No direction - the build saga of an 82 242 DL

[3wagons]

Made some progress in the last week. Passenger side floor is solid once again. Still needs some finishing work but I went ahead and hit it with some etching primer to seal it for now.

Went ahead and started on the driver side floor which is in worse condition that the passenger side was. Did a rough cut to get an idea on what was going to have to be replaced. The jack mount and the support brace from the frame rail to the rocker are both going to have to be separated from the rocker and the bottom lip of the rocker where the floor pan meets may need some repair on this side. The rear floor area may be in better shape than it appears. I'm going to attack it with the wire brush and see what shape its in.

 

[3wagons]

So some more progress to report. I haven't worked on the body much, but have worked on some odd and ends.

I spent last week cleaning the engine up and starting to get it assembled.
I used brake parts cleaner to finish degreasing the engine and a wire brush on a pneumatic die griner

I used the Duplicolor engine primer with ceramic.

Ford Red that belonged to my dad from his last hotrod he had. I found 2 cans of it while cleaning his shop out.

Some masking removed.

Cylinder head fresh from the machine shop with K cam installed.

I've also spent some time gathering parts and cleaning some parts up. My Harbor Freight blast cabinet is up and running now after some modifications. I have been blasting a few of the suspension parts that need to be modified or have bushings replace as well as a couple cam covers that I am going to have powder coated.

 

[3wagons]

So as it usually goes, I bought another car that has absorbed all of my shop time for the last few months. A 93 940T. I had to replace a few bushing, several oils seals, all the hoses etc to get it dry enough to do a couple autocross events in Chattanooga. Finally with the 940 not marking its territory and now riding on the new wheels that are for the 242, I've had enough time to make some slight progress. Once the shop is back in order and all the parts stored its back to welding....


I sold the GTA wheels and bought a set of 17x8 5x108 Momo Etnas that will eventually find their way to the 242. For now, they are on the 940 with a set of IPD 25mm spacers and some used 225/45R17 Cooper RS3-R.







With some child labor assistance, the 242 has been losing parts at a steady pace. All of the wiring is now out as well as the headliner and fuel system. I bought a new late 240 windshield and have it stashed on the wall so I could finally commit to removing the front glass. Also have late 240 rear window with the 3rd brake light stashed in the loft.


It was filthy under the seal, but fortunately just a little surface rust. Still working to clean the butyl off then I will sand blast the windshield frame.

I will be running a 7/9 style Alt and PS pump setup. I ordered a Alt bracket from Viking Fab to mount the alt lower on the driver side. Mocked it up with a Bosch alt I had laying around. The tensioner is a 7/9 AC tensioner that I will end up shortening a little.

 

[3wagons]

Look like I'll have to restore some pics, but progress was made over the weekend. The parts car donated its front clip, apron section, and the taillight panel. Set the front clip on for now.

 

[Duder]

Nice project, and that's a great shop you built for yourself. Your progress being halted by other projects and working on other people's cars sounds familiar! That's how it goes for me too.

Are you going with the 86+ hood on the 82? If so, are you also swapping the cowl panel so it matches up? Just curious.

 

[3wagons]

Nice project, and that's a great shop you built for yourself. Your progress being halted by other projects and working on other people's cars sounds familiar! That's how it goes for me too.

Are you going with the 86+ hood on the 82? If so, are you also swapping the cowl panel so it matches up? Just curious.

Thanks. I'm going with a flathood, e codes and a flathood eggcrate grill. I've managed to collect a few of each...

I saved the late cowl off of the parts wagon just in case I decided to go that route but the flathood will prevail.

 

[3wagons]

A little bit of a late update on this, but while the forum was down I did a little sandblasting in the shop then paid the kids to clean it up. More blasting to come but I can continue the floor work now.

 

[3wagons]

A trip to Voluparts today yielded some treasures. Set of propus wheels, 2 850 valance panels, and a NOS rear body panel for 5 panel tails.



The rust that was hidden under the rear bumper trim was bad enough to need repaired. I cut the panel from my 88 parts car to patch it with but if need be I'll use the rear body panel from Voluparts.



Drilled out the spot welds and made a tape line for a straighter cut.



It crusty under there, but not as bad as it looks.

 

[adomz]

Oh my, so many awesome 242 projects going on! Makes me want to go to the garage and yam at my 242 even more!!

Thanks!

 

[Hodginsa]

Its not fair, why isn't your driver side jackmount completely rusted out like mine?

 

[3wagons]

Oh my, so many awesome 242 projects going on! Makes me want to go to the garage and yam at my 242 even more!!

Thanks!

Looks like our cars could have been twins. Several of the same rust areas as well. I did get a little lucky on the rear window area on mine at least. Subscribed to your channel as well.

Its not fair, why isn't your driver side jackmount completely rusted out like mine?

I did manage to dodge that bullet at least. Plenty of other rust to go around.

 

[3wagons]

I didn't make any major forward progress on the 242 this weekend, but did spend some time in the shop at least. I guess this thread has become the shop project thread as well so here we go.

I had 2 sets of Hydras taking up space in the middle of the shop. Even thought they were working well as work tables it was time for them to find a new home. I ordered 2 tire racks off of amazon for $45 each, welded them together in the middle and got them up on the wall.



The next project was a 960 wagon that belonged to my dad. He had sideswiped a guard rail with it and I had taken care of the body work for him. My brother ended up inheriting the car. He was more interested in my Beretta than the wagon so I ended up with the 960. My sister liked the car so I sold it to her with the understanding that I wasn't working on it anymore. Well, a $400 car lot style paintjob from a guy in town and 4 hours of my labor later it looks presentable again.



And this is how it sat for 2 years while it made its way to the 4th member of the family.


The paint isnt the best, but for the price it was tough to argue. Its at least back on the road.

 

[3wagons]

Drilled the spot welds out of the donor section for my frame rail and battery tray area.

A torch and a rag works well to clean the undercoating off.


I hit the spot welds with a small sanding disc to make them show up better then center drill them to keep the spot weld bit from walking as bad.


Hit them with the Blair spot weld cutter. This is the 3/8 version. I use cutting fluid to extend bit life.


Then smack it with a hammer and let the magic happen.


Then repeat, and repeat, and repeat....


On some of the welds, I drill all the way through with a regular bit. Depends on which section I will be using.

 

[3wagons]

Since I seem to have project car ADD, let's work on the front framerail instead of finishing up one of the other spots I've started on...it's all got to be done i guess.

This is an old pic of the battery tray area.


The topside of the rail and apron is paper thin so I will be replacing this area.

Some exploratory surgery. Notice the pile of flaky rust in the lower radiator support.

I cut out the lower radiator support. Other than where it joined the driverside rail it seemed solid but all the rust in the floor was from the inside of it.


After removing the remains of the lower support, the bottom of the framerail is solid. This is how it sits right now while I prep the replacement sections. I've taken about 30 measurements in this area to ensure it goes back correctly. The heavy inner rail will remain uncut but the outer skin and apron area will be replaced. Still more cutting ahead in this area to remove the rust.

 

[adomz]

Oh, you are lucky. I have the same problem with the under battery tray rail, but mine is completely rotten through, so i will have to make it all brand new. I might have a replacement tho, so we'll see

Keep on chugging!

 

[3wagons]

Oh, you are lucky. I have the same problem with the under battery tray rail, but mine is completely rotten through, so i will have to make it all brand new. I might have a replacement tho, so we'll see

Keep on chugging!

This whole area is getting replaced, excluding the heavy inner rail and the bottom outer rail. Basically anything with rust is gone. Ive drilled about 50 spotwelds prepping the donor rail section and was hoping to be able to replace the entire frame rail 'skin' in the rusty area, but attempting to remove the heavy inner piece while leaving the outer skin undamaged was proving near impossible. Leaving the bottom section intact is going to add about a foot or so of additional weld vs how I was hoping to repair it. Hard to paint a picture with words of how I'm going about it. I'll be digging deeper next week while I'm off.

 

[3wagons]

Some more cutting and a rough fit of the replacement parts today.

 

[dl242gt]

Looks great! Rustoration is the best!

 

[adomz]

Wow! Love it! I might have sourced the whole side of the inner wing/rail! YAY!

 

[3wagons]

Looks great! Rustoration is the best!

Thanks! It's my favorite part besides electrical. I'm going to be mixing and matching 3 harnesses for the electrical on this thing.

Wow! Love it! I might have sourced the whole side of the inner wing/rail! YAY!

I got lucky and bought a running parts car that a member here used the interior and doors from. It's been a good donor. Also sacrificed a crashed wagon for my floor parts. Some must die so others can live.

Did manage to get the first section of rail in. Sprayed a coat of epoxy on the section of inner rail that was getting covered. Ordered some POR15 to coat the rest of the inside of the rail with before I close it up. So far, the measurements I took are matching up.