Project Poncho: Daily Driven Muscle Car

In reply to anger_enginering :

I have! I love Dan's channel. super awesome guy and has some great cars. His "Jenko" nova is a big inspiration for this car 

Snuck in a couple hours on the car tonight. I've transitioned back to the driver's floor, i'm planning to finish that area so i can go ahead and pull the subframe, paint it, and paint the underside of the car. Once i wire wheeled off the primer, I had to cut some more to get to clean metal.

I then started making some patch panels out of scrap steel to save myself the $200. I'm not an ace fabricator, but under some carpet I think it will be more than good enough.

Dunno if this would help you, but I came across it on another site and it looked interesting.

Refurbish your GM X- or F-body subframe with these new repair kits [from Summit Racing]. Included are six repair plates that are laser-cut from 12-gauge steel to reinforce and renew existing frames that are deteriorating from rust, accident damage, jacking dents, or elongated bushing holes. The plates are slightly thicker than the factory metal to provide additional strength and durability. Note that cutting and welding will be necessary for installation. The kits fit 1973-’74 Buick Apollo and Oldsmobile Omega, 1967-’69 Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, 1968-’74 Chevy II/Nova, as well as 1971-’74 Pontiac Ventura. Inquire about p/n SUM-770411 for more information.

For fifty bucks, it sounded like value for money if you aren't planning to go the full subframe-connector route.

In reply to Stealthtercel :

That is actually a kit to replace the body mount holes in the subframe (if they've rusted out so that the bushings aren't a tight fit anymore). Not really the same as a subframe connector which ties the front subframe to the rear frame rails (from the factory, they are only connected by the floorpan)

Had to drive 2hrs round trip to get it, but scored a super clean trunk lid for $50!

Score!

$150 remaining in your pocket for other things, and you don't mess up the color scheme of the car :D

So I tried to start welding in floor patches last night and got nowhere. I'm a novice when it comes to welding, but i think i made it harder on myself trying to use 22ga for my patches because i think the factory floor is 18ga. I also tried to weld it with flux core because a welding gas cylinder is about $300 but i think i'm just gonna have to bite the bullet on that one...

In reply to budget_bandit :

You won't regret the investment in the cylinder.  It's a game changer.

NoHome has a little beginners tutorial on welding sheet metal in the Molvo thread.  You could go searching for it, or maybe he'll stop in and point you in the right direction.

Note, that's how I learned to do it.  Works a charm

In reply to budget_bandit :

I used about (2) 4x6 sheets of 16 gauge on my car - worked pretty well. The thinner material can be tricky especially with rust .  About halfway through I switched from a crappy Eastwood 110 welder to a Primeweld MIG 180 which is fairly inexpensive ( 600$)  but made welding so much faster.  Shielding gas is a must for thin stuff.   You might be able to find a used shielding gas tank on marketplace or craigslist and have it filled/ exchanged and save some money.  

In reply to staffma :

i appreciate the advice. unfortunately, the welding shops that ive spoken to around here basically wont touch a tank if you didnt buy it from them. additionally, one shop told me that if they weren't the last ones to fill the tank that i bought from them, they would refuse to touch it. whether for profit or safety or both, who knows.

i think before outlaying $300+ for some gas im gonna try flux core with some thicker metal and see how that works. i also need to make sure i have .030 wire in the machine and not .035, that could be hurting me too

In reply to budget_bandit :

Do you have a Tractor Supply near you? 

That's who I've been using to do my cylinder exchanges. It's similar to propane exchange. A lot less drama than the welding gas supply shops who like to only deal with higher volume "professional business" operations.

Find out who the local farmers are using (if you don't have a Tractor Supply Store near by) and use them.

In reply to budget_bandit :

Byte the bullet.  You will spend more time cleaning up after you welds than you will welding using Flux core.  It just isn't a pretty weld.

In reply to budget_bandit :

I feel that, I have an airgas near me that is semi ok to deal with - Luckily i was able to find a used non branded bottle and exchange it for an airgas bottle. I have linden bottles for my oxygen/ argon tanks and have to drive 1.5 hrs to get them filled. Flux core can be done on sheetmetal - it just takes a different strategy which is not the best for thinner material. Due to the shielding gas ( flux) inside the wire you have to make a bigger puddle and drag it along the weld seam to get good coverage. This of course increases the danger of burn through.  I have seen some very nice flux core welds done by pros on thinner material but it is a challenge. 

Well apparently last week when I called the local shops, I was using the wrong terminology and that makes all the difference.

None of the shops around here will "fill" tanks that don't come from them, and I was even told by one shop that if I bought the tank from them and had someone else fill it, they wouldnt touch it anymore.

However, all 3 local shops that I called this afternoon will "swap" any tank that i bring in, as long as it isn't a lease from another store, for the ~$45 gas fill fee. So, off I go to the wretched hive of scum and villany and good deals (FB Marketplace) to find a good deal on a tank.

In reply to budget_bandit :

My local welding shop gave me a full old bottle that no one claimed.  It needed a recert, so we swapped it for another bottle.  They send out a hundred at a time for recert.  Sometimes you just have to explain and ask.

Grabbed some 18ga sheet metal from the local depot (they charge $1/lb for offcuts, so grabbed a 24"x24" piece for $5.70) and tried to get that welded in the car with flux core. I had some good welds, some bad welds, and some awful welds. Definitely gonna have to keep looking for a good deal on a bottle. 

For years now I've wanted a 73 Ventura Sprint to put an IA2 block in, could never get things lined up when I found one for sale.

In reply to NashGTI :

I've not heard of the IA2 block, what is that?

In reply to budget_bandit :

Aluminum Pontiac V8 block, something like a standard 4.3 inch bore with it and 3 inch mains.  You still see a lot of builds by Butler and Kauffman using them, easy to get a lot of cubic inches out of them with the bore almost .200 larger, plus they strengthened the valley and fixed some of the oil galley problems.

In reply to NashGTI :

cool deal, probably would be a rocket in a light-ish car like these

In reply to budget_bandit :

Even a 5.3 with a TKX 5 speed would make for a fun daily driver type car.  All things relative though,even if I drove a 700hp Ventura to work it would only be the third most powerful X body at the building here.

Keep at yours and have fun along the way.

Snagged these wheels off of FB marketplace this morning for $125. Miraculously, the seller held them for me for over 24hrs despite about 30 people trying to buy them. I think this corrosion will clean up decently, and if it doesn't i'll just flip them back on FB marketplace and get the Bassetts like i was originally thinking.

budget_bandit said:

Snagged these wheels off of FB marketplace this morning for $125. Miraculously, the seller held them for me for over 24hrs despite about 30 people trying to buy them. I think this corrosion will clean up decently, and if it doesn't i'll just flip them back on FB marketplace and get the Bassetts like i was originally thinking.

Sweet!

The late 80s/early 90s Centerline or American Racing wheels have gone from cool, to dorky, and full circle back to cool.

It looks like your set has clear coat on them with the small spots of corrosion. An invigorating spa treatment of paint stripper will be needed before you try to polish out the corrosion.

Why yes, I did have several scotch Brite pads get all gunked up with gummy balled up wads of clearcoat when I tried to polish a set of junkyard alloy wheels...

In reply to RandolphCarter :

I appreciate the advice, i've never tackled aluminum "restoration" like this before. Trying to constantly remind myself not to try to make everything perfect, the car is supposed to be ratty. I'm a little afraid of scope creeping myself into a non-running car for a year or more. A wise man said "perfect is the enemy of good enough"