1970 GTO the next project
 

Next project 1970 GTO. I will need a good straight frame original is bent from a previous accident. This car was pulled from a so called body shop. Not a big fan of following someone else's work. A lot of corners cut. I have to fix what I can. You are looking at 16K in work people. I feel real bad for the owner. He was taken for his hard earned money. Just not right! I took the car off the frame today to find the frame twisted like a pretzel. Come to find out it was in an accident prior and this so called body shop was working around it.

Look at the back of this frame hit hard on pass rear. The top of the passenger rear spring perch is actually 5 degrees higher than drivers side. The frame rail is kinked.

I’ve been digging in on this GTO and have come up with a lot of discouraging news for the owner. He paid almost 16K to a so called body shop for restoration. After 3 years and no progress, he pulled the car from the shop. He found me and now I have to straighten this mess out. This shop cut corners all over the place. Trunk pan installed over old, finished the top but not the bottom (Who will see the bottom of the car?). Cut off the old outer wheel wells put new under old inner wheel well lip. Never replaced inners but beat them with a hammer. Kind of replaced trunk frame supports. (Just lay over old don’t weld or only partially weld!) Then try to align them with a bent frame, this was visual to me! Don’t bother to re-weld the back support to the new trunk pan. (The factory had no idea what they were doing.) The quarters all need to be re-welded for structural reasons each wheel well only has 4 welds holding the to the inner. The cake last night was he used black silicon for seam sealer. Thank god I found that before I started welding in that area. That stuff is toxic when heated up or burned.
To the owners of cars being restored at a shop, please ask questions things like this just shouldn’t happen to hard working people. Shame on the owner for not following up and just keep giving this guy money for poor work. Shame on the body shop for taking advantage of a hard working person, we all work too hard for our money and shouldn’t have to worry about crooks like this!

I welded the two pans back together and will blend the 2 with filler. I reattached the rear panel to the new trunk pan. I will replace the trunk supports I think.

Wow... I hope the guy is going after that last shop. I've seen a lot of hackers like that unfortunately. Glad to see you're fixing the mess.

There are some vile disgusting creatures in the "Automotive" world .... I've had the displeasure of tripping over a few here in southern California. Hopefully he uses what you've found to crucify the bastards.

Those type of people need to be fitted for a special set of those concrete Nike's

I've been picking away at the GTO. I finished up the pass wheel wells both installed with no problem with the quarter on. Mocked up the body onto the new un bent frame and found the floor brace installed by the other shop was located wrong. I installed a new one and got everything lined back up. I sand blasted the floor this weekend and I must say they are in great shape. While working in the trunk area I found the rear tail panel was sectioned 3 times. I have located an original to replace damaged. It will be a really solid car once I'm done. Still have the challenge of replacing the tulip panel under panel I call it the package tray area. The last body shop put a new panel over the old rusty package tray panel. I was also informed the radius of the aftermarket quarter is not correct for the trim. This will have to be resolved also. That is why you need to mock everything up.

'

Nice repairs Jason, especially @ areas made more difficult by the botched attempts of others.
Great to see how you're helping the owner out of a tough situation too, hopefully he can just let the past foolishness go and stay happy/healthy finally enjoying his Goat!
:beers:
~ Pete

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Nice repairs, you are working fast, or I am working slowly?

Did you replace the gas tank supports and trunck supports beside the wheel wells?

Ryan

Ryan,
The car still has the original gas tank supports. The floor braces where replaced by the previous body shop. I had to replace the passenger side again because the body shop that had it was trying to align the floor support up to a bent frame. The car is moving along I hate doing things twice. It's hard following someone that doesn't have the same work ethic you have. Some things I would have done totally different. I think when it's done the owner will be happy. The owner has already made a comment that I've got more work done in 2 months than the last shop did in 2 years LOL. I do have a 9-5 job and all this work is done after hours and weekends. I really do nothing except work and work in my garage.

Jason

Jason, beautiful work so far. You're a good guy for fixing what others did wrong. It's a shame that so many body shops take advantage of people these days.

Would you share the manufacturer of the passenger side trunk support?

Ryan

I need this package tray panel for a 70 GTO/Lemans. Does anyone have one? Why the previous body guy put a new panel over this is just crazy!

You are doing amazing work to correct all the horror that car has been through. I'm impressed.

Thanks for the kind words, I take a lot of pride in my work. I've been guiding the owner along this process and explaining to him all the problems I found. The black silicon for seam sealer was the icing on the cake. The last bump in the road is this rear package tray area. I located a donor car down state to cut the package tray panel out of. I spent most of the day yesterday lining everything up. I'm pretty happy with the body lines now. Once I get the new deck panel I will make everything permanent and move onto the body to get it ready for epoxy and high build.

Finally done with the back half of the GTO. A new package tray and deck filler panel. I had to reshape the quarter corner. The after market quarters are way off. This area will need modifications to make the rear window trim to fit correctly.

Jason...
 

I visited Jason at his shop last nite to deliver some Nova parts to one his buddies...got to see this GTO up close...very nice work.

Jason's attention to detail and professional workmanship are as good as any I've seen.

-wilma

Nice work Jason, in the end looks like he will finally be happy

I just started priming parts, the doors and trunk lid are completed. I’m happy with the trunk area. A lot of work had to go into it, just to get it straightened out. The quarters were just a little too low and I had to build up the top of the quarters to get the panel alignment to look presentable. I like showing these shots as this is what needs to be done to aftermarket sheet metal sometimes. That’s an aftermarket trunk lid and the dam thing had dents and low spots. I think a lot of it has to do with the sheet metal is a lot thinner than the original sheet metal. A lot of time was spent blocking the back half out; I think it will pay off in the long run. The owner is very happy with my progress. I’ve got more done in 3 months than the previous body guy did in 3 years. My goal is to have the body in epoxy and high build in the next week or so. I will then proceed onto the frame, sandblast prime, and paint and hopefully get the body back onto the frame by the end of the summer.

Looking good!! TAZ

A testament to who you are Jason. :beers:

Fantastic work Jason!!!
I wish I had your body work skills!

It's tough being a one man show. I spent all day Saturday 8 to 8 getting the car in epoxy and high build primer. Every time I thought I was ready to prime the car I would find something the past shop didn't finish or hacked it up. Way to much time invested in the back half of this car. I think I am now over the hill and she was a steep one to climb.

You are settting an incredible pace!!

Well done

Ryan

I dont recall reading the color but what is the original color (assuming its going back the same).


Fantastic work btw.

http://i.imgur.com/1W9rEbl.gif

Thanks original color is blue with blue interior and a white vinyl top. The owner is staying with blue but a dark blue from what he told me.

Gto...
 

Nice looking work...you would never know he does it with a brush :smirk:

-wilma

The frame is all blasted epoxy primer tomorrow night

Epoxy down top coat tomorrow

Looking good...

Onto the frame. I broke down the old to clean up all the parts!

Jason, Your work speaks for it;s self! Quality and Detail!! BBBenny

It has been about a month since my last post. Frame is completely assembled and ready for the body. Once back together I will start the front end body work and get some color on it. It's coming along. I feel I have worked out all the problems the last body shop created for me hopefully its smooth sailing from here on out! Not a concourse frame the owner will be driving this car. I feel it cleaned up nicely.

Lookin' good. Patiently waiting on more progress. :biggthumpup:

Jason, Suggesting you use SPI Epoxy Prime shipped directly to your address for a little
over $220 for two gallons of working material (1:1)

I also used PPG Delfleet Essential Black (flattened with DX10) to paint frame, etc etc
as I saw Scott Tieman and Nile Wing's shop use

SPI EPOXY requires you to have your shop at 70 degrees for 24 hours. During the winter I would have a problem with this requirement. I use OMNI epoxy and high build primer. Its about the same price for 2 workable gallons.

Time to start mocking up the front nose.

First round of test fitting the new sheet metal. Overall fitment is OK, but you know all this aftermarket sheet metal needs rework to get all the body lines to line up. The hood actually fit real nice it was the fenders I will have to rework. The door to fender radius is way off you can see this in the one picture and when I fixed it. I had to drill all the spot welds along the fender edge relief cut the sheet metal, pull it out, and re-weld.

Now when the rubber nose was on the car the top edge of the fender was way to high but was fine at the hood edge. I had to drill out all the spot welds along the front of the fender and push the top edge down and re-weld it to the inner frame of the fender. One fender completed in just about 6 hours. Lots of test fitting to get the fender to line up.

Looking really good, your doing a great job! Reminds me of a Camaro convertible I got from another shop. Previous shop drilled holes in a new complete trunk pan assembly, but did not clamp it down to frame rails. They ended up welding the holes shut, but leaving a gap covered with seam sealer!

I know they didn't fit this good from the factory but you know me I just couldn't leave it alone. Front sheet metal is all test fitted. Just have to finish this rubber nose lots of digs and scratches to fix.

Lots of work to get this nose straight again. I'm priming the front end this weekend!