85 4e resto

[roberto2000]

I have been enjoying reading everyones' progress on their cars
so I figured I would start a writeup on my 85 4e project.

2005 someone posted this car for sale here on the classifieds
I had e-mailed him about it, and he sent me pictures.
I did not purchase it right away because of the condition
of the rear quarter and the aftermarket sunroof.
I realized this was going to be a big undertaking.

Later in spring of 2006 the owner e-mailed me that the car was getting
hard for him to get in and out of, due to a back injury. We threw around some figures and I told him I would get back to him later.
The next week he informed me that the car would need some more work to keep it on the road and an inspection he did not want to do this so he dropped the price.
I was going to agree to buy it, but now, for sure I was going to buy it.
His mechanic gave the car the green light for one last voyage.

[roberto2000]

Once I had the car at home (Thanks to my Wife and son who made the trek to Vermont and drove it home)
I took it to my friends home who does bodywork for me to check the damaged area and give it the rundown of what it needs.
First off we went to a frame shop and had it put on the rack the body was square but the rearend was still pushed back 3" on the drivers side a quick inspection revealed the quad shock was bent and holding the rear end out of alignment.
The next process the car went through was cleaning and preping for the paint
I was to strip all the parts off so I could clean them up and also deliver a shell to Bruce for mounting on the Rotisserie.
One note 1 SVO = 3 cars when taken apart totally

[roberto2000]

When we got the car mounted in the shop ready for the underbody paint
I was at home cleaning and dying interior panels.
The suspension was also in my garage so I could do some new bushings and detailing of those parts.
I also sent the engine off to a rebuilder to have the internals gone through

[roberto2000]

The paint finally was started we did the bottom first then the engine compartment

[roberto2000]

While this work was being performed the engine builder was busy

[roberto2000]

Sorry it is out of order but I found pictures of cleaning the underbody
WARNING this job will take at least a month if you have undercoating and if you ever want to go 'out' with your wife, keeping your self, let alone your garage clean during this process is impossible.
Oh if you have little "helpers" make sure you ask your wife if they can get dirty in what they are wearing. Don't take their word for it (I did)

[roberto2000]

Some more shots of the under body before it was primed and painted

[roberto2000]

adding the 4e

[roberto2000]

when the engine compartment and underbody were finished painting we needed to install the suspension parts to allow us to roll the car around and get to work on the exterior of the body.
we also installed the engine because we needed the room and we did not want to install it when there was a painted exterior

[roberto2000]

Our next job to tackle was the roof replacement this was necessary because someone cut the roof and installed an aftermarket sunroof.
there is a lot of spot welds to drill to get the donor roof off to save the skin
then there are just as many to drill out on the car. Care must be taken to ensure you dont use too much force and distort anything because it will show in the final product.

[roberto2000]

After the roof was welded in place our next job was to tackle the smashed rear quarter. First it was dollied close to its original location and measurements were taken and transfered to the new sheetmetal then the cutting began. we step flanged all around the opening and screwed the panel in place before welding

[roberto2000]

After welding and grinding the quarter and roof we filled the leftover voids to give it that smooth look

[roberto2000]

other areas of the car were then paid attention too
The header panel fell out of the front bumper in pieces when we were removing it. This also needed work

[roberto2000]

After months of sanding and checking (this is the time where it is important to be picky) we were ready to take it for the paint in a good booth

[roberto2000]

After the paint dried it looked good
we stood there looking at it from every angle for at least two hours