First, to everyone that contributes on this forum, thank you. I have consumed more threads than I can count and no matter the question, I have always been able to find my answer here.
I have been waiting to create a build thread for quite some time, and with a little time off around Christmas, now seemed like the right time.
So as stated in the title, "Post Deer Hit," one could imply that there was a "Pre-Deer Hit" era to my vehicle and you would be correct.
These were taken shortly after I purchased the car back in 2013. She's nothing special but I have always loved the look of the 67's and there is something about the vinyl that I like.
She was never anything super special, but this example was rust free (from what I could see), had a 289, and was in pretty good working order.
From 2013 to 2017, I updated the ignition, put a new fiberglass backed headliner in (totally worth the money), rewired the headlights, and just tried to drive the sh** out of it when I could.
The plan was going great, pulled it out of storage in 2017 after winter, tuned it up and took it out for the maiden voyage of the new year.
And.... deer suck. I at least hit the "sh*
" out of it... literally, that mud pie on the fender... that is literally deer sh* lol.
So now what... I guess take it to the local body shop.. and find out that the car was green, and had been painted red with single stage.. sh** ... we need to paint the whole car.
Oh, also there was a pinhole rust bubble under the vinyl top, so that has to come off, along with the glass... and part of the front frame rail section is rotting (couldn't see that from the outside) .... and the cowl panel needed replaced ... and all of a sudden the "while I'm in there" list grew to the tune of well over double what I received from the insurance company... but never the less, while I was in there, I might as well do it right. (sort of)
So the learning curve... at this point, I had never done body work in my life.
The big hurdle: I couldn't afford to paint the whole car (insurance only paid to repair and repaint damaged panels)
So, I asked for help. I worked out a deal with the body shop owner that I would take care of the mechanical stuff and help with the body work and he would spray the whole car! It was a win for everyone.
The body shop could continue to turn and burn the new stuff instead of working on the money pit that is old cars. I would get to learn how to do body work and get the car painted all the same color!
So I'll just start from the beginning and post pictures as I go.
Please keep in mind a few things before commenting, this car was a bastard (non matching anything) so it was never going back to original.. and most of the stuff I did was my first time ever doing it, so it may not be perfect.
Step 1: Tear down.
Step 2: Repair front clip - damaged from the deer hit and bad passenger side front frame rail section.
Before:
Spot weld drill bit came in handy. Removed front radiator support. Also removed battery tray / front extension due to a sh** patch job from PO.
