Introduction
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Karkmotuning

 

The time has come for something new again.
A sixties wagon was at the top of the wishlist, so a 1968 BelAir station wagon was brought home.


This pic is from the sales ad. The wagon looks worn and patinaed, but otherwise decent.
Technically it really was pretty decent, save for the light switches and turn signals.
The single exhaust was leaky, and in all honesty, the car needed some TLC.
(September 2018)

After some 500 miles of driving, it was time to check the wagon throroughly, and whip up a plan.
A few dents were found, a few patches that are so bad they need to get re-done, and the hood was badly dented. Right at the top of the todo-list is "New Wheels".
205/75:s on the original 14 inch rims look puny on this car.


The plan for this project is pretty simple. New wheels, New paint job, maybe creme colored, bumpers painted a darkish gray metallic and lowered front suspension.
This fake "before and after"-pic shows us that this will improve the general look nicely.


Cooper Cobra 225/70-15" on new eight inch wide front rims, and 255/70-15" on tens in the rear.
The rear rims are at the sand blaster's at this time, as they'll get painted to look a bit like the new front ones.
(October 2018)

After the rims were sand blasted and epoxied, some filler was applied to make them smooth.
Another coat of epoxy was applied, and left to dry for a few days.
The wheel discs were painted black, and after drying, the parts planned to stay black were masked off. Silver was added, tape removed, and then they were cleared.
Sounds simple, but it was about a week's evenings worth of work.
(November 2018)


This is what the rust repair patches look like on this car. A square piece of sheet metal has been put on top of the rust, a number of spots have been welded along the edges, and the spots ground down. Then a small amount of filler has been applied to make the repair not show too much.
Of course the double layers of sheet metal sandwiched together has made it continue rusting.

A new, slightly bigger patch was made, and butt welded in. The shape of the patch now follows the original shape of the fender, and the repair hopefully won't show at all.
All repairs will be redone this way.



Same story here. This long patch is a bit longer than the old one, as there was a dent in the bottom of the rear fender. Now it's straight and will only requie a bit of filler to get into shape.

Finally, after a whole lot of welding and grinding, the drivers side was done, and the wagon was backed out and back in, to turn the right hand side of the car towards the center of the garage floor.



The tires are finally mounted on the new front rims, and the newly painted rears. They do look pretty similar, even though the new front rims are polished aluminum, and the rears are old GM originals painted silver and black.
(December 2018)

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