Well i appreciate the feedback everyone. I guess it might not be as ugly as i thought. If i can get some more sheet metal this week, I think I can have the trunk finished by the end of the weekend. I got in a good rhythm last night and made more progress than I thought I would. I really would love to get the trunk finished so I can go ahead and pull the subframe out and paint the underside of the car. At that point, i can start putting parts back on the car instead of just removing parts.
In reply to budget_bandit :
Trunk looks great!
My big project is in the "Get it to start and run long enough to pressure wash the chassis and find out how much welding I have to do" stage right now... I'll be thrilled when I can start putting clean metal in it.
Spent $11.24 at the local metal supply and grabbed some stuff. I can use the long pieces around the rear window. It's 16ga, i wanted 18ga...oh well.
Smelled something burning whilst cutting...found a nice little mouse house
this is really annoying work and i'm ready to be done with it...and i still have to repair the window channel
budget_bandit said:this is really annoying work and i'm ready to be done with it...and i still have to repair the window channel
Just remember, annoying work is still practice, and this looks to be good practice for that window...get good on the stuff that will never be seen
In reply to fouckhest :
true.
I know why bodyshops charge so much for this kind of work now lol
Hey those patches are looking great! Nice job
not sure how I missed this, but great job! Following along!
LS family truck engines are kind of expensive on FB marketplace around here (for whatever reason, junkyards have alarmingly few LS powered vehicles in them, probably because we don't really get rust), so I was considering driving north to somewhere like Cincinatti where there are more options.
However, by the time I pay for gas to drive my 90s pickup and the enviro+core fees at the yard, i'd be in an engine for ~$450 not including quite a lot of labor to pull it out and 6hrs round trip to get it home. I bet if i was patient, i could find a 4.8/5.3 on FB marketplace for ~$500 around here. Seems like that would probably be worth it.
In reply to budget_bandit :
I think it's been mentioned before, but why not buy an auction van, pull everything you need from it, then sell it to a yard? You should be ahead of your FB experience or JY trip
I've thought about that, and I would be open to it, but
1) I have not seen vans for sale locally cheap enough to make that feasible. I'm assuming ~$300 for scrap value (maybe that's wrong?) and i have only found vans $1500+ so i'm still paying ~1200 for the engine
2) i don't really have a place to do that at the moment. I'm already impinging on a relative's spare garage space (he uses 1 of his 2 spaces and i'm in the other). I would be really hesistant to park a van outside his house whilst yanking parts from it
what do you guys get if you scrap a whole vehicle minus motor/trans? Sure it will depend on scrap rate, but it wouldn't be more than a couple hundred dollars right?
Got the forward passenger side trunk closed in. Also closed in at the aft center, which made a huge difference in how stiff the trunk floor feels (duh)
budget_bandit said:I've thought about that, and I would be open to it, but
1) I have not seen vans for sale locally cheap enough to make that feasible. I'm assuming ~$300 for scrap value (maybe that's wrong?) and i have only found vans $1500+ so i'm still paying ~1200 for the engine
2) i don't really have a place to do that at the moment. I'm already impinging on a relative's spare garage space (he uses 1 of his 2 spaces and i'm in the other). I would be really hesistant to park a van outside his house whilst yanking parts from it
Auctions? Govdeals have a couple under $1000
In reply to Mr_Asa :
i appreciate the rec, i hadn't heard of govdeals, i'll check it out. i might have more success there than copart
No pictures at the moment, but i'm almost done with the trunk repair. I'm fairly frustrated at how long it took, because the smart money says that it will be even harder and take even longer to repair the rear window channel.
budget_bandit said:No pictures at the moment, but i'm almost done with the trunk repair. I'm fairly frustrated at how long it took, because the smart money says that it will be even harder and take even longer to repair the rear window channel.
Yep. Because you are learning to take your time and make nicer welds which means less clean up.
Trunk is done. Looks like hot garbage. I really hate metalwork and have basically 0 motivation to work on this car.
Dude. It's not looking that bad from here, stop beating yourself up. Grinder/flapper wheels, sating black + splatter it with something lighter, it'll be more than fine. If you need to walk away from it for a few days (and can let it sit where it is) then maybe do that and think abotu what you want to do next. You're making good progress even if you'd want it to happen faster.
pres589 (djronnebaum) said:Dude. It's not looking that bad from here, stop beating yourself up. Grinder/flapper wheels, sating black + splatter it with something lighter, it'll be more than fine. If you need to walk away from it for a few days (and can let it sit where it is) then maybe do that and think abotu what you want to do next. You're making good progress even if you'd want it to happen faster.
Exactly. Flap wheel that E36 M3 smooth and 90% will disappear. Then, prime it all one color another 90% will disappear. Splatter paint like gm did, and nobody but me, you, and the guy you run over are ever gonna know it was worked on. And two of us ain't gonna care.
Dusterbd13-michael said:pres589 (djronnebaum) said:Dude. It's not looking that bad from here, stop beating yourself up. Grinder/flapper wheels, sating black + splatter it with something lighter, it'll be more than fine. If you need to walk away from it for a few days (and can let it sit where it is) then maybe do that and think abotu what you want to do next. You're making good progress even if you'd want it to happen faster.
Exactly. Flap wheel that E36 M3 smooth and 90% will disappear. Then, prime it all one color another 90% will disappear. Splatter paint like gm did, and nobody but me, you, and the guy you run over are ever gonna know it was worked on. And two of us ain't gonna care.
Truth! Save the mental gymnastics for the exterior sheet metal. Cover the trunk in carpet and no one will ever know you think it looks like E36 M3. Besides that, your sheet metal work looks pretty decent to begin with. (source- used to be an industrial mechanic/fabricator)
In reply to Recon1342 :
Yep! If I was half as good as he is, I'd be right proud. Sadly, I'm not 
Totally agree with everyone's advise and comments, looks good for sure to start. When you get frustrated and burnt out, go do something fun with the car that is easy/shinny/rewarding....then doing more sheet metal work won't seem so horrible!
screw metalwork!
i took ya'lls advice and i'm doing something else. Pulled the subframe for a wire wheel and undercoat before i slam it back in the car
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