...thank you for the kind words, I appreciate it! I will keep them coming!

 

Sure is brown. Getting closer every day, pretty soon you're going to pass me Erik. I prefer blue myself, if my interior was brown I would prefer brown.
I like any color as long as it isn't green. I won't own or even ride in a green vehicle if I can help it, I'm not superstitious. My door panels tops have some dark sun spotting and I need to do something. The things are near perfect otherwise and I just want to do above the trim strip. I wish I would have known about the DuPont stuff before I got the PPG.
Why didn't you do your bro's Vista before mine so I would have known Erik?

 

Dang, Erik!!
You really got a big project here! First time here. Since I had my mind on a VC, I started poking through VC posts and looked through this one some last night... (read the rest this morning.) It is sure giving me cold feet, that's for sure. I thought Lady was a pain, but here there is LOTS more to deal with. 3X the interior, 3X the roof, 2X the body, 4X the trim... Of course there is almost 2X the motor and 4X the space, too! I emailed the guy to see if I can look at it this weekend. If I like it I may go for it. I need to find some CHEAP storage somewhere for my 86 Olds, as I would need the garage space (if a VC would even FIT inthe garage...)

I sure like how your interior is looking. I noticed my name tossed around in here but I know nothing about interiors... Really, I need to get with it.I need to call your friend about the Dupont paint. The place here can't get it - only PPG and SEM. I am almost ready to start my doors, so I will need paint soon. "So easy to use, a baby can spray it"? I will have to test that statement when i try it! What color are you using? It looks like mine.

I need to read this post from start to finish - maybe that will help my buying decision...

Excellent work from what I have seen - that paint and sanding is making some huge differences! I envy your skills and big place to work... I will probably be better off paying more for a VC with a restored exterior. It would be very costly for a shop to do it, but that could be done... Gotta think...
Keep it up!

You should be able to order extra carpet to match the one you order. I think OPG offers it by the yard and they sell the ACC carpet.
Certainly you will use dynamat under the carpet and headliner, right?! You would probably need 200lbs of it...

 

If I may chime in here.

I bought mine from California and it was a no rust, 3 seat car. But it had a bang in door and was missing some chrome. I bought it because it had [non factory] buckets, tic toc, consol, tilt wheel, SSII and 455.

I'm not sure of any year but 69 but they had a few thousand pieces of chrome and one missing will ruin the looks. I was fortunate to finally find an extra set of glass and an extra set of chrome. So I bought it and have it store in my garage "just in case."

As I am sure Bluevista can attest to, all of the sun damage to the padding is very much like have 15 dash boards redone. There's a ton of it in the rear.

Point being when you're looking be aware that some pieces are next to impossible to find.

Good Luck Rob.

 

Got working on the hood! Loaded with dings and dents! Did some stud welding picking and filing, took 2 nights to get most of it out! This weekend I will strip the outside(chemical so as not to warp it), and give it a light coat of plastic. After that I will spray poly it! As far as the underside, we found a stress crack near the hole where the latch locks in and that made the hood flimsy in that spot. I drilled a 1/8" hole on each end of the crack, then with a dremmel, v'd the crack out. I then welded it. Good as new! Some minor dings and pits were taken care of with polyester, before primer and surfacer! Here are the latest pics!

 

 

It was a slow week! We did not put in any time at all this week. Last weekend, we picked up our qtr sections, kindly sent to us by jensenracing77(Thanks Eric!), and started to look deeper into the rear of the car, the cargo stowage floor under the hidden door area, and what we thought was minor, was pretty major. Swiss cheese! OPGI sells a repro, out of stock, 6 weeks!..........looks like the Nats may be missing this Vista Cruiser! Reality is starting to set in.
But, we will soldier on!........extensive bodywork on the hood just about done! My back is broken after working last night and today bending over that hood! If the wife allows, I will try to get some time on it tomorrow! The last pic is Spies Hecker Sprayable Polyester 3508...I will block that with 180 dry before applying surfacer!

 

After about 5 hours of careful block sanding the polyester, I was able to get the hood in surfacer and I'm very pleased with the results! From what this hood was, to what it is now...straight as an arrow! I was expecting to see a little something, but no. After blocking of the surfacer it will be very exciting to see paint on it! Here are three pics...spray poly blocked, etch, surfacer! One night this week we'll wet sand the inside of the hood, and on Sat. we'll paint it Spies Hecker 1004 Rallye Matte Black.

 

OK, today we finally got the hood finished until we are ready for final paint! We are very pleased with the final result on the inside of the hood. We wet sanded it and dried and prepped it. Masked it and put two coats of Spies Hecker 1004 Rallye Matte Black. S/S urethane that dries to the perfect matte black finish that was original when car was new. It matches almost 100% to OEM. Now we will put the hood away for safe keeping and the next order of business will be sectioning in the wheel wells with the good used pieces jensenracing77 sent me! This is where it gets real fun! Stay tuned.......

 

Interesting stuff, nice work to boot.

 

Rob are you looking for a wagon????? If so I have a flat top 22,000 miles that wouldn't need work

 

Nice work.

 

Good stuff! What is your background? Are you formally trained in the art of restoration warfare?
I am not and have never heard of Spies Hecker so it's probably just my lack of knowledge. Where do you get that stuff and what else do they sell?

 

That was the stuff we used at the body shop I worked at, was supposed to be the shiz back in the day. Easy to work with too. minor mistakes were easily fixed. If you have a body shop supply store, or equivalent that would be the first place to look. auto body tool mart might have it also www.autobodytoolmart.com 1-800-382-1200 I like these guys. I can usually get stuff shipped right to my door for the same price or less than the local body shop supply. On my schedule. That's always a bonus.

 

Thanks! I am in the industry, have done several restorations, but only do it for hobby now. I'm in the collision industry now. Spies Hecker is a full line automotive refinish brand from Germany. Factory on ME/BE , BMW, Audi, Porsche and other German make cars along with Standox and Glasurit. I do work as a factory rep for a paint brand now Spies Hecker can be found in autobody supply stores but it depends on what the store carries...can be regional!

 

I noticed you use what looks like a self etching primer(red) on some of the metal patching. Is that the same as using a weld thru primer and are there any pros and cons to using either?

 

Yes, Spies Hecker 3255. It is an etch primer and also an excellent weld through primer. We've tested it, and with the proper film build, it can be applied to bare steel and left in the elements longer than 6 mos without any reprocussions. The negative to this product would be it can't be topcoated meaning you can't paint over it....you would have to apply a sealer or surfacer first. The positive is adhesion to bare steel which is very important and also corrosion protection.

 

We finally got working on the car again today after pretty much doing nothing for 2 weeks! And today wasn't too productive as I woke up this morning with a wicked migraine (I missed my meds yesterday, and look what happens!) We began work on the rotten right qtr panel. My brother worked on cleaning and wire wheeling the donor section while I worked on cutting out the rust. By the time I was done, I started puking up a storm and I could not function anymore....then, on the way home...my '72 decided she wanted to go to sleep on the side of the parkway!...although they call them parkways, they are meant for driving!!! Luckily, my bro was behind me. He ran back to the shop and grabbed the battery out of the vista as we could not jump this one for anything! Started up with the vista battery. Weird thing was, I went to gun it to merge on and the car just shut off like somebody pulled the plug??? Another problem I need to figure out and I am trying to sell this car!! Maybe she's trying to tell me something! Anyway, here is what little I did get done today!!!

 

Now I have to try and patch this all up!!!!!

 

Man you do like a challange don't you. Great work to date, keep at it someday it will all be just a memory.

 

Started trimming up the donor wheel well and wheel house tonight! Not for the faint of heart! Had to drill out about a hundred spot welds, but with some patience, got what I was looking to achieve! Next I will trim this patch panel to fit exact, and also be cutting out a radius of the donor outer wheel house that will be cleaned up and trimmed to fit exact and welded in. Here's what I have so far...

 

Nothing like factory sheetmetal!

 

A little more trimming and it will fit like a glove!

 

glad to see that some of my vista will live on. the back doors will live on in Pennsylvania.

 

Real interesting and informative, thanks for posting.
Is the new seam lapped or a butt joint?
Did you also piece the inner wheel house the same way?

 

Nothing is welded yet...it will be butt welded because the inside is visible and I want the finished product to look "as factory". There is a small area near the dogleg that can't be seen on the inside and that will also be butt welded but I will probably also put a backing flange just to make it easier. The inner wheelhouse will be done the same way. I will post pics as I get there!

 

Thanks, at this rate, I will be so old I won't have anymore memory...

 

Cut out the outer wheel house section last night and got it fitted and trimmed. It took a lot of test fitting not only the wheel house, but the qtr/wheel opening patch also just to make sure all lines and gaps lined up properly to the rear door. I spent a couple of hours doing this before I was happy and did my final trimming. My bro also media blasted both pieces in and out so we have fresh metal to work with. I hope to weld in the wheel house on Sunday.

 

I trimmed the donor piece bigger so I have room for error! I would fit it, put a couple of spot welds, fit the outer panel, check lines and gaps, then trace with a sharpie, the outline of the existing wheel house on the inside of the donor. I also traced the donor onto the existing just to show the amount I had to trim (for pics!). Then I would remove the donor panel and trim it. Then repeat the process until I was satisfied.

 

By the end of the night we were happy with our progress. This weekend we will weld this in, then work on the patches on the inside of the spare tire well. After that, I will finish the outer panel.

 

Moving this thread to "major builds & projects".

 

you body guys amaze me! give me something mechanical and i will figure it out in time but body work is an art that i don't have.

 

Nice build. I found two VC's in an old country junk yard a couple of years ago. Too bad I did not discover one of them before it was picked over. I was nice, PW, the works. Old guy said he drove it in to it's final resting spot. Sad. I did pull some parts that were too nice to leave even though I do not own a VC. I pulled all the stainless trim, close to 100% if I remember and the tail lights lenses and buckets. If anyone needs these parts send me a PM.

 

I know the feeling

 

I had to take the wheel house off one last time today to weld up all the holes created by cutting out the spot welds to separate the outer wheel house from the qtr on the donor! Before I did, I drew a couple of triangles here and there so I would have exact reference points for the last time! I didn't do it earlier because I like to do all my welding at the same time.......don't ask me why! I guess when I get in one gear, I like to stay in it!
Anyway, after doing that, I did get the outer welded on. Worked out excellent! Ground it down, and am now ready to move on to a couple of patches inside the spare tire well.

 

Excelent work on the VC! Makes me jealous. Wish I had half the patience to do what you're doing. At the same time it's threads like this that keep me motivated.

 

I butt welded the two together from the outside. It was just easier. I provided a couple of pics of what the inside looked like after the welding. My brother will clean these up during the week. I'll do a quick skim of polyester to clean it up, once primed and painted(possibly re-undercoated) you'll be able to reach in with your hand and slide your fingers inside the wheel opening and you'll never know there was a repair!

 

Thanks for the compliments! Anything I can do to help!

 

Great workmanship Erik, can't wait to see you lay some paint on this bad boy

 

We all know, got pics to prove it and will show them to everybody that feels inside there.
Happens every day to me, can't get in the car and go anywhere without checking. I sure don't want to run over some guy feeling inside my wheel openings.

Looking good Erik, you are a true craftsman-dude-guy and my hero.
Do you ever hear, "But it's just a wagon?" from people.