

q3.jpg

Pretty happy with the upper part of the quarter. I put the first pass of filler on the lower quarter but won't get to it until next weekend. Travelling all week for work.

q4.jpg

Finished up the A-pillar too. Really happy with the progress here.

a1.jpg

Hope to finish this quarter next weekend and then start on the other side. The left quarter wasn't as bad so it should be easier.

The roof is going to need a skim coat of filler since it has a lot of little rust pits. It was blasted clean so I'm not worried of the rust returning but it needs to be smooth. There are also a couple of dents in the roof that will need some work. A tree fell on it at some point according to the guy I got it from. I pushed the dents back out as best I could but they'll need a bit of filler.
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby RedFiveKBS » Sun Oct 22, 2017 8:54 pm

Always on the hunt for NOS parts I can use for the Formula. Happened to find an NOS gas cap! I figured it was just the cap but it was complete with the innards too! Score!!

cap1.jpg
cap2.jpg

Haven't gotten much farther due to wife projects. Started doing filler on the lower quarter and rocker.

sand.jpg

Hope to get the rocker and quarter done this week. Home office week. Wooo!
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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

Postby marco_1978_spyder » Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:24 am

Oh thats a nice find. It's the best version too, some had a shallow edge that didn't look as flush fitting as the one you found.
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