Bodywork in process - Dec 21st, 2005

I met up with Marty yesterday to go over some details before he leaves for X-Mas break and before I leave for Thailand (the next time I see the car will be mid-Feb). I also got to meet up and chat with Johnny (the gentleman doing to body work on the car). I like working with Marty and his team – very personable folks and they have a passion and care about the work they do; I like that!

As Johnny is working on the car, he’s finding issues. The front end of the car pretty much needs to be replaced. The radiator support and lower rad support are both terribly rusted. Combined with the front frame rails, the torque boxes on the car are also mush. For the type of project we are working on (not looking to do; we are doing it), it doesn’t make send not to look at replacing these issues.



As we went over the car in detail, both Marty and Johnny showed me what issues there were with the frame and what that meant. I’m no car restorer, I know houses, but even from what Marty and Johnny showed me, it was evident there were issues. The floor pan can essentially be seen through, even where the feet would be resting near the firewall. The seat area for the back seat bench is mush. The entire underbody near the rear frame rails are also rotten.

We’re going to be putting 20” wheels in the rear and are going to widen/tub out the rear frame section in order to support a large wheel width (ie. Porsche size wheels such as 285+). This means that we’re going to rip out the rear frame rails (which are rusted and need replacing anyway) and may go with a whole new rear suspension package that will support what we want to do with the new wheel requirements. To that end, we want to make sure the car has a good ride, travels well on the road, and can provide a good looking stance for the car; we’re looking at the following for a rear suspension: http://www.bearsperformance.com/page65.html



This will mean the entire rear end of the car (trunk floor, etc..) will need to be custom created. This will also mean that customization of a gas tank will be required as well as the stock location for a tank is going to be modified. You can see in the current pics how badly rusted this is:



I also talked to Johnny about the tire sizes and what will work for the car. The 20" wheels for the rear are going to be fine. The size for the front have to be 18" wheels, anything bigger just will not work without changing the body design and look of the front end (this is not what we want). I have emailed Maya Wheels to see if they plan on releasing any 18" versions of their DTM wheels soon or if they would be willing to work with me on creating a custom set of 18" wheels for my car. I'm just waiting right now to hear word. If they say no, we'll have to go to another vendor or may just end up getting a similar look but as one-off wheels for my car.

Beyond that, Johnny is going to first work on restoring the car to a solid stock feel. We will then begin work on customizing afterwards. The goal is to get the car on a show circuit and take it on tours both here in Canada and down to the US. The highlight is to do what we can to get the car into a magazine as well as have it recognized at the SEMA show to highlight what us Canucks can do. Next update in Feb upon my return from Thailand and Japan.

Harvey