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Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Wed Mar 29, 2017 12:20 am
by monzaaddict
another car you might be interested in

https://greatfalls.craigslist.org/cto/6058838786.html

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Wed Mar 29, 2017 4:32 pm
by RedFiveKBS
monzaaddict wrote:another car you might be interested in

https://greatfalls.craigslist.org/cto/6058838786.html


I was excited to a see a tail panel. Then I saw the hole in it. I bet it would crumble to dust if you touched it.

tailpanel.jpg

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Thu Mar 30, 2017 7:25 am
by RedFiveKBS
Spent Wednesday evening working in the hatch floor.

Cut one big hole rather than a couple of smaller holes.

Hatch1.jpg

The frame channels were full of mouse nest materials and nuts. I vacuumed all that garbage out and cleaned them.

Hatch2.jpg

Once the channels were cleaned out, I painted them with some Rustoleum to protect them.

Hatch3.jpg

The donor Monza made another donation. The panel was trimmed to size and sandblasted. I painted the underside with some weld through primer for some protection.

hatch4.jpg

After a couple of hours of putting down small welds I had the patch fully welded into the floor. I did find one spot that had a couple of really small rust holes in it so it was trimmed and another piece welded into the patch. I need to add a small sliver of metal in the corner where the patch was a bit short.

hatch5.jpg

Pretty pleased with the results so far. I will grind the welds flat and probably skim it with some filler just to make it seamless.

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 11:56 am
by RedFiveKBS
Spent a few hours in the garage last night.

Sanded my first coat of filler and laid down a second coat. Should be good after this one is sanded.

Filler.jpg

Then moved the hatch and worked on grinding the welds down. Found a few holes that needed additional welding and welded up some holes that were drilled into the floor. I used the DA to sand the whole hatch floor. I need to get in here with some blasting to clean up some areas that don't lend themselves to hand sanding. Once that's all cleaned up, I'll hit it with some primer and a couple skim coats of filler.

Hatch.jpg

Oh...and finally, Happy Birthday to the Formula. 37 Years old! The years have been hard on you but you'll be back on the road again someday. The 04A on the trim tag is the 1st week of April. I picked April 1st (April Fools Day) because it seemed appropriate. :lol:

1980 Formula trim tag.jpg

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 7:33 am
by RedFiveKBS
Another weekend in the books. Worked on the inside of the tail panel in the hatch Sunday. It had a little bit of surface rust than needed removed. All of the seam sealer was dried out and flaked off with very little effort. I knocked most of it off with a 5-in-1 paint tool.

Hatch1.jpg

This corner was the worst of the surface rust inside the tail panel.
Hatch2.jpg
Hatch3.jpg

I used the sand blaster to clean up the inside of the tail panel and some of the hatch floor. It cleaned up very easy. This is a bit thicker material than body panels so I wasn't too concerned with warping the metal.

Hatch4.jpg
Hatch5.jpg

I'm planning to blast a little more in here and then lay down some epoxy primer. Then a bit of filler to hide the patch seams. I'll get a quality seam sealer to redo all of the seams as well.

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:30 pm
by Monza Harry
Kevin it looks like you have that on the run! That's coming along real nice! Keep them posts coming! Harry

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:40 pm
by RedFiveKBS
Monza Harry wrote:Kevin it looks like you have that on the run! That's coming along real nice! Keep them posts coming! Harry


Thanks, Harry. Eating my elephant.......one bite at a time! :lol:

Need to get the whole darn car blasted.

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 4:01 pm
by dindin
Comming along nicely!! :th:

Al

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Fri Apr 07, 2017 10:34 pm
by RedFiveKBS
dindin wrote:Comming along nicely!! :th:

Al

Thanks, Al. I just keep picking away.

Spent a couple hours in the garage this evening. I had ordered some 3M stripping disks from Eastwood and wanted to try them out. They took the paint off the quarter in no time. I kept checking to make sure I wasn't heating the panel too much so that it wouldn't warp. I'll hit it with the DA and some 150/220 before primer.

Quarter1.jpg
Quarter2.jpg

A couple of small holes appeared when I stripped under the gas filler hole.

Quarter3.jpg

The worst body rot on the entire car is just behind the left rear wheel. I cut this open with the cutoff wheel. I needs a bit more trimming and I will need to rebuild some of the inner structure. I'll cut a chunk out of the donor Monza to patch in here.

Quarter5.jpg

Quarter4.jpg

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Sat Apr 08, 2017 10:33 pm
by RedFiveKBS
Finally finished the firewall patches.

The Formula's firewall where the clutch cable passes through the firewall was cracked and very poorly fixed at one time.

firewall1.jpg

Cut and spliced in a new piece from the donor Monza.

firewall2.jpg

After a whole lot of grinding, a little filler, and some sanding I have it finished.

firewall3.jpg

I've got a few more spots to finish in the engine compartment but those should be knocked out tomorrow. Progress!!

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 10:11 pm
by RedFiveKBS
Spent almost all day outside in the 75 degree weather!

sb1.jpg

Finished stripping the hatch floor and inside the rear panel. Oh, I deleted the little plug that was in the hatch. Didn't seem necessary.

sb3.jpg

Laid down a coat of primer. I painted the seams and the spare tire well with some Rustoleum for added protection.

sb4.jpg

Painted the inside of the tail panel too.

sb5.jpg

I was hoping to get down a skim coat of filler over the panel I welded into the hatch floor but I didn't make it that far.

There were some small holes in the rocker panel and I was planning to just weld them up but the corrosion was worse than expected. I cut out the worst spot, made a patch, welded it into the rocker, and ground off the welds. There was a big wad of a mouse nest just behind the rust. I'm guessing that was a contributing factor. I stuck the air hose in the rocker to blow out any other debris before welding in the patch.

sb6.jpg

I'm pretty pleased. My welding skills aren't the best but I've gotten better since I started. :th:

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Tue Apr 11, 2017 11:16 pm
by RedFiveKBS
It's cowl week... Sprayed the inside of the cowl with phosphoric acid and let it sit overnight. Next day I washed it all out and followed it with some TSP cleaner then washed all that out. I dried it out with the air compressor and let the car sit in the sun for a few hours.

Acid wash.JPG

After it was all dried up it looked pretty rough.

Unsanded.JPG

I scrubbed it out with some 80 grit and it cleaned up pretty well.

Sanded.JPG

There were a number of holes in one area. I used some fiberglass mat from under the dash and a small amount on top of the holes. With the drop light in the car, it looks like a constellation. Once this is cured I will be applying a coat of POR-15. Not sure how else to repair this area but I figured the fiberglass and the POR-15 will work. I was able to weld up some of the holes but these were in a spot the welder couldn't reach.

Constellation.JPG

I also welded up some holes at the base of the A-pillar and ground them flush. It will get the thinnest skim coat of filler.

IMG_0644.JPG

I also found a rotisserie on Craigslist for $400. Hoping to pick it up this weekend.

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 8:35 pm
by RedFiveKBS
Not sure why I did this little project now. I picked up a tan tilt column and refinished it to Firethorn. Now I have to stash it somewhere safe until it is time for reassembly.

I used SEM's firethorn and low luster clear. I had excellent results on my 76 coupe when I refinished the dash. The column came out nice.

column1.jpg
column2.jpg
column3.jpg
column.jpg


The steering wheel will get pulled and replaced with a proper Formula wheel. This is a reproduction GTO wheel.

wheel.jpg

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 10:23 am
by Monza Harry
RedFiveKBS wrote: Not sure why I did this little project now. Now I have to stash it somewhere safe until it is time for reassembly. The column came out nice.
Kevin! "Not sure why I did this little project now." This may have started as a "Distraction," "Now I have to stash it somewhere safe until it is time for reassembly. " but other than that pesky little issue, "The column came out nice." That sure DID! Also all the stock columns I have seen have the "Key Release lever" in satin black [probably a black oxide treatment, something you can do at home but way cheaper to send it out, but that would require disassembly, and I wouldn't do that with the way yours came out], but I am not sure about the "monochromatic scheme" there it might just grow on me! Are you going to detail that or is that your desired finish? It is good either way, just me being curious. Harry :th: http://precisionbrand.com/product-category/blackeners/ I thought that Caswell sold this, but I couldn't find this on their site :( https://www.caswellplating.com/ [or .ca]

Re: 1980 Pontiac Sunbird Formula: Project Phoenix

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 11:26 am
by RedFiveKBS
Harry, Thanks! Yeah...Of course upon further research it appears that Formulas all had all black columns. Guess I'll be repainting it later anyway... :bang: