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Page 3

This page is dedicated to the replacements of the various rusted, dented, worn out body panels. This part of the project was pretty fun. Such a wonderful visual stimuli when it was finished! This project proved to be fun yet difficult. Much effort to get these on correctly. Read on...

Page 3
Phase 3:
Replacing the parts, getting ready for the paint job.

Well, now it is time to get my car prepared for the paint job. I will be getting the car painted in a few weeks, my friend is going to paint my car. Kirk painted my brothers 1984 Firebird, and he did a great job. Most of the body parts of my car are fairly rusted and beat up, so I purchased replacement parts for them. Phase 3 is the phase to replace the old beat up parts with the better conditioned ones. The parts that need to be replaced are the hood, nose, driver's side fendor, and the doors. My twin brother, Bill is getting the bolts off of the nose cover so we can get these parts off.

Bill and I got the hood off of the car, but it started to rain, so we decided to move the car into the garage and work on it there. Bill at first try couldn't get the nose peice off, so we thought that the hood would be a good place to start then. The hood that was on it was in okay shape, but I was able to find a hood that was in almost perfect shape. It came off of a black '84 coupe. I purchased it from a junk yard in Boonville, IN. The matching nose cover was with it too, so I bought that as well. I think that I paid about $100 total for the nose and hood. Much more stripping of the car to come.

After, a few struggling minutes my brother and I got these parts off. The previous owner got into a wreck and split the fiberglass structure that holds the lights in place. This was the reason for the swap of the nose cover. The fender there was in good shape on the outside but on the inside of the fender it was rusted pretty bad. I left the wheel well cover on the fender, but when I bought the car, those weren't on there. So you can imagine the amout of dirt and water that got up into the engine and in behind the fender! The bottom portion of the fender where you can see the rust spot, there was no bolt holding that part to the car, so it dangled, and flapped around. The part of the car that excepts the bolt from the fender was smashed up into the bottom of the car. A crow bar fixed that.

This is what the car looks like with out all of the sheet metal, Pretty plane huh? That's me spraying lubricant on the door bolts, those babies are coming off too! After all of the bolts we took off, I'm thankful for WD-40! The car is on the lifters in order to get at the bolts on the nose cover easier. There wasn't a whole lot of light, or any room, so as soon as the rain subsided, we moved her outside. On top of the car you can see the replacement nose. I just swapped out the bolts and things off of the old nose to fix up the newer nose, which didn't have all of the hardware. To see the full size picture click here, and here.

The rain quit so we moved my bare baby out into the driveway. This puppy doesn't look to aerodynamic now does it? It hardly even looks like a Camaro for that matter. Next to be removed, The doors!

Well, here is yet another perfect example of how dirty my car is underneath everything. We took the door panels off and we discovered Dirt City. These doors are on their last leg. And boy are these puppies heavy. The triangular seal at the top left corner of the door were in good shape so my Brother took them and put them on his Bird. His were all cracked and falling a part. Now my car is beginning to look pretty interesting without the doors! Click here to see the full size picture.

Introducing the all new 1984 Camaro Concept Car, The Camaro Jeep! The driver's side door was the easiest to get off of the car, because the fender is gone too. The passenger's side is a different story. Well, right about now, I'm asking myself, What have I gotten myself into?! My dad is helping us this whole time so I am comfortable with what is going on. My dad had a 56 chevy that he worked on when He was the same age as Bill and I. Oh by the way, he spent $20 for that car, and $5 for another 56 for parts, that one ran better that the $20 car he said. Well, the easy part is over with, now it is time to get the replacement parts on. Much harder to do, because you have to get everything lined up correctly. So far, I havent put everything back on. There are some cracks in the frame stuff that needs to be fixed first, nothing major.

Here are the solid and sturdy doors from a '92 Firebird. They look great. I was worried that the interiors wouldn't swap, but Praise the Lord!, They did. I am so happy. I don't mind that for a while the exterior color won't match, but I don't think that a mismatched interior would look good at all. Thanks, Bill for swapping these for me!!! 1984 Camaro interior on a '92 Firebird door, I love it!

Lift with your legs, not your back!! These doors are heavy. It was rough even with the bricks. We successfully put both doors on and they look good. They shut really nice, and they don't clang like typical early 3rd gen doors. Only one problem. The seals on the door frame don't butt up against the glass. I need to purchase some new seals to fix that problem. I know I'm bound to come across some kinks with a project like that. God is teaching me to be patient. The ground effects will be coming off, I will be plugging the holes some how, I'm not sure yet. I have some ground effects, although not a complete set, if the door holes won't plug. Well, in just a few weeks, I'll be getting my paint job, Until then I'll be driving a multicolored car. The object of attention I'll bet. Oh by the way, know any body who needs some Camaro Parts? (Just kidding, these parts are going to the dump.)

Well, up until this point I just have the doors in place, the hood, fendors, and nose piece are still waiting to be put onto a car again. These replacement parts have been sitting around at my house for MONTHS, and are begging to be put into place. Well, they are just going to have to wait, because apon some inspection of the frame rails from underneath these parts, I have discovered some cracks that need to be welded. I will have to get this taken care of before the replacement parts go into place. There is a crack located behind the headlamp assembly and on the frame rail on the driverside fendor rail.

This is a picture from when Mr. Rheinhardt welded the frame that was cracked right behind the steering box. This was a very interesting problem. When I would turn my wheels, the torque from the wheels turning actually moved my frame causing it to rub against each other in a sheer fashion. Well, when the stress was too great, the frame would shift, and make a loud "pop" noise. Very interesting! Mr. R welded that spot up really nicely! A week later after I had already pulled off the fenders to replace them, I noticed the cracks on the frame rail that the fendor sits on. He welded up those spots for me, and then I put on the replacement parts from there.

The picture to the right is kind of hard to see, but it is the top view of the steering box. To the right you can see a mound, it's been spray painted black to obstain from rusting. The crack ran the down underneath the steering box. It's welded up tight; good as new!

Well my car is put back together, Mr. Rheinhardt welded the few problem spots for me and now, I have my own Technicolor Dream Car...

Well, it took some more fine adjusting and tweeking to get the gaps between the parts to be the proper distance, but it is finally together.
Phase 3 Complete!

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