Project Caddy: The Never Ending Story....

[EPwerks]

Here is were it all started:

Note:
The paint DID not look that good!!
I paid $2750

passenger Fender liner was rusted almost to the frame rail!!! Luckily I was able to salvage the
Frame rail. The project almost lost its wind!

Car is not for sale!

Other than minor other body damage the car ran like a champ!

The first Pic

The second Pic

Interior: This is after the FOX wheel and Corrado seats...Thanks Mark!

Wheel Upgrade: Corrado Steel Thanks again Mark

Next came the Engine Rebuild and the shell off to the body shop


Modified by EPwerks at 2:16 PM 4-22-2009

[deathhare.]

[mbg_euros]

nice

[EPwerks]

Looking pretty good already IMO Spaced the wheels 10mm

Before

After

Its amazing how much you will pick and clean at an engine when its out of the car and easily accesible

The Bad

[DogDiesel]

My 81 is same color, original paint, no rust. Similar interior. Daily driver 150 or more miles per day. \
Would be interested in your paint outcomes, my paint job won't last forever....

[EPwerks]

Engine Rebuild

Full Gasket/seal kit
Cleaned/wire brushed/sanded/Painted/Etc...

I kinda liked the camo look the old green paint gave the block.

Gloss Black

New Headers

[firewall]

nice.... headers hahahah

[deathhare.]

Um..those headers will never work.

The diameter is too large for the 1.6.

[EPwerks]

Quote, originally posted by deathhare. »

Um..those headers will never work. The diameter is too large for the 1.6.

To wide and one short

[EPwerks]

The First Round of Body Work

Before:

After:

I was pretty worried about the hole here but it turned out nicely....Hopefully I won't see any more rust form there

Next was the decision to shave the body line or just fill in the holes.....This was a long process were about 20 long hours were wasted. The good news is that I am now an expert in body filler......DON'T DO IT!!!!

Way back before I started messing with it....

Modified by EPwerks at 2:39 PM 5-5-2009

[EPwerks]

What not to do

I looked into welding the body line and that was way tooooo MUCH $$$$ and too difficult

Next I looked into the cheap way...I thought i would never say it....BONDO
This was a very dirty and educational process. Unless you don't mind your garage covers in dust. Don't do it. Plus after all that work you have the potential of cracking. Besides I found out later that the body line was too deep to fill safely.

More body work:

The fender wells are very bad so getting these perfect is going to be hard...Here's the first try

Modified by EPwerks at 3:02 PM 5-5-2009

[ilovesandiego]

Looks like a pretty good job... I bet its gonna turn out nice! Great work!

[SGLoki]

Yo bastian, you think I could get some BBS's or some ****in konigs up in this bish?

[VWJerm]

truck looks good, but I wouldn't have shaved that body line, it is near impossible to make that look proper because that bodyline is at different angles from top to bottom. Its almost like you need a flat sanding board as long as the bed to do it proper.

[EPwerks]

Quote, originally posted by VWJerm »

truck looks good, but I wouldn't have shaved that body line, it is near impossible to make that look proper because that bodyline is at different angles from top to bottom. Its almost like you need a flat sanding board as long as the bed to do it proper.

Yep! You are Right! My next segment is me tearing all the F'n Bondo from the body line.

I am now just going to weld the holes up and mess with edges a bit. It would have looked so clean but not worth the hassle at this point.

your right about the different angles too! once I started sanding and saw the edge forming as I worked the bottom and top down.....I was worried

About the wheels I was thinking of just keeping these and having them widened a few inches. on the other hand I would also like something with less Rotational mass....BBS is shi!

[VWJerm]

Quote, originally posted by EPwerks »

Yep! You are Right! My next segment is me tearing all the F'n Bondo from the body line. I am now just going to weld the holes up and mess with edges a bit. It would have looked so clean but not worth the hassle at this point....

don't make the same mistake I did, keep that area where you are welding cool, hit it with water or a cold blast of air during and after the weld, if not you will warp that top bed surface. I did that and it was a biatch to get it straight again.

[EPwerks]

Right on for the advise

It was the main concern when I talked to the welder...

[EPwerks]

Just for kick here's how it turned out....About and hour later I was chipping it out with a chisel and hammer

[EPwerks]

Body Shop Update

[Curt_pnw]

Lookin good! I love the rado steels on it.

[ilovevvv]

looks good.... i always wanted one. For future references, weld metal strips across the whole trim line when you decide to shave them.... that way you end up using less body filler.

[audindy]

i demand updated pictures!! i know they are out there lol

[35i 2000]

what happened to this?

[MicroCADDY]

What not to do

I looked into welding the body line and that was way tooooo MUCH $$$$ and too difficult

Next I looked into the cheap way...I thought i would never say it....BONDO
This was a very dirty and educational process. Unless you don't mind your garage covers in dust. Don't do it. Plus after all that work you have the potential of cracking. Besides I found out later that the body line was too deep to fill safely.

More body work:

The fender wells are very bad so getting these perfect is going to be hard...Here's the first try

Modified by EPwerks at 3:02 PM 5-5-2009

O NO you didn't just fill that whole body line with bondo. This is the wrong way to shave that body line. Over time is WILL crack & pop out. That needed to have strips of sheet metal welded in & then have a thin coating on bondo