Hello to all i have a 63 400 wagon that has been sitting for a little while, i started working on it a few weeks ago...now it seems to have rust everywhere, the area of most concern is the drip rail that runs front to rear just under the roof above side windows,this is gonna be a.. B!$(h to fix i'm ready to second guess my project when is enough ..enough!






Bad Attitude - west palm beach, Florida (http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2965369)

Surface rust (no pitting) is easily removed with an abrasive pad. Anything beyond that is too much. Any holes have to be cut out and replaced. Trouble is the top is painted the underside is raw steel. GM did not even offer undercoating for the longest time because they want the bodies to rust out (if it ain't rusted out, nobodies gonna buy a new one). Because of this for every square inch of rust you see there are acres of rust that you can not see (some of it effects the structural integrety of the car).

GM could have built all stainless steel coaches (Delorian learned how to build cars at Pontiac), but chose not too. Would you really want to see a world filled with every car ever made, sitting everywhere, forever (before you say yes; remember that more than Camaro's and Nova's and Chevelles have been made since World War II).

Big Dave

What make me crazy is the location between the upper passenger side rear window an lower roof drip rail if thats what its called, barley .25 of an inch to work hard to see how to address it without destroying roof http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2965369 if you look at last pic on bottom just above rear side glass you can see were i sprayed some black primer, is this a problem area for wagons does anyone know? thanks

hey bad...quit whining;) this is my project wagon.....


http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q187/2blackragtops/63wagonsurgery001.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q187/2blackragtops/63wagonsurgery005.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q187/2blackragtops/63wagonsurgery002.jpg

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q187/2blackragtops/63wagonpartsmock-up001.jpg

this is what i started with....

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q187/2blackragtops/colinsb-daypartyandnovaprogress038.jpg

and this.....
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q187/2blackragtops/colinsb-daypartyandnovaprogress039.jpg

and this.........

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q187/2blackragtops/colinsb-daypartyandnovaprogress037.jpg

the point of my pictorial is that almost anything can be saved given enough time and energy(oh yeah-money helps too!!).i'm not suggesting everybody should do this,but this is a pretty good example of what's left on the west coast of canada.your car looks very do-able and i would encourage you to stick with it.there is lots of help on this site and nothing you'll encounter that hasn't been encountered before.good luck!!
leftcoast carl.

THANK YOU! O-GOD THANKS you gave me a new out look LOL good luck

I need to know what is so special about that wagon, nothing bad ment! just that all that work? i mean eather it 's a yenko wagon that came with a 302 that nobody heard of. or your that good. for the amount of money you have or gonna have invested that wagon 's gonna be a keeper

Holy cow Carl!!! Now that's a project.What's the story behind it?

Left-Coast Carl is just a glutton for punishment and is HardHeaded... someone told him that car was JUNK and it pi$$ed him off :D

"OH YEAH !!??? well I SAY i can FIX it !!!" :eek: :eek: :eek:

so he is !!! ;) :D

Left-Coast Carl is just a glutton for punishment and is HardHeaded... someone told him that car was JUNK and it pi$ him off :D

"OH YEAH !!??? well I SAY i can FIX it !!!" :eek: :eek: :eek:

so he is !!! ;) :D
johnny is probably closest to the truth:D!!
as i stated earlier,there aren't alot nicer starter cars around here.even though i own a bodyshop,i didn't look as close as i should have and once i got started,i found more rust and more....and more.......(you get the idea!)
i also did exactly what i tell my customers NOT to do.that is"NEVER CHANGE YOUR BUILD 1/2 WAY THROUGH...".i did that very thing and i want a rock solid body for my build.i now have a fresh 406 s/block(535 hp/540 tq) a viper 6 speed,a 9",caltracs,cpp frt end and a new church boys rack going into it.
i figure it's a great way to show people what's possible and showcase my shop's abilities at the same time.unfortunately,we've been way too busy at work to show it any love recently.....SOON....VERY SOOOOOOOONNNNN.....
leftcoast carl.

"NEVER CHANGE YOUR BUILD 1/2 WAY THROUGH."

SOON....VERY SOOOOOOOONNNNN.....

leftcoast carl.


HA !!! my "FLYER Special" was supposed to be a satin black, low sitting "Daytona test" NASCAR style car until it got a paint job... and i recall sayin' repeatedly... SOON, VERY SOOOOOON...


it's goin' on SEVEN years now... but i think NOW i can Really say...

SOON, VERY SOOOOON !!!! :eek: ;) :D

Well that certainly is a testament to your skills!

or certification of his mental status :eek: :eek: :D