Body work started.

1906 Views 34 Replies 6 Participants Last post by EdD, 3 mo ago

Grouch

Discussion Starter · 5 mo ago

My 2005 Convertible is getting a face lift. The paint was faded in places and it had one spot of rust perforation under the drivers door. It was a daily rental in Michigan for the first two years of its existence then a lady bought it and had it as her toy. She was in failing health so it got parked for an extended period of time. I still need to do some deep detailing but the new metal is welded in and it's getting paint laid down now.

Tire Car Vehicle Wheel Hood

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A friend who is good at body work is doing it. I only asked for a respray of the sun burnt paint but he said the dents (either a hail storm or the walnut tree near the house) were bugging him so he's pulling them out and smoothing them with filler.

Once the paint cures for a month, he's going to redo the pinstripes. The lady doted on this car.

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Grouch

Discussion Starter · #21 · 4 mo ago

chuzz said:
Yeah, my Social Security isn't anywhere NEAR that figure. LOL Now you know why I can't buy any of the nice cars that show up for sale here!

My SS wouldn't disqualify me, but my house is only about $450 per year in property taxes. I think my house payment back in 1985, when I bought the place was $250. After I refinanced to build the garage and pay some medical bills, it went to $580. It's been paid off for years.

When I bought it, the son of the owner sold it as she had passed away. About 2018, I got a letter from Social Security to her. I think Sonny had been collecting her SS since before 1985 when she died. I just put on the letter, "Deceased,return to sender". I imagine there were alarums and consternations when it got back to the office.

chuzz

· #22 · 4 mo ago

I still get mail for the previous owners at my house from time to time. Their kids won't answer the phone or come by and get any of it, so I throw it away. Sometimes I suspect there may be some kind of stock dividend or check enclosed, but I don't care. If they're too stupid to have notified all of their parents creditors and debtors, that's their problem. They could be missing out on a LOT of money.

Grouch

Discussion Starter · #23 · 4 mo ago

chuzz said:
I still get mail for the previous owners at my house from time to time. Their kids won't answer the phone or come by and get any of it, so I throw it away. Sometimes I suspect there may be some kind of stock dividend or check enclosed, but I don't care. If they're too stupid to have notified all of their parents creditors and debtors, that's their problem. They could be missing out on a LOT of money.

If the previous owner is deceased, put "Deceased, return to sender". I'm not concerned with someone who doesn't forward their mail, but others might have legitimate business interests. It will cut WAY down on the mail you get and if they have legal issues, you don't get a visit from the police or Sheriff.

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Doug D

· #24 · 4 mo ago

Grouch said:
If the previous owner is deceased, put "Deceased, return to sender". I'm not concerned with someone who doesn't forward their mail, but others might have legitimate business interests. It will cut WAY down on the mail you get and if they have legal issues, you don't get a visit from the police or Sheriff.

I think it was last year I received a call from a collector that specialized in collecting debts of a deceased. It was in regard to my stepmother who had died. It was how I found out she was deceased. Dad and she had legally separated before he passed. I ignored the first message, but when I received a second call, I researched them and called them back to tell them I had no authority over her estate and not to call me again. To their credit they have never attempted to contact me again.

Grouch

Discussion Starter · #25 · 4 mo ago

Doug D said:
I think it was last year I received a call from a collector that specialized in collecting debts of a deceased. It was in regard to my stepmother who had died. It was how I found out she was deceased. Dad and she had legally separated before he passed. I ignored the first message, but when I received a second call, I researched them and called them back to tell them I had no authority over her estate and not to call me again. To their credit they have never attempted to contact me again.

The people who lived here before had their own little "Secret Garden" hot house in the front room. I had trouble with their former "associates" showing up looking for them. At least until I got back from the bank after depositing some money from a car I had sold. When I answered the door, the individual saw a .357 in a shoulder holster and my police uniform hanging over a chair to let the wrinkles settle out from a concert the previous night. Not a peep from them since.

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chuzz

· #26 · 4 mo ago

I used to have a business in Nashville and before I got it really up and running good, I lived in a pretty sketchy neighborhood. I used to answer the door with my S&W .38 in my hand. I didn't get many visitors once word got around.

Grouch

Discussion Starter · #27 · 4 mo ago

chuzz said:
I used to have a business in Nashville and before I got it really up and running good, I lived in a pretty sketchy neighborhood. I used to answer the door with my S&W .38 in my hand. I didn't get many visitors once word got around.

I thought my penchant for old cars might be an issue with my new neighbors. It turns out the previous owners were so "Sketchy", as you say, there was a sigh of relief when the sold sign went up in front of my house. The 10 years I was a volunteer officer, and the occasion time a unit car would be here either because I had a detail, or I was working on it as the motor officer, I acquired friends before I ever met them.

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Grouch

Discussion Starter · #28 · 4 mo ago

I've been saying this is a solid little car. Here are some shots underneath it.

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This is an 18 year old car that entered service in Michigan.

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chuzz

· #29 · 4 mo ago

Wow! Whoever owned it must have kept it garaged in the winter. That's in amazing shape for a Michigan car.

Grouch

Discussion Starter · #30 · 4 mo ago

chuzz said:
Wow! Whoever owned it must have kept it garaged in the winter. That's in amazing shape for a Michigan car.

I know. That's why I don't normally paint or repair rust, but this one deserved it. It came from just east of here and I'm on the edge of the rust belt. Being either a lease or rental, I doubt it ever saw the road in Michigan. It spent 16 years in Kentucky. It cost a decent chunk of change, but the car came out really well. I probably won't make any profit, but it's satisfying to save a car like this. It was going to be raffled off as a novelty because it was in such sad shape when I got it.

Doug D

· #31 · 4 mo ago

chuzz said:
I used to have a business in Nashville and before I got it really up and running good, I lived in a pretty sketchy neighborhood. I used to answer the door with my S&W .38 in my hand. I didn't get many visitors once word got around.

Long ago when we lived in an apartment, my neighbor had a sign in his window, "This house guarded by Smith & Wesson 3 days a week. You guess which 3 days."

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Grouch

Discussion Starter · #32 · 4 mo ago

It got up to 71 yesterday so I rolled the rag top out to start giving it a good deep cleaning. I've seen the wash water turn brown or grey on numerous occasions. I knew the top had been outside and gotten pretty dirty, especially on the front of the top. I have never seen the suds turn green before. At least the built up fungus is gone. The top was black with a few greenish patches, but it is really black now.

More to do but it's cleaning up nicely.

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EdD

· #33 · 3 mo ago

Grouch said:
More to do but it's cleaning up nicely.

Grouch, when you mentioned that 'vert on another thread, I had no idea it was that mint. If I wasn't all crippled up and could get in and out of a 'vert without half killing myself, that '05 would be tempting. I'm real partial to that black paint. My current '06 is black, but my wife's '06 was Cool Vanilla, as Chrysler called it. My own dearly departed '02 Limited was burgundy with ghost flames from the original owner who lived in LA. I think the flames were from a shop there.

I really love the 2nd Gen Cruisers. My '02 Limited 1st Gen was a 5 speed, which I can no longer drive due to the wreck that totaled my '02. There were a few things I didn't really like about the 1st Gens, the tape marked bumper cover was one, and the EGR valve was another. I had fixed what I didn't like and had installed Booger bushings in the shifter before the wreck. I really mourned the loss of the '02 almost as much as my loss of function from the wreck. Anyways...

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Grouch

Discussion Starter · #34 · 3 mo ago

EdD said:
Grouch, when you mentioned that 'vert on another thread, I had no idea it was that mint. If I wasn't all crippled up and could get in and out of a 'vert without half killing myself, that '05 would be tempting. I'm real partial to that black paint. My current '06 is black, but my wife's '06 was Cool Vanilla, as Chrysler called it. My own dearly departed '02 Limited was burgundy with ghost flames from the original owner who lived in LA. I think the flames were from a shop there.

I really love the 2nd Gen Cruisers. My '02 Limited 1st Gen was a 5 speed, which I can no longer drive due to the wreck that totaled my '02. There were a few things I didn't really like about the 1st Gens, the tape marked bumper cover was one, and the EGR valve was another. I had fixed what I didn't like and had installed Booger bushings in the shifter before the wreck. I really mourned the loss of the '02 almost as much as my loss of function from the wreck. Anyways...

Well, it's not Black but Midnight Blue, I think. (Paint code PB8) It's not a museum piece, but just a nice driver. My problem with it isn't so much getting in or shifting, but getting out. Between my knees and balance issues, I sort of fall out rather than get out.

EdD

· #35 · 3 mo ago

Grouch said:
Well, it's not Black but Midnight Blue, I think. (Paint code PB8) It's not a museum piece, but just a nice driver. My problem with it isn't so much getting in or shifting, but getting out. Between my knees and balance issues, I sort of fall out rather than get out.

I have to lever myself out of the seat with my right arm on the pillar. My left arm and left leg don't work right anymore. I had a head-on collision in my '02 Limited and my left arm was nearly torn off and my left hip joint was radically dislocated. I have artificial joints on the left side, elbow and hip, with a lot of nerve damage. That keeps me from being able to work a clutch, since the left foot is paralyzed.

My wife and my attorney were visiting me in the hospital, and my wife said that I needed to get a full sized SUV or pickup to replace my PT because she was worried about crashworthiness. My attorney spoke up and said, "That little car saved his life". I agreed with him and bought another PT as soon as I was back home.

I'm looking for a Gen2 Touring or Limited. Maybe someday...

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