[vertigto]

I think the guy who owned my 70 went to the same school...lol.

[Mark Simiele]

Great progress photos and the frame looks like new! Keep them coming.

[Greg Reid]

That's a really solid car. Looks like minor stuff considering what I've seen of your work.
My car had expanding foam in all the rust holes...which were considerable in the roof and c-pillars. Foam was sanded to shape and bondo spread on top, then primered. Looked good actually but I'm glad I didn't take for granted that they had done a good job. They also put patch panels in to repair the rusted trunk. Unfortunately, they didn't bother to remove any of the rusted out original trunk pan....just welded the patches on top.

[Mark Simiele]

Same here. My car had newer quarter skins on it when I bought it in 1995 and I thought it was fairly solid being that had been done.. When the paint was stripped down during my restoration there was the expanding foam under some thick bondo. After digging the foam out the restoration shop saw that when the skins were welded on they distorted badly due to poor welding so on went the foam and bondo to bring the contour back. Bodywork at its best!

[Greg Reid]

They weren't body men, they were sculptures...sculpturers?....sculpturists?....what ever...they weren't bodymen!

[Heatwave]

Amazing progress and terrific pictures. Helluva job so far.

I too have a 1969 Conv with AC. I think you’ll be very pleased with the results from your plan as they are nearly identical to the upgrades I made.

I did not have a #s matching engine so I didn’t mind swapping out the TH400 to a 200 4R. But it is a 1969 gto 400 with a date correct fully rebuilt Q-jet. I went with an 1800-2100 stall converter on the 200 R4. You’ll also want to get the Shiftworks Overdrive kit for the shifter console. Looks exactly like factory ... but with the OD detent and label. Even lights up at night. You’ll also want to install Shiftworks Neutral Safety and Backup light switch. You’ll also need to change your transmission speedo gear. With 235/60-15 tires + the 200 4r + 3.55 posi, I ended up running a GM NP208 - 45 tooth gear (light green). My dash speedo is within 1 mph of my phone GPS at all speeds. I was shocked it was that accurate.

The 200 4R was the best upgrade I could have made.

I also upgraded my peg leg 3.23 to a posi 3.55 rear. (GM 8.2" BOP Eaton-Style (Clutch) Posi Unit (28 Spline) GM 8.2" BOP Ring & Pinion (3.55 Ratio) It's a perfect match with the 4sp Auto. Runs 2000rpms at 70mph. And I can do a very nice burnout too. I can run it like a 3sp auto around town or shift into 4sp OD for highway speeds.

Also upgraded the exhaust. In the pics below it still had the side splitters and 2.5" exhaust with headers. The headers were just too low so I replaced them with the factory ram air exhaust manifolds and a 3" exhaust from Pypes. I brought the chrome tips out the back with a slight turn down.

I also upgraded the AC to 134a using the original factory system. Works great and has held its charge for about 4 years now.

Best of luck on the restoration and keep the pics coming.

[roger1]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

That's a really solid car. Looks like minor stuff considering what I've seen of your work.

Originally Posted by Mark Simiele

Great progress photos and the frame looks like new! Keep them coming.

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by Heatwave

Amazing progress and terrific pictures. Helluva job so far.

I too have a 1969 Conv with AC. I think you’ll be very pleased with the results from your plan as they are nearly identical to the upgrades I made.

I did not have a #s matching engine so I didn’t mind swapping out the TH400 to a 200 4R. But it is a 1969 gto 400 with a date correct fully rebuilt Q-jet. I went with an 1800-2100 stall converter on the 200 R4. You’ll also want to get the Shiftworks Overdrive kit for the shifter console. Looks exactly like factory ... but with the OD detent and label. Even lights up at night. You’ll also want to install Shiftworks Neutral Safety and Backup light switch. You’ll also need to change your transmission speedo gear. With 235/60-15 tires + the 200 4r + 3.55 posi, I ended up running a GM NP208 - 45 tooth gear (light green). My dash speedo is within 1 mph of my phone GPS at all speeds. I was shocked it was that accurate.

The 200 4R was the best upgrade I could have made.

I also upgraded my peg leg 3.23 to a posi 3.55 rear. (GM 8.2" BOP Eaton-Style (Clutch) Posi Unit (28 Spline) GM 8.2" BOP Ring & Pinion (3.55 Ratio) It's a perfect match with the 4sp Auto. Runs 2000rpms at 70mph. And I can do a very nice burnout too. I can run it like a 3sp auto around town or shift into 4sp OD for highway speeds.

Also upgraded the exhaust. In the pics below it still had the side splitters and 2.5" exhaust with headers. The headers were just too low so I replaced them with the factory ram air exhaust manifolds and a 3" exhaust from Pypes. I brought the chrome tips out the back with a slight turn down.

I also upgraded the AC to 134a using the original factory system. Works great and has held its charge for about 4 years now.

Best of luck on the restoration and keep the pics coming.

Oh man, your car is absolutely stunning!! I love that color!
I've not seen many that color at all and it is my favorite red. Is it Cardinal Red?

Thanks for all your info. We really are making a lot of the same choices.
I've pretty much decided that I will go with the Dakota Digital VHX gauges so I will use VSS on the tranny. I am also planning on upgrading to the RA exhaust manifolds and I will get the ceramic coated ones from Butler. My thinking now is to go with the 2 1/2" exhaust pipe kit that offer too.
Thanks for the tip about the Shiftworks products. I'll check them out.

[Heatwave]

Originally Posted by roger1

Thanks guys!


Oh man, your car is absolutely stunning!! I love that color!
I've not seen many that color at all and it is my favorite red. Is it Cardinal Red?

Thanks for all your info. We really are making a lot of the same choices.
I've pretty much decided that I will go with the Dakota Digital VHX gauges so I will use VSS on the tranny. I am also planning on upgrading to the RA exhaust manifolds and I will get the ceramic coated ones from Butler. My thinking now is to go with the 2 1/2" exhaust pipe kit that offer too.
Thanks for the tip about the Shiftworks products. I'll check them out.

Here's a closeup of my GTO wheels you asked about. They are a 1 piece wheel. The chrome "Beauty Ring" is actually a part of the wheel. I'm not sure who the manufacturer is or if its still available for sale. Perhaps someone else knows who made these wheels and when.

[roger1]

A few things done in the last couple of days.
I removed all the undercoating from both rear wheelhouses. Very messy.
I also made the same metal cuts on the p/s wheel well as I had done on the d/s. Rust was pretty much a carbon copy but was a little worse in the area behind the wheel and I cut it all the way back to the rear edge.



I decided to cut it back further on the d/s too even though it wasn't as bad and removed all the rusted metal back to good welding edges on both sides in the rear part.



I also stripped the paint and bondo off of both fenders. Removed some undercoating too. Both have the rusted areas with patches on top and had bondo thick as heck to blend it all in.
Both fenders also had dents that had holes drilled into them and covered with about 3 times as much bondo as they should have taken.

The right fender's dent is above the patch:



Left fender dent:



So I will weld up the holes and remove the dents with a hammer and dolly. Not a big deal.

Closeups of the patches:
A little brazing was tried on them as well as the spot welds.





At some point in the past my car was undercoated by Ziebart. They drilled 4 holes in the door jambs on each side, squirted in the undercoating and put these plastic plugs into the holes afterwards.



I welded all the holes up today. Here's the d/s:





I now have the 6 patch panels on order. 2 for the fenders and 2 each for the rear wheel wells. Also the both the rear outer wheelhouses and the p/s firewall motor mount brace. I actually had to order a pair of braces as I couldn't find them individually. So I guess I'll sell the d/s one on ebay.

[roger1]

After further thought, I've decided my overhead setup for hoisting the body is safe for me to get under. I just can't imagine it failing anywhere. Plus, it sure is handy to use the equalizer to tilt it for working underneath.



I finished using the wire wheel on the under side of the floor, outer firewall and cowls and I'd say I've got 99% percent of the undercoating off. I worked on it yesterday afternoon and started mid morning today and finished late afternoon.
A lot of work and glad it's done. Like I did the frame, this will make it blast quicker and easier and not contaminate my spent media so I can reclaim and reuse.

[dataway]

No rusted out lower cowl corners ... that's good.

Very shortly now I'm going to become very familiar with lying on my back looking at the underside of my GTO.

[Scarebird]

I am enjoying this thread - but one request: please resize your pix before posting.

[bluejudge]

It looks like there is some writing on the firewall, or am I seeing things.

[roger1]

I had to take a closer look after you mentioned that. No writing, just marks that were made when my wire brush cup was close to being worn out.

After removing the undecoating from the floor, I did find another pretty good sized rust hole caused by the leaking heater core. It must have leaked for a long time and gone ignored.
It's further back from the rust hole in the floor and off to the side that connects the floor to the front of the rocker panel.
I'm in the process of repairing the hole now but wait to make a post until I have completed it so I can show it all from discovery to finished repair with photos.

[iceman411]

Originally Posted by roger1

The weather turned cold and rainy so I'm not ready to lift the body and roll the frame outside yet.
So, I spent some time using a paint stripping disc. First the good:







Generally looks good. About 80% had been stripped before. All the upper parts but not towards the bottom. They used a very aggressive grit by the looks of the scratches.

Now some not so good. Both quarters are going to need the set of 2 patch panels around and behind the wheel openings. The previous repairs were done very, very poorly and will make it a bit harder to fix correctly. There were some patches laid on top of rust holes and welded on. Then bondo was laid on thick to feather it out. The bondo went half way up the quarters and all the way around the wheel openings. Some holes are not patched and were just had bondo stuffed into the holes.
Driver side:









Passenger side:









No patch. Just bondo over and in the hole. I've seen a lot of GTOs that rust here. Does anyone know the root cause of rust in this location?



No rust on this side but some kind of damage was repaired there and not done very well. It was built up with bondo. Hopefully I can correct with a little hammer and dolly work but the poor job done on this will make it more difficult.



The rockers appear good:





Cracks in the factory lead on both sides here. I will have to take the lead out and weld the seams to correct this.

Just saw your thread. You asked how, on the passenger side rear quarter, could have rusted above the small trim piece, .... this area usually goes once a hole rusts through on the lower quarter and or inner wheelhouse.... then the tires kick back moisture into that ‘pocket’ above the trim/bumper.... very common up here in the snow belt. I have never seen that area rot on a car that didn’t have rust already behind the tire...

[Scarebird]

My 71 had rust in that spot too: above bumper between trunk and quarter. Not driver's side though and no emblem penetrations. Weird.

Maybe when the factory dipped the bodies in primer something was attached there - ground clamps or something? Do Chevelles have the same issue?

[roger1]

This is what gtohurstjudge said several posts back:

"The reason why these cars rust out so bad around
the rear wheel well lips and the rear quarters at the tail end are due to the foam
rubber caulk used to seal up the seams at these locations. This caulk which became porous foam rubber when it dried absorbed moisture like a sponge"

After some study, I think he is probably right especially if it's not sealed with paint.
I think that is why I have rust above the tail light on one side only. The paint must have sealed it on one side but not the other. Like yours, mine doesn't have rust on the driver's side either.

[Scarebird]

That make sense except for there is no seam where mine rusted, nor any sealant. In addition, the rust was surface rust that did not penetrate the steel.

[iceman411]

The 69 I had had the same rust, same spot... also my ‘71 vert had it as well

[roger1]

After removing the undercoating and dirt from underneath the floor, I noticed another spot of damage caused by the leaking heater core.
This was just a rusty crust but not a hole until I poked all the crust away.



2 layers of steel overlap in this area and connect to the rocker flange. Both layers were rusted away but the rocker flange was fine.
I cut it back to good metal and squared it up for replacing the layers with 2 patches. I also cut the hole in the floor back to good metal



Here's the first layer patch:



Smoothed out and holes drilled for plug welds through the patch and rocker flange:



Second layer patch tacked in place:



Second patch smoothed off:



Plug welds smoothed off on the rocker flange:



I had to make 3 different patches to fix the hole where the floor meets the firewall. First one was to replace the small section of flange that was missing:





I did the rest with one small patch and one large one:







This was more of a challenge than I thought it would be but I'm happy with how it came out. Amazing how much damage can be done from a leaking heater core. It must have been leaking and gone unnoticed for quite a while.