SM: Decision about the body

2 February 2004 | Body work, SM

Obviously, when I started this operation, I was dreaming… but soon I came back to reality when I began disassembling!

I remove the biggest pieces and I start to work on the interior of the trunk. And in this trunk, I discover a lot of damages: rust and disastrous repairs. I work hours to scrap the impressive coat of tar supposed to protect the under body. Here also, I discover many bad repairs, as ugly as the previous ones.

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Disassembling is in progress, all removable body panels are out

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The windshield is a fragile piece, which unfortunately I damaged when I removed it 🙁

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I started to treat and paint the interior of the trunk, but the result was ugly

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Here is what’s left when everything has been removed

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Look at the floor on the passenger side, you can see the result of a very bad steel sheet replacement work

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Another nice repair! It’s the left rocker panel… and it’s the same on the other side

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Stain, tar, rust and then what’s left of the steel sheet so well replaced

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So why making that shine if it’s basically rotten?

With such a bad condition and awful repairs done in the past on this body, I wonder what to do. I’m told that the bad repairs had come to bend the entire body at such a point that doors didn’t close anymore. So I decide to get rid of this body and find a better restoration base.