starting restoration on cecilia this year shes rusty and needs new metal. im doing everything from scratch due to the fact that the dont make replacment quarters for her any more. lots of chopping and weldin fun to be had. i love my celica and want her to last many more years. shes only got 150000kms and is only summer driven.any one with any tips or input on the project your insight would be apreciated im new to body work so here goes nothin. ps i will be posting pics soon http://s634.photobucket.com/albums/uu63 ... mview=grid
yeah shes got some cancer. time to learn your body work skills. i recommend cutting it all out and welding new panels in. a break, shear, and a grinder will save you much aggravation. dont just bondo the hell out of it. if you cant weld, or have no access to a welder. you can pop rivit the new patch panels in. (that you will make, out of 22-21g steel.) in then skin coat it with some filler. and shape it, its not right but will work in a pinch.
im a welder by trade so thats not a problem i also have a sheet of 18g sheet metal and a sheet of 14g for the structural members inside the rear fenders.i plan on doing this the right way the first time with as little bondo as possible.if it looks kind of funky im thinking of puting some valenses for th rear,fender flares for the wheel arches and a set of kumniari side skirts and mabe front bumper. i perfer the aeroform kit but it is now discontinued if anyone knows wew i can get the kit let me know thanks for the helpful advise
started choppin out the rear quarters today and found that its worse then it looks from the outside thier is not much left of the structural steel inside the body i also removed the mud flaps and found all kinds of rust thier to.being in expierienced with this kind of thing i have my doubts that i can repair the cancer. forgot my camera at home so might not have pics posted for a while just wondering how much rust is to much???? :?
In your case I'd say replace the side strips (heaps of guys here have done it) Check Mafix's car page for pics Forget cutting & welding the rear fenders, they will just disintegrate further I'd treat it inside and out and fiberglass the inside. (Create stiffeners by covering pieces of rope etc) That should buy you a couple of years to find a better body. I'm worried what the floorpan on that car looks like Pity you can't tow the body in my yard
i cut all under the door out sand blasted every thing welded the structural parts in im goin to weld the section under the door in today i dont even want to look at the floor pans ill have pics soon URL=http://s634.photobucket.com/albums/uu63/scanton/?action=view¤t=celica063.jpg][/URL]
geting a new shop soon hoping to work on the car through the winter if anyone knows anything about custom fiberglass let me know
Do those holes I see go though to the interior? I'm asking because I'm spraying rust killer into every hole I find. Fiberglass is only as good as the moulds it comes from, 3/4 of the work is making & prepping the moulds, getting the release agent to actually work and then the cleanup. Most shortcuts will backfire on you There are heaps of good books on the subject We used to make our own race bodies from building up & making a mould on an actual car, burned a few paintjobs in the process though and made more f/ups than I can remember. Trick is to make the moulds in halves and bolt them together sothat you can release the panels easily. There is a thread here somewhere of a guy customizing a 162 with fiberglass but I can't find it now. Oh yea, you need all the space you can get
Oh thats got me thinking Stig. Spaceframe 165, using a glass fibre body with huge arches. low "front mid engine" if you know what I mean, turned north south instead of east west, Evo transmission and diffs, prolux custom dampers, custom suspension, etc man what a machine that would be. Would be ace for rallycross in the UK. target weight say 950kgs, 550bhp = huge fun. Sorry for the hijack, just the pics stig posted lol got me thinking. Sorry, no good ideas re the fibre glass, just dont get it on your hands, its a bitch to get off!
I think you're referring to the Celica IMSA car bodywork? Forget the mitsi stuff, I hear those boxes grenade easily I'd just plant a Mazda 20B in the front and a Supra box & rear diff Good for 800 reliable ponies, 500kg and go-kart handling, Yee-haw!
